Chapter 58: The Mysterious Chinese Fog (Part 1)

  Liu Laogen wrapped his coat tightly around him and said, "Call Liu Kuihua, afraid of not being able to raise her, call the woman's name." He took over the noodles handed over by the soldier, took a deep breath, and smiled, "You are really the Eighth Route Army? Mr. Han was right, the Eighth Route Army is indeed good people, and officials have no airs at all. Now I believe it, my son joined the Eighth Route Army, I'm at ease."

  "What else did Mr. Han say?" Li Baoguo asked casually upon hearing Han Jingtian's name, with a mind to learn more about it.

  Liu Laogen, with his own admiration for Mr. Han, told Li Baoguo and others about some things about Han Jingtian. Li Baoguo was also puzzled by Han Jingtian's approach, saying that someone like him couldn't possibly be a Communist, but his methods were even more like those of the Communists.

  Liu Laogen had finished speaking and had also drunk two bowls of noodles, warming up his body. He was just about to leave when Wang Xuehua came in from outside. Seeing Li Baoguo and Liu Laogen chatting enthusiastically, he also joined in, "Fellow countryman, where around here can we slaughter pigs and cattle?"

  "What's this? The troops are buying meat? Are they going to fight?" Liu Laogen heard from the elderly that before a battle, they would give the soldiers meat to eat and have a good meal.

  "No," Wang Xuehua smiled, "fighting is a daily routine for us, can't improve every day, right? Even buying meat, can you give me some advice?"

  "It's almost four watches, let's go! I heard the butcher shops in town start work at the fourth watch. I'll take you there!" Liu Laogen said, taking off his long coat, and the cold wind immediately wrapped around him, causing him to shiver involuntarily, and the warmth on his body instantly disappeared without a trace.

  "Uncle, you'd better wear it, we need a lot of meat, and you'll have to run several more miles." Wang Xuehua said.

  "It's all right," said Liu Lao Gen with a warm smile. "Seeing you is just like seeing my own son, it makes me happy."

  "Wait," Li Baoguo pulled Liu Laogen back as he was about to leave, "Uncle, I'll definitely help your son find out what's going on; take this money and buy something nice for yourself, I'm busy with military duties and can't visit you often."

  "No, no, how can I take your money?" Liu Lao Gen pushed back, his hands pushing outward with force. "I'm also a seasoned traveler who has been all around, the team's money is for dealing with big devils, I couldn't possibly want it."

  "Uncle, as long as we can hear that you're supporting the fight against the devils, we're very happy. No matter where your son is fighting the devils, he's our good brother, so this money is us showing respect to you on his behalf, don't think it's too little." Li Baoguo stuffed the money into Liu Laogen's hand and turned back into the house. He knew that the Eighth Route Army's battles were almost always a matter of nine deaths and one life.

  Liu Laogen, under Wang Xuehua's pressure, stuffed the money into his pocket and only discovered when he reached the door that there were two cars and several motorcycles parked outside, none of which belonged to the devils in town. Liu Laogen's heart racing with fear, got into the car, and was startled by the sudden movement of the car as it started moving forward, his body pressed firmly into the seat. Fear mixed with curiosity made him want to look around, but he didn't dare move carelessly.

  Liu Laogen's eyes were opened, Wang Xuehua bought back more than 400 heads of pork this time, and traveled over 200 miles to buy meat, jumping from place to place, never buying too much in one place. There are also 600 pounds of beef.

  When they returned to the village of Xiliuzi, it was almost eleven o'clock. The car didn't return to the village, but drove directly to the big ditch outside the village, where soldiers had already set up stoves. Liu Laogen was convinced that this team was arranged like a machine, without any difference. It's possible that all the iron pots in the village were brought here, and they were lined up densely on the ground.

  Liu Laogen didn't go home, he helped burn fire and deliver firewood in the big pit. Fortunately, there was wind, and the stove was scattered, otherwise so much smoke would rise, it's not a good thing.

  But what made Liu Laogen remember for a lifetime, and even boast to his great-grandchildren from time to time, began to happen on this October 10th noon. From after lunch, Liu Laogen's eyes were not enough, and troops kept joining the big pit, and if he was not careful, people would gather like flowing water, slowly gathering in the big pit. When Liu Laogen sent things back and forth later, he found himself lost in the familiar big pit! Liu Laogen, who had been playing in the big pit since childhood, got lost in the big pit at his doorstep!

  Everywhere were people, all of whom were either sitting or standing, or standing or walking. In addition to guns, these people were also carrying all sorts of things, which were being transported in a strange and bizarre manner. It wasn't until the end that Liu Laogen was shocked to discover that so many cars had driven in, he couldn't even count how many vehicles there were.

  People and vehicles gathered together, but except for the sound of the wind, almost nothing could be heard. These people quietly resembled a vast body of water, in a disorderly yet orderly manner, busy with their own affairs at their respective posts.

