Chapter 21: The Great Fire in the Small Village

  When I woke up in the morning, the old man was still drowsy. I touched his forehead - very hot, the old man had a high fever. After checking the wound, it had become infected and suppurated. "Old man!" I gently called out to wake him up, helped him sit up and gave him some water to drink, saying: "Your wound is infected, where does the village doctor live? I'll go ask him to treat you." The old man said: "The village doctor's name is Atei, he lives in the west of the village..." "Then I'll go find him now." After finishing speaking, I got up and was about to go look for the doctor.

  "Hold on!" The old man stopped me. "Change your clothes, look at your clothes all bloody and muddy, don't scare the villagers, and if someone asks who you are, just say you're a distant relative of the Ande family." "Is Ande your name?" I asked the old man. The old man nodded slightly. The old man instructed me to take out a light blue jeans and a cotton shirt with floral pattern from the closet. "These are my son Lala An's clothes, put them on, he's not as tall and big as you, it might be a bit small, just make do for now." The old man said to me. "Uh-huh!" I went to the bathroom to wash up quickly, then after changing into Lala An's clothes, I walked out of Old Man Ande's house in a hurry, heading straight west towards the village.

  The village was built on a mountain and wasn't very big. After asking villagers, I quickly found Dr. Atai's home.

  Dr. Atai is about 50 years old, not very tall, with dark skin and a kind face. He speaks in a gentle tone. When he heard that Old Man Ande was injured, he immediately picked up his medical bag and rushed to Old Man Ande's home with me. On the way, Dr. Atai asked me how Old Man Ande got hurt. I told him it was from being pierced by a tree branch while hunting, but he didn't ask for further details and I didn't elaborate. After arriving at Old Man Ande's home, Dr. Atai first gave him an injection to reduce fever, then carefully cleaned his wound with antiseptic solution.

  "Mr. Anderson, how careless you are! Look at this foot injury, it's so severe that it'll probably take three to five months to heal. From now on, you must be extremely careful and not go out alone again. You're already over 70 years old, after all. God bless you, if anything serious happens to you, I won't know how to explain it to Vera." Dr. Atai said with a reproachful tone to Mr. Anderson.

  Mr. Andrey said, "Nothing, nothing, just a minor injury, no need to make a fuss, it'll be fine in a few days." Dr. Atai said, "It's not like you think, look at this foot injury, I'm sure it will leave a residual disability, but...but even if it does, it's good that you won't be able to go hunting alone again." Mr. Andrey knew that Dr. Atai was just talking out of anger, so he smiled and said, "No way, no way, I dare to bet with you that I'll be able to get out of bed and walk in half a month, do you believe me?"

  Dr. Atai said, "May Buddha bless us, that would be the best!" After bandaging my wound, Dr. Atai left some medicine for me and told me, "Young man, give these medicines to Uncle Ande at the right time. If he still has a fever tonight, call me and I'll come over to give him another injection." Dr. Atai then handed me his mobile phone, saying, "Uncle Ande doesn't have a phone, so you can borrow this one for now. My number is the first one on the list." I said to Dr. Atai, "Thank you, Doctor, but there's no need to lend me your phone. Uncle Ande's house isn't far from yours anyway, it's just a short walk."

  Atai thought for a moment and said, "Alright, then let's work harder!" Old Man Ande said, "Okay, Atai! I'm fine, you have a lot on your plate at home, so go back first. Don't worry about things here." Dr. Atai nodded and said, "Alright, then I'll head back first. Remember to take good care of your injury." "Don't worry... don't worry... Hai'er, help me see Dr. Atai off." Old Man Ande waved at me and said. At first, I didn't react in time, but when I saw Old Man Ande smiling at me, I understood that Hai'er was a temporary name he had given me. I quickly nodded and sent Dr. Atai off.

  After sending off Dr. Ate, I returned to the room and said to Old Man An: "Old man, you called me Hai'er and I almost didn't react!" Old Man An smiled and said: "I was testing your reaction ability, huh, not bad, still quite sensitive. How do you like the name 'Hai'er'?" "It's pretty good!" I nodded and said. Old Man An said: "Actually, when I call you Hai'er, it's also because I hope your heart is as vast as the sea, able to overcome any difficulties, and conquer everything." "Thank you, Old Man," I asked, "Do you want to know my real name?"

