GHLCS Chapter156

The military flag is the soul of an army. When the flag falls, it means the end of the war.

 

Lost. Lost ah.

 

Xu Hang started to have a headache again. He held the door, gasping for breath, and took two steps out. Suddenly, he was bumped by two people who were running wildly. All three of them fell to the ground.

 

The person who bumped into him was wearing the uniform of the army to which Duan Yelin belonged, and judging by his rank, he was an ordinary soldier. He had some watches, gold rings, and other things in his pockets. He looked terrified, with wounds on his face, and was frantically putting the things that had fallen out back into his pockets. He even looked a little listless, with twisted movements and a crazy look.

 

Seeing Xu Hang’s gaze, one of them fiercely said, “What are you looking at?! If you look at me again, Laozi will shoot you to death!”

 

Xu Hang suddenly grabbed his wrist: “Are you… are you Duan Yelin’s soldier? Why are you here? Did you… win the battle?”

 

“Let go!” One soldier was busy picking up the gold ring, while another soldier held by Xu Hang kept muttering, “What fight? The Japanese are about to enter the city. I don’t want to die…”

 

Xu Hang stared at him: “Are you a deserter? Did you escape from… from the battlefield?”

 

The deserter seemed to know Xu Hang. He rolled his eyes and said, “Oh… I was wondering who you are. It turned out to be Commander Duan’s rabbit ah… oh, what a deep friendship. You didn’t leave even when there was a war.”

 

After making a mockery, he was about to leave. Xu Hang got angry and grabbed his collar, pressed him against the wall, and pinched his neck: “I’m asking you a question! Answer me!”

 

It was then that the deserter realized that he was in trouble. He wanted to draw his gun, but Xu Hang held down his wrist. Only then did he realize that this skinny boy was incredibly strong.

 

The desire to survive made him beg immediately: “I-I-I don’t want to die! I have a wife and children at home! Anyway… Anyway, there are so many soldiers, they won’t lack just me! Let me go… let me go…”

 

The other person also wanted to draw his gun, but Xu Hang kicked him away. The deserter saw that the situation was not good, so he left his companion behind without saying a word, and ran away without even caring about the money.

 

Xu Hang was full of murderous intent: “Tell me, where is Duan Yelin? There is absolutely no way there would be a black sheep like you under his command.”

 

The remaining deserter felt the threat of death, or was stimulated on the battlefield and became a little perverted: “Commander Duan… Commander Duan was so capable, but didn’t he die too?… I’m not stupid, I don’t want to blow myself up like him and die without a complete body! I don’t want to be buried with this broken city!”

 

He laughed after he said that, but it was a weird laugh, like a madman.

 

After hearing this, Xu Hang’s hands loosened immediately. His face was as white as a piece of paper, and his eyes were a little dazed, as if he didn’t understand.

 

His internal organs twitched, his muscles and bones were paralyzed, and the hand holding the gun began to tremble by itself, completely out of control.

 

Die without a complete body. Die without a complete body. Die without a complete body.

 

…These four words were venomous, like demons and ghosts invading his mind, churning endlessly and leaving Xu Hang with a splitting headache.

 

“…He lost? He died?” Xu Hang muttered to himself.

 

The deserter was afraid that he would come back to strangle him, so he nodded repeatedly and even encouraged him, saying, “I saw him get blown to death. I’m telling you, Hezhou is finished. I have made up my mind. Now the only way to save my life is to surrender to the Japanese… haha… yes, the Japanese…”

 

This is really disgusting. Xu Hang shot at the wall next to his head, and powder fell down from the wall, and a big hole appeared.

 

Seeing that this person was really willing to kill, the atmosphere became a little tense.

 

“Your commander is dead, but you are still alive.”

 

The deserter shuddered all over, shook out all the gold, silver, and jewelry in his pocket, knelt down, and said, “I, I, I was wrong! I’ll give you all of these! Spare… spare my life! Please! Please! Otherwise, I… I will make up for it. I will go back to the battlefield now!”

 

Xu Hang directly pressed the gun against his forehead, gritting his teeth, as if crushing the roots of his teeth before squeezing out a sentence: “Is it useful? It’s because of scum like you that this battle was lost!”

