Chapter 1: Mountain Dwelling (Five Upper)

"In Xia Zhang Songling, thank you to the guerrillas for saving their lives!" Seeing that the person on the other side was not reacting correctly, Zhang Songling realized that his rifle was placed in a posture that could be attacked at any time, and quickly stood up, smiling and arching his hand towards the savior.

"It's all Chinese, what's polite?!" The middle-aged man with a short stature was stunned, and returned a very standard military salute. "My name is Wu Nan, from the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and I am now ordered to organize guerrillas on the front line of Niangzi Pass. Brother Zhang is really good marksmanship, he has withstood so many devils and puppet soldiers by himself! ”

"Where can it stand! If you hadn't arrived in time, I would have been beaten into a hornet's nest by the puppet army with random guns! Zhang Songling covered the wound on his arm with his hand, smiled wryly and modestly. The bullet penetration of the 38 guns was too strong, and this was a penetrating wound that did not affect the bones. Go back and wash with soju, and then smear some leftover powder from the past, and it is estimated that the wound will scar in about a week.

"You're hurt?!" The guerrilla leader Wu Nanmin asked with concern, and then took out a dirty small oilcloth bag from his waist, "I still have a little anti-inflammatory powder here, you can quickly take it and apply it." It's already hot, beware of wound infections! ”

Anti-inflammatory powder is indeed symptomatic for penetrating injuries, but the experience of wound infection half a year ago almost killing a child made Zhang Songling still have palpitations. And the anti-inflammatory powder in Captain Wu's hand is obviously stored very irregularly, if it is sprinkled on the wound, it does not eliminate the inflammation but plays a bad role, in this barren mountain and wilderness, but there is no second Battalion Commander Li who can save his life.

"No, no, I have my own Jinchuang medicine at home." Taking into account the other party's face, Zhang Songling smiled and waved his hand, "It's not easy for you to get some anti-inflammatory powder, so let's leave it to the more seriously injured brothers!" ”

"It's good!" Captain Wu thought for a while, and threw the oilcloth bag in his hand to his brothers, "Xiao Zhang, take this and put this on the wound for Wang Laohu and a few of them." Be careful, don't get into the dirt! ”

"Hey!" A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy stretched out his hands to catch an oilcloth bag flying in mid-air, turned around and ran to treat his wounded. Zhang Songling instinctively wanted to remind the other party to pay attention to the problem of wound infection, and when the words came to his mouth, he cautiously swallowed them back into his stomach.

Wu Nan was not as restrained as Zhang Songling, seeing that the guns and ammunition dropped by the puppet soldiers had been returned to the warehouse by the guerrillas under his command, he sent an invitation to Zhang Songling with a smile, "The little devil has always refused to suffer, and it is estimated that he will send someone to retaliate." If Brother Zhang has nowhere to recuperate, he might as well come to our side for a few days to rest for the time being! ”。

"It's fine, but you wait for me first!" Zhang Songling nodded first, and then quickly shook his head. Bent down and picked up the 38 big Gai'er and put it on his shoulder, and trotted towards the hiding place of Da Niu and Meng Xiaoyu. While running, he shouted anxiously: "Big Niu, Big Niu, has Xiaoyu woken up, how is Xiaoyu?" ”

"Hey, we're coming out!" The big cow had already seen the situation outside, but he didn't dare to emerge from the woods because he was afraid of life. At this moment, when he heard Zhang Songling's call, he agreed in a low voice, and helped Meng Xiaoyu, who was crying, to walk out of the forest.

"Xiaoyu, how are you?!" Seeing Meng Xiaoyu, who was like a boy in Pingsuye, crying with pear blossoms and rain, Zhang Songling was also sad in his heart, trotted forward, and reached out to support Meng Xiaoyu's arm.

Meng Xiaoyu immediately pounced, hugged his waist tightly with both hands, and let out a sad voice, "Brother Zhang, woo...... Woohoo......"

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here, I'm here!" Zhang Songling wiped away her tears and gently patted the top of Meng Xiaoyu's head, "Uncle Meng's blood debt, I will definitely get it back for you!" ”

"Uncle Meng was beaten to death by Zhu Er!" Da Niu was beside him, and the urn interjected angrily. "It's the guy who brought people into the village and set fire to ......"