  Mr. Ande said, "No need, no need, a name is just a code, it's fine to call you Hai'er." I thought to myself, it's better that Mr. Ande doesn't know my real name, or else it would cause unnecessary trouble later on. I smiled and said to Mr. Ande, "Alright then, from now on I'll be your distant relative Hai'er." Mr. Ande burst out laughing.

  In the evening, Andrei's fever came down. After dinner, we sat together and chatted. From our conversation, I learned that Andrei had served in the army for 18 years, during which he fought on the front line in a chaotic and war-torn environment, experiencing countless battles, making him a true iron-blooded soldier. Andrei has a son and a daughter, his daughter Vera immigrated to Bangkok, Thailand many years ago, and his son Larisa passed away unexpectedly 20 years ago, shortly after which Andrei's wife also left this world due to lung disease.

  After leaving the troops, Uncle Ande has been living alone in this small village. When talking about Lala An, Uncle Ande said with some sadness: "Hai'er, you know, when Lala An passed away that year, he was just as old as you are now, smart, honest and capable, you know, all the young men of our country have to serve in the army for at least two years, Lala An is no exception, but I myself suffered a lot from war, so I didn't let him take the path of a professional soldier. After Lala An returned from the army, he did some foreign trade export business on his own, and his career was also developing well..."

  "What happened to Lala An?" I asked Uncle Ande. Uncle Ande said, "That day, Lala An's good friend, who was also Atei's younger brother, got into a fight with someone and Lala An went to mediate, but ended up being stabbed in the spleen by the other side and lost his life." I consoled him, saying, "Sorry, Uncle, for bringing up your sad past again. Since Lala An has been gone for so many years, you shouldn't be too sorrowful about it anymore."

  Uncle Ande chuckled and said, "It's okay, Hai'er, you don't have to persuade me. I'm not the kind of person who gets stuck in emotions." I asked Uncle Ande, "Why didn't you follow your daughter to Bangkok to live, but instead chose to live alone in this small village?" Uncle Ande smiled and said, "As people get older, they shouldn't bother their children anymore. Besides, it's nice to be free and easy-going. After being a soldier for a lifetime, I'm afraid of being controlled! Haha..." "Uncle, your philosophy is really interesting..." I nodded with a smile. "Dr. Atei is a good person!" Uncle Ande said, "Yes, Atei is a good kid. He's always felt guilty about Lala An's death, so he's taken care of me over the years, especially after his younger brother passed away." Then, Uncle Ande spoke in a mysterious tone, "Actually, there's another important reason why Atei takes care of me - it's because of Vera."

  "What's going on?" I asked. Old Man Andre smiled and said, "Ate and Vila have been close since childhood, their feelings for each other are very good, and when they grew up, they even started talking about marriage, but later due to various reasons, the two unfortunately did not end up together, however, Ate still regards me as his father in his heart." "Oh! So that's what it is!" I said with a smile.

  Ande's injury recovered very quickly, and after more than half a month, he was able to walk with the help of a cane. During this period, I took good care of Ande while thinking about how to change my difficult situation. Bantian Long is now making waves in the army, but I can only struggle in this unfamiliar small village, unable to do anything about his evil deeds. Every night, I couldn't fall asleep, and I kept telling myself that I must persevere, I must kill Bantian Long with my own hands, I must clear my name, and I must win the final victory of the war. However, whenever I thought about my current situation, I would lose heart. Sometimes I would even say to myself in despair, "If it's really not possible, then just hide in this small village for the rest of my life." But as soon as I heard myself say such irresponsible and cowardly words, I would slap myself hard on the face.

