Twenty-four

  Although it was a controlled medicine during the war, it didn't cost much money. A glass bottle of aspirin only cost 1 yuan and 80 cents. However, this was also considered an astronomical price at that time! To put it into perspective, in the suburbs of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, buying one mu (about 0.165 acres) of good farmland with a yield of 400 kg would only cost around 70-80 yuan. If you used this 1 yuan and 80 cents to have a big feast at a large restaurant in Tianmen County, eating chicken, duck, fish, and meat, for the five people on this trip, including Yan Wei, they might still have some change left over after two meals.

  Recalling the process of getting this "miracle medicine", Yan Wei couldn't help but secretly exclaim that today he was really lucky, but the process was indeed too unbelievable! While shaking his head and smiling, preparing to go to the hall to greet his subordinates, he suddenly realized that the environment seemed wrong! The man sitting at the door of the pharmacy, who seemed to be meditating with his eyes closed, appeared to have been sitting in the corridor of the clinic earlier. Looking again, his sturdy body and ruddy complexion didn't seem like someone who was sick and seeking medical attention either. And where does one find people constantly changing places to rest all over the hospital?!

  At this time, Yan Wei was most worried that he did not know whether the person had heard his conversation with the Japanese doctor in the clinic. If the person was a special agent sent by the Japanese military to guard the hospital and search for suspicious personnel, then he would undoubtedly be the most suspicious person!

  Yan Wei pretended not to notice and slowly walked to the front hall, gradually approaching You Lao Si and others. Before he arrived, Tan Guangxian couldn't bear it and stood up to welcome him, asking in a low voice: "Did you get it?"

  Yan Wei thought that since he was already being targeted, he might as well reveal himself and probe the situation to see how many people were involved. That way, even if things escalated later, he wouldn't be at a complete disadvantage.

  "Controlled drugs are not easy to deal with!" Yan Wei deliberately raised his voice and replied to Tan Guang, then sat directly on the long bench, pretending to be tired and leaning back against the chair to rest, while secretly scanning the surroundings.

  It was clear that Yan Wei's previous sentence had an effect, and a man in the corner of the wall exchanged a glance with the man who followed Yan Wei out, and immediately walked towards the door.

  "It seems I have to catch up and take action immediately!"

  Who would have thought that this man walked to the door but stopped and didn't leave, only taking out a cigarette box from his upper pocket and lighting a cigarette. Yan Wei suddenly understood that this was laying the foundation for a follow-up, it seems that the other party thinks it's not certain yet and doesn't want to make a move in this hospital.

  Everyone didn't understand whether Yan Wei had succeeded or not, and what he was waiting for while sitting here! Yan Wei still leaned back in his chair and whispered to Zhang Liao beside him: "Listen to me, don't look around with your eyes, and don't move your head. Later, you will drag Jiang Chen and Tan Guang out first, and the man smoking at the door will follow you. Find a place to kill them without making any noise! The most important thing is that after finishing, you must find a way to hide the bodies first! Then go to the small restaurant we passed by earlier, just at the entrance where they sell buns, Jiang Chen said he hasn't eaten buns for half a year.

  Zhang Liao understood what had happened after listening to half of it. He then stood up quietly, patted Jiang Zhen with his hand and said: "Get up, let's go." After that, he looked at Tan Guang again, hinting him to follow himself out.

  Two people saw Yan Wei still leaning his head against the back of the chair, staring straight up without any reaction. For a moment, it was unclear what had happened. Under Zhang Liao's repeated urging, he followed Zhang Liao out the door in confusion.

  As soon as Zhang Liao and his men left, the smoker followed closely behind. Yan Wei understood that his judgment was not wrong. At the same time, he deeply felt that the Japanese army must have been determined to get him! It was impossible for them to deploy a large number of troops in a radius of hundreds of miles to search the mountains. Therefore, they could only strictly control the transportation routes and key departments like hospitals, thinking that after two fierce battles, there must be casualties among his team members, hoping to find clues through this opportunity. It seemed that his opponent was not a mediocre person either. If it weren't for his own troops' excellent quality and equipment, as well as the help of Old Li and others, the current situation would be hard to say.

  "Is that the idiot pretending to be meditating in front of us?" Seeing Zhang Liao and others successfully lured away the person at the door, You Lao Si looked elsewhere and asked Yan Wei in a low voice.

  "Not bad, just this old brother. If it were someone else like Wu Hanhuai, I reckon they would have discovered it without even entering the door! In the end, it's still because we're not professional!" Yan Wei said while keeping his eyes fixed on the top, as if the roof was going to collapse at any moment.

