War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 2004: Four Photo Albums
When the countdown on the metal notebook still had 81 hours left out of 100, an ordinary off-road vehicle drove into Weiran's private campsite. It wasn't even fully light yet.

Almost as soon as Wei Ran followed Belial out of the tent, the door of the off-road vehicle was pushed open by Anfia, who had returned.

"Boss, the items have been returned," Anfia said as she walked over carrying a suitcase.

"Thank you for your hard work," Wei Ran said as she took the box.

"The entire Masami Furutani family of 12, including his pet silver fox dog, were subjected to hammer torture in order of age from youngest to oldest."

"Their bodies have been completely destroyed and rendered harmless after being thoroughly pulverized," Amphia said nonchalantly.

"Remember to provide timely psychological counseling to the executioner," Wei Ran kindly reminded him as he crawled into the tent.

"We recruited a retired wrestler with antisocial personality disorder in the Sheepfold Country."

Anfia, who followed her in, explained, "She enjoys this job."

"It's true what they say, 'A big forest has all kinds of birds.'"

Wei Ran's first half of his statement sounded like a normal person's, but his second half of the suggestion startled Anfiya: "Let this female athlete stay at Zhaohe, find some professional sashimi chefs to train her properly, and remember to arrange for an additional surgeon to train her in anatomy."

The Slavic hammering method is too crude. Since she enjoys this job, she should learn something more aesthetically pleasing.

"I'll arrange it right away," Anfia quickly agreed after regaining her senses.

At the same time, Wei Ran turned up the brightness of the camping light in the tent and then opened the suitcase.

However, when Wei Ran saw what was inside the box, he was stunned, so much so that he almost missed the fleeting burning sensation on the back of his hand.

The suitcase, which wasn't very big, contained two cameras and a thick stack of photo albums.

One of the cameras was a Leica D model, with the words "Gifted to Zhixia" clearly engraved on it.

Even without those three flamboyant characters, he could recognize that this was the Leica D model that Gaolianggan had seized during a night raid and later given to Guo Guanggun!
Suppressing his lingering suspicions, Wei Ran put on gloves, picked up the camera, observed it for a while, and confirmed his guess. He then picked up the second camera.

This is a Leica II. After opening the outer leather case, Wei Ran quickly noticed a line of Japanese characters engraved on the body and a line of red painted Chinese characters next to it.

"For Okabe Magoshiro's personal use"

After reading the Japanese inscription, Wei Ran looked at the line of painted Chinese characters: "Captured from the Japanese invaders in Nanyuan";
So this is what Guo Guanggun seized from Nanyuan back then? So he killed Okabe Sunshiro?
Setting the camera aside, Wei Ran took out four photo albums from the suitcase.

The first photo album was about the size and thickness of a large dictionary.

The leather cover is also embossed with a cicada perched on a branch.

Wei Ran was taken aback when he saw the photos inside the album as he gently opened it.

The cover of the photo album is a black and white family portrait. In this family portrait, he immediately spotted Guo Guanggun standing next to a girl in a cheongsam, and also saw a boy standing on the other side of the girl.

Even just by looking at the marks between his eyebrows and eyes, he recognized that this half-grown boy was Xu Zhiqi, whom he had met at Wuliang Temple.

Beside this photo, in delicate, tiny characters, is written a line of text: "In the winter of the 26th year of the Republic of China, Xiuqi visited my family. My father was very pleased. This is a family portrait of the Nie family."

Gently lift the old photograph pasted on the paper, and you'll find a small sealed paper package inside, clearly containing the negative.

Carefully turn it over to the back. On it, in delicate penmanship, Guo Guanggun's nervousness and embarrassing moments on his first visit are recorded in detail. It also records the scene of Xu's father and him having a pleasant conversation after getting drunk, as well as the indignation of "Little Brother Zhi Qiu" and "Big Brother Zhi Chun" towards the invaders.

On this small piece of paper, there was also a description of Guo Guanggun performing the Eight-Sword Breaking Technique for everyone, and even details of Xu's mother urging them to get married.

