Chapter 29: Re-entering the Devil's Soldier Station

  Wildflowers blooming on the hillside, carefree birds singing with abandon, white clouds drifting across the bright blue sky, soft warm breeze blowing over the lush green endless plains, taking a breath of fragrant and moist air, hand in hand we run freely under the sky, spreading our pure white wings, in the breath of spring, flying towards the distant horizon.

  A chaotic footsteps sound woke me up from my dream, I opened my eyes to find it was already daylight outside. The beautiful memories of the dream still lingered. From the corridor came loud and disorderly voices and someone shouting in Japanese. Damn those Japanese devils, disturbing my good dream so early! You think it's easy for me to have such a dream? Holding Ling's small hand, flying in the sky - only possible in dreams. Unbearable hatred, intense contempt for the Japanese devils!

  Listen carefully, it turns out to be an emergency inspection. Yeah, something big happened last night, and if the whole city isn't searched today, that's not normal. However, this Japanese devil's reaction is too slow, coming only now. If we wanted to run, we would have been gone long ago. We can still stay here and let you catch us? What IQ is this? It's just at the level of a three or five year old kid!

  I got up and sat on the floor with my legs crossed, staring coldly at the door. The waitress who had flirted with me yesterday appeared in the doorway, her face tense, seemingly looking for me to go downstairs for a gathering. As I glared at her, she didn't dare make a sound, swaying her plump hips as she quietly walked away, gently closing the door behind her.

  In an instant, the sound of heavy boots trampling on the ground came from the corridor. Judging from the footsteps, this person was filled with anger, a strong sense of being slighted and having their small self-esteem hurt. Trouble has come to find me!

  The door was pushed open violently, and a Japanese lieutenant with a pale face and angry eyes walked in, followed by four Japanese soldiers with bayonets gleaming, exuding an aura of murder and evil. The female attendant carefully trailed behind them. Fortunately, this was a Japanese-owned business; if it were a Chinese-owned store, the guy would have had to use his feet to greet the door.

  I still haven't moved, maintaining a proud demeanor, which is necessary given my status. Looking at this guy's appearance, he's just an ordinary citizen in Japan, but to me, he's nothing. He's furious, his face twisted in anger, and asks harshly: "What's your name? Where are you from? What brings you here?" "Tokugawa Kazuo," I reply casually, handing him the katana that was by my side. The effect is immediate - one word, one sword, and everything changes. "Young Master Tokugawa, forgive me for disturbing you!" He stands at attention with a loud "click" and bows 120 degrees, which from my angle looks like it's over 90 degrees without exaggeration. See how the Japanese behave? If this were in Japan, this low-ranking officer would be boasting to everyone around him about meeting me, a noble young master, for half a year! It's as if his ancestors' graves are spewing out smoke!

  This guy was as gentle as a lamb in front of me, but as soon as he turned around, he found his way back to that female attendant's body. He grabbed her by the chest and said, "You bastard, Lord Tokugawa is staying here, why didn't you tell me earlier?" To say that Japanese men are all like this, they're dogs in front of people who are stronger than them, but wolves in front of those who are weaker. And another thing, can't you be more gentle? The attendant's chest was already full enough, and with one grab, you've got her clothes and half of her bra in your hand. Her face is all red with pain. Your hands are too heavy, aren't they? You're not even a man, just someone who takes advantage of the situation to molest women! Despicable!

  Too lazy to talk nonsense with this kind of trash, I waved my hand and the female waiters were released, they all bowed to me in unison, and in an instant, they left without a single fart.

  I sent those guys away and came to the main street. Wow, this is quite a scene - every three steps there's a guard post, every five steps there's a checkpoint, with strict security measures in place. Passersby are being thoroughly searched, and from time to time, some young men with menacing looks are being dragged into a small house on the side. The whole Sanjiaohu Street is in chaos, like a chicken coop that's been raided. Of course, I'm not involved in any of this. A few plainclothes agents and police officers who didn't know better tried to give me trouble, asking for this ID or that permit. Tang Shao, what IDs do I have? Just one thing on my mind - being beaten up! One of them even got a big slap in the face from me, and then tried to pull out his gun? But before he could, some Japanese soldiers following behind gave him a few kicks in the butt, and that's when he realized this guy isn't someone to be trifled with! Look, even our master is standing at attention and saluting this guy!

