War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1787 Strings of Leaves

"What's wrong?"

In the dark east wing, Xiao Wu asked in a low voice while hurriedly getting dressed.

"A night owl is knocking on the door," Zhang Zhengqi said, "Get your weapons!"

Before he finished speaking, Liuzi had already lifted up the two tattered quilts and mattresses at the end of the kang, took out four sharp knives from them and distributed them to everyone.

I took the sharp knife and weighed it. It was a willow-leaf dagger with blades on both sides. Including the length of the handle, it was more than 30 centimeters, and the widest part was only three fingers wide. However, it was thin and sharp enough, and was a typical weapon used for sniping necks or stabbing people.

After such a short while, the gate had naturally been opened, and the person who knocked on the door quickly ran into the main room.

Not long after, the noisy sounds of whistles and footsteps outside the yard came from far away, then from near to far, and finally became completely quiet.

“That person just now.”

"Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask." Xiaowu reminded Liuzi before he finished speaking, and the former immediately shut his mouth.

"Go to bed early," Wei Ran said as he placed the dagger on the windowsill.

Hearing this, Xiaowu and Liuzi immediately put the daggers in their hands under the pillows.

In the second half of the night when things quieted down again, Zhang Zhengqi and the other two fell asleep quickly, but Wei Ran couldn't sleep.

After thinking it over, he simply put on his clothes again and left the warm east wing. He walked to the doorway and lit a cigarette he had brought with him the night before. At the same time, he was secretly looking in the direction of the main room with the remaining light.

He was curious about who that person was, and even more curious about whether the gunshot had anything to do with him.

"Woo-woof!"

Before he could finish his cigarette, a dog barking could be heard faintly in the night. There was only one bark, and then everything was completely quiet.

However, it was this dog barking that made his hair stand on end. It was a military dog!

He was sure enough that it was a well-trained dog, just like his Belia!

After extinguishing his cigarette, Wei Ran quickly ran to the main room and tapped the window gently, lowering his voice and saying, "Boss, there are military dogs outside. I think someone is chasing us."

After saying this, he didn't even care whether Zhang Taiyuan inside responded or not, and immediately ran to the door of the east and west wing rooms and knocked gently.

By the time he finished the warning, the door of the main room was opened by Zhang Taiyuan and others.

"Xiao Wei, did you hear it right?" Zhang Taiyuan asked with a frown.

“Nothing wrong”

Wei Ran said in a low voice with confidence, "We must hide for a while, in case we are surrounded."

"Everyone take your apprentice and run quickly." Old Zhang was the first to make the decision.

"Old boss, our clothes"

"Hey! Human lives are more important! Now is not the time to worry about that!"

Old Zhang said, "Run, run now, and hide as much as possible. Tomorrow at dusk, we will gather people in the barn of the chicken feather shop east of the train station.

Taiyuan, you take that gentleman and run. Zhengqi, Xiaowu, Liuzi, Weiran, the four of you follow. "

"Wow wow wow wow!"

Just at this moment, a series of dog barkings were heard in the night far away outside the yard. These were the barkings of "civilian dogs" and the enemy was approaching!

"The dog follows the scent"

Wei Ran said, "Ask the one with the smell to leave a piece of clothing for me, and I will lead them away."

"Brother Wei, I'll go with you!" Zhang Zhengqi said as he handed over a shovel.

"I can do it myself. It's more convenient with fewer people. If you have the strength, go and protect the guests." Wei Ran said as he took the sharp spear.

"Go get some clothes for Xiao Wei. Xiao Wei, which way are you running?" Old Zhang asked in a low voice.

"I'm going west," Wei Ran pointed in the opposite direction of the dog's barking.

"Leave the west to Xiao Wei," Old Zhang ordered immediately, "Everyone, run now, run separately, and take care of yourselves."

After saying this, the rest of the troupe simply took the reward money and personal belongings they had received before going to bed, and immediately ran out of the courtyard, either following the master or with their apprentices.

"Son, survive."

Old Zhang patted Wei Ran's arm and whispered in his ear in a low voice, "If you can escape, if you get separated from us and can't catch the evening train, find a way to go to today's host's house to find the young mistress, call her Aunt Wu Si, and ask her to find a place for you to stay."

Before he finished speaking, Old Zhang took the small suitcase with the camera from his son Zhang Taiyuan and handed it to Zhang Zhengqi, and then stuffed a heavy small purse into Wei Ran's arms. Almost at the same time, Zhang Taiyuan also handed over a scarf.

