Chapter 4 Retreat to the Rear Court

  "Bang!" The gunshot rang out, and Zhang Gong's second pillar covered his heart and fell to the ground. The devils had opened fire! Hu Fu stood up straight in front of Hu Fei. The deep affection between father and son, at this critical moment, when life and death were at stake, the first thing that came to the father's mind was to protect his son's life.

  "Run quickly, Little Fly!"

  "I won't run! If we live, we live together; if we die, we die together. Let's all fight the devils together! With so many of us, I don't believe we can't defeat these few Japanese devils!" At 16 years old, Hu Fei was at his most vigorous and impulsive. Now, asking him to abandon his parents and sister who gave birth to him and raised him, and escape alone, is even harder than killing him!

  "Good boy, you've got spirit! Today we'll take on the devils together! Come with me to the main house to get our knives and kill these Eastern ghosts!" Hu's father was stirred up by his son's words, his blood boiling with rage. Seeing that the long workers were stunned into inaction by the devils' brutal killing, and that the devils' attention was all focused on Chunni, Hu's father quickly grabbed hold of Hu Fei and darted into the main house.

  Hu Fei knew that there was a large knife at home, and his father usually didn't let him take it out to play with. It was only brought out during festivals and ancestor worship ceremonies. He had never seen his father use the knife before. Hu Fei always thought that this knife was just for decoration in the Hu family, used only for ceremonial purposes. Unexpectedly, today when they were in a crisis, his father actually wanted to rely on this knife to turn defeat into victory!

  Is this the legendary divine artifact that can cut through anything? Hu Fei suddenly became interested in the large knife at home. If there's a treasure at home but you don't recognize it, isn't that the most tragic thing in life?

  After the two of them entered the main room, Old Hu took out a long bundle from under the altar table, opened it, and inside was a sinister ghost-headed knife with a ring on the back of the blade and a hole on the tip!

  "This knife was left by your grandfather back then. Your grandfather, Hu Nantian, was originally the leader of the Big Knife Society in Cao County, Shandong Province. Due to the Qing court's suppression, your grandfather led the whole family to flee to this land in western Liaoning, and after decades of hard work and careful management, they finally accumulated the wealth we have today. This knife has killed Manchu Tartars and drunk the blood of Western missionaries; now let it taste the flavor of the Eastern devils again!"

  Hu's father wiped the knife with a cloth and pulled Hu Fei to go out, "Little Fly, today let you see the knife skills of our Hu family!"

  "What about me? What about my weapon?"

  "Use this!" Hu's father took out a hatchet over a foot long from behind the door and handed it to Hu Fei. The blade of the hatchet looked sharp, as if it had been sharpened recently. But no matter how sharp it was, it was still just a hatchet, fundamentally different from the ghost-headed knife in Hu's father's hand!

  "Dad, how can I kill devils with such a small knife?" Hu Fei was somewhat dissatisfied. They had agreed to come to the main house to get knives, but his dad had switched to a precious sword and he ended up with this chopping wood knife, which was really disappointing?

  "You don't have to kill, just help me hold the rear. Xiaofei, remember, if you find the situation is not good later, hurry up and run! Don't care about me, don't care about anyone else, as long as you can run away! Wanghaimen is the territory of Lao Beifeng Zhang Haitian, you are a person from Jiutai Village, Lao Beifeng will definitely be able to take you in!"

  Ready to go to battle, how did he suddenly mention surrendering? Hu Fei's mind was full of questions and wanted to ask his father for an explanation, but his father had already taken the knife and rushed out of the hall. Hu Fei had no choice but to grip the axe tightly and follow behind, and the name "Wang Hai Shan" he remembered firmly.

  The people in the Hu family's courtyard were still confronting the Japanese soldiers, but Hu Fei's sister Chunni was nowhere to be found, and that devil officer seemed to have vanished as well.

  "Old Zou, where's Chunni?" Hu's father scanned the scene with his eyes and found a difference from before. He felt anxious in his heart and loudly asked Old Zou about the situation.

  "The young lady has just been taken to the west wing by that Japanese officer for questioning." Old Zou spoke with a hint of evasiveness in his eyes, this honest and simple-minded man probably felt that he had failed in his duty to protect the young lady.

  "Xun Ni!" Hu's father roared in anger, brandishing his knife and charging towards the west wing, with Hu Fei closely following behind him, carrying an axe.

  Before they even reached the edge of the western wing, two Japanese soldiers blocked their way. "Hey, ahead is a military restricted area, no passing allowed, quickly go back!" The devils' soldiers very politely waved the Type 38 rifles in their hands, indicating for them to leave.

  "Get out of my way!" Enraged, Hu's father had no patience to exchange blows with the devils. With a loud curse, he swung his knife and chopped! The devil raised his rifle to try and block it, but couldn't withstand this powerful and forceful slash. In an instant, he heard "Ka Cha! Ah!" Hu's father's full-strength chop had cut the devil's rifle in two, and with the remaining momentum, he split the devil who was blocking his way into two halves on the spot!

  "Ah!" Another Japanese soldier thrust a bayonet at his chest, Hu Fei lowered his body and dodged the bayonet, raised his cleaver and slashed upwards, "Puchi!" The blade cut across the Japanese soldier's abdomen. The Japanese soldier cried out in pain, Hu Fei's Ghost Head Knife struck again! A "Ka Cha" sound was heard, and the Japanese soldier's head fell to the ground!

  The father and son joined forces to take down two devils, and the long workers in the yard didn't idle either. Those who had handy tools in their hands swung iron shovels and hoes to fight against the devils; those without suitable weapons picked up brooms, stools, and half-bricks, also joining the battle against the devils at the same time.

  There were not a few people in the Hu's compound, with men and women of all ages. However, these people basically had no combat experience, and engaging in close combat with well-trained Japanese soldiers was naturally disadvantageous, and almost as soon as the battle began, miserable cries arose.

  Hu Fei and his father had just taken down two devils, but the situation for others in the courtyard was not optimistic. Two long workers were fighting one devil soldier with iron hoes, but the devil with a bayonet stabbed them to death in just a few moves.

  Hu Fei let out a loud roar, wielding his chopper and charging into the fray. With a flurry of wild slashes, he cut down the murderous devil, then looked up to see that most of their own people in the courtyard had been injured and fallen to the ground. Even his brother-in-law, the groom, was lying on the ground, it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

  Of course, with so many casualties on our side, it's not that there were no gains at all. That small team of Japanese soldiers was also knocked down by more than half, and several puppet troops were completely annihilated, lying flat on the ground. The Japanese officer had already come out to command the battle, but Chunni still hadn't appeared.

  It's probably because they felt that their own casualties were too heavy, the Japanese officer gathered the Japanese soldiers together and stopped advancing. However, they didn't leave, just standing there confronting the Hu family, seemingly waiting for reinforcements.

  Hu Fei followed his parents step by step to the backyard, and the rest of the Hu family followed the master to the back. There was a door between the front yard and the backyard, and as soon as the group entered the backyard, they immediately closed the wooden door and found a beam to prop it up. However, how long this wooden door could hold on, no one present had any idea.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The wooden door shook violently, and the devils began to knock on the door!

  The people in the backyard rushed up and firmly blocked the wooden door. This wooden door was their gate of life, as long as the door didn't collapse, they could survive.