War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1795: Revenge Must Look Like Revenge

On the sixth floor, Wei Ran and Zhao Jingrong were still killing each other. Zhang Taichuan had already found an office and opened the safe using the password he had obtained in advance and the key Zhao Jingrong had just given him.

With the help of a small flashlight, Zhang Taichuan took away some bills and receipts, as well as some gold bars, silver dollars, legal tender, and some seals and other items.

At the stairs, Zhang Zhengqi, holding a sharp knife, was always alert to the situation downstairs.

In the last room on the sixth floor, Wei Ran stabbed a bayonet into a man's heart. After shaking it quickly, he pressed the edge of the quilt with the corner of his right hand and pulled out the bayonet.

After carefully checking the room, he walked out of the corridor and met up with Zhao Jingrong.

After looking at Wei Ran's windbreaker which was not stained with any blood, Zhao Jingrong looked at the corner of his own windbreaker which was still dripping with blood, and then gave him a thumbs up.

Wei Ran just smiled silently, went downstairs quietly, and started a new round of killing.

At the same time, Zhang Taichuan was still on the sixth floor, busy stamping each bill with different seals found in the safe, and signing his name one after another by imitating different notes.

On the fifth floor, Wei Ran quietly pushed open the door of a dormitory, walked to the bed and sat down, pressing the bayonet against the heart of the sleeping man while also covering his mouth.

But he did not rush to stab the bayonet in. Instead, he waited for a moment, until the people on the boat woke up, and then he stabbed with force.

He deliberately avoided the heart with this knife, but with his subsequent shaking, he easily cut the heart. The only difference from this tiny difference was that the man's face finally showed an extremely painful expression.

Gently patting the corpse's face, Wei Ran once again pressed the knife edge with the corner of the quilt and gently pulled out the bayonet. While taking the other person's life, he also kindly left a mask of pain for the other person.

This job is a mechanical and purely physical labor, as long as it does not make any noise or alert anyone other than the person being killed.

Fortunately, there were not many Japanese devils living on the fifth floor. After Wei Ran cleaned up the last room he was responsible for, he rushed to the fourth floor without even waiting for Zhao Jingrong to come out of the room he was responsible for.

This floor still has single dormitories, but each room is much smaller and there is no independent bathroom. Because of this, more people live on this floor.

However, it was also from this level that Wei Ran, after skillfully pushing open the door, stabbing the man to death, and pulling out the knife, took the extra step of gouging out the man's eyeballs, and put all the eyeballs into a Taro bag he found in the first dormitory.

When he came out of the fourth dormitory, Zhao Jingrong and Zhang Zhengqi had also run down.

Seeing that Wei Ran had already walked into the fifth dormitory, Zhao Jingrong shook his head helplessly, resigned himself to his fate and rushed over to help, knife in hand.

Wei Ran smiled gratefully upon seeing this. He was also grateful for the cold weather, for the fact that there was no central heating in Shanghai, and for the fact that these devils had to light kerosene heating stoves in order to keep warm.

We should also thank them for keeping the ventilation window above the door open even if they locked the door in order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

Because of this, although he occasionally needed to step on the door frames on both sides to climb in through the window, the skills of the martial artists and clowns taught to him by the metal book made the process exceptionally simple.

He and Zhao Jingrong worked together to kill people from the left side of the fourth floor to the right side, but Wei Ran turned around and went into the room where Zhao Jingrong had killed people.

Seeing this, Zhao Jingrong did not stop him, but just followed behind curiously.

"What are you doing?" Zhao Jingrong asked in a low voice.

"Revenge should look like revenge"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already gouged out the eyeballs of the people killed by the other party in the dormitory, and whispered as if it was a matter of course, "Revenge is not about killing people, it is about making the other party feel the same or even double the pain.

I don't want to provoke you to do anything impulsive, but I saw with my own eyes that Aunt Wu Si and the others were killed. All I can do is to avenge them, using the Japanese who may also be innocent, so you should retreat if you want, but don't stop me. "

"She is my biological mother," Zhao Jingrong said as he followed Wei Ran out.

"Um"

Wei Ran nodded imperceptibly in response, but he had already gone into the second dormitory where the body was lying. At the same time, Zhao Jingrong also walked to the door of the next dormitory and started to work again.

Soon, they arrived at the third floor.

There is no change in the layout of this floor compared to the upstairs, so there is naturally not much difference in killing - it's just that there is no one in one of the dormitories.

Obviously, the ox is still working overtime on the second floor.

