War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1891 Deserter
"crash"

Just as Wei Ran tried to look out, the pile of broken bricks and tiles outside the coffin collapsed.

As the other side of the coffin collapsed, the beam pressing on it also shifted slightly, and even the coffin itself shifted slightly, using the wooden bar underneath as an axis.

It was precisely this slight movement that startled Wei Ran, who was digging a way out under the coffin, but thankfully he wasn't injured. However, behind him, Cheng Guanyin let out a very clear muffled groan because of the movement.

Immediately afterward, Wei Ran heard a crisp "clang" behind him, and a gasp of "Damn it!" from outside.

Soon, the sound of digging at bricks and stones came from outside. Wei Ran, who was hiding under the coffin, hesitated for a moment but still turned around to look at Cheng Guanyin.

At this moment, Cheng Guanyin, who had fallen into a coma, lay beside the coffin. There was half a blood-stained brick next to his ear, and a wound on his forehead that was oozing blood had appeared.

The collapse had caused bricks and tiles to fall and hit Cheng Guanyin, while the shifting of the roof beams had also caused the large knife that had been pinned down to slip and land at Cheng Guanyin's feet.

Also good
Wei Ran sighed, crawled back under the coffin, and together they began digging.

"Inside, is it a person or a ghost?" the person outside, who was half-opening the bricks and tiles, asked in a low voice, trembling with fear.

"A person, a living person."

After a moment's hesitation, Wei Ran replied, "What's the situation outside?"

"well--!"

The people outside sighed heavily but said nothing more, only digging even harder.

With the combined efforts of the two, and after repeated collapses, a hole was finally dug on the other side of the coffin, just big enough for Wei Ran to crawl through.

At this point, the sound of gunfire could be heard less outside the cave entrance, but the sky above was now filled with stars.

The man helping to dig the hole outside was an old man who looked to be around 60 years old. His tattered clothes were covered in blood and smelled of corpses, and he had an extra conspicuous white cloth strip tied around his arm.

Looking around, the scene was a complete mess; clearly, the fighting had stopped.

"Come out quickly!"

The old man outside urged in a low voice in dialect, "Did you bleed?"

"It's alright," Wei Ran said, "I was just..."

"Alright, I'll tell you what to do next, and you'll get it done. Get Ke out of the city!" The old man visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Current battle situation."

"I surrender."

The old man sighed, "Young man, don't push yourself too hard. I heard that Commander Fang signed the decree, and there haven't been any gunshots in the whole city."

He then lowered his voice and added, "The Japanese devils are all like that, you..."

The old man sighed again, "Follow me to my place first."

“There’s another one buried inside,” Wei Ran said in a low voice. “Let’s get him out of here first.”

As he spoke, Wei Ran, who was still hiding under the coffin, leaned out from the other side, pulled the unconscious Cheng Guanyin over, and with the help of the old man outside, sent him out.

"Give him this to carry with him," Wei Ran said, handing over the large sword as well.

"Hurry up and climb out too! The Japanese patrol is coming!" the old man urged in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran quickly climbed out and, together with the old man, carried the unconscious Cheng Guanyin, along with his broadsword, to a cart full of corpses by the roadside.

"You go up too."

The old man urged them on, and after Wei Ran lay down, he quickly covered them with a tattered burlap sack. Then he called over another old man who looked like a corpse-carrying team from a distance. The two of them worked together to lift several rotting corpses and put them on top of Wei Ran and Wei Ran.

"Wang Man's parents' bodies are rotting and festering! They've nailed together an old cedar coffin; we old folks can't afford to carry it!" the old man shouted. "That's for sure!"

"Wang Man...I heard he was defeated at Zhangjiashan half a month ago, sigh!"

With another long sigh, the cart, laden with rotting corpses, began its difficult, slow movement.

However, as the foul-smelling blood dripped through the tattered sack onto his body, he couldn't help but wonder if this counted as a breakout.

Or perhaps Wei Ran inexplicably became more vigilant.

As he waited with bated breath, he heard more and more screams, wails, pleas for mercy, curses, and cries—along with the sudden sound of gunfire.

As the cart moved along, stopping and starting, a bayonet suddenly stabbed in, piercing through the corpse and the burlap, finally stopping less than a centimeter from Wei Ran's forehead.