 

The deserter was about to wet his pants. He seemed to see the wide-open eyes of his dead comrades on the battlefield looking at him. He felt a chill on his back: “As long as you don’t let me die, let… let me do anything. I’m willing to do it!”

 

There was a bit of a fishy smell, and the deserter had wet his pants and was crying so hard that it was disgusting.

 

Xu Hang slowly put down his gun and looked up at the sun hanging in the sky: “You just said… you want to surrender to the Japanese, right?”

 

“No, no, no!” The man slapped his own face. “I’m talking nonsense! I reflect! I’m wrong!”

 

Seeing that his cheeks were swollen and his gums were bleeding, Xu Hang said, “Then go ahead.”

 

The deserter didn’t dare to breathe, staring at Xu Hang with his eyes wide open.

 

After watching for a while, he carefully got up and prepared to leave. Unexpectedly, he had just run a few steps when he was shot in the back of the head. He fell to the ground with his eyes wide open, died with his eyes open!

 

Behind his fallen body, Xu Hang was holding the gun that had been taken from him, half of his face was splattered with blood, and his tone was as cold as the abyss: “Traitors who desert the battlefield, die, is, not, a, pity!”

 

The smell of blood at the entrance of Jinyan Tang had attracted some flies, and there was a crow restless on the wall.

 

As if he had lost his soul, Xu Hang stepped over the corpse and walked into Jinyan Tang staggeringly like a child who suddenly forgot how to walk, his vision was messy and empty.

 

He was holding back a breath of anger in his chest, as if there was a poisonous explosive in his heart, ready to explode at any time.

 

He walked a few steps in despair, and he didn’t even notice Chan Yi standing in front of him with a worried look on her face, and he just kept walking forward.

 

Seeing the blood on Xu Hang’s face and the gun in his hand, Chan Yi’s eyebrows were raised: “Head of the Household? Head of the Household, pay attention to me. What’s wrong with you? Head of the Household! Head of the Household!”

 

She pulled and called, but Xu Hang was like a machine that was completely out of control. He didn’t hear or answer. He just had a cold face and unfocused eyes and rushed in recklessly.

 

As he walked, Chan Yi followed him, jogging all the way, supporting and protecting him, fearing that he would fall or bump into anything, and she walked with him all the way to Qiyuan.

 

As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he fell forward. Chan Yi rushed forward and held him tightly. Both of them fell to their knees on the ground.

 

“Puff—!”

 

A mouthful of blood suddenly spurted onto the gravel road, it was shocking!

 

“Head of the Household!”

 

“Cough, cough… cough…!” One mouthful was not enough, he vomited out several mouthfuls in succession. There was a hint of black in the blood. The posture of Xu Hang vomiting blood was to knock his head to the ground, his whole back shaking and shrugging, and his abdomen cramping. Not much was coughed out each time, but it felt like he was coughing up his life.

 

Chan Yi didn’t even dare to pat his back, and she didn’t know where to put her hands: “What’s going on? What’s going on? Head of the Household, please, please don’t scare me…”

 

When Xu Hang was vomiting blood, he felt that the blood was not coming out of his stomach but from his heart, because his heart was contracting, and the pain was getting worse and worse.

 

It was really strange, this was not the first time he faced death.

 

He had seen even more tragic scenes when his entire family was slaughtered. He had long experienced the pain of separation from life and death. What was different this time?

 

But it was clearly different. Every part of his body, including his hair, was screaming in pain.

 

When he coughed, the chain around his neck broke for no apparent reason, and the butterfly pendant fell into a pool of blood. It was a relic of his mother that Duan Yelin had concealed for him. For this thing, he was beaten by Qiao Daosang.

 

Xu Hang picked it up and held it in his palm.

 

The pendant was still there, but that person was gone.

 

“Ha… ha…” Xu Hang had vomited enough, turned around, and fell on the gravel road, looking up at the sun. His mind was empty and his mouth was bitter. He wiped a handful of blood and put it in front of his eyes. “…It’s really great.”

 

Chan Yi didn’t know what was going on and was extremely worried: “You are sick and confused. What’s so great about this? Is it that your drug addiction has come back? You were obviously fine just now…”

 

Xu Hang’s chest heaved violently, his throat felt hot, and although he covered his mouth in time, the blood still flowed through his fingers, dripping warmly along his neck.