  Along the main street, I arrived at the devil's station set up in the town near the riverbank. I circled around the outer wall of the station, and this devil's station occupied a large area. There must be what I want here. After reconnaissance, I determined the entry point and turned back to the main street.

  I went to a clock shop and bought two mechanical watches with springs, which are called "horse hoof watches" because the sound of the watch hands moving sounds like horse hooves. Then I went to a goods station and bought a horse and a large sled, also buying a dozen or so hemp sacks and several bundles of rope. Everything was ready, and I drove the sled to where Bater lived. On the way, I bought a big package of steamed buns and several roasted geese. When I arrived, Bater had just returned home and was surprised to see me driving up with the horse and sled. He took the food from my hands and called out to the children to hurry up and light the fire to cook dinner. After a flurry of activity, a table full of fragrant and steaming dishes was set before us. Watching these poor orphaned children eating with such relish, I felt both heartache and some comfort. Bater also looked at me with grateful eyes.

  After dinner, the other children went out to play. Bateer asked: "Autumn brother, do you have something important to do? If you need me, just let me know!" What a clever Bateer! At such a young age, his thoughts are so meticulous, he has great potential for development!

  I explained the plan to him in detail, and finally told him that this was a very dangerous thing, if it didn't work out, we would lose our heads. I said he could choose not to follow me, I wouldn't force him, after all, he was still young. As soon as he heard this, he became anxious, his face turned bright red, and said that I didn't take him seriously, didn't treat him like a real brother! It seemed like he had suffered a great injustice, and he even took out a Mongolian knife, wanting to cut his wrist, make a blood oath. I quickly grabbed the knife from him, and he was still furious, puffed up with anger. I hurriedly said some soothing words, apologized, and made amends. Only then did he calm down. Good grief, this young kid had quite a temper, but also had a lot of guts!

  Tell him the time and place of tonight's meeting, leave the horse and sled here. It's good that Bater is living in a remote area, it's a slum, the devils and traitors don't come here, what are they doing? There's no profit to be made, and if things go wrong, you might even get infected with some disease or other, absolutely safe. After saying goodbye to Bater, I returned to the hotel, which had also calmed down by then. When I saw that female attendant, I almost couldn't help but burst out laughing, why? She was demure and humble, with her head bowed and shoulders slumped, not at all like the way she looked when I first saw her, just like a proud little hen, knowing full well that certain parts of her body were quite ample, yet deliberately accentuating them, looking at the two mounds on her chest, one big and one small, good? That devilish military officer was ruthless enough, right? Right, when it comes to his own compatriots, he's even more ruthless, this is the devils' consistent behavior.

  Back in the room, she had a good nap, and when she woke up, the sky was already darkening outside. The wind started to pick up, not small, rustling through the treetops, without any moonlight. It was just the right time for a midnight murder or arson. Relaxing her mind and body, her internal energy slowly circulated, quietly waiting for the arrival of an even darker and more profound night!

  The time had come, I slipped out of the back window, the cold wind was biting, the surroundings were silent, only a few places were lit up, jumped over the wall, evaded several patrols of devils, and rushed to the place where Hei Bao and I had agreed.

  I arrived at the location, but didn't see Bater's figure anywhere. I'm getting worried, did something unexpected happen? He's still just a kid after all, this task is clearly beyond his age range, could he have encountered danger? My heart is racing with anxiety.

  Just as I was getting anxious, a black shadow appeared in front of me. Is it Bateru? Why is there no noise at all? It's not normal for people and horses to make some sound, right?

  Better safe than sorry, I crouched quietly in the dark, watching the increasingly close black shadow. Just as I was wondering, "Autumn Brother, where are you?" a deliberately lowered voice came with the wind, intermittent and continuous. It was him, my good brother had arrived. I replied softly, and Bateer led the horse to me. Strange, why was there no noise? When I got closer, I took a closer look and was shocked. The four hooves of the horse were wrapped in thick cloth, and the horse's mouth was also muzzled. Bateer's feet were also bandaged, no wonder there was not a sound.

  I threw my arms around him, pressing his icy face against mine, and felt an overwhelming surge of emotion. These details, I hadn't thought of, but Bateer had. Was this still a fourteen-year-old child? The intricacy of his thoughts, the thoroughness of every detail, was something even adults couldn't match! I held him tightly, without saying a word, and Bateer seemed taken aback by my actions, but how could he know that my emotions were so stirred up and complicated at this moment?

