Chapter Nineteen: Repaying a Debt

  "Xiao Yi? How are you here?" Huang Jie, covered in mud, put away his gun and asked in surprise.

  An Yi quickly jumped into the small ditch, lowering his voice: "Grandma's scaring me to death, Old Huang you son of a gun actually pointed a gun at my little brother, if I get sick for the rest of my life because of this, I'll never be done with you!"

  "Hey, stop beating around the bush. I'm asking you, what are you doing here?" Huang Jie gripped An Yi's arm tightly and stared at him.

  An Yi said with a bad temper: "Do you think I'm happy about it? It's not like I wanted to, but the Yunnan army pointed their guns at me and made me transport goods day and night to various positions. As a senior employee of a trading company, I was tortured by them like a cow for 44 days... And what about you? How did you come here? You're alone, without any cover or support, aren't you being too bold?"

  Huang Jie wiped the dew off his face and slowly let out a breath: "Yesterday, my superiors sent me, Chen Gong, and Old Song to sneak into the city on a small fishing boat to gather intelligence. Things went pretty smoothly, and the members of the two martial arts halls from Yunnan and Guangxi armies decided to support us. Later, we wanted to retreat by the original route, but the Yunnan and Guangxi armies were too heavily guarded, so we had no choice but to split up with Chen Gong. He's probably already back at the military department now. After Old Song and I snuck out of the east city, we decided to sneak over here to check on the troop deployment of Hu Siyun's Yunnan army from Shou Gou Ridge to Long Yan Cave. Who knew that there were heavy troops gathered around Shou Gou Ridge, making it impossible for us to get close? We wanted to sneak back, but ended up climbing up here and running into you, this unlucky egg."

  "What about Old Song?" An Yi asked.

  Huang Jie quietly imitated the bird's cry, and Song Xiwen stretched out a head full of branches from the grass more than ten meters behind him, revealing a smile to An Yi.

  An Yi let out a loud breath: "This sawmill, which is only about 100 meters in diameter, has only nine soldiers with fireheads, and I didn't see them with guns. I estimate that in another hour or two, there will be one or two companies of ammunition workers coming over. The remaining officer is just using his gun to supervise my dead fatso, who is currently sleeping under the car at the foot of the mountain. For now, this place is still safe, but you two have to hurry up and leave, I'm worried that when it gets light and there are more people, something unexpected might happen."

  "Hold on! Just now you said that for these forty-four days, day and night, you've been hauling goods to each position?" Huang Jie asked excitedly.

  An Yi replied: "Can I cheat you and get away with it? Don't be ridiculous... I understand what you're getting at, are you trying to ask me about the military deployment of the Yunnan Army?"

  "Exactly!" Huang Jie replied excitedly, his eyes full of anticipation.

  "Bring me your map and a pen, I'll mark it for you. I can count them with my eyes closed." An Yi stretched out his hand.

  Huang Jie scratched his head anxiously: "Where did I get a map from? There's only one gun."

  "Alright, you wait here for me. I have a map of Guangzhou in my car, which I drew myself when I first started driving and wasn't familiar with the roads. I'll mark the troop deployments of the Yunnan army on it and quietly bring it over to you. You and Old Song hide well and wait for me, just ten minutes at most."

  "Xiao Yi..."

  Huang Jie didn't have time to say another word, as Anyi had already jumped onto the ditch and pretended to adjust his pants while slowly walking towards the foot of the mountain in front. Huang Jie thought for a moment, then bent down and retreated into the dense grass, soon crawling over to Song Xian's side to tell him what Anyi had said. Less than ten minutes later, Anyi hummed a strange little tune as he came to the edge of the ditch, unbuttoning his pants while listlessly looking around in all directions, then crouched down and quietly slid into the ditch, bending down to search for quite some time before finally seeing Huang Jie waving at him from over ten meters below.

  "Old Huang's grandma, you little rascal, hiding and dodging, how dare you not believe me? Do you think I'd bring the Yunnan army to catch you?"

  An Yi glared at Huang Jie with discontent: "Take it and get out of here!"

