Chapter 004: The Indignant Youth Feng Guozhang

  Zhou Xuanzhang woke up to find himself lying on the riverbank, with half of his body still submerged in the murky river water. The river was no longer turbulent, and he couldn't hear the roar of the mountain floodwaters.

  The surroundings were quiet, and Zhou Xuan Zhang secretly called out in shame.

  A huge wave swept him to the bottom of the river, and in the moment before he lost consciousness, he seemed to see his grandfather's face full of wrinkles, with a snow-white beard, smiling faintly at him.

  Can't be a special soldier, and can't bear to go back to the village to suffer, being buried at the bottom of the river is also a good place to settle.

  However, he woke up, the space was azure, and the bright sunlight made him unable to open his eyes.

  Obviously, this is neither the riverbed nor the netherworld.

  He's not dead!

  Zhou Xuanzhang sighed - if he didn't die, he had to go back and feed the pigs!

  Zhou Xuanzhang shook his head helplessly, struggled to get up, looked around and took a deep breath.

  Under the azure sky, a yellow riverbank stretches for ten miles, with bare tree branches like swords pointing towards the azure sky.

  On the riverbank, countless bodies of men, women, and children lay scattered in all directions, their clothes tattered and soaked by the river water, which had distorted their shapes. The air was filled with a pungent stench that pierced the nostrils.

  Innumerable glossy black ravens scattered on the riverbank, standing in groups of three or five on dead bodies, their eyes emitting a piercing glow.

  A loud, strange cry of "Wah" suddenly rang out beside him, startling Zhou Xuan Zhang into a tremble. A large raven retreated its head from the belly of a rotting corpse, its steel-like beak still clutching a greenish-black intestine. Its eyes shot out two cold glints as it spread its wings and took to the air.

  The dead man's intestines in Wu Ya's mouth had swept across Zhou Xianzhang's occipital bone.

  All the crows on the riverbank stopped pecking at their food, flapped their wings and followed the crow that had picked up the dead man's intestines, circling in the sky above the riverbank with a loud cacophony.

  That is a crow king!

  Zhou Xuanzhang's soul was still unsettled as he touched the back of his head, and with this touch, he shuddered again.

  There was actually a big braid hanging from the back of his head!

  Only women wear long braids! Is it possible that some dead woman's braid is wrapped around his head?

  Haunted by the female ghost's braid!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was so frightened that his soul left his body, and with both hands grasping his braid, he tore at it with all his might. This one tear made him let out a loud wail of pain.

  His braid actually grew roots on the back of his head! Zhou Xuanzhang's entire body strength was all released from the back of his head!

  This big braid is not a dead man's! It's his own!

  Zhou Xuanzhang only then discovered that not only did he have a big braid, but the corpses scattered all over the riverbank also had a big braid trailing behind their heads!

  There was an extra braid on his head, but the military uniform on his body had disappeared, replaced by a tattered and worn-out long gown.

  Zhou Xuanzhang looked bewildered. Would someone who had been flooded grow a long braid? And then put on another long gown?

  In the sky, a murder of crows circled, and the crow king with a dead man's intestines in its beak flew the highest, like a dark god.

  A loud gunshot rang out from the woods by the shore, and a small crow flying next to Crow King fell down with a thud, its feathers scattering everywhere. Meanwhile, Crow King, still clutching the intestines in his beak, flew even higher, with the flock of crows following noisily behind him.

  A man emerged from the woods, with a clear face, wearing a straw hat, yellow upper garment, black trousers, and a leather belt around his waist. A cartridge box hung from the belt, and he wore a pair of high-top leather boots. In his left hand, he held a rifle, whose barrel was still smoking.

  Obviously, the gunshot just now came from this rifle.

  That man walked towards Zhou Xuanzhang while looking up at the crows circling in the sky, and cursed loudly: "Damn it, still knows how to sacrifice for his master!"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang's eyes widened.

  That young man also had a long braid at the back of his head!

  However, what caught his eye was the gun in that person's hand!

  That gun looks familiar, it's very much like Grandpa's Hanyang Arsenal rifle.

  The structure of this gun is almost identical to that of the Hanyang Arsenal.

  The stock, receiver, trigger, loading method, caliber and sights are all copies of the Hanyang Type 88.

  However, the barrel of that gun is slightly longer than the Han Yang Arsenal.

  The man walked up to Zhou Xuanzhang's side, noticed that Zhou Xuanzhang was staring at his gun, and held the gun horizontally, saying: "1888-style Commission Rifle, German! Damn Germans say this is a Mauser rifle!" The man patted the magazine and cursed: "Damn Mauser rifle! Does a Mauser rifle load bullets like this?"