"How about I go upstairs and you deal with the one on the second floor?" Wei Ran asked.

"it is good"

Zhao Jingrong didn't even ask Wei Ran what he was going to do. He took the knife and took Zhang Zhengqi to the second floor.

What exactly are you?

Wei Ran pondered secretly, and at the same time, he quickly returned to the sixth floor.

At this time, Zhang Taichuan was still busy in the office-like room. Wei Ran did not disturb him and started from the first room. He gouged out the eyes of the corpse first, then wielded an anti-Japanese sword and chopped off the head of the corpse, while also cutting open the abdominal cavity - just like what Wu Siyi Niang and others experienced in Fengtian at this time last year.

He gouged out the eyes of the corpses on the sixth and fifth floors and chopped off their heads. Wei Ran picked a meeting room on the second floor and placed the dog heads on the long table.

"Which direction is the Huangpu River?"

Wei Ran asked Zhao Jingrong who was standing at the door and watching coldly.

"Over there" Zhao Jingrong raised his hand and pointed in a direction.

"Thank you"

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he carefully adjusted the direction that the dog heads were facing and stacked them to form a square base.

"Not enough?" Zhao Jingrong asked.

"not enough"

As Wei Ran walked upstairs, he answered as a matter of course, "It's far from enough."

“There’s still time”

Zhao Jingrong glanced at his blood-stained watch and said, "We still have more than half an hour."

"Do you need help?"

Wei Ran asked.

"Of course," Zhao Jingrong said, and actually pulled out an axe from his waist.

Seeing this, Wei Ran smiled and turned to look at Zhang Zhengqi who was standing at the stairs.

"I"

"Guard the stairs, go to the first floor and keep an eye on the situation outside."

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he started climbing upstairs.

In the last half hour, Wei Ran, who no longer needed to pretend to be a normal person and who let go of all his bottom lines and only thought about revenge, turned into a woodcutter. He wielded the anti-Japanese sword again and again to chop off the heads of the dogs that served as sacrifices, and repeatedly cut open his abdomen to replicate everything that happened in the house in Fengtian.

Finally, a five-story pyramid of human heads was piled up on the long table in the conference room.

Finally, Zhang Taichuan finished the work he needed to do, left the room, and walked into the building filled with the smell of blood.

"Gulululu"

On the long table in the conference room on the second floor, Wei Ran poured a bag full of eyeballs from the highest point of Jingguan. Those elastic balls rolled down and rolled everywhere.

"puff"

Wei Ran, who was getting down from the table, accidentally stepped on an eyeball that had rolled onto the chair.

"Even if Mr. Zhang comes in person now, I'm afraid he won't be able to explain it clearly." Zhao Jingrong sighed.

"In the underworld, one must be loyal"

Wei Ran rubbed the soles of his woolen socks and asked as he walked out, "Is Second Uncle done with his work?"

“I’m done.”

Zhang Zhengqi shuddered and pointed to the bathroom not far away. He claimed that he had killed many people since he came to Shencheng, but what happened just now still frightened him, so much so that he subconsciously suspected that his opera master in Beiping had some special skills that he didn't teach him but taught to Wei Ran instead.

However, now was obviously not the time to discuss these things. The four of them returned to the bathroom on the second floor and carefully washed the blood stains on their gloves.

Zhao Jingrong also took off the blood-stained windbreaker on his body, rolled it up carefully and tied it up with a rope. Then he pulled the rope that Zhang Zhengqi had let go and returned to the dark alley.

Zhang Zhengqi, who was left at the end, glanced at the corridor outside the bathroom where the lights were still on. He threw the rope down and climbed over the window. He held onto the windowsill outside with one hand and closed the wooden window. Then he pulled out the axe from his waist and knocked lightly on the closed part of the window.

With an inconspicuous hammering sound, the pin on the inside of the window was shaken and fell, completely blocking the possibility of illegal entry.

Zhang Zhengqi calmly fixed the axe, let go of his hand and let his body fall, then rolled lightly and silently to relieve the force.

When he stood up, Zhao Jingrong had already lit a cigarette and held it in his palm, and was walking quickly away along the alley with the three of them.

This was obviously not the road they had taken when they came, but after turning many turns and even climbing over a low wall that blocked the alley, when they walked out of the alley, there were already four rickshaws waiting for them.

It was not until this time that they took off their woolen socks and threw them into the sack held by one of the rickshaw drivers. Even Zhao Jingrong threw his windbreaker in.