The second page features a photo of Guo Guanggun and Xu Zhixia, with the exact date written next to it. On the back, there are some interesting memories of their time at school.

If you keep flipping through, you'll find photos of Xu Zhixia with her brothers and her parents.

There are also photos she took of students marching, as well as some scenes that seem to be in Yan'an, and even photos of her in military uniform with soldiers and civilians.

As you flip through the album, you finally find some photos taken by Guo Guanggun.

Some of these photos have the Great Wall and the barren mountains of the north as backgrounds, some are of Wanping City, and others are of the battlefield of Nanyuan.

He also saw photos of Guo Guanggun'er and Gaolianggan'er, Zhao Shouxian and others, Wen Laoga and even Dong Weixin and others in the photos.

There are also several photos that appear to be "battlefield from the invaders' perspective," taken from film that seems to have been developed from the captured camera.

Just like before, each of these photos is carefully enclosed in a small paper bag containing an album, and the back of the album contains detailed records of the memories associated with taking the photo.

As you continue flipping through the album, the next photos seem to shatter all the beautiful moments that came before—they show Nanjing after the city fell.

On the back of these fewer than 30 photos there is no further text description, but on the next blank page, there are two oxidized and not completely overlapping bloody handprints.

On the partially overlapping bloody handprints, a line of text was written in Japanese: Seized in Nanjing on December 15, Showa 12, along with two cameras, some gold and jade. An unexpected discovery was made of the personal camera of reporter Okabe Magoshiro - Furutani Saburo.

As I flipped through the album further, it turned into a bloody ledger.

How many people he killed each day, how much he stole, what kind of women he encountered, and so on.

I tried flipping through the pages, and after a few pages, there were new photos.

However, from here on, the records are all of the killing scenes in Nanjing, this time from the perspective of the invader, Saburo Furutani.

The first picture, in particular, shows Guo Guanggun'er with his head chopped off, while the second picture shows Xu Zhixia's mangled body after being blown up.

The third photo shows a Japanese soldier with a samurai sword at his feet, pressing Xu Zhixia's hand onto the album—his face even showing a look of joy and arrogant pride.

In the fourth photo, he also pressed a bloody handprint onto the album while holding Guo Guanggun's hand, and took the same picture.

It was on the back of this photo that a string of Japanese text was left: They seem to be a couple, the man is a warrior, and the woman is also very fierce, that's what makes killing interesting.

Silently continuing to flip through the pages, this Japanese soldier named Saburo Furutani actually imitated the style of the first half of the album, leaving lines of text on the back of each photo to record his "battle achievements".

After going through more than 70 bloody photos and Saburo Furutani's self-aggrandizing claims, the last photo showed a broken katana and two headless infants stacked together. Finally, opposite this photo, a sentence in Japanese was written in blood: "The Furutani family's katana has been broken, its power ending with 81 people."

With a blank expression, Wei Ran closed the photo album and set it aside, then picked up the second photo album.

This album is smaller, but also thicker. The cardboard cover features a Ukiyo-e style geisha pattern.

However, compared to the artistry of the cover, which is uncertain of its existence.

The contents of this photo album are even more gruesome.

He was certain that this was the style of the water supply department after looking at almost only the first page of photos!
Suppressing his emotions, Saburo Furutani turned the book over and, as if retaining his previous habit, left a note on the other side.

According to his own account here, because he had studied at Osaka Medical College before the war, and because of his "decisive performance on the Nanjing battlefield" and his medical background, he was transferred to the "Kwantung Army Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department" in July of "Showa 13" and wrote the words, "I am willing to use my medical knowledge to serve the Empire, regardless of the means."

Next, in this thick photo album, every photo on every page is accompanied by Saburo Furutani's vivid descriptions.

After flipping through the entire album of 246 photos, it was already dawn outside the tent. Wei Ran closed the album again with a blank expression and then picked up the third album.

This photo album, however, records life after the end of the war of aggression against China.

According to the self-narration on the back of the photo, Saburo Furutani escaped trial before the end of the war by participating in a secret operation while on a "business trip," and faked his death to hide in Xidu, which had been captured by the Soviet army, to carry out intelligence work.