  Huang Jie laughed and opened the map, took a glance and quickly folded it up, hugged An Yi excitedly: "Damn genius! Too precious, too timely! Little Yi, I represent the Revolutionary Army and all brothers to thank you! After this battle is over, I'll ask for credit for you!"

  An Yi said, "What can you, a small deputy regimental commander, do for me? Forget it! Think of a way to get out of here. Yesterday, I was lying on that mountain ridge where the cars were parked and took a casual look around. I found that along the south side of that dry gully, we can keep walking forward and probably bypass the right wing of the Yunnan army's position, avoiding their line of sight. The grass is very deep, and it's hard to spot the gully unless you're standing in a high place. Just worry about snakes, brother, we need to be extra careful. Later, if nothing happens, maybe that fat guy will order me to drive back to the city. This time when I go back, I'll find an opportunity to slip away and never live a life worse than a cow or horse again."

  "Xiao Yi, you must be extremely careful! After the battle, I and the brothers will come to find you." Huang Jie said in a low voice, seriously reminding him.

  "Hurry up, why is such a big and tall man dawdling? Hurry up, don't drag me down with you."

  An Yi finished speaking and jumped onto the ditch with a whoosh, scratching the old second who couldn't take a bath for several days and was itching all over, baring his teeth and walking towards the car. Huang Jie had no choice but to slowly back away, disappearing from sight in an instant.

  Although An Yi appeared very mature and bold, his heart was racing irregularly until he entered the driver's cabin, where it finally calmed down, with the back of his shirt already soaked through.

  After lunch, An Yi lay under the car to avoid the sun and possible stray bullets, lit a cigarette again, and asked Qu Da Ge, who had just overcome his opium addiction: "Brother Qu, we can't just stay here like fools, can we? I'm always worried about the safety of the goods on the sedan chair. If a shell hits us or General Hu steals our car, we'll be in big trouble."

  "Don't worry, the shells won't reach here, Commander Hu also knows my relationship with Director Yang, at most he'll order me to do some work, but he won't confiscate my car. However, what you said is also true, we can't keep going on like this, I'll go find Commander Hu later and try to get back by this afternoon. I've already thought of a place to hide the goods, just drive the car over there when the time comes." Qu Baozi still had his eyes closed, lazily stretching out his hand, An Yi immediately lit a cigarette for him and handed it to him between his two fingers.

  The two of them chatted idly, smoking cigarettes, when suddenly the sound of cannons boomed again and the battlefield, which had been quiet for hours, erupted into fierce fighting once more.

  It was unbelievable that an explosion suddenly occurred in a team of sappers carrying ammunition boxes running across the main road in front of the sawmill, and four unlucky sappers were blown to pieces after a loud roar, more than ten officers and soldiers were blown off their hands and feet, with blood and flesh scattered everywhere, wails and screams filled the air, the entire position of Yunnan Army was shocked and panicked, many people thought that the revolutionary army had attacked from behind.

  In the brief chaos, the Huangpu army seized the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack and quickly approached the east bank of the dry river, successfully building a position just 100 meters away from the main Yunnan army camp. This made it difficult for the Yunnan artillery in the rear to play its due role. Hu Si-sheng was furious at this result and ordered his troops to shoot all the surviving workers, more than 80 people, leaving An Yi and Qu Baozi cowering under a cart, while several firemen from the cooking class were so frightened that they hid in two small wooden houses of the sawmill and did not dare to come out.

  The vanguard team dragged all the bodies down to the roadside and left immediately. Qu Baozi crawled out from under the car, tightly grasping the two Nationalist Party flags wrapped around his body, and shouted loudly at An Wei: "Hurry up, Hu Junlong has killed the Reds, I can't stay here any longer... Hurry up, you bastard, if you don't get the car moving for me, I'll shoot you!"

  An Yi hastily crawled out from under the car and ran quickly towards the driver's cabin.

  Qu Baozi forgot the national flag and party flag on his body, one foot stepped on the corner of the trampled flag, "Boom!" A loud noise came from the front, he fell over and hit his chin on the hard stone, instantly fainting.