  He said that, raised his rifle, a standard standing shooting posture, "Bang" a gunshot sounded, and a crow fell to the ground.

  "Good marksmanship!" Zhou Xuan Zhang praised.

  The young man blew a puff of cigarette smoke, gazing at the crows circling in the sky, and said disdainfully: "Damn it, another bulletproof one! If soldiers were like these crows, which damn foreigner would dare to bully Chinese people?"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang followed the young man's gaze, and saw a crow flying leisurely in the sky, with a dead snake in its beak, surrounded by a group of crows hovering up and down around it.

  The bullet was aimed at King Crow, but his subjects blocked it for him!

  In the mountains of western Hunan, there are no crows. Every autumn, large flocks of geese fly over western Hunan to spend the winter in the south. Hunters set up ambushes along the geese's migration route and reap a rich harvest each time. However, Grandfather never participated in this kind of hunting and did not allow Zhou Xuanzhang to participate either. Grandfather said that geese are righteous birds and cannot be shot - if there is a bullet aimed at the lead goose, the other geese will block the bullet for it!

  "Hey big brother, this bird is quite righteous, stop hitting it." Zhou Xuan Zhang advised.

  "Young man sneered: 'Righteousness? You little brat, you also understand righteousness? Listen to me, there is a distinction between great righteousness and small righteousness! Dying for the country and its people is called great righteousness, but dying for corrupt officials who exploit the common people is called aiding evil! Damn it, this year the Zhili province was flooded, Tianjin prefecture was also affected, so many people drowned, and the relief funds sent by the imperial court were all embezzled by those corrupt officials. Those who didn't drown should have starved to death! What kind of world is this? Under the emperor's feet, how dare these scoundrels be so brazen?! Foreigners bullying us is one thing, but those imperial officials also oppress the common people, what kind of justice is this?!"

  That man's words were fierce, treating the crow as a corrupt official and evil tyrant. He was indeed a hot-blooded young man, or in 21st-century terms - an angry youth!

  However, the tone of those people shouting slogans against the government and foreigners seems to be different from Zhou Xuzhong's impression of angry youth. Moreover, there is a big braid hanging on the back of his head - those who smashed Japanese cars on the street don't have braids.

  "What's your honorable surname?" Zhou Xuan Zhang asked.

  "My name is Feng Guozhang..." The man suddenly shouted loudly: "How dare you! What kind of commoner are you, seeing an official like me and not kowtowing? I'll let it slide since you were washed out by the flood and your head is muddled. But you little brat actually dares to ask for my name?! Kneel down!"

  "Feng Guozhang?" Zhou Xuanzhang felt that the name was familiar. He had grown up in the mountains of western Hunan and knew little about history, but he had heard of some major events while in the army, such as the First Sino-Japanese War, the Hundred Days' Reform, and the Xinhai Revolution, but he knew nothing about the details.

  Feng Guozhang is a well-known figure in modern Chinese history, Zhou Xuanzhang had heard from the instructor that this guy was also the president of the Republic of China. However, at this time, no matter what, Zhou Xuanzhang could not associate the famous Feng Guozhang with the young man with a clear face in front of him.

  So Zhou Xuzhang did not kneel down but instead repeated Feng Guozhang's name.

  Feng Guozhang was furious, and with a loud shout of anger: "Rebellion! Rebellion! It's really the world turned upside down, etiquette collapsed and music destroyed! A mere commoner dares to confront the imperial court officials on an equal footing!" Feng Guozhang said, shaking the German-made rifle in his hand, pulling the bolt back: "I'll blow you up..."

  Zhou Xuanzhang stared blankly at the black muzzle of the gun.

  A flood caused him to grow a big braid, and he ended up on an unfamiliar riverbank, where he met a mysterious "imperial official" who drew his gun after just a few words. Zhou Xianzhang simply resigned himself to his fate; if the flood didn't kill him, being shot by this "imperial official" would be fine too - in any case, with that big braid, there was no way he could return to his unit.

  "Good grief! If I were to beat you to death, I'd be no different from those corrupt officials who exploit the people! Never mind, I won't bother with you."

  Feng Guozhang said, putting away his gun and pulling out a piece of mantou from his leather bag, tossing it to Zhou Xuanzhang: "Hurry up and eat, go wherever you need to go, I'm busy with official business and don't have time to bother with you!"

  Feng Guozhang had just taken two steps when Zhou Xuanzhang suddenly shouted: "Feng Guozhang, can you let me take a look at your gun?"

  Feng Guozhang's face turned bright red with rage, and he shouted loudly: "You dog thing, you actually dare to take away my gun? You must be a bandit! Watch me shoot you with one shot!"

  Feng Guozhang jerked his gun and the black muzzle pressed against Zhou Xuanzhang's forehead.