Chapter 31: I Won't Enter Hell, Who Will?

  Lin Xiaotang kicked David lightly with her toes, and when she saw that he had no reaction, she squatted down and started searching his body. She unceremoniously took the stack of cash he had just won and put it in her pocket. In David's pocket was a Webley-Scott revolver, but there were no bullets. Lin Xiaotang thought for a moment, then put it back. She took David's watch, pen, and necklace. Then she rummaged through the bags of the two unconscious blonde women and took all their valuables.

  Lin Xiaotang turned around and looked at her surroundings before quickly running towards the other end of the alley.

  Just as Lin Xiaotang ran to the entrance of the alley, he felt a strong gust of wind hitting him in the face. He instinctively dodged to one side, but didn't expect that there was another person beside him, swinging a black object towards Lin Xiaotang. Lin Xiaotang had no way to avoid it, so he kicked out with one foot, hitting the person's wrist. The person loosened their grip, and the black object flew out of their hand, making a "clang" sound as it fell to the ground, seemingly an iron rod.

  The person who had just acted, borrowing the light of the street lamp, saw Lin Xiaotang's facial features clearly and couldn't help but exclaim "hmm" and hurriedly pulled his companion.

  At this time, Lin Xiaotang also saw the appearance of the person coming from the opposite side. Although his face was covered with a black cloth, his stout figure and familiar eyes still made Lin Xiaotang recognize him immediately.

  "Boss?" Lin Xiaotang asked in surprise.

  Shen Pangzi only confirmed Lin Xiaotang's identity and was shocked, but immediately pulled his hand, "This is not a place to talk, hurry up and retreat!"

  Shen Pangzi was a local snakehead in Shanghai, familiar with the streets here. He led two people to take advantage of the night's cover and made a big circle around the concession until they confirmed that no one was following them before returning to the coffee shop.

  In the coffee shop, only Dahou was on duty. Hearing the commotion at the back door, he hurried downstairs. Shen Baozi didn't have time to talk and kept beckoning Xiao Quan and Lin Xiaotang to take off all their clothes. He found an iron bucket and burned all the clothes by the stove in the kitchen, making sure everything was spotless. After all, this time they had injured a foreign military officer, which was a huge trouble, so they had to clean up all evidence thoroughly.

  Watching all the clothes burn to ashes, Shen Pangzi finally let out a sigh of relief. He looked at Lin Xiaotang and Da Tou, didn't say anything, just instructed Xiao Quan to clean up the place, while he himself went to the front bar, grabbed a bottle of vodka and came back.

  Shen Pangzi took out the lens from his pocket and carefully put it on, then picked up a few cups, poured a cup of wine for Da Tou and Lin Xiaotang each, and raised his cup to them.

  The cool liquor entered his throat, instantly rising a fiery sensation that rushed straight to his chest and abdomen. Shen Pingzi took a deep breath, "Refreshing!"

  Lin Xiaotang pushed the searched cash, watches and other items in front of Shen Baozi. Shen Baozi poured a cup of wine for the two, looked up and asked, "What does it mean? Paying respects to me?"

  Lin Xiaotang smiled, "Please give this money to Old Yang and Little Chen's families. As for the other things, it's not easy to get rid of them, and keeping them with me is also a trouble, so please handle it yourself!"

  Shen Pangzi nodded, gesturing to Xiao Quan to put away the things he had just brought over. Xiao Quan silently gave a thumbs up to the two of them and then put away the things and left.

  Shen Pangzi looked at the two with great interest, raised his wine glass and took a sip of wine. "Two brothers, it was my fault for not recognizing you earlier. Please don't take it to heart. If convenient, let's get reacquainted."

  Lin Xiaotang smiled wryly, "Boss, don't joke around. We're just two students who fled our homes and traveled thousands of miles to Shanghai, all we want is three meals a day and a place to live."

  "Is that all? You think I, Shen Pangzi, have been fooling around in Shanghai for so many years and can't even speak proper Japanese or do a decent kung fu move?"

  Lin Xiaotang smiled wryly, "Really, boss, I didn't cheat you! Japanese was learned in school, kung fu was practiced since childhood, everything I said is true."

  Shen Pangzi shook his head nonchalantly, "Forget it, no need to say anything. Who doesn't have some past events they don't want to mention?" He clinked glasses with the two people, "When we come together, it's fate. Come on, let's have a drink!"

  Shen Pangzi drained his cup in one gulp, and suddenly laughed. "Originally, I was going to practice my skills tonight, stretch my muscles, but didn't expect you young whippersnapper to steal the show." He lightly tapped the table with his finger, looking at the two people, "I, Shen Pangzi, have always hated the little Japanese devils and foreign ghosts the most, and respected men who are brave, righteous, and dare to take action."

  He pointed at Lin Xiaotang with his hand, "Brother, you have both courage and strategy! You even know how to shift the blame onto the Japanese, just for this point, I, Shen Baozi, admire you! Honestly, I'm a wanderer who eats on the road, leaving my hometown and coming to Shanghai without any relatives or friends. The reason I can survive till today and even earn a living is because of a group of brothers who share weal and woe with me. From now on, you two are my brothers! As long as I have food to eat, I will never let you two go hungry!"

