Chapter 27: The First Shot of the River and Horse

  After seeing off Meiko, Kawaki felt a pang in his heart like a cat's scratch. Especially when her slender figure gradually became a line and disappeared, he actually felt a sour nose and shed tears.

  Is it only when we lose something that we realize the importance of cherishing it? It seems like there's some forced attachment, a feeling that is hard to describe with the right words, a mix of pseudo-pain and pseudo-suffering.

  He couldn't bear it for a moment and kept thinking of ways to relieve the pressure, so he blurted out "Attention!"

  Most of the team members immediately lined up according to the order, while a few people lazily sat on the ground with their buttocks, rolling their eyes and completely ignoring this man who had hurt their captain's heart.

  That order was given, and even Lian Cheng couldn't believe that he had cleverly covered up his embarrassing tears in public with this method.

  He glanced at the team he had just taken over, deeply infuriated by the disobedience of Karasuma Chigusa and others. So he rushed over, raised his legs high and was about to kick them. However, he hesitated and didn't kick out.

  Gong Qi, who was leading the resistance, felt a little guilty for a moment and got up first, giving Chuan Ji a way out.

  "Attention! At ease!"

  This time, Chuan Qi really gave orders, looking at the team that finally stood in front of him, he lit up the first fire of his new official position: "Don't think that Hei Dui is gone, this Wu Ya Dui is just a certain person's world. Don't even think that Tu Ya left, this team is your next meal. I warn you, without fingernails, do I dare to peel garlic?"

  As he said this, the cavalry began to move their feet and inspect the troops like a general. When they arrived in front of Gong Qi, he suddenly shouted: "Crow out of line!"

  "Yes!" Gong Qi replied and stood up.

  He looked at him with a serious face, staring until the other party was flustered before shifting his gaze to say to everyone: "From this person's body language, I can see that the biggest problem with your team is extreme selfishness. From this person's experience, I can also sense that the greatest danger for your team is being self-righteous."

  Kawaki General Miyabi Kōri was there, walking back and forth in a circle, then spoke in a soft tone: "Please forgive me, before our team is truly accepted by the Crows, we can only refer to you as 'your team'. Because in your eyes, our team is an 'outsider' that's even more looked down upon than Yamamoto."

  He glanced at Gong Qi and continued, "Let me tell you a true story. Over a year ago, there was someone who worked with me in General Itagaki's mansion. This person wasn't ordinary, while others were tossed about on the sea and stumbled on land, this person traveled by air, sleeping on the special plane of Tōyama Kanken, eating many snacks, and before he knew it, arrived in Manzhouli."

  "Thanks to his relationship with his grandfather and General Itagaki, this person was trained in the 'old soil' after the war. Because he couldn't take it, he went to General Itagaki's mansion as a servant. Although he did humble work such as dressing the general, polishing his shoes, and serving him water for washing his feet, he was still the general's personal attendant, so naturally even Lieutenant-General Miura Toshiro wouldn't dare neglect him, let alone me, this lowly translator."

  When Kawaki was telling a story with relish, Kyōki's face suddenly changed, and his usually high head gradually drooped down. But Kawaki showed no mercy and continued to talk incessantly.

  The general was very concerned about this service soldier and could be said to regard him as his own. In order to train and temper him into a man, to give an account to the old friend, who was the servant's grandfather, he began to train his bravery, starting directly from killing people.

  Those Chinese people bound in the general's exclusive shooting range, all deserved to be killed for opposing the establishment of Manchukuo. To practice his marksmanship and avoid getting rusty over time, the general would occasionally kill a few Chinese people, just to satisfy his urge, and have them carry water and vegetables while washing away their gun cravings.

  That day, the Japanese who were sent over, the general prepared to clear out 1 or 2 for the service soldiers to practice their bravery. He took the brightly polished pistol from his bodyguard's hand and patted the chest of the service soldier saying: "Son, Grandfather will take you to fight."