But as he flipped through the pages, Wei Ran's expression became incredibly serious when he saw a particular photo.

This is clearly a candid photo, but the person in the picture is Dong Weixin, who is unusually thin!
In the photo, Dong Weixin is standing in front of a shop called "Xifeng Photo Studio," seemingly talking to a passerby.

Wei Ran hurriedly flipped to the back, only to find that there was a photo of Guo Guanggun and Dong Weixin from the first album!

Looking at the text below, Saburo Furutani only wrote one sentence: "It can fetch a good price." This time, he even used Chinese characters!
"Last night, you said that Masami Ootani's father died in 1946?" Wei Ran asked without turning his head.

“That’s exactly what we asked,” Anfia replied, having already prepared the coffee.

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran didn't say anything, but simply continued flipping through the pages.

Finally, on the last page, Saburo Furutani took a picture of the harbor and wrote on the back, "The war here is about to end. Since the last assassination attempt, my body is almost giving out. Let Yoko take the child and my memories home first."

After closing the album, Wei Ran picked up the fourth one. This album was thinner, but it contained photos of Saburo Ootani and a woman on various occasions.

In these group photos, he even found Jinling, the same Jinling that appeared in the first two albums!
He even found the background of a group photo of the Xu family in these photos, where the place was already dilapidated.

Finally, a smile suddenly appeared on Wei Ran's face.

In the background of a photo that Saburo Ootani had retaken at the place where he killed Guo Guanggun and Xu Zhixia years ago, he saw a little beggar.

The filthy beggar was disheveled, but Wei Ran recognized him by his eyes; it was Xu Zhi Qiu.

He even subconsciously guessed where the assassination attempt that Saburo Ootani mentioned in the previous photo album came from—it was Xu Zhi Qiu, and it could only be Xu Zhi Qiu.

In the latter half of this photo album, Saburo Furutani abruptly disappears from the picture, and the main character in the photo becomes a little boy who keeps growing up.

Ultimately, the album ended with a black-and-white photograph of an old woman.

Gently closing the fourth photo album, Wei Ran asked, "Are there any records of the torture?"

"Yes, the entire execution process was filmed."

Anfia responded immediately, and after hesitating for a moment, she carefully asked, "Boss, are you alright?"

"Great, better than ever before."

As Wei Ran spoke, he fastened the suitcase, "Are our people still at the Xiaogu residence?"

"still there"

Anfia quickly replied, "We created the illusion that they were on a family road trip."

"Make it look like you've gone missing or are suspected of fleeing, but don't give yourself away."

Wei Ran rubbed his hand, "You've worked hard too, go back and get some rest."

"it is good"

Anfia put down her coffee cup, got up, crawled out of the tent, got into her car, and left.

After taking a sip of coffee from the wood-burning stove, Wei Ran closed the tent door and took a few deep breaths.

At this moment, he finally understood why that living father had demanded the torture and extermination of such a seemingly unrelated person—no, a beast—in the final act.

However, while the living father was satisfied, Wei Ran was filled with pent-up anger because of those four photo albums.

He never imagined that Dong Weixin's exposure would be due to such a lucky Japanese soldier who had survived.

Almost subconsciously, he thought of the playing card still hidden in the food box, and the incendiary bomb in the metal notebook.

After taking several deep breaths, Wei Ran, whose heart was bleeding, finally calmed down.

Now he wanted to know more about whether Zhao Shouxian and Yi Mo had survived, and whether Xu Zhiqi and the young Taoist priest had survived. That was probably his only remaining thought.

But before taking out the metal notebook, he became afraid. He worried that they would be left forever on the battlefield in a foreign land, like the other soldiers he had met on that battlefield, never to return.

He also worried that they might return, but like the veteran Chen Qi, they would lose their souls on that battlefield, yearning for it day and night.

Finally, he took out the metal notebook and let him open it on the folding table, letting the impartial metal quill pen write line after line of bloody words.

I'm sorry, I'm a coward. I can't write about Nanjing, I can't imagine how I would tell that story, so, that's it, that's it.