  Saying that, Shen Pangzi pushed the wine bottle in front of the two people. "It's been a busy night, let's have some wine to relieve our fatigue and get some rest early. Old Yang and Little Chen will probably be unable to come to work for a few days, so Xiao Qi, you'll take over Little Chen's shift and help out until then. Da Tou, you'll stay in the back kitchen to help out and learn more skills - it's not a bad thing! As for the miscellaneous tasks later on, I'll hire someone else." He raised his hand, put on his coat, and said "Take a break, I'm leaving first!"

  Night had already fallen deeply. Lin Xiaotang and Da Tou lay on their respective beds.

  Lin Xiaotang was already a bit sleepy, having just finished dividing that bottle of vodka with Da Tou, and the alcohol was starting to take effect.

  "Lao Qi, am I useless?" Suddenly, Da Tou said in a low voice in the darkness.

  Lin Xiaotang turned her body and only then discovered that Da Tou was lying on his back with his face up, his two eyes shining brightly in the darkness.

  "How can you say that?"

  "Alas, we two came all the way from Hunan to Shanghai, and you've been shouldering everything alone, while I haven't been able to lend a hand at all!"

  Lin Xiaotang cleared her throat and asked, "Dahou, have you ever killed anyone?"

  Big Head looked somewhat disheartened, "No."

  Lin Xiaotang turned over, lying flat on the bed, with one arm under her head, "I've killed!"

  "I know that on the night of the training class, you killed a lot of little Japanese!"

  Lin Xiaotang shook her head, "As for what happened in the past, I haven't told you and Xiao Ti yet. Those individuals don't count as anything. The number of people I've killed is far more than that day!"

  He suddenly sat up and said, "Really?"

  Lin Xiaotang's mind quickly flashed back to the scenes of his experiences in Nanjing, and he slowly told Da Tou about them in a calm tone, including how he and Shen Chang broke through the Japanese army's encirclement, and how he dueled with a Japanese officer one-on-one.

  Lin Xiaotang said it very calmly, as if talking about something unrelated. But Da Tou was shocked, he didn't expect that such a shocking thing had happened to this old classmate.

  "The reason I didn't tell you and Xiao Ti about these things before is that when I saw you both again, I found that you were still the same as when we were in school, without any change at all. But I'm different, I've changed to the point where even I don't recognize myself."

  "You know, the first person I killed was a Japanese soldier. That day, Er Gou and Xiao Rou were with me at Taihe Bridge when we ran into him. Xiao Rou's father had been killed by them. I had no choice but to kill him. After that, I don't remember any of the others I killed, not even what they looked like. But he... he became a nightmare that I couldn't shake off. Every day, I see him in my dreams - his eyebrows, his eyes, and the expression on his face when I broke his neck. It's all etched into my brain, and no matter how hard I try to forget, I just can't. Sometimes I think that this person's face will haunt me for the rest of my life."

  Da Tou's tone was somewhat shaky, "What do you want to say?"

  Lin Xiaotang turned her head to look at him, "Not killing people doesn't mean you're useless, remember, killing is not a fun thing. Before taking that step, you might think it's exciting, but once you take that step, you'll understand that the pain can't be described in words."

  Dà tóu chén mò le.

  Translation: The big head fell silent.

  "Perhaps in my subconscious, I don't want you and Xiao Pi to follow in my footsteps, but I also know that's impossible. Just like Xiao Pi, although he's safe in the training class for now, he'll eventually join the military police too, and he'll go through this as well. In this era, it's unavoidable. And as for you, we two came to Shanghai, what we're facing is absolutely not a world of beauty and luxury, our path may be even more difficult than Xiao Pi's. But I don't want you to become like me, even if it's just a little later, do you understand?"

  The two people were immersed in this quiet darkness for a long time before Da Tou finally said with a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Old Seven!"

  The big head finally put down his worries and fell fast asleep.

  Lin Xiaotang's drowsiness was swept away, he turned his head to look out the window at the night sky filled with stars, and the melancholy and confusion in his heart became even more intense.

  Perhaps it was the weakness, softness and ghostliness that had always been in his heart, which brought about a strong sense of contradiction and helplessness, and the words he had just spoken to Da Tou also revealed the contradictions and helplessness deep within him.

  Lin Xiaotang turned his head to look at the big-headed person who was already asleep, and suddenly a thought surged up. He couldn't help but think of Xiao Pi, Er Gou, and Fang Rou. In this dark era, he couldn't bear the thought of people he cared about leaving him. Fang Rou's death had been a huge blow to him, just like when he was helpless against his elder brother and sister-in-law's departure. Such things still lingered in his mind until today, and he still couldn't accept them.

  For them, for those he loved and cared about, he didn't mind becoming a ruthless butcher, he didn't mind using slaughter to maintain the life he liked. He wanted to change his fate, he wanted to give everyone around him a warm and safe world, and precisely because of this, Lin Xiaotang's heart became even more determined.

  I won't go to hell, who will go to hell!