"pat"

A drop of dark red, almost black, putrid blood dripped down the blade and landed on Wei Ran's brow, causing him to instinctively tighten his grip on the hilt of the anti-Japanese broadsword between him and Cheng Guanyin.

"puff!"

No sooner had one bayonet been pulled out than another was thrust in, this time its tip even piercing Wei Ran's arm.

But aside from gripping that anti-Japanese broadsword tightly, all he did was grit his teeth.

He couldn't move, otherwise not only would he and Cheng Guanyin die, but the two old men who saved them would also be implicated.

As he gritted his teeth and endured the pain, the bayonet was pulled out, and the cart started moving again.

Gently pinching the wound with his hand, Wei Ran closed his eyes and waited patiently. After a long time, the cart was stopped by an arrogant voice.

"Unload all the bodies. By order of Taijun, we must inspect them one by one."

The arrogant voice spoke in accented Mandarin. Just from that distinctive voice, Wei Ran could tell that the other party was almost certainly a traitor.

"You're the one who's trying to get rid of bacteria."

"Crack!"

The old man who rescued Wei Ran and his companion had barely uttered a word when Wei Ran clearly heard the distinctive sound of a bullet being chambered by pulling the pin.

"Cleanse, cleanse."

Another old man quickly replied in Mandarin, trying to make sure the other person could understand, "We'll carry them right away. He meant to say, 'Stand back a bit, these corpses are rotting, they're infected with disease.'"

"You're quite sensible," the traitor said with satisfaction.

"Lift it up."

The one who had just given the explanation said, his tone tinged with a hint of helplessness.

"Lift it up."

The old man who had rescued Wei Fan also sighed and began to work together to move the corpses down.

As the layer of corpses that had been pressing down on him was removed, Wei Ran gradually saw that, in the dim light, a donkey-drawn cart was parked by the roadside.

At this moment, three traitors, each holding a flashlight, were hiding on the cart, scanning the corpses being carried down, clearly looking for any smuggled items.

Before long, the burlap sacks over Wei Ran and the other man's heads were lifted. The old man who had helped explain glanced at the still-bleeding wound on Wei Ran's arm and said, "Taijun, these are the only ones left. Would you like to take a look?"

At this moment, Wei Ran had also seen the situation around him.

Fortunately, this place seemed to be located not far from the river, and as far as the eye could see, the only people responsible for the checks seemed to be those three traitors wearing white coats and thick masks.

However, some distance behind Wei Ran and his group's vehicle, there appeared to be another cart also loaded with corpses.

In just a short while, two of the traitors had already taken bamboo poles with bayonets attached and started to finish off the remaining enemies one by one.

Occasionally, if a corpse had any valuable items left on it, such as jade pendants, glasses, or pens, the two old men would help them take them off and put them in a wooden box to the side.

While they were busy, another traitor holding a flashlight walked over.

He also held a bayonet with a bamboo pole attached and a flashlight in his hand.

As the distance closed, the two old men standing not far away also became nervous.

One of them had already secretly picked up a fist-sized stone while lifting his shoe.

"laugh!"

Just as the traitor peeked out, a large, chipped knife was placed against his neck and slashed sharply.

It also let out a soft "uh," which inevitably attracted the attention of the other two Japanese soldiers.

However, what greeted them was a beam of flashlight shining directly into their faces.

The blinding light made them instinctively reach out to shield their eyes from the incoming beam.

In just a short while, Wei Ran had already jumped off the cart and rushed over, stomping hard on one of the traitors in the chest.

At the same time, the old man who had already picked up the stone swung his arm and smashed it hard on the back of another traitor's head.

"Crack!"

The old man's strength was so great that Wei Ran, who was standing right next to him, thought that the old man had smashed open a watermelon, a favorite of the descendants of traitors.

"thump"

The two traitors fell to the ground almost simultaneously. Inside the cart, Cheng Guanyin, who was holding an anti-Japanese broadsword with his uninjured hand, also breathed a sigh of relief and struggled to push away the traitor's corpse that was pressing down on him.

"Let's go, you two young men, hurry up and move along!"

The old man who first rescued them pointed in a direction and said, "This place is ours to settle. You two race as fast as you can to the end, the Xiang River is just ahead!"

"Speed ​​away! Speed ​​across Jielong Bridge! There are boats moored on the riverbank—take advantage of the darkness!" another old man urged.