Halfway through the sentence, he ran out into the village. As he ran, he shouted, "House, where (our) house." This plagued Zhu Er will have to go to hell sooner or later! ”

"Fellow, where are you going?" The guerrilla leader Wu Nan stopped him head-on, but was hit by a big bull and turned his feet into the air. Seeing this, several guerrillas hurriedly stepped forward to help. was pushed away by Wu Nan, "Stop him, stop him." It's too late! He's going to be burned to death if he runs into the fire now! “

Hearing this, the guerrillas chased after them. chased until the entrance of the village, and then hugged the big cow with red eyes. At this moment, the village had already turned into a mountain of flames, and thick smoke and red stars were rolling around. The livestock trapped in the fire screamed and rushed around, but they could not find a way to escape, and fell to the ground in the thick smoke, screaming and turning into piles of barbecue.

In the mountainous areas, there is a shortage of materials, and all the houses are made of hardwood beams and thatched roofs. The weather in spring is dry, and almost a whole house can be burned to the ground as soon as the flames roll. Realizing that the gunfire had stopped, many people ran out of their hideouts and tried to run into the village to grab their most precious belongings. Like bulls, they were stopped outside the fire by the guerrillas. I watched my house burn, collapse, and finally turn into a huge torch along with everything in the yard.

was already so poor that his family had four walls, and now he doesn't even have four walls, so how can everyone live in the future?! The men who rushed back squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands as if they had been cramped. The women hugged their children and howled, "What a new cupboard—"

"What the cow—"

"Where can I save money for my child's daughter-in-law, these people who kill a thousand knives lack great virtue!"

……..

Most of the guerrillas were descendants of nearby villages, and they were related to the people of Longquan Village. Seeing that their relatives had suffered a disaster, they all stepped forward to comfort, "Fourth uncle, don't be sad. Let's go to my house with my aunt and brothers first. I still have a dozen pieces of wood in my house. When the fire is extinguished, it will help you rebuild the house! ”

"Yes, three concubines, don't cry. This account, let's get it back with the little devil sooner or later! ”

"You go to my house to hide first. Tomorrow, I'll go up the mountain with Ershunzi and a few of them to cut purlins. With us young men, are we afraid that we won't be able to get you a house? (Note 1)

The simple and kind side of the mountain people was vividly demonstrated in these guerrillas. Listening to the warm words in their ears, the cries of the villagers gradually decreased. Li Guodong, the political commissar of the guerrillas, looked up at the sun, estimating that the devil's reinforcements might be arriving soon, jumped on a boulder at the entrance of the village, and shouted loudly: "Folks, folks, don't cry yet." This account is just one of the thousands of blood debts owed by the little devils in China. Sooner or later, we'll have to settle things out with them......"

The villagers, who had just suffered the catastrophe that had just been brought to him, raised their teary eyes and looked at him blankly, not knowing what was necessarily related to what happened to him and the thousands of people in his mouth. Li Guodong was very frustrated, paused, and continued to shout: "But for now, we must evacuate here quickly." The little devils have always refused to suffer, and after discovering that their people have been eliminated, they will definitely send a large team of men and horses to retaliate......"

Most of the villagers understood this sentence. They helped each other to their feet, ready to go to a nearby village to join a reliable relative or friend. There are also a few families who are reluctant to leave, and continue to watch the burned villages, hoping that after the fire is extinguished, they will be able to recover some of their valuable possessions hidden in cellars, cracks in walls, or other hidden places after the fire is extinguished.

Li Guodong is not a local, so he can't guess the thoughts of the villagers. Seeing that there were still a few families who had not moved their nests, he thought about it and added loudly, "If there is really no place to go, we guerrillas can temporarily build a few horse racks for everyone in the mountains." Anyway, the weather is getting warmer, everyone will deal with it in the horse shelf for a while, and when the devils are gone, let's come back and rebuild our homes! (Note 2)

Those who remained in place ignored his advice. Continue to look at the village and wait for the fire to get smaller. Zhang Songling happened to support Meng Xiaoyu and approached, and saw Da Niu Niang and Da Niu squatting by the fire, so he kindly added: "Auntie, Da Niu, let's go." He is right, the little devil has suffered such a big loss today, and he will definitely come to retaliate. I just saw a ghost soldier riding a horse towards ......."

"It's all you, the scourge!" The big cow lady who was squatting on the edge of the fire and refused to leave suddenly jumped up and grabbed Zhang Songling's face. "It's all you, the disaster star, if it weren't for where you were hiding in (me) village, how could the devil come to the door?!!"

