Chapter 2: The Sudden Gunshot

  "Xiao Fei! What nonsense are you talking about?" Hu's mother rushed over to cover Xiao Fei's mouth, turning her face to the groom on horseback with an apologetic smile, "Young Master, Xiao Fei is just joking, don't take it to heart!"

  The pale groom, Officer Gan, forced a smile and bowed to Hu's parents before mounting his horse, urging it forward with the reins. The sparse firecrackers were still popping in the distance, their sound seeming to come from quite far away from the Old Hu's courtyard.

  Hu Fei tilted his ear and listened, a strange expression appearing on his face.

  "Xiao Fei, from now on, your sister's husband is a relative, one of the family. From now on, you are not allowed to say those messy words again. Today, there are many things at home, if you can help, just help, if you can't help, go out and play." The father wanted to scold his son a few words, but ultimately didn't say a single heavy word.

  "Dad, I'm not going anywhere, I'll just stay home and help out. Tonight, you can tell me again about Grandpa's stories from back then." Hu Fei looked at his father with sparkling eyes, seemingly very interested in the old stories from years ago.

  "Alright, I'll tell you after dinner tonight." The father smiled affectionately as he looked at his son.

  The firecrackers outside didn't get denser, but the sound was louder than before, obviously getting closer to the Hu's house.

  "Dad, doesn't it sound like gunfire?" The Hu family had hunting guns, and Hu Fei had gone hunting with his dad in the wilderness more than once. He could still tell the difference between gunshots and firecrackers. If he could hear it, his dad certainly could too.

  "It's a gunshot!" Hu's father raised his eyebrows, scanning the crowd in the courtyard. "Everyone, something might happen today, so I won't keep you here any longer! Please hurry back to your homes and lock your doors tightly. If anything happens, be sure to report it promptly. I apologize for keeping you all waiting today; after this is over, I'll host another banquet to make up for it!"

  Many villagers in Jiutai Village are good at hunting and can distinguish between the sounds of guns and firecrackers. As soon as Hu's father spoke, the relatives who came to help in the yard immediately bid farewell without showing any panic.

  "Bang! Bang!" The gunfire seemed to be getting closer and closer, and the faint sound of people shouting in the village could already be heard. Was something big really going to happen? Hu Fei's heart had a growing sense of worry. His father turned his head and ordered his mother: "You quickly go into the house, I won't let you come out!"

  Hu's mother responded with a sound, turned around and entered the room. Hu Fei's eyes rolled over, and he immediately shouted loudly to the group of long and short workers beside him who were at a loss, "Old Zou, Erzhu, you go find the guys, guard the wall and gate well, don't let anything that shouldn't come in enter the house!"

  "Alright!" Lao Zou, the leader of the workers, responded with a loud voice and immediately led a group of strong laborers to scatter around the yard.

  "Dad, is it the bandits?" After instructing the workers at home, Hu Fei's face had already turned slightly red with excitement. "Isn't this place one that the bandits never come to?" At that time, the Northeast was plagued by bandits everywhere, and many villages had been visited by them. Jiutai Village, however, had always been an exception. Since Hu Fei could remember, he had never seen any bandits. He had only heard about the chaos caused by bandits in other villages, other counties.

  "It's not clear yet." Hu Fu furrowed his brow and gently shook his head, "Jiutai Village is the old home of Lao Beifeng, ordinary Hus don't dare to come here, it's possible that another Hu came seeking revenge this time."

  Jiutai Village was the hometown of a big shot, "Old North Wind" with a big beard. Although there were no more members of Old North Wind's family in the village, ordinary bandits still considered Jiutai Village as Old North Wind's old haunt. As Old North Wind had been a bearded man for many years, he must have made enemies with some people. If someone came to settle accounts today, it was hard to say what would happen!

  Without much effort, Lao Zou and the others from the Hu family took up all sorts of tools in their hands - hoes, iron shovels, wooden clubs. Whatever they could find, each person had a weapon in hand. The father and son of the Hu family each held a wooden club over four feet long. The sounds of people shouting and dogs barking grew louder and louder, and judging from the noise, there were quite a few people coming this way.

  "Bang, bang, bang!" The gate was knocked loudly, and immediately a panicked cry came from outside: "Quickly open the door, father-in-law, quickly open the door!" It was the voice of the son-in-law who had just sent his new bride out.

  "Open the door!" Hu's father's face changed, and he shouted at the two pillars holding the door. Before Zhang Gong's two pillars could react, Hu Fei had already jumped over two steps, pulled out the door bolt, and opened the big door.

  As expected, the one standing outside was indeed the panicked groom, holding hands with his bride, Hu Fei's older sister Chun Ni, who was wearing a bright red wedding dress. The bride's veil was gone, and the groom's red flower boutonniere was nowhere to be found. The horse the groom had ridden and the sedan chair the bride had sat in when they left were also gone, and the two of them had run back hand in hand!

  As soon as the door opened, the groom pulled the bride and rushed in. Hu Fei "clanged" shut the big gate, and the long worker next to him locked it tightly with a door bolt.

  "What's going on? What happened outside?" Hu Fu took a look at his daughter and son-in-law's disheveled appearance, and a bad omen rose in his heart. He took two steps forward, pulled over his daughter, but this question was directed at his son-in-law.

  "Outside, the soldiers are coming! They're shooting and killing people, they've already killed many!" Yang Lao San's lips turned white, his two legs were trembling.

  "What happened to the people who just went out with you? Were they all beaten to death?" Hu Fei glared at his brother-in-law, his face full of anger. He wasn't blaming his brother-in-law for being incompetent, ordinary civilians encountering soldiers killing people, how many wouldn't be afraid? It's just that today was his sister's wedding day and this happened, aside from fear, he was even more angry.

  "No. It seems that a few were beaten to death, and the others all ran away. I saw that the situation was not good, so I pulled Chunni and hurried back." After saying two sentences, the groom's face finally recovered a bit.

  "Whose troops are coming? Are they General Shao's soldiers or those bearded men from the mountains?" Hu Fei asked closely. The Northeastern army was all under General Shao's command, and although their military discipline wasn't necessarily good, they were after all government troops and shouldn't do anything to harm innocent civilians without reason. If it was the bearded men coming, then anything could happen!

  "Those who came were not Xiaozhuang's soldiers, nor were they bandits. They were..." Before he could finish his sentence, the door creaked with a loud knocking sound, "Open the door! Open the door! The imperial army is here to search, open the door quickly!" A impatient voice was shouting loudly outside the door.

  "Don't open the door, they're Japanese!" The groom officer shouted in a surprised tone and said an astonishing name.

  "Japanese?" Hu's father repeated in a low voice, his eyebrows furrowed. Hu Fei's two lively eyes glanced at the gate, then at his father, and again at the groom, with some unknown idea brewing in his mind.

  "Bang! Bang! Open the door quickly! Is there anyone alive at home? If not dead, come out and open the door!" Meanwhile, outside people were pounding on the door with all their might, and obscene language was pouring into their ears.