Chapter Thirty-Six: Enduring Humiliation and Bearing Heavy Responsibilities

  To endure humiliation and bear heavy responsibility

  That night, Geng Xiwang stayed in the room of Qi Guojiang, and he had his guards bring fine wine and delicacies. Qi Guojiang reluctantly sat on a stool, and with Ye Zichun, they toasted each other, their joy overflowing. As midnight approached, a thick fog enveloped the military camp.

  Geng Xi Wang pushed open the window and looked out at the thick fog: "In the middle of winter, how can there be such a big fog?" He turned his head back and took another look at Ye Zi Chun and Qi Guo Jiang, who were lying drunk on the table. He muttered to himself: "Sleep, when you wake up, all your troubles will disappear." He seemed to understand the two men's emotions very well, because he had gone through it himself. He was framed by the Japanese and forced to surrender, using all his energy to withdraw the cooks from the cooking class one by one, and then inserting the Japanese fishermen into the action team. Every day, he lived with his head in his hands. The pain of this experience was something he understood very clearly. He turned his head back and excused himself, thinking: "If they didn't have ulterior motives, how could I have coerced them? Is it their fault or mine?" Although he thought so, he still smiled bitterly. He whispered a few words to the two guards and then let out a long sigh as he walked out of the house.

  The fog was getting thicker and thicker, and a group of ghosts were floating in the thick fog of the military camp, drifting towards the cooking class of the second company. The Japanese spy, Hontada Masaji, who was hiding in the cooking class, sat on the bed with his legs crossed, deep in thought. He was thinking about every detail of this conspiracy, knowing that any slight mistake would lead to failure and cost him his life. When he felt that the entire plan was flawless, he opened his eyes and said to the spy standing guard at the door: "Tonight, two people are on duty, it's hard work." A faint sigh came from outside the door. Hontada Masaji's heart skipped a beat, and he leaned against the window to look out.

  The lamp emitted a faint light in the thick fog, and Honda Masaji saw through the glass window that a group of fierce ghosts were dragging a woman towards the door. The woman was still saying: "I was killed innocently, you didn't catch the murderer to punish him, but instead tortured me in every way, what justice is this?"

  A cow-headed fierce ghost, with a grasp of the woman's arm, made her let out a mournful cry. But then the cow-head said: "You this shrew, your various evil deeds from when you were alive, have you yourself forgotten? And yet you still dare to be so unruly, are you not going to enter the Tongue-Pulling Hell?" As he spoke, he took up the woman's ghostly arm which was dripping with blood and struck her with it. The woman's ghost was knocked to the ground, and said sorrowfully: "Return my arm, return my arm."

  The ox-headed man threw her arm in front of her and said, "If you want to nag again, pull off your head." Seeing the female ghost reconnecting her arm, he impatiently said, "Hurry up and go, King Yan is still waiting for a reply."

  Honda Masaji was so frightened that his legs went soft, and the two agents beside him were also trembling with fear. One of them held a gun aimed at the window outside. Honda Masaji hastily stopped him, saying: "Don't shoot, lest we miss the big thing. People and ghosts are different, what can they do to us?"

  As the onryo approached, a fragrant breeze blew in, and Hontani Masaji's body went limp and fell to the ground. The two agents beside him also collapsed. Hontani thought: "Is the ghost going to pass through here?" Then he fainted.

  Geng Xiwang walked out of the room and headed towards the 2nd battalion's command center. In the thick fog, a figure rushed towards him. He was shocked and thought to himself: "Not good, my plan may have been exposed." He immediately drew his pistol and aimed at the opponent. Just as he saw the opponent clearly, the opponent's gun fired, and he stumbled backward several steps, covering his wounded chest with his hand. Looking at the blood flowing out, he said in pain: "Battalion commander, why did you kill me?"

  The one who fired the shot was Huang Min. He saw Geng Xiwang, who had defected and betrayed his country, raise his gun at him, and without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. He led his troops to quickly surround the area. Huang Min looked at Geng Xiwang with disdain and said: "I won't kill you, will you let me go? Will you let the people of Lingfeng go, Commander Geng?"

  Pain and excessive blood loss caused Geng Xiwang to slowly kneel on the ground. His expression was already somewhat dazed, he shook his head forcefully, mustering up his spirit to say: "Barracks, seven people from the cooking class are all members of the Japanese fishing action plan, go quickly to capture them, or else there will be changes." He saw Qi Guojiang and Ye Zichun walking over, he pointed at the two with all his might saying: "Barracks, these two have suspicions of collaborating with the enemy, should immediately be controlled and investigated. I...I..." He spat out fresh blood from his mouth, powerlessly falling to the ground.

  His words made Huang Min's heart skip a beat, feeling that something was wrong, and he was about to ask. Just then, Geng Xi Wang's guard, Er Wa, broke free from the soldier who was holding him back, rushed to Geng Xi Wang's side and cried out: "Company Commander, Company Commander! Who killed the Company Commander? I'll fight to the death with whoever did it!"

  Huang Min felt that something was wrong and kicked Erwa, saying: "Tell me, what's going on with you guys selling out to the enemy?"