  From the general's mansion gate, turn left and walk 50 meters to see a wall that can't be seen from head to toe. There are 30 tree stumps along the wall, each with bloodstains that have turned dark red, making the entire peeled stump look like it has been soaked in tung oil.

  The general kills people like drinking, when he is happy, he naturally wants to kill more, the most trees can't hold, so they have to hand over the extra Chinese to the guard team for detention, wait until the tree stump is empty and then tie it up again, and then "突突……".

  He, the old man, killed 49 Chinamen at most once, turning the entire scene into a gigantic red carpet. The nauseating bloody smell lingered over the general's mansion for more than a month without dispersing.

  This time, the least number of Chinese people provided by General Tōyama Kanken to satisfy the general's addiction was only 3. Therefore, he didn't need to use machine guns, rifles, and pistols in turn to satisfy his craving. Moreover, the service soldiers couldn't even use a pistol properly, let alone practice with a rifle or machine gun. So, the general only brought a pistol into the scene.

  He walked into the arena, and the general said "Yo" several times in a row. He habitually handed his pistol to his bodyguard, then put on his snow-white gloves again, took back the pistol, aimed for over 10-20 seconds, and fired after cocking the hammer. After firing, he immediately retracted the gun, blew the smoke off the barrel with a flourish, and handed it to the service soldier beside him, saying: "Son, the other two are yours."

  The soldier saw the head of the killed Chinese man tilt to one side and slump onto the tree stump, immediately followed by a jet of fresh blood spraying out like water from a hose, with some even splashing onto his own face. He was already frightened to the point of trembling all over, his mind a complete blank, so how could he have dared to take the gun from the general's hand? Therefore, the soldier did not take the gun, and it fell to the ground.

  "Get up, Sunzi!"

  The general felt somewhat urgent and stomped his foot and shouted. After the servant picked up the gun, he also stepped forward to correct his posture.

  "Fire! Fire!"

  The soldier trembled with fear under the general's roar, his hand holding the gun shaking non-stop, but the gun didn't fire. Instead, urine flowed out first. The ground beneath him was wet and a foul smell filled the air.

  "Fire! The Gong Qi family doesn't have a pig's bladder that can't be blown up!"

  The general was greatly disappointed and shouted loudly, constantly circling around the arena in an attempt to calm himself down.

  "Fire, son!"

  "Son, shoot!"

  This time, it was not the general who urged the service soldiers to move the plank machine, but those two Chinese people bound to the tree stump waiting to be killed. They looked down on the cowardly appearance of the service soldiers and burst out laughing.

  He ridiculed the Chinese who had never been considered human, how could this be? The general was furious and cursed loudly "Baga ya lu", snatched the gun from the servant's hand, kicked him away, raised his gun and fired several shots, completely silencing the laughter of the two Chinese.

  The performance of the service soldier made the general feel that if he continued to call him to stay by his side, this man would never have a chance to rise, and how could he explain it to Gong Qijun then? Therefore, on the same day, the general called Tudi, the head of the organization department, and "Old Tudi" handed over this incompetent person to the head of the Shanxi Datong Special High School, who was as thin as a monkey, and warned him that if he didn't turn this scrap iron into steel, he would have to give an explanation.

  …………

  Gong Qi listened to the end, and simply covered his ears with both hands, letting Chuan Ji talk nonsense. But Chuan Ji didn't want him to do so, walked over and pulled down his hands, then continued: "Brothers, you may not have expected that this service soldier who suddenly became a member of the Crow Team would pretend not to know me. What do you think, is he being reasonable or not?"

  Everyone shouted in unison: "Opportunistic!"

  He Qian said with a dry mouth and tongue, then stopped to swallow some saliva, and continued: "As for being self-righteous, there's no need for our team to repeat it."

  Gong Qi was thoroughly subdued by Chuan Ji, and with a thud, he knelt down.