Volume 2: Crisis Acceptance Chapter 32: Water and Fire Have Been Crossed

  "Let me out! Let me out!"

  Because he refused to accept the Han language training task arranged by the Kwantung Army, Huo Que was locked up. He didn't know where his spirit came from, and he had been locked up for three whole days, but he kept shouting loudly all the time.

  Hong Ya called out to the Red Crow as he followed himself into the Crow Cave, assigning defensive tasks to Huo Ya. When he shouted even more fiercely and upgraded to insults, Hong Ya felt that his fellow villager was a bit too much, just opening his mouth to scold Huo Ya, but was pulled back by Chuan Qi.

  "Just because you can speak Chinese, you come to lead my Crow Team. That pockmarked police chief is a native-born Shina person, which sentence of Chinese doesn't he say smoothly? Why not let him be the head of the Crow Team instead? You damn fool, knowing that I hate those square characters the most, yet forcing me to take this lesson. Isn't this making things difficult for me? I'm Japanese, why do I need to learn Chinese; not understanding it doesn't prevent me from being a special agent."

  Teng Chuan, who was in charge of guarding the sealed room, knew that Huo Luan's outburst was intentional. He wanted to stop him by banging on the door, but Chuan received a signal from Qián Jī, indicating that he should let Huo Luan continue scolding.

  "River Horse, what makes you think you can lead the Crow Team? Is it because of your good shooting skills or because your darts fly fast? You only know some Chinese and yet you come to lead my Fire Crow. What kind of logic is this? My Fire Crow can shoot down flying swallows with our guns and pierce through willows at a hundred paces with our darts; we keep watch in all directions, listen in all eight directions, no one can confuse our senses. Just because you know some Chinese, you think you're the big boss, and I'm just Wang Er? You've got another thing coming!"

  The fire crow did not curse the river knight, but instead shouted loudly: "Shut up!" The red crow also couldn't bear it anymore and thought that this time his little shoes were worn out. In order to make this kid behave, the red crow yelled at him.

  "It's Big Brother, I thought you were afraid of the Kuihua cavalry and didn't even come to see your little brother." Huo Ya calmed down.

  "Your thunder on the ground will soon be gone," Hong Ya shouted. "How dare you scold your superior?"

  Huāng Yào said: "Apart from you, big brother, no one else should come and go as they please!"

  "The crow sighed and said: 'You are really beyond salvation.'"

  Huā yā dào: "Wú kě jiù yào de shì chuān qí, tā píng shén me lǐng dǎo wū yā duì? Shì qiāng fǎ hǎo, hái shì zěn me de?"

  Chuan Qi finally couldn't help but speak up. However, he didn't want to argue with the other person, so he directly assigned tasks to him and gave him a high hat.

  "This team has long known that the Huo Ya brothers' marksmanship is top-notch. In the special high-level course and in the espionage war with the enemy, they have repeatedly emerged victorious, having saved the lives of Imperial Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel Daisa, especially the life of Shinjuku Jun, who was hailed as the new star of the Itagaki Corps. However, compared to the big shot you need to protect this time, these people are really not worth mentioning. If this big shot is a tiger, then Shinjuku Jun and others can only be considered as mere tiger's fur. Therefore, Huo Ya, your 'gun can shoot down flying swallows, and your arrow can pierce through 100 paces' special abilities will all come in handy, especially your 'eyes observing four directions, ears listening to eight sides' extraordinary functions. The hero finally has a chance to show off his skills."

  At this time, Teng Chuan had already opened the sealed room and released Huo Luan.

  "What you're saying is true?" Huo Ya stared at Chuan Qi and asked, as if suspecting that the other was joking with him.

  He handed over the telegram from the Japanese side and stared at him, waiting for his reaction.

  When Guo Qi inquired about Huo Que, Chuan Ji thought this guy was a bit like Li Kui from the Chinese classic novel "Water Margin". So, sending the telegram was entirely his own foolish idea. Little did he know, Huo Que had a different understanding of the telegram.

  "How do you understand these four characters?" Huo Ya had a thoughtful and cautious expression, throwing the question first to Chuan Qi, wanting to test this person's abilities.

  Kawaki's understanding of Kawano Ryouko turned into his own thoughts, and he told it to Hinoe. He thought that the other party would look at him with different eyes. Unexpectedly, the other party shook his head and denied this answer.

  Kasumi said, "The 'Phoenix Born from Crow's Nest' means that this 'Phoenix' can only be born from the Crow's Nest, which is the nest of the Black Crows. The only possible 'Phoenix' that can be born from the Black Crows are Kuroba and Kawarano Ryoko. Now, Kuroba has gotten married. Therefore, this 'Phoenix' can only be Mizukami. Moreover, since the Phoenix followed Kuroba, it's impossible for it to suddenly change and come back to execute the mission of protecting important people."

  Chuan Qi did not expect that Huo Luan would have such a strong opinion about the telegram, and he felt a little guilty, but on the surface, he calmly denied his views.

  "Protecting this big shot requires the Crow Team's best partner. And the Crow Team's best partner is none other than Fire Phoenix. So stop nitpicking. Unless..."

  "Unless I'm a coward, afraid of death and making excuses." Huo Ya snatched the words from Chuan Qi's mouth, sneering: "Don't measure others with your own petty heart."

  Chen Qi felt that this was an unconvincing role, and although he was gritting his teeth inwardly, he said calmly on the surface: "Is there a more reasonable match for the Crow Team to complete such a daunting defense mission?"

  Kasumi let out a cold laugh, raised her head to the sky, and didn't even glance at Kawahara, asking: "Aren't you the chief Chinese expert of the Imperial Japanese Army's Itagaki Division? I suppose you only know that water and fire don't mix?"

  He saw him making a fool of himself and sneered, "Can water and fire really coexist?"

  "Know what's called self-righteousness?"

  This is exactly the loudest sentence asked on the day when Chuanqi set fire to the first fire, and Huazhen actually used it on himself with his own way. So, he sarcastically said: "You still remember this idiom, it seems that these three days of confinement were not in vain."

  The fire crow lowered its head and looked down on the river horse, saying: "Self-righteousness is superficial at best, to put it bluntly, it's only knowing one side without knowing the other."

  The river knight saw the fire crow being so arrogant and thought to himself, "I don't believe that I won't be able to subdue you with Chinese training. Just wait and see. There will come a time when you'll have to obey me."

  Huānguī saw Chuan riding a horse and not speaking, thinking he had already restrained himself, so he changed his tone and said: "Let's make a gentleman's agreement, bet on this telegram?"

  "What kind of bet is this?"

  "Hey, if you're gonna get it wrong, don't bother giving me any more Chinese lessons!"

  "What if you're wrong?"

  Huānguà said with confidence: "Triple the training tasks, read one Tang poem every day, and write 6 Chinese characters."

  Chuan Qi thought, you really are an ant trying to shake a big tree, overestimating your own strength. He said, "It's settled with just one word."

  Huā yā immediately alleviated his hostile emotions towards Chuan Qí, and surprisingly became childishly playful, hooking fingers with him to pull each other.

  At this time, Mizukawa Nokō came rushing into the cave to find Kawahi and reported that the situation had changed.

  "Has the mission been cancelled?"

  Kawano Ryoko said: "No, it's a telegram with changes."

  Kawaki was taken aback, and reflexively glanced at Hinoe, who gave him a sly smile, looking quite pleased with himself. Feeling somewhat guilty, he immediately took the telegram from Kawano Ryoko's hand and read it.

  Just one glance, Chuanji's eyes widened in shock, and the telegram suddenly changed into four words:

  "Safe and sound"