  The second child suddenly stood up and shouted at Huang Min: "You're talking nonsense, when did we ever betray our country?" Then he knelt down in front of Geng Xi Wang and shouted to the soldiers beside him: "Untie me quickly, untie me!" While shouting, he cried and pressed his face against Geng Xi Wang's face, shouting: "Company Commander, you can't die! Second child still wants to fight the devils with you. You said you'd avenge second child, but you're not keeping your promise. I hate you, get up quickly, Company Commander..." His hands were tied behind his back, and he could only use his head to nudge Geng Xi Wang's head, hoping to lift him up. The icy gravel scraped against his cheek, but he didn't care.

  In shock, Yezi Chun was the first to wake up. He shouted: "Quickly, lift up Erwa and untie him! Medic, medic, come quickly to bandage Commander Geng's wound!" As he spoke, he half-embraced Geng Xi Wang, using his hand to press against Geng Xi Wang's bleeding wound, waiting for the arrival of the medic.

  The untied second child first snatched Geng Xiwang from Yezi Spring's arms and hugged him, using his other hand to push Yezi Spring away, scolding: "Get out of here, you dog traitor. If Lianzhang really died, I'll skin you alive. Quickly capture this dog traitor. And him, he's also a Japanese spy." He pointed at another bodyguard of Geng Xiwang.

  Sunlight passed through the glass window of the infirmary and shone on Geng Xi Wang's pale face. After a night of emergency rescue, the bullet was finally removed from his body, pulling him back from the gates of hell. When the doctor said he was out of danger, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With the doctor's consent, Ye Zi Chun walked to Geng Xi Wang's side and said: "Old Geng, tell us what happened?"

  Geng Xiwang calmed down a bit and began to explain the situation. Half a month ago, a wealthy merchant from another place came to offer sacrifices to the heroes of the resistance war, bringing with him a large quantity of goods. Geng Xiwang had originally wanted to host a banquet in the military camp, but the visitor insisted on drinking with him outside the camp. Geng Xiwang couldn't decline, so he went along. After several cups of wine, he felt dizzy and fell into a deep sleep. When Geng Xiwang woke up, he found himself lying on an unfamiliar bed. Next to him sat a girl who was crying. The girl saw that Geng Xiwang had woken up and cried out: "You scoundrel, why did you have to ruin my innocence? How can I live with myself from now on?"

  Geng Xiwang knew he had fallen into a trap today, and thought to himself: "This plan is indeed a good one. If it were used on someone else, it would be effective every time. Unfortunately, when used on me, it's not so brilliant."

  Just as he was about to speak, the door burst open and four or five fierce-looking men rushed in. The girl saw them and cried even harder, sobbing: "Brother, today I was walking peacefully on the street when suddenly a drunkard appeared out of nowhere and dragged me here to ruin my reputation and sully my innocence. I'd rather die than be laughed at."

  The man who led the way in had a fierce glint in his eyes, and he said viciously: "Damn it, my Black Dragon's sister dares to bully you, do you think your life is too long? Speak up, how are we going to settle this?"

  Geng Xiwang thought to himself, "It seems that these people are not ordinary, why don't I take this opportunity to investigate their background and catch them all at once in the future." He pretended to be afraid and stammered, "I, I didn't..."

  Before he could finish speaking, the girl couldn't bear to be shy anymore, and wearing only her shorts and undershirt, she flipped over and slapped Ger Xi Wang's face with a loud smack. She opened her mouth and scolded: "You rascal, you've insulted my body, ruined my innocence, yet you don't take responsibility! Brother, I think we should tie him up and send him to the army camp, see what he has to say for himself? Also, give me justice!"

  Geng Xi Wang secretly laughed in his heart and said, "If you send me to the military camp, you'll be finished. Who doesn't know my reputation in the military?" But he pretended to be extremely frightened, grabbed Hei Long's hand, and trembled as he said, "Big brother, please don't send me to the military camp. Insulting women is punishable by decapitation according to military law. Whatever your demands are, just state them, and I'll definitely comply."

  A sly smile flashed across Hei Long's face as he said in a sinister tone, "Is that really true? Are you willing to do anything?"

  Geng Xiwang's voice was extremely pitiful as he said: "Big brother is really, really telling the truth, I've ended up like this, how could I still dare to lie?"

  Hei Long waved his hand, and his followers immediately placed two gold bars and a sharp dagger on the table. He walked to the side of the table, reached out to touch the gold bars and said: "Geng Lian Chang, here are beautiful gold bars and a sharp dagger, choose one."

  Geng Xiwang was quite surprised that Heilong knew his identity. Looking at the gold bars on the table, he thought to himself: "This is not good, they're offering two gold bars right off the bat, what a big spender. Who are these people?" He pretended to be overjoyed and reached out to take the gold bars, saying: "Of course I want the golden beauty. Who wouldn't go along with such a great opportunity?"

  Hei Long patted Ge Yun's shoulder and said: "Commander Ge, you are indeed a hero who knows the times. I hope our cooperation will be pleasant."

  Geng Xiwang repeatedly said: "That is that is." But after hearing Heilong's words, he couldn't help but be greatly shocked.