 

He shook his head: “…It’s fine… I’m… completely… well…”

 

He knew that he was healed. Just now, he was completely healed.

 

Because something more painful than drug addiction had already appeared.

 

When he was addicted to drugs, he wished he could die immediately, but now, he didn’t even want to die. Ghosts also have consciousness. He just hoped that there would be a punishment from heaven that would fall on his head and kill his soul immediately without leaving any ash or breath.

 

This way it won’t hurt.

 

He lay on the gravel road that was heated by the sun, his skin slightly burned. He didn’t want to move but couldn’t get up. He felt like a thousand-year-old dead poplar tree in the endless desert or like a dried human skin, swaying in the scorching sun and the harsh wind, lifeless.

 

He can hear the crying sounds? Who is crying?

 

It seems like an echo from the last century.

 

He reached out to cover his eyes, but it wasn’t him. His eye sockets were dry and painful, as if sand had entered them.

 

Oh, it was Chan Yi ah.

 

Xu Hang covered his eyes and said weakly, “Chan Yi… even he is gone.”

 

Chan Yi was stunned: “Head of the Household?” After thinking for a while, Chan Yi realized how terrible this news was. She covered her mouth in disbelief: “You are not gonna say it’s Duan… no, it can’t be!”

 

That Duan Yelin was such a domineering guy. He had imprisoned him for four years, beat the Japanese to a pulp, frightened the enemies who coveted Hezhou, and made the arrogant foreigners step down miserably…

 

Everyone thought he was a god of war, invincible, and Xu Hang almost believed it, thinking he was always undefeated or could always turn defeat into victory.

 

How could he die just like this?

 

Xu Hang suddenly understood. He was indeed the most ominous person, and anyone who was related to him would have a bad death.

 

Xu Hang laughed, his lips cracked and blood oozing out, sticking to the bloodstains at the corners of his mouth. It was heartbreaking to see him: “…Gone… all gone… hehe… tell me, what’s the difference between me and a beggar?”

 

“Head of the Household, I’m still here! I won’t leave!”

 

This solemn promise no longer had any meaning in Xu Hang’s ears.

 

The scorching sun took away the moisture in his body, and along with it, his vitality. As time passed, he lay motionless, like a corpse.

 

After a long time, his hoarse voice was like the noise coming from deep in the cellar, and his suppressed tone was like the tail note of the erhu. That was not what a living person should look like, it was complete despair and loss.

 

“…Chan Yi, help me pack my things.”

 

“What do you want to do?”

 

“I want to… get on the red carpet again.”

 

————

 

In the end, the Japanese won the battle.

 

In the Japanese war tent, Japanese General Kuromiya Naniwa counted the war losses and held a meeting with his seven adjutants with mixed feelings: “In this battle, the casualties of our Japanese Empire soldiers were too heavy. If we had not won in the end, I would have committed seppuku to thank the Emperor! How much armament do we have left?”

 

One hundred thousand men went to the battle, but now there are less than three thousand men left. It would be embarrassing to tell others about it.

 

The adjutant immediately reported back, “We have run out of bombs, and we have used up our last bullets to deal with the prisoners. But don’t worry, the bullets purchased from the United States are on the way and will arrive in Hezhou tonight.”

 

“Well, Duan Yelin is dead anyway. His soldiers are either dead or escaped. It doesn’t matter whether we have it or not.” Kuromiya Naniwa was extremely selfish. He only thought about his own safety. After loading the gun with the only three bullets on his body, he stood up and pulled up his pants. “Let’s go into the city and find a place. We should celebrate tonight!”

 

Returning from a great victory will make people want to live a life of drunkenness and debauchery.

 

As they talked about this, a soldier came in from outside: “General, a Chinese soldier wants to see you.”

 

“A Chinese soldier? Aren’t they just prisoners?” Kuromiya Naniwa thought for a moment, then laughed and said to his adjutant, “Look, what a coincidence! We were just thinking about where to celebrate, and there’s someone here. Let’s ask him.”

 

The adjutant smiled apologetically: “That’s great, but I heard that hundreds of cities around Hezhou are empty. I don’t know where we should go?”