  I halted the climbing hook, telling Batur to pay attention to the surroundings. I lifted my toes and my body rose into mid-air, still a distance from the ventilation window that looked good. The damned little devil had left this opening so high up, more than five or six meters off the ground. I threw out the rope, which landed perfectly on the iron bars of the ventilation window. With both hands exerting force, my body rose again and reached the window frame. Holding steady, with a bit of effort, the iron bars bent, and a one-meter-square opening suddenly appeared, just large enough for me to move freely in and out.

  Lightly jumping in, just fell on a pile of neatly stacked boxes, a large warehouse, with two dim yellow light bulbs, shining vaguely like ghostly eyes. Listening outside, there were faint voices of devils talking, it was the warehouse guard post. But inside this house, it's as free as one's own courtyard, you do your thing, I find my goods, we don't bother each other. It's also because this place has been calm for a long time, the little devils haven't suffered from the anti-Japanese armed forces' attack, they don't know what fear is, and their vigilance is naturally slack. Such an important place, yet it's not heavily guarded, giving us an opportunity.

  Open the box under your feet, a brand new mortar, it's itching, but this isn't what I want to deal with at the moment, what a pity.

  He opened another crate of wooden boxes and found a box of Japanese-style sweet melon hand grenades. Good stuff, that's what he wanted.

  Then, they found explosives and a bundle of Type 38 Arisaka rifles. Without saying anything, they took what they needed, carrying the hand grenades, explosives, and guns outside. There was still some space left on the sled, so they went in again for a second time. In the corner of the wall, there were several larger wooden crates. When opened, it turned out to be Japanese Type 96 light machine guns. They had been thinking about getting something good for Mountain Tiger, and modifying these would make them even better. Although they couldn't make six-barreled fire gods, three barrels would still be impressive. They took six of them, just in case the experiment didn't work out, they had backups. Along with the bullets and guns, everything was taken away neatly!

  Alas, what's that over there? I opened the wooden box and looked inside, and I was delighted. Why? It's filled with shotgun shells! Ah, it's really a case of "whatever you lack, comes to you". You say this little devil is also... if you don't equip a shotgun, what's the point of having these old shells? The thinking of non-humans is really incomprehensible. Well, let's just consider it as something prepared for us, but we won't be grateful!

  This shotgun is good, but it wastes bullets. As soon as you open fire and pull the trigger, twenty rounds are gone. We need to stock up on more ammo for my brothers to practice their marksmanship - it's a significant expense, but there's no other way. All great shooters have been trained with plenty of ammunition. Don't expect anyone to become a great shooter by just practicing aiming with an empty gun or hanging bricks from the muzzle. That's all nonsense. Without the feeling of bullets piercing flesh, even if you're good at shooting targets, you'll still be a rookie on the battlefield. Therefore, my team is going to use piles of ammunition to train our sharpshooters.

  Staring at the truck loaded with goods, and there are still so many good things. Unfortunately, if I had known it was this easy, why not drive a whole truck over? That would have been even more exciting! Mistake, got a bit greedy, didn't you? Ah, just kidding, that's enough, be content!

  I packed up the goods and casually threw in a large tarpaulin, what for? It's useful, but I won't say now. I called Bater to drive the sled back first, and then I went into the warehouse again. What am I doing this time? You forgot those two horseshoe-shaped timers, right? To make timed explosives. I couldn't take them away, nor should I leave them for the little devils. I connected a few hand grenades to the fuse of the horseshoe-shaped timer, dug a hole in the bottom of the box of explosives, pulled out the detonator cord, and carefully tied it to the spring of the horseshoe-shaped timer. The time was set to tomorrow noon. Then I stacked the boxes of explosives back in their original position, so that the little devils wouldn't notice anything unusual. Just wait for Tang Shao's generous gift to you all, and you won't need to buy firecrackers for New Year's either.

  Restore the iron bars of the ventilation opening, and I left the barracks with a light body, caught up with Bater, arrived home, and was busy again, moving things to the cellar to hide. Then tell Bater that I will come to load the car tomorrow and leave here, reminding him to be careful, under his gaze, I returned to the hotel. Busy for half a night, tired enough, don't care about any movement, lie down and fall asleep soundly.