  Later, Old Man Andre saw something in my expression and advised me not to be impatient and anxious, but to face the difficulties in front of me with optimism. Old Man Andre was a wise man, he didn't know my true identity or what I had encountered, but his words always touched my heart and encouraged me. Every day, he would tell me stories about his time in the army, teaching me how to find survival and victory in adversity. Sometimes, to help me relieve my mental distress, Old Man Andre would take me to the pond behind the house to fish. Days passed by, and before I knew it, I had been in this small village for a month.

  "Fire... fire..." On this day, I and Old Man Andre had just returned from fishing when we suddenly heard someone shouting for help. Old Man Andre anxiously said to me: "Hai'er, go take a look at what's happening." "Uh-huh!" I quickly followed the sound. It turned out that a gas stove in one of the village households had exploded, and the fire was spreading rapidly. A child under three years old was trapped inside. The flames were fierce, and the heat near the fire was unbearable. The village didn't have good firefighting equipment, so they could only rely on manual water splashing to put out the fire. Amidst the crackling sound of the fire, the child's crying voice could be faintly heard. The child's mother was crying her heart out, but everyone was at a loss for what to do and could only desperately carry water to fight the fire. I saw that the situation was urgent and didn't have time to think twice. I quickly grabbed a blanket from a nearby household, soaked it in water, and prepared to rush into the fire scene. Just then, Doctor A Tai grabbed me: "Hai'er, what are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" "Can't worry about that now, saving people is more important!" I said, using the blanket to cover my head and rushing into the fire scene.

  Inside the fire scene, thick smoke filled the air, and I couldn't stop coughing. Looking at the house that had become a sea of flames, I didn't have a better way out, so I steeled myself and rushed in, guided by the sound of the child's crying, hoping to be lucky enough to rescue her. Outside the fire scene, people were shouting... "Child, where are you? Don't be afraid, Uncle is here to save you!" I shouted loudly as I ran towards the direction of the crying sound. The fire was getting bigger and bigger, and at some point, the child's crying stopped. I immediately realized that the child had been suffocated by the thick smoke. I quickened my pace, desperately searching, and finally found her in a corner of the wall. Seeing that the child hadn't suffered any external injuries and still had a pulse, my heart finally calmed down. I hugged the child tightly and ran wildly towards the door amidst the thick smoke and flames. But just as we were about to reach the door, it suddenly collapsed with a loud crash. In extreme desperation, I leaped onto the windowsill with the child in my arms, kicking the burning window frame with all my might while shouting loudly for the villagers to come and rescue us.

  "Haier... come out quickly..." The villagers shouted loudly. Ka ka... the window frame was finally kicked open a gap. "Catch the child!" I shouted, throwing the child out of the window to the waiting villagers below. After catching the child, the villager quickly ran to one side to administer first aid, while others brought basins and buckets of water, continuously pouring it towards my location, intending to help me escape the fire. The blanket on my body had already started burning at this moment, looking at the window surrounded by fierce flames, I shook off the blanket, retreated a few steps, took a deep breath, sprinted a few steps and jumped out of the window. But... just as I was about to get up and escape to a safe area, a piece of burning waterproof canvas fell onto my left leg.

  At that moment, my left pant leg suddenly caught fire, the oil in the oilcloth mixed with the burning pant leg and tightly wrapped around my left leg, a sharp pain spread from my calf to my whole body. The villagers kept pouring water on me, but the fire on my leg didn't seem to be extinguished at all, just as I was about to burn my leg into charcoal, Dr. Atai loudly called out to the villagers: "Bury Haier's leg in the ground..." Hearing Dr. Atai's call, the villagers quickly dug a hole and covered my left leg with soil.

  The flames on my leg were soon extinguished. Atai said to me, "Endure the pain, I'll help you tear off the oilcloth on your leg now, if we're late it will be hard to deal with." At this moment, my whole body was already soaked in sweat, I gritted my teeth and nodded fiercely. The process of tearing off the oilcloth was extremely painful, when the last piece of oilcloth was torn off, I suddenly fainted from the pain.