  "This guy seems familiar, should be one of the scoundrels under that Zhou fellow at the city gate. What's going on? Can't do it, I'll take him out and settle this?" Hearing Old Fourth Yu say this, it seemed as if his passionate blood from back then had been rekindled once again.

  "You can't, he saw the medicine on me. Actually, it should be expected, a small county town, people who can afford to come in and out of this foreign clinic are just a few? They are all local snakes, and they can recognize an outsider at a glance! I'm thinking too simply. Listen to me, Old You, now I don't worry about anything, even if our mission fails completely! Our team has only over 80 people, including children. But your Youjia Village still has over 1,800 mouths to feed, old and young! As soon as we entered the city, we encountered that bastard Zhou, your Youjia Village is implicated! This time, little brother, I've thoroughly dragged you into this mess!"

  Lao Liu laughed and said: "I should have died ten years ago! Living until now is already a profit! In the end, it's just a mess! At worst, I, Old Lao, will die for the party and country, that's all! It won't drag down our entire village of Youjia. I also heard about the massacre in Nanjing last year, but I really don't understand, you say the Japanese army occupies and occupies, what's the point of massacring? Killing all the civilians! What's the use of occupying an empty city? Who will provide them with military rations?"

  Yan Wei scratched his scalp with both hands, then crossed them behind his head, still staring forward: "Nanjing is an unexpected surprise! First, the Japanese army's domestic manpower and supplies are all in short supply! In fact, they don't have the qualifications for a long-term large-scale war against China! They did this before in Guanwai and Lushunkou! The purpose is the same, to thoroughly crush the Chinese people's will to resist! To achieve the goal of not fighting but surrendering through bloody massacres! This trick was also used by our ancestors, Genghis Khan often did this when expanding his vast territory! Once they encountered a city that was difficult to break through, they would order their soldiers to plunder, rape and slaughter after breaking into the city! To boost morale and intimidate the world! But you know what? After he did this a few times, many cities that needed to be occupied later were taken without even drawing swords! The only condition for the defending generals to surrender was to ensure the safety of the city's civilians! In a sense, it can also be said that they used the smallest sacrifice to achieve the greatest peace in the future!"

  "Your theory sounds like it's from that traitor Zhou, doesn't it?" Lao Liu, an old hand at navigating the underworld, was facing danger but didn't take it to heart, and instead bantered with Yan Wei.

  "If Zhou's could understand, they wouldn't have to be slaves for others! However, the reason is this: after the Manchu entered the pass, they also did this in Jiangsu, killing Han people until their gallbladders were broken! But this time's Nanjing massacre was indeed somewhat out of control by the Japanese military high command! The slaughter at Nanjing may not have been the original intention of the Japanese mainland high command! The commander of the newly formed 11th Army, which fully directed the Battle of Wuhan, Okamura Yasuji, admitted that the development trend after the fall of Nanjing had almost lost control! Okamura himself was also extremely shocked and angry!"

  Moreover, the ones who took action first and killed the most people were not even regular Japanese soldiers! But rather the Chinese native army from Taiwan, a colony of Japan! People say that the Japanese military was brutal, but in Nanjing, it was our own Chinese people who killed the most and raped the most women! Who let our great Qing dynasty give Taiwan to Japan back then? Now we're suffering the consequences of our ancestors' mistakes! Take this Wuhan battle for example, the ones who broke through our military defense line first were still that Taiwanese army under Japanese command! They fought fiercely without holding back! The 27th Army Corps led by Yang Sen, a general from Sichuan, had tens of times more soldiers than the Taiwanese troops! But when they clashed, they were defeated immediately and lost control of Anqing city, which was heavily guarded, in just one night!

  "Taiwanese are so ruthless?" You Lao Si was clearly surprised by the combat effectiveness of the Taiwanese pseudo-military forces.

  "I'm even more ruthless! The more I talk, the angrier I get! Now I'll just go kill a traitor to vent my anger!" Yan Wei said and then got up and walked towards the door.

  You can tell without looking that the old brother who can close his eyes and cultivate his spirit at any time is following himself. After walking out of the clinic, Yan Wei looked around and didn't see a place where he could take action either. So he asked You Lao Si: "You're more familiar with this place than I am, find a place where we can take action."

