Wedge

  A pair of absolutely steady hands, like a completely lifeless stone carving, unmoving, even giving people the feeling that there is no blood flowing inside these hands.

  Huang Li sat comfortably on the ground, despite the cramped and dirty attic. He seemed to be in his element, adapting well to any environment and maintaining his best state.

  He stretched out the fingers of both hands, palms facing himself, staring at his palms and fingers. Until he was satisfied with his steady hand, he slowly bent his fingers and grasped the sniper rifle leaning against him. It was a Type 38 Arisaka rifle with a six-power scope attached, the stock had been sawed off, with a dovetail that could be assembled or disassembled, and a simple rubber silencer was installed on the muzzle. Although no matter what method is used to reduce the noise of the gun, some performance must be sacrificed, but long-term shooting training has enabled him to grasp accurate sniping at this distance.

  "Is it almost time?" Huang Li looked at his wristwatch and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

  He sprang to his feet, pushed aside with his hand a plank leaning against the wall, revealing a hole through which the muzzle of the gun could be thrust. This was something he had prepared beforehand. He thrust the muzzle out, and Huang Li slightly bent forward, putting his eyes to the sights.

  Through the sight, he saw the street two hundred meters away on the opposite side.

  At this time, both sides of the street were lined with police and Japanese gendarmes, behind whom stood a silent crowd of people, all tensely staring at the end of the road, waiting for the strange sight that was about to appear before their eyes.

  Throughout Chinese history, government officials have liked to parade prisoners through the streets before their execution, using this method to educate the masses about the law and intimidate the world. And Chinese citizens also have a tradition of going out to watch, every time it's like a carnival. But today may be different, because the one who is about to be paraded through the streets is the "King of Butchers" known as China's number one killer by the Japanese.

  Butcher King, the king of killing devils, has over two dozen famous ghosts and traitors under his gun. As for the unknown ones, they are not even counted. He is a figure who makes all the Hanjian ghosts in Pingjin notorious and fearful, and also makes the police station, constabulary, special high school, Black Dragon Society... feel excited and terrified.

  A murmur suddenly rose among the crowd. They suppressed their emotions and gazed at the street corner, waiting to bid farewell to their hero.

  Several trucks slowly drove onto the road, with a huge wooden board standing upright in the center of the first truck's cargo bed. A man was nailed to the board with large, coarse iron nails, his body covered in blood that had already congealed... Suddenly, a scream of terror erupted from the crowd, and some timid women even fainted on the spot, with people nearby rushing to carry them away. The crowds on both sides of the street suddenly fell silent, with people holding their breath in shock at the horrific scene.

  A sharp pain brought Wang Erzhu back from his coma, his body drenched in cold sweat. He struggled to lift his head, gazing around in a daze, as the onlookers on both sides of the street let out a cry of surprise: "He's still alive!"

  Wang Erzhu made an effort to identify the buildings on both sides of the street. Where was this? The street seemed familiar, oh, he remembered, this was Qianmen Avenue. The intersection ahead should be Zhushikou, and if you turned west a few steps, it would be the south entrance of Meishi Street...

  Is this going to Caishikou? Is he going to be executed? Wang Erzhuang woke up, thinking so according to his own theory, and his heart was incredibly excited.

  No, Wang Erzhong was indeed excited, so excited that he even forgot the pain. Among the heroes he knew, such as Zhang Fei, Li Kui, Wu Song, and Huang Tianba, he admired Kang Xiaoba the most. It is said that Kang Xiaoba was a short and dark-skinned man with two fast legs. Wang Erzhong was also dark-skinned and not tall. Kang Xiaoba - who was just like him, short and dark - this was the real hero, this conclusion had long been deeply rooted in his heart.

  Following the big brother, he really made a name for himself and shocked the world like Kang Xiaobao. Wang Erzhuang's eyes had a hint of spirit, he wanted to learn from Kang Xiaobao, so when they arrived at Caishi Kou, he jumped onto an upside-down basket under the Lingchi pillar, his face unchanged. He didn't allow anyone to use needles to pierce his heart or shave off his scalp to cover his eyes, instead, he looked straight ahead as the executioner cut off pieces of flesh from his body and smiled loudly asking: "Has your complexion changed?" Tens of thousands of people cheered in unison: "Great!" This is what it means to be a good fellow, even Big Brother "Butcher King" was almost impressed.

  Before I die, I'll shout: "I've killed over a dozen of them, was it worth dying for?" After everyone has finished laughing, I'll say: "Go to Tianjin's Dawang Village to spread the word, I, Wang Erzhuang, have really become Kang Ba Taigong!"

  Wang Er Zhu swallowed his saliva, yeah, this throat is still good. I'm a man who's been beaten since childhood, the devils used torture on me, but I didn't make a sound, and took it all in. I am the King of Ghosts, I am Kang Xiaoba reincarnated, I want to sing, I want to shout, I want to show my face, I'm a good man.

  A low, stifled sobbing sound came from the crowds on both sides of the street. The sobbing of tens of thousands of people rolled over the gloomy sky like a tsunami, growing louder and louder until finally, tens of thousands of people burst into earth-shaking wails... No matter what Wang Erzhu thought, the citizens of Beiping were bidding farewell to their hero with tears of sorrow at this moment.

  He held the rifle with both hands, extremely steady. Through the scope, he saw the "ten" crosshairs on Wang Erzhu's forehead. He knew that relying on his own strength, it was impossible to save him. The story of rescuing someone from a heavily guarded enemy could only happen in fiction. Don't even think about it. Now, all he could do was help Wang Erzhu end his suffering early. As a special agent, reason should always come first. Thinking this way, his heart was bleeding. Using his own hands to kill the person who had followed him for many years was an unbearable pain.