  "Our medical conditions here are too poor, we must send Hai to Fanming City for treatment, otherwise his leg will not be saved." "I'm afraid it's too late, Hai's leg injury can't wait until Fanming City is rescued, use the local method." When I woke up, I only heard Atai discussing with Old Man Ande how to treat me. "Old Man Ande..." I shouted loudly while propping myself up. Old Man Ande and Atai walked into the room upon hearing my voice. "Old Man Ande, you know that I am a warrior, I cannot lose my leg!" I said to Old Man Ande with tears in my eyes. Old Man Ande helped me lie down and firmly told me: "Don't worry, child, I will definitely save your leg..."

  Three days later, my left calf had swollen to twice its normal size, with yellow pus and sweat constantly oozing out of the gauze wrapped around it. Looking at my leg which had already started to rot, I asked myself: "Is it really going to be crippled like this?" At that moment, Old Man Andre walked in holding a glass bottle. "Old Man Andre, look at my leg, it's already starting to rot, is it really impossible to save it?" Old Man Andre said: "How could that be? I told you, I will definitely save your leg, take a look at what I brought." I looked at the bottle and saw many dark-colored granules inside. "What is this?" I asked.

  "Maggots!" said Old Man Andor. "Maggots?" I repeated, puzzled by his words. Old Man Andor said, "Yes, maggots, the eggs of flies." "You're not going to use maggots to treat my leg, are you?" I asked. Old Man Andor smiled and said, "It's an old method for treating burns." "No way...Old Man Andor, maggots are scavengers, they'll eat me down to the bone!" Old Man Andor said, "Don't worry, we're using their scavenging nature to our advantage. Trust me, it won't harm you." I looked into Old Man Andor's determined eyes and nodded, saying, "Alright, let's give it a try!"

  Mr. An De helped me unwrap the gauze on my leg, and then scattered the maggots on my leg. After more than half a day, the maggots hatched one by one and began to eat the rotten flesh on my leg. It's strange to say that those maggots only ate the rotten and corrupted meat, not biting the good meat around, and once they ate to the fresh blood and meat on my leg, they stopped eating and turned to eat other rotten meat. Their excrement also contained highly effective antibacterial salts, which greatly accelerated the healing of my leg injury. Three days later, my calf had completely subsided. In the following days, Dr. Ate treated my leg with meticulous care. A month later, the burn on my calf had healed.

  Time flies, and before I knew it, deep autumn has arrived. I have decided to leave the village and restart my battle...

  When Uncle Andre heard me say I was leaving, he said to me with a heavy heart: "Child, you are a brave warrior and should return to your own battlefield, but now you are surrounded by enemies and should not stay alone in the jungle to fight. I suggest going to the city, where it is easier for you to hide, survive and fight. If you agree with my suggestion, I can arrange for a vehicle to take you to Bangkok and have Vera arrange a place for you to stay." "No, Uncle Andre, Vera and her family are ordinary people and cannot be brought into unnecessary trouble because of me." I rejected Uncle Andre's suggestion. Uncle Andre said: "You don't have to worry about bringing disaster to Vera and her family, since I'm sending you there, I will definitely make arrangements." "No, I still think it's not suitable..." Uncle Andre asked: "Child, do you have any other concerns?" I shook my head. Uncle Andre said: "Alright, since there are no other concerns, things are settled, and we should not delay, let's set off tonight."

  Before leaving Manzhou, I looked at Dr. Ate and the child he had saved earlier again, without telling them that I was going to leave the village.

  At night, after I finished packing my luggage, Old Man Andre took out a finely crafted dagger from the wall cabinet. He said to me: "This dagger represents the highest honor of our country's warriors, today I give it to you, hoping that you can defeat all your enemies!" I took the dagger from Old Man Andre's hand, and saw that the blade was shining with a cold silver light. "Old man, this is an honor bestowed upon you by your country, I cannot accept it!" Old Man Andre said: "This is a warrior's honor, not my honor! A warrior's 'honor' is not a work of art to be placed in a showcase for people to admire, but should be used to shed blood on the battlefield! Take it, kid! Use it to continue your fight!" "Yes!" I solemnly put the dagger into my luggage, stood up straight, gave Old Man Andre a standard military salute, and then boarded the truck, disappearing into the night...