"Take care, you too." Wei Ran gritted his teeth, helped up Cheng Guanyin, who seemed to have suffered a concussion, and then picked up his broadsword and transferred it to the traitor's donkey cart.

Just as he swung the reins, another cart carrying corpses stopped, and two old men got off and walked over silently.

With the help of the two old men, the bodies that had just been unloaded were lifted back onto Wei Ran and his companion's cart. They also stripped the bodies of the three traitors naked, made a few cuts on them, and placed them at the bottom.

“We’ve deserted,” Cheng Guanyin muttered to himself, barely able to sit still.

“The garrison in the city has surrendered,” Wei Ran sighed.

"What did you say?!" Cheng Guanyin's eyes widened.

"That's enough."

Wei Ran sighed, "47 days, so many people died, we ran out of ammunition, medicine, and water, and all our soldiers were wiped out. All that's left are the wounded. There are so many corpses inside and outside the city, and cholera has started to appear."

"There are still people in the city, there are still a hundred people in the city!"

Before Cheng Guanyin, who was covered in wounds, could finish speaking, he spat out a mouthful of hot blood, which landed on Wei Ran's equally wounded face and body, and caused a bright light to surge before his eyes, this time a blood-red light.

When the blinding light faded, Wei Ran found himself lying on a cart once again.

Above them was a straw mat seeping with bodily fluids, to their right was the edge of a cart, and to their left was the child named Huaiqian.

He was holding a bag containing a camera in his hands, and wearing a thick mask and a helmet on his face.

On his left
Wei Ran sighed silently. She was Cheng Guanyin's wife.

Her body had already begun to decompose, and judging from her final posture of still choking herself, it seemed to be caused by suffocation and burning from poison gas.

Peeking carefully through the gaps between the corpses, Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh. He saw Chen Shun slowly pulling a cart forward under the scorching sun.

"crunch"

Just then, the cart stopped, and Chen Shun walked over and pushed the rotting corpses off the cart one by one, then lifted the straw mat that reeked of stench.

"Brother Wei, please take this child down," Chen Shunqiang said, trying to sound cheerful.

"This is."

Covered in wounds and pain, Wei Ran lifted the little guy named Huai Qian down and asked.

It was only at this moment that he noticed the little guy had a rag stuffed in his mouth.

Three days ago.

Chen Shun sat by the roadside, panting heavily as he said, "The Japanese launched another round of poison gas attacks before entering the city. My sister-in-law was busy tending to the wounded at that time, and she didn't make it through."

"What are you doing"

"I leaped! I leaped again!"

Chen Shun said guiltily, "Seeing you all risking your lives, I ran away."

I thought to myself, I have to protect this child no matter what. And so I protected him.

"It's already quite good," Wei Ran sighed hoarsely. "It's already quite good."

"Brother Wei, where are you going next?" Chen Shun asked.

"do not know"

After trying unsuccessfully to retrieve the props, including the camera, Wei Ran shook his head. "What about you? What are your plans next?"

"I"

At this point, Chen Shun slapped himself hard across the face, and said with a sob in his voice, "I'm such a coward, I'm such a coward, I just wanted to find a place to hide."

"Go ahead, you've done nothing wrong."

Wei Ran said that he had no right to ask the other party to continue fighting; he was already a hero.

I'll take him to live with the cat.

Chen Shun pointed at Cheng Huaiqian, who was silent, or rather, numb, and said, "Even if I have to beg in the streets, I'll raise this kid to adulthood."

"Huaiqian"

Wei Ran hugged the terrified Huai Qian and whispered in his ear, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Your father is still alive, your father is still alive. He will come to pick you up soon."

As Wei Ran gently comforted him again and again, Huai Qian, who had been expressionless, gradually came to life and finally let out a loud wail.

It was amidst this wailing that everything before Wei Ran's eyes was finally filled with white light once again.

Finally, as the white light began to disappear once again, the pain and stench of death on his body also vanished completely, leaving only the sorrow that the white light could not take away and could only be digested by himself.

Looking around, Wei Ran glanced at the farm that belonged exclusively to Edelweiss Clara's dream world, then took a deep breath and refocused his attention on the metal notebook in front of him.

At this moment, the metal quill pen had written new content in blood-red ink:

Act IV

Character: Street vendor Wei Ran

Mission 1: Rescue Cheng Bingquan's family by any means necessary.

