Battlefield Priest's Diary

Chapter 170 Pavka's Old Trade

Squeak!

Bang!

The door opened quickly, then closed just as fast, and then opened again.

When he came back in, the man was completely bewildered; his expression froze, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

The next second! A wailing sound rang out from inside the house!
"Father! You're back!"

“I knew those guys were liars. When I went there, they all said you were shot six times and sank into the river.”

"You're not dead at all!"

Pfft~~~~ Slurp~~~
The sound of blowing one's nose rang out, and seeing that Qin Hao didn't speak, the other started talking to himself.

"I know I haven't been devout enough over the years, but I can't help it..."

"The Tsar has fallen, and the new country doesn't allow religion; things only improved a few years ago..."

"I admit the offerings were indeed reduced, but everyone's been having a tough time lately..."

Although the other person's words were incoherent, Qin Hao still recognized the guy who came in—Pavka, a veteran from the Siberian Regiment.

The old soldier has changed a lot. His once bald head is now completely bare. Before, he could only be described as having rough skin, but now, with the wrinkles on his face, he could probably trap a mosquito that flies up to him.

After all, he is already over fifty years old.

If anything hasn't changed, it's his signature yellow teeth and his seemingly unchanging mercenary air.

However, Qin Hao did not intend to admit his identity at this time. Before coming, he had made some simple modifications to his facial features.

Pavka kept rambling on and on, leaving the female soldier beside him at a loss. Lilia didn't know what was wrong with the sergeant in front of her. Why did he go crazy just looking at her?

Five minutes later, Pavka calmed down, and then a voice rang in his ears.

"Sergeant, what's wrong with you?"

Sergeant? He called me Sergeant? The priest would never call me that.

Only then did Pavka remember to look up at the other person.

Upon closer inspection, the other person's face and figure were at least 80% similar to those of back then, but there were subtle differences. The skin in front of him looked rougher and sallower, the eyebrows seemed to be thicker than he remembered, and the lips seemed to be thinner.

The age is also wrong; if the priest were still alive, he would be over forty years old now.

A sour, foul smell wafted over, and seeing the other person's filthy uniform made Pavka feel confused.

"You're not him?!" Pavka looked puzzled.

"Who is it? Sergeant? What did you say? I don't understand." Qin Hao tilted his head and asked, seemingly confused.

Has anyone else told you that you resemble someone...?

“Some elderly people have mentioned it before, but they never told me who it was specifically.”

"Looks like you really aren't anymore." The veteran's expression returned to normal, and he stood up, staring into Qin Hao's eyes.

"No, that's not true at all. The way he stands in front of you is sacred, solemn, and inviolable... Just one look from him and you'll be completely captivated, unable to resist kneeling down."

"Um, Sergeant, are you talking about King George in the portrait?"

"It means the same thing."

"You're probably just a looker." The veteran, well over fifty, sighed and turned around, looking like a deflated balloon, his tone tinged with a sense of loss.

He glanced at the two men behind him and asked listlessly, "Lovrent sent you? Damn it! I told him this job isn't suitable for women." "Alright, alright, forget about that." The veteran waved his hand, suddenly becoming calm, as if the loudmouth from before was a completely different person.

He pointed to himself. "Pavka, the administrator here. Everyone here listens to me."

"I have a single bed, but no blanket. If you have any unwanted or inconvenient items to get rid of, you can give them to me. I'll offer preferential prices for recycling them. You can also exchange them for cigarettes or sugar."

Then the veteran turned around and took out a patched, worn-out military uniform from a cabinet and threw it at Qin Hao. "For the sake of Comrade Stalin, change your clothes. Even the salted fish from my hometown is cleaner than what you're wearing."

"Sent to me?" Qin Hao asked, holding his military uniform.

"Of course not! I'm lending it to you, but you have to return it to me when we get the new uniforms!" Pavka was still the same miserly man he was more than a decade ago.

He then glanced at Lilia Litviak and said, "I didn't expect them to send a woman this time. I'll try to find you a smaller size uniform."

After saying that, Pavka turned his back and walked out.

“Sergeant, what is our mission?” Lilia Litviak asked from the side.

"We'll find out tonight."

Watching Pavka's retreating figure, Qin Hao seemed to be deep in thought. He could sense that the veteran's new mental state seemed to have some problems, which was why his emotions fluctuated so drastically at the beginning.

I wonder what happened to him during that time.
-
Dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, black bread, and an unidentified soup. The taste was so-so, but the portion was generous. The petite Lilia even put away the leftover black bread.

“I suggest you eat more, so you won’t be able to eat later,” Pavka said.

Upon hearing this, Qin Hao frowned.

As darkness fell, two horse-drawn carriages stopped at the warehouse entrance. The veteran and two soldiers with guns were the first to get into the carriages.

“Beriev, I’m from the 4th Engineer Regiment, now under the command of a sergeant,” the slightly taller soldier introduced himself.

“Shevlyuchenko, also from the 4th Engineer Regiment.” The younger soldier looked at Lilia with a hint of shyness.

“Alright, the introductions can be given in the carriage.” We must hurry on our way, Pavka said.

"By the way, did you get any weapons?" he asked the two men. Then, looking at their empty hands, he casually said, "It doesn't matter, you don't need them anyway."

As he spoke, Pavka shoved a large wrench into Qin Hao's hand, while Lilia received a crowbar.

"Alright, get in the car. If we're lucky, we can leave by dawn."

The carriage started moving, and the group of people traveled through the city, which was full of fortifications and roadblocks, towards the outskirts.

boom! boom! boom!
The sound of artillery fire rang out in the distance, and it seemed closer than it had been the day before yesterday.

From time to time, firelight could be seen in the distance from the woods on both sides, and the people in the carriage could feel that they were getting closer and closer to the battlefield.

The wheels rolled forward, and when they crossed a shallow river, the veteran shouted, "We're here! It's the mark we left earlier!"

Several people looked ahead and saw a GAZ-AA truck lying overturned on the riverbank under the moonlight. The entire vehicle was overturned, and the front of the truck was wrecked, as if it had been hit by artillery fire from the front.

Through the broken window, a bloodstained hand reached out, the military uniform on it indicating that the deceased was a driver.

It is clear that the pilot was already dead when the attack occurred.

The nights in late October were already quite cold, so much so that there was hardly any smell of blood at the scene, but such a sight would still be somewhat terrifying to witness.

"Don't turn on the lights, and don't talk nonsense! We'll leave as soon as we finish our work!"

Pavka pulled out a rope from beside him, gave instructions to the people around him, and then he and another soldier jumped off the carriage, with Qin Hao and Lilia following behind.

"Twenty minutes. Take everything you can." Pavka finished speaking and climbed onto the wrecked truck like a hamster.

(End of this chapter)