 

Kuromiya Naniwa has lived in China for many years and is very familiar with Chinese things. He put his hands behind his back and looked reminiscing: “I came to Hezhou a few years ago. At that time, there was a very smart Chinese man who was good at business. His surname was Jin. His family had a beautiful garden and a young man who could sing Chinese opera. You know, I like Chinese opera very much, but it was a pity that I lost to Duan Yelin at the time, so I never got to finish listening to the opera when I left Hezhou. After returning to Japan, I made up my mind to snatch Hezhou from Duan Yelin again! Now I finally got what I wanted!”

 

The adjutant thought for a moment, then ordered, “Don’t let that person in yet!”

 

The deserter walked into the tent with a fawning look on his face, and when he saw Kuromiya Naniwa, he bowed and said, “Lord! Lord! Congratulations! I came here specially to congratulate you!”

 

“You came to see me on purpose. If there is nothing meaningful, I will treat you as a prisoner.”

 

The deserter smiled with wrinkles on his face: “I came to surrender to you! Your wisdom and bravery are far superior to that Duan Yelin. I admire you very much. Please let me serve you!”

 

This person was the one who escaped from Xu Hang. He originally wanted to escape alone, but then he changed his mind and realized that he couldn’t go far alone, and if he was caught by the Japanese, he would be dead. He might as well give it a try.

 

Especially when he saw Xu Hang, he had a new plan in mind.

 

Kuromiya Naniwa knew that most Chinese people were cunning, but he was not stupid. He could tell at a glance that this person was a complete lackey, a fence-sitter who would forget his principles when he saw the benefits. He was not the kind of person who would play tricks, so he immediately felt relieved: “You? Haha… What are you capable of?”

 

“I know that the Lord has won the battle, so you must find a place to celebrate! No other place in this city will do, but there is someone staying in Jinyan Tang. That person is not simple. Commander Duan also liked to listen to his opera performances. I think this is the most suitable place to honor the Lord! I hope that the Lord will spare my life for my contribution!”

 

Kuromiya Naniwa didn’t expect that God would arrange this. Whatever he was thinking about happened: “Oh? Did Mr. Jin ask you to come?”

 

The deserter acted like a lapdog: “Mr. Jin? No… Mr. Jin died a few years ago. This man is the current owner of the garden. You also know that Duan Yelin has occupied Hezhou for many years, and naturally he has also occupied this owner. He is extremely reluctant! Until today, the Lord saved us from the dire straits!”

 

This deserter has a heart of gold. He was present when the Jinjia Tang was massacred, so he knew a little about Xu Hang’s past.

 

Although this group of people were later assigned to the ends of the earth by Duan Yelin, it was not the first time that he deserted the battlefield. He actually escaped from another unit, killed a fatherless and motherless recruit, survived by impersonating his identity, and returned to Hezhou City after many twists and turns.

 

He never expected that these trivial matters could help him at this time, so he talked nonsense and flattered Kuromiya Naniwa: “There is no one in Hezhou City now, and only his garden can let you stay. No matter whether you like to listen to ‘The Drunken Concubine’, ‘Spring in the Jade Hall’ or ‘Butterfly Lovers’, you can listen to them to your heart’s content today! How about you pack up, and I will lead the way for you?”

 

Kuromiya Naniwa was very tempted by what he said, but he was also a little uneasy. Isn’t this too attentive? Is this a trick?

 

But on second thought, the commander of Hezhou was dead, and the Japanese army was out of ammunition and food, not to mention the Chinese army, which was already in disarray.

 

Even if it was a fraud, what kind of trouble could a performer and a group of people without guns cause?

 

The adjutant also whispered in his ear, “General, that man not only did not abandon the city and flee but stayed to greet us. It seems that he is really willing to surrender to our Japanese Empire. Otherwise, he should have fled at the beginning. If the General likes, we can bring him back to Japan. Then you can hear operas every day, right?”

 

“Hahaha,” Kuromiya Naniwa touched the gun in his pocket, put his heart at ease, and went out with a big laugh, “Alright, it’s not convenient for a large army to enter the city, everyone else should stand by. Adjutant, take two teams, let’s go have some fun together!”