Chapter 22: The Army Hospital, Zhibang Kills the Devil

  "Zhāo Zhì Bāng, Zhāo Zhì Bāng..." It was early in the morning when Lei Zhengsheng shouted outside Zhao Zhibang's room, but there was no response after several calls. He felt something was off and pushed open the door. The quilt on the bed had not been opened, still in its original state. Lei Zhengsheng's heart skipped a beat: "It seems he left last night. I hope this little rascal doesn't do anything stupid."

  Lei Zhengsheng walked out of the house, saw that the drawer of the cabinet by the wall was not closed tightly, he walked over, pulled open the drawer, and found that the dagger he had put in last night was also gone. Suddenly, his heart was shocked: "This guy must be going to make trouble", thinking anxiously, he quickly put on a coat and went out.

  Lei Zhengsheng rushed to the street, hailed a rickshaw and headed straight for the North China Military Command of the Japanese army. He thought Zhao Zhibang was most likely to appear there. Along the way, he kept urging the driver. However, when he arrived, he didn't see Zhao's figure, which made Lei even more anxious. Where else could he be? Lei wandered around the streets, hoping to catch a glimpse of Zhao, but after half a day, there was no sign of him.

  "I hope he knows his limits and backs off. Alas, Zhī Bāng, don't be impulsive! After searching for a long time, Léi Zhèng Shēng finally found a small restaurant to sit down in, silently thinking to himself."

  "I heard that the Japanese hospital has treated illnesses for the ordinary people of Beiping..." Lei Zhengsheng had just sat down and taken a sip of tea, preparing to order food when he inadvertently overheard the conversation between two people at the next table.

  "I think it's just the weasel wishing the 'chicken' a happy new year with ill intentions... I heard these little devils have been causing a lot of trouble in Northeast China, those beasts..."

  "Speak softly... don't let others hear, now in this Beiping city there are many traitors disguising themselves as Japanese, ah..."

  Lei Zhengyin's hands, holding a teacup, began to tremble as he overheard the conversation between the two. The 9/18 incident was an unforgettable hatred and pain for all Chinese people. "Hospital..." Lei Zhengyin suddenly thought of the Japanese hospital that the two had just mentioned, and he remembered that Ishii Akako had once said that she had a friend who was a military doctor in the Japanese North China Army. Could it be...? He couldn't wait any longer, ignoring his growling stomach, he quickly got up and walked out, leaving behind the shop assistant who was about to ask him what he wanted to eat. "Sir, do you want to have something?" But before the assistant could finish speaking, Lei Zhengyin had already walked out of the store in silence.

  Lei Zhengsheng rushed out of the restaurant and got on a rickshaw, hurrying to the North China Military Region Army General Hospital: "Master, can you please go faster?" Lei Zhengsheng, sitting in the rickshaw, kept urging the sweating driver.

  "Boss, this is already very fast, you see me..." Hearing Leizheng's words, the driver became somewhat annoyed.

  "Master, I'm in a hurry, so I'll give you double the fare, can you drive faster?"

  "Oh, I see! Alright then, let's just say I ran a lap. You sit tight!" As soon as he finished speaking, the driver accelerated suddenly, almost throwing Lei Zhengyuan off the carriage.

  "Hey, what are you doing here?" Just as Lei Zhengyuan was hurrying over, Zhao Zhibang had been lurking around the Japanese military hospital for a long time, but he hadn't seen Inoue Masao, Yanagawa Tsuguo, or the Japanese person who had brought him the message. Maybe it was because his wandering around the hospital grounds had aroused the suspicion of the sentry at the gate. Just as he was about to leave with his head hung low in disappointment, a Japanese soldier carrying a Type 38 rifle with a bayonet attached walked over and shouted at him.

  Zhao Zhibang's heart skipped a beat, thinking it was not good. Just as he wanted to run, the Japanese soldier had already arrived in front of him. The white bayonet gleamed in the sunlight, making it particularly eye-catching. Zhao Zhibang looked at the Japanese soldier in front of him with hatred rising from his heart. He really wanted to rush forward and send him back home, but he calmed down immediately and just stood there, staring at the Japanese soldier without speaking. Although he tried hard to squeeze out a smile, the muscles on his face seemed to have stiffened.

  "Chinaman, what are you doing here?!" The Japanese soldier with a bayonet walked up to Zhao Zhibang and said menacingly.

  "Ah, ah, ah, you, ah, ah, what's in there, ah, ah, take it out, ah, ah, quickly!" Suddenly he saw Zhao Zhibang's dagger poking out of his clothes and immediately became flustered, pulling back the bolt of his gun and aiming at Zhao Zhibang, staring intently at his hand and shouting loudly.

  "Baga, your conscience is really bad, you... Zhao Zhibang was frightened by this sudden change, after all, it was his first time facing guns and bayonets. However, the faces of his family members that emerged in his mind suppressed his fear. He thought that he might fall here today, but thinking so actually made him feel much more at ease. He looked at the Japanese soldiers with a smile, nodding and bowing: "Taikun, I am a good citizen... a very good citizen, long live the great Japanese Empire... haha..."

  "Ah, yes... You guys..." The Japanese soldiers saw Zhao Zhibang nodding and bowing like a slave, and suddenly their hearts were filled with anger. These Japanese soldiers were all second or even third-line troops of the Japanese army, and they had not yet had the opportunity to fight against Chinese people on the front line. Obviously, he was now surrounded by pride and a sense of superiority. He wanted to praise Zhao Zhibang a few more times, but before he could speak, a bayonet had already been thrust into his chest. He twisted a few times and then fell to the ground, stretching out his two legs as if to see their god Amaterasu.

  "Bang, bang, bang...!" Seeing the fallen Japanese soldier, several other Japanese soldiers standing in the distance were shouting and firing randomly at Zhao Zhibang. A few of the nearby devils had already started chasing after him, yelling loudly. Zhao Zhibang quickly pulled out the bayonet from the fallen Japanese soldier's body and hastily dodged into a small alleyway beside him.

  "Boss, there's a gunshot over there, I don't dare to go out, it must be the Japanese again...". The sudden gunfire startled the car driver who was running with his head down, almost crashing into the wall by the side of the road.

  "Master, you've worked hard..." Lei Zhengsheng jumped down from the car, pulled out some money from his pocket and stuffed it into his hand. Then he stopped and carefully identified the direction of the gunshot.

  "Boss, I'm sure those Japanese are arresting people again over there. Why don't I pull you away from here quickly?" The rickshaw driver looked at the money given by Lei Zhengsheng, which was more than twice what they had agreed on earlier, and said with a mixture of gratitude and concern.

  "Oh, never mind, Master, you'd better hurry up and leave, or else you'll get dragged into this too"

  "Alright then, take care of yourself, boss." After saying that, he glanced at Lei Zhengsheng, shook his head and drove the car away quickly.