  I want to shout a few times, Wang Erzhu finally gathered enough strength, what he longed for was the thunderous applause of the people, not the deafening crying.

  "Grandpa was born in Dawang Village..."

  A loud shout suddenly came out, and the voice was surprisingly loud. It's unknown where he got so much strength after being injured, and the crowd's crying seemed to be suppressed.

  "Nicknamed Butcher King——"

  "Learned from women..."

  "Every day × Japanese Emperor's mother——"

  …………

  He despises Japanese people, just like other Chinese. He doesn't know the history of Japan's invasion of China, but in his mind, the term "Japanese" is almost as disgusting as flies and mosquitoes. Moreover, he feels that the more fiercely he scolds, the more his title and prestige can suppress the Japanese.

  Wang Erzhu, a Tianjin gangster, wasn't afraid of death at all. What do gangsters rely on to make a name for themselves? It's because their lives are worthless, and being afraid of death is a taboo for gangsters. Moreover, Wang Erzhu was also skilled in Tianjin fast rap, spewing out profanities one after another, improvising and singing on the spot, with perfect rhythm and rhyme. He even insulted the women in the Japanese imperial family, making them all blush, and his insults were so fierce that they brought traffic to a standstill.

  The crying sound has stopped, and everyone is stunned. This legendary "Ghost King" is also too much, how can it be the same as a hoodlum?

  "Shut his mouth!" A bespectacled Japanese officer jumped down from the driver's seat, pointing at Wang Erzhong, who was eagerly expressing his desire to have an ultra-friendly relationship with a direct female relative of the Emperor. Who would have thought that this guy, who didn't make a sound in the interrogation room, would spout nonsense and insult the great Japanese Emperor during the public humiliation parade? Originally, he wanted to intimidate the Chinese masses with a terrifying atmosphere, but it ended up becoming a farce.

  "Kameda!" Huang Li's pupils contracted slightly, quickly aiming the muzzle at this Japanese gendarmerie captain.

  "Grandpa killed more than a dozen devils, was it worth dying for?" Seeing a Japanese soldier climbing into the truck, Wang Erzhu raised his voice and shouted to those around him.

  "Great!" The audience's sadness had dissipated and their emotions were stirred up by Wang Erzhong, cheering in unison.

  Huang Li held his breath, gently cocked the rifle, and the gun slightly recoiled. The bullet had already flown out, carrying heat into Kameda's occipital bone. The processed bullet lost balance and rolled in this guy's head, then splashed out from his left eye with blood and flesh blurred.

  Huang Li quickly retreated, repositioned the wooden board, pulled down the sliding gun stock, and put it together with the gun body into a box beside him. Then he closed the lid, picked up the box, and walked out of the room quickly.

  He didn't even need to spend half a second looking at the target he shot, it was unnecessary, one plus one equals two, Huang Li shot out a gun, and the target must have fallen, that's how simple things were.

  Wang Erzhu is a small person, but he has the ability to dissolve suffering. Now, he is immersed in his own myth, which is the most brilliant moment of his life. Huang Li no longer wants to take action, although he doesn't understand why Wang Erzhu would have such an idea. But the ending can't be changed, and there's no need for him to shatter his last vanity!

  That's right, Wang Erzhu was excited, he raised his head and gazed at the panicked crowd with a smile on his face, feeling that he was not being paraded through the streets, but had become a famous actor, taking the stage to perform...

  "Big brother, my brother died a worthy death, and he's shown his face! " With a slanted glance at the blood-stained Kameyama under the car, Wang Erzhu laughed loudly, "Thanks big brother, you've given my brother another backing..."

  Wang Erzhu suddenly remembered that his elder brother had learned two sentences of Qin Opera somewhere, and often hung them on the edge of his mouth. He couldn't help but shout with his neck stretched out, "Two Wolves Mountain, fighting against the Huns! The heavens shake and the earth moves; good men, for the country, what fear is there in life or death?" Although he shouted without the rhythm and passion of an actor, this one serious sentence was enough to make Wang Erzhu go down in history. Many years later, it was precisely these two sentences that were most deeply remembered by the people of Beijing, but unfortunately his mouth was immediately covered by the devils.

  The crowd had already exploded, the streets on both sides were in great chaos. The Japanese military police who were escorting the prisoner's van were stunned by the sudden attack and did not react for a moment. By the time they pulled the bolts of their guns, loaded bullets, and raised their guns to cautiously watch the crowd, preparing to chase after the troublemakers in the crowd, Huang Li had already slipped into the labyrinthine alleys of Beiping and vanished from sight.

  The sun slowly sets behind the Western Hills, and the eaves of the palace are shrouded in a misty haze. Standing at the highest point of Jing Mountain, one can see the entire city. In the western sky, a deep red cloud stretches out, outlining the contours of the mountains like a cut-out paper silhouette. The evening haze, mixed with the faint smoke from cooking fires, wafts through the green tiles and red walls of the city. The dark grey walls of the Forbidden City, the flying eaves and corner towers, the high and deep red walls of the palace, and the majestic Temple of Supreme Harmony all exude a sense of grandeur that is somehow suppressed.

  Seven years have passed, and many memories have faded with the passage of time. But when he lost another trustworthy friend, a spark suddenly flashed in Huang Li's mind, and many past events that had been sealed away were illuminated by a radiant light source, all vividly presented before his eyes like a movie screen...