"Xiao Wei, you must survive." Zhang Taiyuan said worriedly.

"You too, remember to remove the smell from him, otherwise the dog will chase you again."

Wei Ran didn't dare to delay. He took the scarf, took one last look at the guest standing behind Zhang Taiyuan, and ran out.

Glancing at the direction where Wei Ran disappeared, Zhang Taiyuan and Zhang Zhengqi carried the guest on the left and right and ran out. Xiaowu and Liuzi also carried Old Zhang.

The last person left in the yard slowly bolted the door and put up the door bar, then sprinkled a handful of fine quicklime in the doorway, and then climbed over the wall and disappeared.

Wei Ran had no idea of ​​the arrangement behind him. He was running wildly towards the west in a dark alley, holding the mopping scarf with one hand, and finally stopped at a fork in the road.

After looking around, he stepped on one end of the scarf and pulled off some of the whiskers, then chose a fork in the road and continued running.

Unfortunately, because he was unfamiliar with the place, the alley he randomly chose ended at only a hundred meters, and it was a dead end.

Fortunately, the wall is not very high, but the alley is very narrow.

He climbed over the walls on both sides and even deliberately stuck his scarf in the cracks between the bricks on the wall, leaving a little piece of cloth.

Holding the scarf, I stood firm again.

On the other side of the wall was a street that was relatively spacious and clean in that era. Diagonally opposite was an alley, and on the opposite side of the alley, there was a faint light coming through.

Hiding in the shadow of the building and looking around vigilantly, Wei Ran immediately ran into the alley opposite.

As he got closer to the light at the other end of the alley, a smile appeared on his face.

He knew this street; it was the street leading to the Daguan Tea Garden. Although it was already very late at this time, none of the brothels, opium dens and gambling houses on this street were closed!

Not only that, he also saw a smoker staggering out of the opium den!

"Master, I finally found you! Go back quickly!"

Wei Ran supported the smoker who was obviously still not awake, and said happily but helplessly, "Come on, let me take you a shortcut. The sled is over there!"

As he said that, he helped the heavy smoker walk into the alley they just walked out of without saying anything. Not long after, Wei Ran, who had changed into a cotton robe, a dog-skin hat, and deerskin boots, walked out of the alley, leaving behind the heavy smoker wearing Wei Ran's tattered clothes, leaning stupidly against the wall of the alley, dreaming about something.

He weighed the purse that Old Zhang had given him before he set off, and then took out the pocket watch he had just taken out of the big smoker's pocket and looked at it. It was less than 10 o'clock in the evening, and the nightlife was just beginning.

After looking around, he walked into a brothel.

This place is similar to some consumption places in later generations. Naturally, you won't get on the kang as soon as you enter the door. It still has some green projects such as listening to music and drinking tea.

After taking a look, he soon found his target, a Japanese soldier in uniform who was drunk with two "flower girls".

Wei Ran unnoticedly moved to sit at the table next to the other person and ordered a pot of wine and some side dishes. While drinking by himself, he also listened to what the Japanese soldier next to him was saying.

In just a moment, he learned from the chat of the two beautiful girls that Mr. Yamada was here for business, and that he was able to come here because of his good friend Mr. Miura.

Without much delay, Wei Ran put down his wine glass to hold down a few sheep tickets, walked to the drunk Japanese soldier, sat down and said in Japanese, "Mr. Yamada, Mr. Miura asked me to give you a message."

Then he whispered in Japanese into the other person's ear, "Mr. Miura said, don't waste your time here, he got some better girls and invites you to come over and share them."

Upon hearing this, the drunk Mr. Yamada's eyes immediately lit up, and Wei Ran also made a gesture to keep quiet in time, "Come with me, where are your clothes? You will catch a cold if you only wear these."

"Yes, clothes. My clothes."

The drunk Mr. Yamada struggled to stand up, took the mink coat handed to him by the girl next to him and put it on, threw down a few military tickets, and let Wei Ran help him leave the brothel.

"How did you get here?" Wei Ran asked.

"Sitting and vomiting——"

Before Mr. Yamada could finish his words, he vomited all over the floor because of the cold wind. Seeing this, Wei Ran, who had achieved his goal, immediately helped the other party back to the brothel, and naturally asked for a guest room, saying that Mr. Yamada had vomited and needed to rest.

After taking the military ticket that Wei Ran took out of Mr. Yamada's pocket, the madam immediately and enthusiastically arranged a guest room for him.