Zhang Songling was caught off guard, and five deep blood marks were scratched on his face. Seeing this, Meng Xiaoyu immediately grabbed the arm of the big cow girl like a female leopard, and shouted sadly: "What are you going to do? You are crazy, if it wasn't for Brother Zhang just now, you would have beaten the traitor to death!"

"You're crazy, shameless little boy! If you hadn't summoned this calamity, how would our village have let the devils worry about it! Da Niu Niang opened the posture and directly replaced the target of the attack with Meng Xiaoyu. (Note 3)

This sentence is too dirty for an unmarried girl. Meng Xiaoyu's miserable little face suddenly turned purple and black, and with a sudden force of his arms, he pushed the big cow girl away by four or five steps, "Auntie, you, what are you talking about." Brother Zhang and I are innocent......"

"I said you were a little boy!" Da Niu Niang glared at Meng Xiaoyu, her face full of viciousness, "His uncle, his aunt, take a look!" It's this little + son and her wild man who seduced the devil. We're going to have to keep an eye on the two of them, and the whole house in the village will have to fall on the two of them......"

Meng Xiaoyu was stunned by the scolding, raised his arm and wanted to fight, but he couldn't do it. The big cow lady immediately sat on the ground, crying, and slapped her thigh with her hand, "Daddy, child, look at it, look at it." Someone hooked up with a wild man and bullied the two of us! Daddy, why did you leave so early......"

"Mother, what are you talking about!" Da Niu couldn't look at it anymore, walked to his mother's side, grabbed her arm and dragged it up, "Xiaoyu is a good girl, you can't bury others like this!" “

"I said it wrong, I said it wrong?!" The big cow girl jumped up, spitting stars splashing like venom, "She always called you to help carry water, why don't you need you now?!" If she hadn't fallen in love with this dead fat man who had suffered from the plague, she would have returned the pig ears that our family gave during the New Year! ”

"Don't say it, mother, please, don't say it!" Although Da Niu also hated Meng Xiaoyu in his heart for "liking the new and hating the old", he didn't want his mother to be angry for himself in this way, so he took her arm and walked towards the outside of the village.

The big cow lady was not as strong as her own son, and she struggled a few times, but she was pulled farther and farther away. Suddenly pulled out a wooden hairpin from his head, pricked the back of his son's hand first, and then broke free when the big cow was poked in pain, and poked the hairpin directly into Xiaoyu's eyes.

Meng Xiaoyu's father, who had just lost it, was insulted like this again, and for a while, he was so angry that he trembled all over, and he didn't know how to dodge at all. Seeing that the wooden hairpin was about to poke Meng Xiaoyu's eyes, suddenly, Zhang Songling rushed over from the oblique thorn and pushed the big cow girl upside down. Then he pulled out the box cannon and hit it directly on the woman's head, "What did you say?" You kind of tell me one more thing! ”

Only then did Da Niu Niang realize that the other party was a ruffian who had killed many people. For a while, he was frightened, held the barrel of the gun with both hands, and shouted loudly: "Where, don't say anything!" If you have a kind of killing, no matter how much you are a ghost, I won't let you go! ”

"You found it yourself!" Zhang Songling gritted his teeth and slowly used his fingers to remove the safety of the box cannon. For the sake of the other party's excessive sadness, he can ignore a few vicious swear words. But no matter what, he couldn't tolerate someone trying to poke Meng Xiaoyu's eyes in front of him.

Even if he didn't open the insurance, when the murderous aura on his body overflowed, it was definitely not something that an ordinary peasant woman could bear. The big cow girl was so frightened that she kicked her legs wildly, and shouted hoarsely: "Spare your life, spare your life, I don't dare anymore." His uncle, his aunt, come and say something. You can't look at a foreigner........"

The villagers hurriedly stepped forward, pulled their arms and sleeves, and pulled Zhang Songling away from the big cow girl. The big cow who was frightened in place before also suddenly came to his senses, pounced over, and picked up his mother, "Mother, don't be afraid." I'm here to help you. The surname is Zhang, if you want to hit me!"

Zhang Songling was not interested in continuing to entangle with the two of them, put away the gun, and turned around to comfort Meng Xiaoyu, who was already so aggrieved that he couldn't stand. After the big cow girl hid in the crowd, her courage immediately returned to her body. One hand held Da Niu's arm, and the other hand gestured at everyone, "His uncle, his aunt, you all saw it just now!" This stranger doesn't think about our good for him at all. If you don't drive him away, when the Japanese come to the door again, everyone will have to be escorted to block the bullets! ”

The villagers were originally a little resentful of Zhang Songling because their houses were burned. Hearing what Da Niu Niang said, she thought of the fact that she was escorted by traitors to persuade her to surrender before, and then looked at Zhang Songling's gaze, and immediately became extremely cold.