Without wasting too much time, Wei Ran and Zhang Zhengqi left first in a rickshaw, followed by Zhang Taichuan. Along the way, neither Wei Ran nor Zhang Zhengqi spoke, let alone made any unnecessary noises.

About half an hour later, the rickshaw stopped in front of the bookstore which had been closed for a long time. Wei Ran did not say hello to Zhang Zhengqi, but walked into the alley next to it alone. He stopped at the darkest place halfway, took out the suitcase, put his windbreaker, top hat and gloves into it, and then changed into a pair of shoes and a pair of sheepskin gloves.

This was not the end. He then took out some meat pieces that he had prepared in advance from the suitcase and scattered them around.

These were bought when I went to buy whetstones during the day and are temporarily placed in the suitcase. Naturally, these meat particles have been soaked in rat poison.

This was not the end. He then took out a paper bag of quicklime, walked back a few steps and sprinkled it along the way.

After finishing all this, Wei Ran clapped his hands, packed up his suitcase, climbed over the window of the bathroom on the first floor of the photo studio, returned to his shop, and took back the sack that had been hanging outside the window.

After carefully checking the first floor, Wei Ran returned to the second floor where the lights were not on. The fire was still burning brightly. There were even aluminum lunch boxes filled with food and pre-warmed white wine placed on the cast iron stove.

"Brother Wei is back"

Xiao Wu whispered enthusiastically, "The food is ready, and the hot water in the bath tub is also ready. I'll take your clothes away later. The laundry shop next to the bookstore is run by Uncle Zhao. It can be washed tonight and will be returned at dawn."

"Okay, you go over first. I'll take it off, pack it into a bag and hand it to you." Wei Ran said.

"Hey!"

Xiaowu responded, swiftly climbed over the window of the bathroom on the second floor, and jumped lightly to the other side.

"As expected of a student of drama."

Wei Ran murmured an admiration, then took off his clothes, took out the clothes, shoes and other things in the suitcase, tied them into a bundle with his windbreaker, and handed it over through the window.

Although there were more clothes than expected, Xiaowu didn't ask any more questions. He closed the window and went downstairs.

At the same time, Wei Ran, who had also closed the window, opened the wooden lid of the bath tub, scooped a basin of water from it with a washbasin and poured it over his head, then carefully applied soap all over his body.

After rinsing his whole body with two basins of water, Master Wei, who had been busy for most of the night, soaked himself comfortably in the bathtub, patiently diluting the remaining blood smell on his body.

Only when the skin on his fingers became wrinkled and the bath water became lukewarm did he leave the steamy bathroom. After drying his body, he sat by the warm fireplace and enjoyed his midnight snack.

That night, Zhang Zhengqi did not come to see him, but he got himself half drunk. This was necessary so that he would smell of alcohol when he woke up the next day.

After carefully cleaning up the leftover food, Wei Ran crawled into the bed with the hot water bottle and fell asleep.

In the second half of the night, he slept soundly with a hot water bottle with a cotton cover.

The next day, before dawn, Xiaowu pushed open the window of the bathroom on the second floor of the photo studio from the outside, and brought in several bags filled with clothes, shoes and other items one by one and placed them on the lid of the bath tub.

Almost at the same time he returned, Wei Ran, who was awakened, also walked into the bathroom, carried the bags back to the bed, then refilled the stove with coal briquettes, and slowly put the washed, dried and ironed clothes into the suitcase one by one - this did not include the clothes he wore when he drank yesterday.

After everything was packed up, Wei Ran finally opened the suitcase containing the camera, took out the film he had taken yesterday, and then took out the photographic developing box from the metal book.

This photo studio does not have any developing equipment or chemicals, let alone any printing equipment.

In other words, although he could take the photos, he needed to find a place to develop them. Unfortunately, he was unfamiliar with the place, and Lin Qiaoan forgot to tell him where to develop them yesterday.

"wrong."

After making all the preparations, Wei Ran realized something and quickly put away all the developing chemicals and then the photography developing box.

"Looks like I need to find a place to hang out today."

He weighed the film in his hand, then placed it on the table and crawled back into the still warm bed.

This time, he slept until the door downstairs was slammed. Wei Ran yawned and got up, pulled open the curtains and pushed open the window, and asked sleepily, "Who is it?"

"Ouch! Boss Wei! I woke you up!"

At the entrance of the photo studio, Liuzi held a bundle and looked up and said, "You drank too much yesterday and vomited all over yourself. I took the initiative to send your clothes to be washed. They have just been washed and brought to you."