  An Yi opened the car door and turned back in surprise, looked around and then made a shocking move.

  An Yi sprinted two steps to Qu Bao Zi's side, grabbed his big head and suddenly exerted force. With a "crack" sound, Qu Bao Zi's head was twisted 180 degrees, eerily staring at his own spine. An Yi, who had caused this miracle, was frightened and fell to the ground, his uncontrolled mouth uttering incoherent sounds: "One revenge for one revenge... One revenge for one revenge... I'm done for... One revenge for one revenge..."

  In the midst of rapid panting, An Yi, who had just committed his first murder, felt a complete blur in his mind. His heart was contracting violently, as if it was about to burst out of his chest cavity. The severe dizziness made it difficult for him to breathe and left him feeling weak all over, without even realizing that he should quickly clean up the scene and make a swift getaway by driving away.

  At this time, a gray figure swiftly swept to An Yi's side, holding An Yi tightly and shaking him violently: "Xiao Yi, what's wrong with you? Are you crazy? Speak up, speak up..."

  "Whoosh——"

  A large mouthful of sour water spewed out from An Yi's mouth, and he coughed painfully several times. After seeing Song Xi clearly, he asked with a trembling face, obviously his mind had cleared after vomiting: "Old Song, why haven't you left yet? Hurry up... or get in my car and leave... Put this corpse into the driver's cabin, when we pass the checkpoint, just say he's injured and unconscious. We'll send him back for emergency treatment, hurry!"

  "Alright! I'll carry it."

  Song Xiqian loosened An Yi's grip and swiftly picked up Qu Baozi, who had been lying dead on the ground for some time, and flung him into the driver's cabin.

  An Yi stumbled into the driver's cabin, and under Song Xiyan's worried gaze, he suddenly gave himself two loud slaps on the face. After the "crack crack" sound faded away, An Yi's words and actions left Song Xiyan staring in shock.

  "I'm gonna screw your fat pig, is your gun good? Now it's mine... I'll fuck you first! You dare to shoot a kid... Killing you makes me so excited! I've become rich now, the ocean and the cream are all mine, haha..." An Yi roughly tore off Qu Bozi's flag, quickly untied his belt, and pulled out that brand new German-made revolver, waving it around and laughing loudly:

  "Dad's got a gun! Old Song, can your broken gun compare to this? Look, it's brand new, the gun oil hasn't even dried yet, six leather bullet holders, haha... Don't tell anyone else, I've got to keep one for self-defense, damn it, in this world you can't get by without a gun, haha..."

  Song Xiwen was extremely anxious: "Xiao Yi, are you okay?"

  An Yi was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing and slowly inserted the gun into his waistband. He cleverly tied the waistband with the magazine pouch together and put it in the storage box under the dashboard: "It's all right, Old Song. I'm feeling a bit uneasy since this is my first time killing someone, but now that it's done, I feel confident and full of energy. Let's not talk about it anymore, or your eyeballs will pop out! Let's head back to the city, stabilize Qu Baozi, and once we pass the checkpoint at the east gate, we'll dump this dead pig. Alright, hold on tight..."

  "Wait, Second Brother! I have a request for you. If you still consider us brothers and remember the bond we shared, please follow me into battle! The explosion just now reminded me that if we charge forward bravely, we might achieve an unexpected outcome. The situation ahead is critical, and many of our brothers - Old Chen, Old Huang, Old Hu, Old Jiang, Old He... - may die in the next moment. If you're not afraid to die and still remember our brotherly bond, follow me into battle! If you're a coward, then forget it! I'll charge forward alone, and at worst, my brothers will collect my corpse!" Song Hui's eyes shone brightly with unwavering determination and unrelenting hope.

  As soon as An Yi heard these grand and stirring words, his scalp went numb and his brain was filled with blood, his eyes turned red after killing someone, and he laughed maniacally with gritted teeth.

  "Don't provoke me, do you think I'm afraid of death? I've died once before, what's the point of being afraid to die again? Ridiculous! If this time I don't die, it must be heaven's will that I'll rise to greatness, haha! Damn old Song, sit tight and let's go..."