But none of them dared to take the lead to drive Zhang Songling away, after all, the other party had two guns in his hands. The marksmanship is also deeply rooted in the true legend of the old Orion Monsan, who wants to knock off the bridge of the nose, and the bullet will definitely not deviate to the eye.

Although the political commissar Li of the guerrilla force was good at doing the work of the people, he could not deal with the internal contradictions of the people that entangled the love between men and women. After thinking about it, he shouted at the people: "Don't think so, everyone, even if Zhang, this Brother Zhang is not in your village, it will be a matter of time before the devil comes to harm everyone." In this case, Brother Zhang will stay with us for a while, and then decide where to go when his injuries are healed. As for you, get out of here quickly, and don't delay any longer. Perhaps, the devil's brigade is already halfway through now! ”

He was originally in a good mood, not only not leading the contradiction between the guerrillas and the people, but also giving Zhang Songling and Meng Xiaoyu, the two parties, a chance to escape. Unexpectedly, Zhang Songling was angry, looking at everyone around him, except for Meng Xiaoyu, their faces were extremely hateful. Turning his head, he yelled at the villagers, "You want to drive me away, right? If you want to drive me away, just say it! What kind of ability is it to find fault with Xiaoyu! Don't worry, I'm not going to be here with you. After the first seven days for Uncle Meng, I will leave immediately. Who seldom lives with you heartless and unrighteous things! ”

"Brother Zhang, what you said is not right!" Political Commissar Li frowned and immediately opened his mouth to criticize. "They hid you in the village for half a year to raise your wounded ......"

"Uncle Meng gave them money! All the food and medicinal herbs have never been taken in vain! Zhang Songling couldn't listen to the persuasion at all, and retorted with round eyes, "I don't believe you go back and ask them, when Uncle Meng was alive, who did he owe them a favor?!" ”

"You, you ......" Political Commissar Li didn't expect Zhang Songling's ideological realm to be so low, and he actually lost the ability to refute for a while. His lips trembled, and he couldn't say a complete sentence for a long time!

The old Orion Mon Shan is refreshing and has good marksmanship. Every time he hits a big game, he never forgets to ask Xiaoyu to send a piece of meat to his neighbors. Therefore, there are more than 30 families in the village, and none of them have given any favors to Uncle Meng in vain. On the contrary, there is no one who has not been benefited by Uncle Meng.

At this moment, hearing Zhang Songling start to dig through old accounts, the villagers didn't feel ashamed. sighed, twisted their heads away, and didn't dare to look at Zhang Songling and Meng Xiaoyu again.

"I also appreciate this chief's kindness. But I was born a disaster, and I don't dare to drag you down anymore! Turning his head to Political Commissar Li, Zhang Songling continued. The other party's performance of trying to deal with the mud just now really made him feel very uncomfortable. So stay away so that you don't get more entanglements with each other.

When the guerrilla leader Wu Nan heard this, he was a little anxious. Ran up a few steps and shouted, "So where are you going?" You still have injuries on your body, and this girl's father's funeral needs to be handled by someone! ”

"We'll do it ourselves. Don't bother sir! Zhang Songling glanced at him and responded coldly. Under the influence of Lao Gou, he didn't have a good impression of the Eighth Route Army. It was only after seeing the awakening that I felt that my previous views were probably a little biased, and then I became a little interested in the Eighth Route Army. But today, when I saw a chaotic and muddy Eighth Road Chief, the good and bad feelings in my heart canceled each other out. I don't want to have more to do with each other, so as not to feel embarrassed by each other when I see Shi Liangcai and others from the secret service group in the future.

Wu Nan wanted to persuade again, but was stopped by political commissar Li Guodong with a look. I had to wave my arm stupidly and whispered: "Well, if you need our help in the future, you can go to Santaizi to find us." ”

"Thank you, we'll see you later!" Zhang Songling smiled, helped the depressed Meng Xiaoyu, and walked to the mountains again. Leaving the burning village and countless pairs of hateful or remorseful eyes behind him.

Note 1: Purlins, secondary beams of timber-framed houses.

Note 2: Horse frame, simple shack. It is mostly made of wood and tree branches, which can be used for summer coolness or shelter from earthquakes.

Note 3: Yang Han, swearing, means living with a man before marriage, and giving money to the man.