"Get some sleep"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already pressed down on the side of Mr. Yamada's neck. After just a moment's wait, the Japanese soldier fainted.

He simply stripped the man's clothes and put them inside his robe, then folded up the mink coat. Wei Ran, who was in a bad mood, tied the man's hands and feet face down at the head and foot of the bed, and stuffed his mouth with the scarf. Then he took out a dagger and made a small cut on the man's anus.

He waited for a moment until the other person's labia turned red, then slowly finished a cigarette, pushed the door and left, handed a few military tickets to the madam, and deliberately reminded her in a Japanese accent not to disturb Mr. Yamada's rest, and then deliberately scratched his crotch and left the brothel.

I walked into the alley again, fortunately, the heavy smoker had not frozen to death.

Having easily knocked the man unconscious, Wei Ran calmly took off the clothes he had just borrowed and helped the man put them on again. Then he threw away the tattered coat that belonged to him. Then he strolled around leisurely as a Japanese soldier, while also looking for members of the troupe.

It was hard to say whether it was lucky or unfortunate. For the next half hour, he did not find any members of the troupe. Instead, he saw Japanese soldiers and traitors with dogs surrounding the brothel. From a distance, he saw Mr. Yamada, who was wearing a Chinese robe and holding his buttocks, being supported out, and the heavy smoker who was carried out of the alley.

He quietly left the crowd of onlookers and slipped into a busy Japanese pub, where he easily had a few drunken Japanese expatriates.

In the end, Wei Ran, who was drunk but had only drunk a few sips, walked out of the pub wearing a patchwork quilt.

However, before he could figure out where to go next, he saw Zhang Zhengqi running away!

Looking behind him, he saw two Japanese soldiers chasing him, slipping and shouting.

"Into the alley!"

Wei Ran whispered a reminder the moment he passed by the other person.

Zhang Zhengqi was stunned, and then hurried into an alley on the side of the road. At the same time, the drunken Wei Ran also turned and walked into the alley while unbuckling his belt, and at the same time, he was also saying some nonsense in Japanese that could reveal his identity, such as "The cherry blossoms in my hometown are about to bloom."

However, at the moment when the two Japanese soldiers ran into the alley, Wei Ran suddenly covered the mouth of the Japanese soldier behind him and stabbed the dagger diagonally into his chest through his ribs.

This position is blocked by the diaphragm, so even if the heart is pierced, there will not be much blood, just as clean as killing a sheep in Mongolian style.

Before he could pull out his dagger, a dagger flew out from the dark alley ahead and accurately stabbed another Japanese soldier in the neck.

Before the Japanese soldier in front of him fell to the ground, Wei Ran had already pulled out his dagger, and took a quick step to grab the collar of the Japanese soldier in front of him, slowly flattened it and pulled out the dagger.

"Why are you alone?" Wei Ran quickly caught up with Zhang Zhengqi and asked.

"Grandpa's legs are slow, so I led away the pursuing devils."

Zhang Zhengqi, still carrying his camera, panted and said, "You"

"Don't talk anymore, just follow me."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already hidden his dagger and ran out from the other end of the alley with the other person. They found a nearby hotel that was open and they could stay there. He asked for a room using his drunken Japanese as proof of identity.

"Are we hiding here?" Zhang Zhengqi asked after they walked into the room.

"Hidden"

Wei Ran said, "Someone just died, especially the Japanese. This place is going to be in chaos. It's useless for you to run around. You may even get yourself into trouble."

"Them"

"I'll go"

Wei Ran said, "I can speak Japanese language, at least I can fool you."

"I can do what the devil says"

After Zhang Zhengqi finished speaking, he switched to Japanese and introduced himself.

"How come you can do that too?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

“My uncle taught me.”

Zhang Zhengqi said, "But I only know these few sentences. I originally wanted to study abroad with the Japanese. Later, my aunt sent us to Peking to study opera for two years, and then I decided to do it."

"We'll talk about it later when we have time. I've forgotten all about it."

Wei Ran responded randomly at first, then said, "It's enough for you to know these two sentences. Wait a minute, I'll go borrow a set of clothes for you."

"Where can I borrow it?" Zhang Zhengqi asked subconsciously.

"The streets are full of people looking for nuclear friends," Wei Ran said as he walked out of the room.

As for borrowing clothes, there are many pubs here, and there are naturally plenty of drunkards. It’s not difficult to borrow two pieces of clothes.