  You old four didn't come to this county town for nothing, and it's not like he was more familiar with Yan Wei. He just made a point of entering every small alley and exploring every small hutong. Who would have thought that this small county town was actually quite prosperous? After exiting one small alley, you'd find yourself on a big street, and after leaving one small hutong, you'd still be surrounded by bustling crowds. After wandering around several streets, he couldn't find a good location to make his move. Just as he was getting frustrated, he walked into a dead-end hutong! Seeing that he had wandered into another useless place, he was about to turn back when You old four gave him a signal with his eyes. Following You old four's gaze, he saw that at the end of the hutong was an abandoned dry well, covered with piles of miscellaneous objects, which wasn't noticeable if you weren't paying attention.

  The remaining problem is how to get that old fellow behind to follow you in. A dead end that anyone can see, who would be foolish enough to follow you forward, isn't that just asking to be discovered?

  Lao Si leaned in close to Yan Wei and whispered, "Continue walking forward, find a secluded spot where we can hide."

  Yan Wei heard that there was no other way, so he had to continue walking with a hard heart. Unexpectedly, after just a few dozen steps, he saw that the wall of a house on his right hand side had collapsed, leaving a gap. Yan Wei glanced at You Lao Si with his eyes, and the two immediately understood each other. They walked together to the broken wall and stopped in their tracks. Yan Wei took out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to You Lao Si. As Yan Wei lit the cigarette for You Lao Si, You Lao Si took advantage of the opportunity to glance back while lighting his cigarette, and saw that the person following them had already stopped at the entrance of the alley and was no longer pursuing them. Seeing You Lao Si's gaze, he immediately turned his head and pretended to lean against the wall, looking out at the street scene.

  After taking a puff of the cigarette, You Lao Si raised an eyebrow and gave Yan Wei a signal. The two immediately slipped into the broken wall. You Lao Si spat out the cigarette and stomped it out with his foot, while his right hand reached for the bricks on top of the broken wall behind him.

  Here is the translation:

  And that traitor who was lurking at the entrance of the alley, in a split second, suddenly vanished into thin air! I was startled and broke out in cold sweat. I had been staking out this hospital for two days, and finally found a suspicious target, following him all the way to now. Right in front of me is this small alley, which can be seen from end to end with just one glance. How could he suddenly disappear into thin air? If he's gone, then I've been wasting my time! The reward promised by Captain Zhou will go down the drain! Without the reward, that little treasure in the courtyard tonight will belong to someone else! Thinking of this, this old brother couldn't care less about being exposed or not. He immediately took off running towards the end of the alley. This guy must be out of his mind! Two grown men can't just disappear into thin air on a sunny day, right? He's got to run over and make some noise!

  From a distance, the sound of footsteps quickly approached, Yan Wei looked at You Lao Si and smiled slightly, using his eyes to glance at the brick in You Lao Si's hand, then shook his head and smiled, indicating that he didn't need to take action himself.

  When he heard the footsteps approaching, Yan Wei suddenly took a big step to the right with his right leg! At the same time, relying on his height and length, his right arm swiftly stretched out like lightning towards the target's neck! All that was heard was a "gasp" as this guy instinctively let out a stifled cry from his throat before being tightly pinched by Yan Wei's eagle-like tiger claws around his trachea! At the same time, he quickly retreated and pulled back with his right arm, already dragging this slender southern youngster into his grasp!

  The poor guy was about to use his small arms and legs to defend himself, but Yan Wei grabbed his thick hair on the back of his head with his left hand, and with a burst of force from his right arm, "Plop!" He swung him back against the wall of the house next door. His left hand grasped his hair, and he smashed the back of his head against the wall with six consecutive loud bangs! The wall behind was already splattered with blood and brains everywhere! Red and white splatters flew out as Yan Wei's arms relaxed, and as he slumped down the wall, his entire body went limp.

  At the moment when Wei was about to let go, Lao Si said in a low and somewhat angry tone: "Are you satisfied? Have you vented your anger?"

  Looking at the chaotic murder scene, Yan Wei only realized that there was no one else who killed like him! Such a killing, if you want to destroy the body, it's easy, but if you want to erase the evidence, it's not that simple! He couldn't help but feel that he still had many shortcomings.

  At this time, he suddenly heard a slight sound coming from the left upper position! The two of them almost simultaneously raised their heads to look up, and saw that the sound was coming from the broken wall of the house next door, where the wooden attic window on top of the flat house was creaking. The situation had become clear, even if his killing earlier hadn't been fully witnessed by anyone, it must have been seen in fragmented glimpses, clearly exposing his tracks!

  Xun Yu and the old fourth had a tacit understanding, with just a slight nod to himself, Yan Wei swooped up two steps, like a large Peng bird, and sprang onto that wooden attic!

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