The second volume enters the tiger's lair

  Enter the tiger's lair alone

  The monk lay on the bed, and as soon as he closed his eyes, the scene of the tiger cub's mother being disembowelled and the infant exposed outside appeared before him. The tiger cub was torn apart alive, and fresh blood stained the ground red. The villagers of Peach Blossom Ridge were slaughtered, their corpses scattered all over the ground in a tragic scene. He knew that the vengeful spirit squad did not yet have the power to contend with the devils, but he could no longer bear it, he did not want to wait, and now he wanted to take revenge for the tiger cub, for the unborn infant, and for the unarmed villagers of Peach Blossom Ridge who were slaughtered. He opened the door and slipped out of the military camp while Yun Xiang was not paying attention.

  After the Japanese ammunition was bombed and the Kempeitai headquarters was destroyed, Linping became heavily guarded, with strict checks on everyone entering and leaving. Chi Tien and Shang, carrying a bowl and wearing a cassock, reciting Buddha's name, mixed into Linping. After arriving in Linping, he realized that not only did he not know how to assassinate Yoshio Kikawa, but also had no idea what Kikawa looked like or where he was. He wandered aimlessly on the streets of Linping, unsure of where to start. A group of Japanese soldiers approached, chattering in a language he couldn't understand. He wanted to grab one and interrogate him, but was afraid of not understanding the devil's language. Frustrated, he sat down on a stone by the roadside, thinking about where to start. A commotion caught his attention - a few Japanese devils had not only robbed a cigarette-selling girl of her cigarettes but also insulted her, and when bystanders spoke up for her, they were surrounded and beaten, with blood flowing from their heads and scars all over. As the Japanese devils swaggered away, Chi Tien and Shang went to help the injured man and the cigarette-selling girl. The girl first thanked the injured man for speaking up for her, then spat in the direction of the departing Japanese devils and said: "These conscienceless things, good Chinese people won't do them, but they insist on serving as dogs for the little devils, bullying Chinese people."

  The monk asked: "What kind of people are these? They're so ruthless, and no one does anything about it?"

  "The injured person said: 'Who cares? Even the Hubei Provincial Garrison is better, they don't bully ordinary people. But those two sons of Wang ** are different, they're not human beings. They see something good to eat and take it, see something valuable and snatch it. If you dare to reason with them, if things go well, they'll beat you up and chase you away. If things go badly, they'll label you a counter-revolutionary, and in the worst case, you might even lose your life. Alas, how can we ordinary people survive in these times?'"

  For the assassination of Yoshio Gikawa, the foolish and crazy monk suddenly had an idea and thought: "Why not do it this way."

  Today is the 30th of the lunar year, but Linping City is not bustling. Every household closed their doors early, and occasionally there would be one or two firecrackers exploding, causing the nearby dogs to bark wildly. Chi Tien, a monk with a black cloth covering his face, hid in the alley opposite the Imperial Army Command Center, watching the movements inside. Finally, someone came out alone, and he was overjoyed, quietly following him. Suddenly, there was a muffled hum, and everything returned to silence.

  In a secluded place, the foolish monk was still wearing a black scarf over his face, holding a dagger in his hand and whittling on a wooden stick, looking at the fake soldier who was tied up and slowly waking up. The fake soldier looked at the foolish monk in front of him, then looked around at his surroundings, he knew that retribution had arrived. He struggled to turn over and knelt down in front of the foolish monk, shouting: "Great hero spare my life, great hero spare my life, I also was forced into this situation, only then did I put on this traitor's uniform. As long as the great hero spares me, I will immediately take off this traitor's uniform and from now on turn over a new leaf, no longer doing evil."

  The monk stared at him coldly, not saying a word. The fake soldier became even more panicked, knocking his head on the ground and saying: "Great hero, spare my life! I have elderly parents above me and infants below me who are waiting to be fed. If you kill me, it's like killing my whole family, great hero!" He begged for mercy with a mixture of tears and snot.

  The monk kicked him with a look of impatience and said, "Shut up. I'm asking you, do you know Hideto Yoshikawa?"

  That fake soldier was taken aback and said: "Kikawa Hideo? Are you talking about the butcher of Taohuajing, that inhuman devil?"