"I was wondering where my clothes were. I thought they were robbed." Wei Ran muttered, "Wait, I'll be down right away."

He deliberately lingered upstairs for a while and buttoned his pajamas incorrectly. Then he came downstairs in a disheveled state and handed the door key to Liuzi through the crack in the door.

Liuzi opened the padlock on the door from the outside, immediately handed over the bundle and said, "Our boss Mu wants you to develop the photos as soon as possible. He wants to put them in the newspaper. He also invites you to go to the second floor to listen to an opera in the evening. He has reserved a private room for you."

"Thank Boss Mu for me. I will develop the photos as soon as possible." Wei Ran yawned and then picked up his bag and closed the door.

He returned to the second floor and couldn't wait to open the bag. He immediately saw several French currencies, his ID document, and a note.

The note contained the detailed address of a company called "Musashino Photo Studio", also located in the International Settlement, as well as the approximate price of developing photos and the size and quantity he needed.

At the end of the note, there was an additional reminder: "The other party cannot be trusted."

After noting down the address of the photo studio, Wei Ran threw the note into the furnace, stirred it with a fire hook and sealed the damper. He then changed into the clothes that Liuzi had just brought him, cleaned himself up, locked his camera, picked up the film, and hurried downstairs.

He first stopped a street vendor and bought a pack of cigarettes, and used the change to buy a newspaper. Then Wei Ran got on a rickshaw.

"Where are you going, sir?" asked the rickshaw driver.

"Musashino Photo Studio"

Wei Ran lit a cigarette and gave a relatively detailed address.

As the car started moving, Wei Ran also focused on the scenery along the way.

However, what he never expected was that when he was about to arrive at Musashino Photo Studio, Wei Ran actually saw the six-story building he had visited last night.

Of course he could recognize them, as he could see the Japanese soldiers surrounding the building and those suspected gang members.

"I don't know if this dog-eat-dog thing can work."

Wei Ran sighed secretly, but he did not hold out hope for this. He had long known that he could not change history. Since there was no similar record in the archives of later generations, it naturally meant that it had never happened.

Although he felt a little regretful, he did not ask the rickshaw driver to stop. He was just a small owner of a photo studio and what happened over there had nothing to do with him.

In this nonchalant manner, the rickshaw driver continued to drive him for more than ten minutes, and finally stopped in front of the door of Musashino Photo Studio.

This photo studio, which is obviously run by the Japanese, is much larger than his own studio. And just by looking at the Japanese writing on the photos, one can tell that the people who come here to take pictures are basically overseas Chinese from nearby, and the people served by this photo studio are mainly Japanese.

After paying the fare, Wei Ran got off the rickshaw, straightened his collar, and walked into the photo agency.

However, what he didn't expect was that he actually saw Zhang Taichuan here.

"Sir, are you here to take pictures?" Zhang Taichuan asked enthusiastically in Japanese - as if he didn't know Wei Ran.

"No, I'm here to get some prints."

Wei Ran also answered in Japanese and even gave a cherry blossom-like bow.

"Please come with me"

Zhang Taichuan greeted Wei Ran warmly in Japanese and led him into the inner room.

"Are you recruiting nuclear personnel?" Wei Ran asked in Japanese.

"Thank you for the compliment, but I'm not a nuclear recruiter."

Zhang Taichuan's attitude became even more enthusiastic and earnest, and he even took the initiative to regard Wei Ran's deliberate mistake as a compliment.

"You speak Japanese very well," Wei Ran praised, but did not reveal his identity.

“I studied in Kyoto for many years”

Zhang Taichuan said respectfully, "I am now working as a translator at the newspaper office across the street. I usually come to this photo agency to do some odd jobs during my breaks."

"Do you have a Japanese name?" Wei Ran continued to ask, "What is your Japanese name?"

"Kawaguchi Yoshiyoshi, sir, my Japanese name is Kawaguchi Yoshiyoshi."

Zhang Taichuan responded respectfully with a Japanese name that was insulting enough to him.

“It’s a good name”

Wei Ran laughed loudly and praised loudly in Japanese, but at the same time he secretly clenched his fists. He knew that Zhang Taichuan had to do so at this time, and he had to do so too.

“Thank you for your compliment”

Zhang Taichuan became more respectful, "Sir, did you bring the film?"

"Of course I brought it," Wei Ran said, taking out a roll of film from his pocket and handing it to the other party.