  Han Jing Tian stood on a high slope outside the village, his eyes dazedly gazing at the setting sun in the west. The sunset was like blood, dyeing the entire half of the sky red, burning several white clouds into wispy smoke-like shapes, layered and twisted, like ripples on water. As the sun dipped lower, the sky gradually turned a clear blue, with only a faint hint of rouge remaining in the far west, above the treetops, like the blush on a young girl's face, shy and demure.

  It's been almost a year since the coup, and Han Jing Tian has developed a fondness for sunsets, especially those that resemble fresh blood. He enjoys the faint, lingering pain that tills his heart, and with each prick of pain, he recalls the smiling faces of his loved ones and past events. Who would have known that this sunset enthusiast's heart is actually filled with turbulent, churning blood?

  Nanjing, massacre. Blood flowing into the river, branding his soul. Revenge! Vengeance!

  But avenging can awaken those sleeping corpses? The extinct souls? And to whom revenge? How to count as revenge? A travel group was poisoned to death, and the Japanese quickly found his head.

  In this remote village in northwest Luzhou, he saw the Japanese grain depot. Escaping and killing devils all the way, here, he began to reflect, thinking of his family, hatred for his country.

  When he returned to his own house in a daze, Han Jing Tian had not yet recovered from the pain, but saw Liu Dama rushing in anxiously, "Mr. Han, have you seen our old man? He's been out looking for you since last night, and won't let the devils...". Liu Dama couldn't hold back her tears, "He...", Liu Dama told Mr. Han everything that Liu Laogen had said the previous night.

  Mr. Han smiled upon hearing this, "You go back and wait, Old Root was right, these people are not devils, they're big devils, they won't harm Old Root. It's possible that Old Root went to find them himself, who knows, maybe he's waiting for you at home right now."

  After hearing Mr. Han's words, Mrs. Liu felt a weight lift off her shoulders and hastily ran home without even saying goodbye to Mr. Han. Han Jing Tian watched as Mrs. Liu hurried away, feeling a sudden warmth in his heart.

  Li Baoguo arrived at the scene at eight o'clock, as required by Han Jingtian. In advance, people had dug a type of stove with a large lower mouth and small upper mouth, each group of four, spaced tens of meters apart. Next to them were wet firewood that had been soaked in medicinal water. The people responsible for burning the firewood had all taken the antidote given by Mr. Han in advance. The command center was set up under a large tree, blending into the night shadows, with camouflage on top of the tent. Han Jingtian was inside the tent, where he had placed several lanterns that he had specially prepared. Li Baoguo knew they were called Kongming Lanterns, and below each lantern was tied a pig's bladder, swollen with some kind of medicine inside.

  Han Jing Tian sat there, gazing at the hazy moonlight filtering through the trees, without saying a word.

  The moonlight on the tenth day was still very bright, and the front-line warriors were all crouched tightly on the ground, shivering in the cold of early winter. These special forces had not yet received their cotton-padded jackets, and they were only wearing a layer of interlining and an outer garment. The chill of the night was really unbearable.

  The moonlight fell quietly on the ground, and some withered insects occasionally made a faint humming sound, no longer having their clear and crisp singing voices of the past. The searchlights on the artillery towers at the four corners of the Kong Family Temple illuminated everything inside and out as brightly as daylight, forming two distinct areas with the moonlight outside, making the moonlight outside seem much dimmer.

  It was nine o'clock, and Han Jingtian stood up and walked out of the tent. The moonlight became more hazy, and a faint mist began to rise. Li Baoguo saw the rising mist and suddenly had some doubts about the legendary master who could summon clouds. Was there really such a master? Even he, who originally didn't believe in the legend of observing the sky at night, now had some vague faith.

  The fog grew thicker and the moonlight could still penetrate it, but it had become very hazy. The wind picked up, moving gently, carrying clusters of fog, like an invisible giant hand, holding the fog clusters as big balloons, swinging them back and forth.

  "It's all right." Han Jing Tian's face was calm, but his heart was far from it. His father, the old poisonous king Han Huan, had repeatedly warned him that the way of poison was too sinister and would lead to losing the favor of heaven. He should use it sparingly and never rely on it to harm innocent people or kill living things, lest he suffer heavenly punishment. Ever since the last time he poisoned a Japanese army regiment, Han Jing Tian had been deeply conflicted. His father's dying words still lingered in his mind, but the bodies of his family members, torn apart by cannon fire, remained vivid in his memory, making it difficult for him to sleep at night.

  I would rather die to avenge my family's feud, and that would be enough. Yesterday, he suddenly realized that the family feud was actually a national hatred, so many brave men who dared to sacrifice their lives and shed hot blood, why should I, Han Jing Tian, fear a single day of punishment?