  The monk's eyes gleamed with excitement as he said: "Exactly, it's him. Do you know where he is? Tell me."

  His eyes gleamed with a hint of unnoticeable light, and he relaxed, saying: "If you're looking for that beast, then you've found the right person. This little devil, he's not human, he's a demon. I didn't see how miserable Peach Blossom Ridge was, but I saw him tie up Chinese people to pillars and let the little devils practice stabbing them with bayonets. He said this could increase the little devils' courage and enhance their excitement for killing. Not to mention you, a great hero who worries about the country and its people, even me, a lowly dog wearing this dog skin, would love to tear him apart alive."

  The monk's eyes lit up with excitement, and he hastily untied the rope from the fake soldier. Apologetically, he said: "Sorry, brother, I didn't know you were also a chivalrous hero. I was wrong to offend you earlier, please forgive me. May I ask how to address you?"

  The fake soldier hastily clasped his fists and said: "I don't dare, I'm not worthy. May I ask how the great hero is called?"

  The foolish monk pulled down his face cloth and said: "I, the foolish monk, am not a great hero, but just a monk. I hope Brother Hao will show me the way to avenge my dead fellow villagers by killing the villainous Kijiyama."

  Hao Laiyun smiled and said: "Don't worry, Master, I'll take care of this. I'll definitely lure out Yoshida Hideo and let you avenge the villagers of Taohua Ridge."

  The foolish monk was overjoyed, he pulled Hao Laiyun's hand and said: "Great, great." Suddenly remembering his identity, he made a single-handed salute and said: "Amitabha, good, good, if Mr. Hao can really achieve this, it will be a meritorious deed, the Buddha will surely bless you with peace."

  Hao Laiyun asked again: "If we really lure out Old Devil Ji, where can I find Master?"

  The foolish monk said bluntly: "I am staying at the Auspicious Cloud Inn."

  Chihun and Shang returned to the Xiangyun Inn and soon fell into a deep sleep. He dreamed that Hao Laiyun had brought out Yoshikawa Toshihiko, who knelt before him. With tears of joy streaming down his face, he laughed loudly and drew his steel knife, hacking wildly at Yoshikawa. But as the knife struck Yoshikawa, it suddenly broke, and Yoshikawa stood up, charging towards him. He let out a loud cry and woke up with a start. Looking out the window, he saw that dawn was breaking, with a faint fish-belly white hue in the eastern sky. The sun would be rising soon. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he lay back down, lost in thought about the dream he had just had. He didn't know whether it was a good or bad omen, but simply savored every detail of the dream until the windowpane was tinged with a faint crimson light.

  Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and the monk asked alertly, "Who?"

  The person outside the door said: "Master, it's me, Hao Laiyun. Open the door quickly."

  The foolish monk hesitated not a moment in opening the door, and when he did, he was shocked. Outside stood Hao Laiyun with a group of little devils, guns trained on him. Hao Laiyun pressed his gun against the monk's temple, laughing wickedly as he said: "Master, we meet again! Slept well? I didn't want to disturb you in the middle of the night, but it would have been better if you'd come with us to the constabulary to spend New Year's together. How about coming along now?"

  The foolish monk regretted listening to the dog's lies, but now that things have come to this, how can he escape? He thought to himself and said: "Master Hao, what is the meaning of this? Yesterday, I merely begged you for some alms, why must we resort to violence?"

  Hao Laiyun suddenly turned vicious and said: "You old thing, begging for alms? You're begging for a death wish, aren't you? If I hadn't been able to talk my way out of it last night, I'd probably be standing here today, already sent on my way by you. Shut up, get lost." As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed the foolish monk.

  Just as Hao Laiyun grabbed the crazy monk, the crazy monk pushed away Hao Laiyun's gun, stretched out his hand to hug him, snatched his pistol and fired at the devils outside the door. The little devils quickly dispersed and returned fire. Hao Laiyun never dreamed that this would be the result, he shouted in terror: "Don't shoot, don't shoot." But the little devils didn't care about their dog, before he finished shouting, he was shot into a hornet's nest by the little devils. The crazy monk fired his gun as he retreated to the window, threw Hao Laiyun's body at the devils, turned over and climbed out of the window, a bullet hit his thigh, he let out a low hum, fell outside the window.