A glimpse of the mountain valley

  In the south of Jiangnan, there is a famous Tianmu Mountain, with steep cliffs, strange rocks, and valleys crisscrossing, overlapping peaks, known as "Jiangnan Qishan" and "Tianmu Lingshan". To the east of Tianmu Mountain lies a vast plain, with beautiful water towns stretching as far as the eye can see. Here, the lake shines with the mountain shadows, and the scenery is connected to the mountains and rivers. Throughout history, many talents have emerged from this place, which can be called a land of outstanding people and divine spirits.

  Here is Tianmu Mountain's foothills entering the plain, a mountain valley that is not big or small. In the eyes of local people, it is a sacred valley, and some people see it as a ghost valley. There are many legends about this valley. At night, there are often flashes of firelight here, and even sounds like wailing Japanese songs. Even during the day, people passing by can feel waves of solemnity and threads of eeriness.

  This valley runs north-south, and from the outside it looks like a mountain valley, but inside it is relatively flat, and horse-drawn carriages and cars can pass through. In fact, there is a highway around the outside of the mountain, but this valley has become a shortcut that passes through the mountain. The entire length of the valley is about 800-900 meters, with both ends of the mountain pass being very narrow, only over 10 meters wide, just enough for the road surface. After entering the valley, the flat land gradually widens, and the widest point is nearly 100 meters. Both sides of the valley are steep cliffs, and from the outside entering the valley, it feels like entering a crack in a mountain.

  For many years, this valley has been quietly lying here, with the mountains on both sides witnessing history and the hustle and bustle of people coming and going in the valley, allowing decades, hundreds of years to flow here.

  Less than five miles south of the valley exit, there is a large town called Kao Shan Town. Not far from the northern exit of the valley, there is a town along the river called Kao Shui Town. It was the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and countries that participated in the war were holding celebrations and memorial activities. The Chinese government also held various memorial activities, and the people also held some spontaneous memorial activities. The Jiangsu-Zhejiang region is an area where battles were more complex during World War II, and often there are old soldiers who come back to mourn the battlefields of those years.

  On this day, the sky was blue and cloudless, with the autumn sun shining brightly. Two groups of uninvited guests arrived in this unknown mountain valley. Two Toyota off-road vehicles entered from the north mountain pass, while a Jinbei 11-seat van entered from the south mountain pass. Both groups stopped at the center of the valley. An elderly Chinese man dressed in simple clothing got out of the van, accompanied by a young man wearing a jacket. An elderly Japanese man wearing a traditional Japanese hat got out of the off-road vehicle, supported by a respectful girl wearing a traditional Chinese cheongsam dress, with several people behind him speaking Japanese.

  Chinese elderly and Japanese elderly are in their own juniors, unintentionally looking up at a long strip of about ten meters protruding from the western mountain wall about 30 meters high, silently staring.

  The mountain wind blows through the valley, sometimes urgent and sometimes slow, making a rustling sound, as if telling the story of what happened here, so low and desolate, and in the midst of it, one can almost hear the clashing of gold and iron, the meeting of swords and spears, shocking and stirring.

  The old Japanese man stood silently for a moment, then turned around and walked back to the north valley entrance with heavy steps. He stopped in front of a rock wall crevice for a long time, standing at attention and bowing repeatedly, looking like an old soldier. Then he slowly walked back under the protruding part of the mountain wall. At this time, the Chinese old man was still talking in a low voice with the young man under the protruding part of the mountain wall, occasionally pointing to the mountain wall and then pointing to the valley, his movements and tone were full of confidence and without any signs of aging, it was undoubtedly the demeanor of an old soldier. The Japanese old man watched for a while before asking the accompanying person to come over and ask: "We are from Japan, specially coming to the old place to mourn the spirits of the Second World War, may I ask, sir, who are you?"

  "I am a Chinese soldier who was stationed here back then, my name is Zhan Biao." Zhan Biao replied immediately after the translation, while also looking at Yamamoto with suspicion.

  Yamamoto's small eyes lit up as he looked at the straight-backed old Chinese man: "I am a Japanese soldier who almost died here many years ago, my name is Yamamoto Junjiro." He then bowed deeply to Zhan Biao, a standard bow full of sincerity. This bow made Zhan Biao feel that there was respect for the Chinese soldiers and also an apology for invading China back then.

  Zhang Biao also bowed his head in return: "Shouldn't I apologize too? It was the war that killed so many people here."

  What a coincidence! The enemies on the battlefield back then have met again! The two old soldiers stood facing each other, sizing each other up from head to toe. If they had been this close in the valley back then, it would have been a matter of life and death.

  The girl next to Yamamoto was also sizing up the Chinese young man who was a head taller than herself. Meeting the girl's gaze, the Chinese young man nodded graciously and said, "This is my grandfather, welcome to China as our guests, I'm Dongdong." Dongdong emphasized the two words "as guests", implying that being a guest was okay, but being a thief was absolutely not allowed. The Japanese girl smiled slightly, bowed her head in greeting, and then stretched out her hand to say fluently in Chinese, "I'm Sakura, nice to meet you, it's really worth coming all the way here for my grandfather to meet your grandfather..."

  Under the influence of their grandchildren's friendly handshake, two old soldiers from the opposing sides also stepped forward and shook hands with each other. The war was over, China and Japan had made amends, and the eyes of the two old soldiers sparkled with excitement and complexity as they sat down on the folding chairs brought by Sakura and began to talk, reliving the brutal scene that had taken place in this valley years ago.