Return Mission 2: Take a photo of Cheng Guanyin.

Mission 3: Keep the parts of the Cheng brothers' experiences that they did not experience confidential.

Return Mission 4: Take a group photo of Cheng Huaiqian and Chen Shun.

As the blood-red text reached this point, a blinding white light swept in, and Wei Ran saw the usable props within the light.

Mauser bayonets, PPK pistols, Robert cameras—that's all.

Relieved, Wei Ran waited quietly for the white light to dissipate, and then found himself back in the pancake shop not far from the dock in the mountain city.

The pancake shop hasn't changed much, except that the price posted on the wall is gone and only "No Credit" remains.

The most eye-catching thing was a stack of newspapers on the table, cut into squares to wrap sesame cakes. The top one even had half a news article about the founding of New China printed on it.

I reached out and picked up the newspaper and smelled it. Besides the slight aroma of oven-baked sesame cakes, I could also smell the distinct scent of ink.

Looking at the gloomy and slightly chilly weather outside, Wei Ran put down the half-sheet of newspaper in his hand and looked again at the tofu shop diagonally opposite.

In the blink of an eye, the tofu shop remained unchanged, but a child who looked about three or four years old was now sitting at the feet of the mountain woman who sold tofu and tofu pudding, happily eating a small bite of steaming hot tofu.

In addition, he saw Cheng Bingquan again.

However, Cheng Bingquan was even thinner now. You could hear him coughing from time to time, even from across the street. He was even leaning on a bamboo stick.

Looking back, Wei Ran crouched down and quickly took out Robert's camera bag, replaced the lens and film on the camera, and wound it up, ready to go.

A moment later, an old man came out of the tofu shop, and the little guy holding a small piece of tofu in his hand called out in a childish voice, "Da da!"

Just as the old man carrying a bamboo basket on his shoulder, filled with some carpentry tools, picked up the little guy with a hearty laugh, and just as Cheng Bingquan and his wife Huang Qingqiu also smiled, Wei Ran raised the camera that had already been adjusted.

Get this family of four, spanning three generations, into the frame as quickly as possible.

Wei Ran quickly pressed the shutter button and immediately put away his camera. Almost simultaneously, several laborers walked up to his pancake stall, chatting and laughing.

"Two sesame seed cakes for everyone! It's on me today!"

The laborer generously tossed over a wad of paper money, now used as toilet paper, and said, "Add more pickled vegetables!"

"okay!"

Wei Ran responded loudly, and at the same time noticed that several laborers were gathered around the tofu shop across the street, buying tofu.

While he was busy rolling out the dough and baking the flatbreads, the laborers waiting for their food started chatting idly, their conversation filled with vulgar and lewd jokes.

At the same time, one of the people nearby looked at Wei Ran and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, as if talking to himself, "Pigworm has been exposed. There are boats at the dock at eight o'clock tonight. You and Cheng Doufu's family have to evacuate."

"cough cough"

Wei Ran cleared his throat, picked up a sesame seed cake, filled it with pickled vegetables, and handed it to the other person, replying enthusiastically but irrelevantly, "You eat first, I'll take the rest."

"Your sesame seed cake is really good."

The other person responded casually with a smile, and Wei Ran could even tell that the dialect he spoke was probably from the north.

"Boss, would you like some water?" another laborer asked, pointing to the kettle behind Wei Ran.

"Pour it yourself!"

Wei Ran said even more enthusiastically, "If that's not enough, there's more! We have plenty of hot water!"

Upon hearing this, the laborer, who wasn't even wearing shoes, didn't stand on ceremony. He stepped inside and placed a paper bag that smelled of roasted chicken on the stool.

The laborer, with his back to the outside, picked up the kettle, poured himself a full bowl of water, and gulped it down. But when he left, he forgot about the roast chicken he had casually placed on the stool.

After a rather long wait, each laborer was given two steaming hot sesame seed cakes filled with pickled vegetables.

"Run away!"

After the laborer who had just asked for water finished speaking, he immediately and generously invited his companions to go back and have a good meal. Some of them even urged the laborers who were buying fried stinky tofu across the street to hurry up.

It was just before dawn.
As Wei Ran stared at Cheng Bingquan across from him, he muttered to himself.