  Woke up in the morning, feeling refreshed and comfortable all over, the sky was already bright, the wind had stopped, and the fiery red sun shone on the snow-covered ground. What great weather! Didn't have any dreams last night, alas, that wonderful dream from the previous night is probably hard to come by again!

  After settling the bill at the hotel front desk, I turned around and saw that waitress again. What a coincidence! She saw me and gave a charming smile, obviously trying to curry favor with the young master of the Tokugawa family. Who wouldn't want to win him over? She also wanted to show off her proud twin peaks, but her movements were a bit too big, forgetting that she had been seriously hurt in that area before. The pain made her let out a "ouch" and I almost burst out laughing. This is what they mean by "out of sight, out of mind". Japanese women are like this too. No time to bother with her, we have important things to attend to!

  Arrived at Bater, busy for a while, loaded the guns and ammunition, covered them tightly with canvas, tied them up with ropes, made sure they wouldn't scatter even if the cart ran fast. Then hugged his good brother, told him not to go anywhere, he would come back to find him again. Bater's tears flowed down, his eyes were full of reluctance to part. The cart had gone far away, turned back to see him still standing in the cold wind.

  As I walked onto the main street, I felt Bater's gaze still following me, that parting gaze, the lingering and reluctance in his eyes, which had been stirring my soul for a long time. The stubbornness, cleverness and the premature aging on his face, which didn't match his age, were deeply etched in my memory, and would be hard to forget for the rest of my life!

  The road was smooth and unobstructed, and soon they arrived at the city gate. Two Japanese sentries blocked the way of the cart, which wasn't surprising given its large size and eye-catching appearance. Without any surprises or dangers, they showed their identities, and the golden tribal emblem on the war knife dazzled the eyes of the Japanese soldiers, who were left with nothing to do but stand at attention and salute. Not a single extra word was spoken.

  You say it's not right, the devils on this side don't have much to say, the day we entered the city, I met a wax-yellow-faced national soldier, who was responsible for searching bodies in front of and behind the big girl, and when he saw me coming over, this little devil must have been blinded by his own ignorance, came over with a slanted and crooked gait, grabbed the horse's halter with one hand, and loudly shouted to open the package for inspection. Before I could speak, he stretched out his bayonet to cut the rope, this man is looking for death! He rushed forward, you say the devils in front are your masters, they let us pass, and the goods were not even touched, not a single hair was moved, can't this explain the problem? Are the devils easier to talk to? Are they kind-hearted? That's just ridiculous!

  Are you looking for death? I'll fulfill your wish, with your poor behavior, you deserve to be killed. This kind of trash is better off dead, one less troublemaker harming their own people. Sometimes they're even more hated than the enemy! Before he could even raise his bayonet, I couldn't let him succeed, or it would have been a disaster. I drew my sword, and in the sunlight, its blade flashed once. This evil man's head and neck were separated, and his headless body thudded to the ground. The crowd coming and going through the city gate was shocked into chaos. It seemed that this scene would become another legend of Sanjiaogou. Two devils came over, dragging him away by the feet like a dead dog, still asking me to apologize. What a good attitude! You tell me, what's the benefit of being a traitor and a running dog? Dying for nothing, not even worth a penny!

  I cracked my whip and urged on my horse, and we galloped out of the city along the mountain road by the river, heading in the direction of home. The ancient town gradually receded into the distance, the sound of horseshoes ringing out crisp and clear, warm sunshine shining down on me. I felt an overwhelming urge to sing at the top of my lungs, like a triumphant cat who's as fierce as a tiger - after all, I'm a fearless tiger! My mood was indescribable, just pure joy, exhilaration, comfort, and excitement!

  Climbed up a high mountain ridge, about the right time, stopped climbing and looked back in the direction of Sanjiao River, soon saw thick black smoke rising into the sky, with faint flames, after a while, heard the "rumbling" explosion sound coming over, echoing through the valley and pine forest, little devils, Tang Shao's gift to you has been received, not bad effect, shared with you, see you next time!

  The long mountain road, the white snow, and the lush green pine forest flashed before my eyes. As the sun was about to set behind the mountains, I climbed over a hill and saw a familiar village appear in front of me. I'm home! The faint smoke, the quiet and simple village, the gaze of my parents, Ling, and friends tightly grasped my heart. A crisp whip cracked, a loud shout echoed, and the sled followed the downhill mountain road, the horse's hooves kicking up piles of white snow, rushing towards that familiar and intimate atmosphere with a light and quick run...

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