Chapter 47: Has My Luck Turned Bad Again?

When the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators arrived at the foot of the mountain, Li Wensheng and his companions immediately grew tense.

In the jeep, Kawano Kayo, having reined in his anger somewhat, glanced at the nearby hillside and instantly frowned. After scrutinizing it for a moment, he turned toward the residential area ahead. He pondered briefly, then ordered, "Stop the car!"

The driver halted at once. Kawano Kayo opened the door and stepped out. He examined the dense, tangled forest on the slope, then instructed a plainclothes officer beside him, "Inform Lieutenant Qin to take his men and search the mountain."

"Yes, sir!"

The plainclothes man responded and walked toward the collaborators at the rear. Kawano Kayo reentered the vehicle and commanded the driver to proceed to the residential area.

With Li Wensheng's intelligence, he undoubtedly realized that if they failed to settle down tonight, it would be even harder tomorrow. Thus, Kawano Kayo was certain Li Wensheng's sole objective was to find a place to hide and lay low as soon as possible.

The mountain search was merely a precaution; Kawano Kayo's main focus remained on the residential area ahead.

The Japanese drove away, while the collaborators, led by the bald, heavyset Qin Chi, ascended the mountain.

Halfway up, Li Wensheng saw the collaborators climbing with torches and immediately called out, "Chief Shi!"

He hurried to Bai Yan's side and handed the coat draped over Bai Yan to Shi Xiaozhen, who had followed. Turning, he crouched down, and with Shi Xiaozhen's help, hoisted the still-unconscious Bai Yan onto his back. "Use the coat as strips and tie Bai Yan to me," he said.

Shi Xiaozhen promptly began binding the coat. Meanwhile, Li Wensheng instructed, "Clear away all cigarette butts. Leave no trace."

The group was momentarily stunned but quickly complied. The scholar, however, asked, "Captain, what about this box of medicine?"

Li Wensheng glanced at the medicine box, thinking swiftly.

Once Shi Xiaozhen had secured Bai Yan, Li Wensheng walked to the tree Old Ox had climbed earlier and gave it a firm kick.

Old Ox quickly scrambled down.

"Captain!"

"Can you tie up the medicine box and climb the tree?"

Old Ox estimated silently, then nodded. "I can."

"Use the coat as strips to secure it and climb."

Old Ox hurried to the medicine box, removing his coat as he went. Using a dagger, he sliced the coat into a dozen strips. With the scholar and others helping, he tied the strips together and fastened the medicine box to his back.

"Climb the tree," Li Wensheng ordered, then began climbing with Bai Yan on his back.

The group each found a tree and quickly climbed up.

Li Wensheng reached a spot two meters below the treetop, found a secure place, and balanced on two large branches.

After a while, Li Wensheng suddenly heard a faint, nasal murmur in his ear.

"Captain."

Relieved by this muffled whisper, Li Wensheng exhaled. He tilted his head slightly to look at Bai Yan, whose head rested on his shoulder, and whispered, "Don't make a sound."

Bai Yan immediately fell silent, glanced below, and clung tightly to Li Wensheng.

Soon, a large contingent of collaborators arrived beneath their trees, torches in hand. The collaborators barely searched, wandering as if sightseeing, so Li Wensheng assumed they would continue up the mountain. Unexpectedly, they stopped.

The bald Qin Chi halted, plopped down, and exclaimed, "I'm exhausted! Let's rest!"

A shifty-eyed man beside him immediately shouted, "Lieutenant's orders: rest here!"

The group all sat down at once.

It was late; they were tired from the long trek and the climb. Sweat dripped from Qin Chi's forehead as he grumbled, "Damn it, this is killing me."

"Old Five, later you take half the men and continue searching uphill. I'll wait here."

Old Five's shifty face turned sour. "Ah, Lieutenant, you want me to lead the search?"

Qin Chi glared. "What, you don't want to?"

"Willing, willing, Lieutenant, I'm just worried the great Kawano will trouble you if he finds out," Old Five argued.

"We're all brothers. Who'd say anything? Old Five, you wouldn't?"

"Lieutenant, you're like a second father to me. Of course I wouldn't."

"Then stop whining and take the men up later!"

"Yes, sir!"

Soon, Old Five led half the group further up, while Qin Chi and the rest stayed to rest.

Li Wensheng expected that once the searchers returned, the others would withdraw together. But suddenly, a raindrop splashed on his face.

"Damn, luck's turning bad again?" Li Wensheng muttered inwardly.

"Let's hope they don't look up," he prayed, drawing his pistol from his waist.

He knew his prayer was unlikely to be answered. That raindrop was big, indicating a heavy shower was coming. And with sudden rain, people naturally look up.

In winter, most leaves had fallen, so the bare branches provided little cover.

Seconds later, rice-sized droplets fell from the night sky.

A collaborator wiped the rain from his face, looked up, and cursed, "Damn it, why is it—"

Before he could finish, terror froze him. He'd spotted figures in the trees.

After a few seconds in shock, he sprang up, raising his rifle and shouting, "Lieutenant, there are people—"

Before he could finish, bang!

A bullet from the tree killed him instantly.

After firing, Li Wensheng swiftly pivoted and fired again, shouting, "Shoot!"

Shi Xiaozhen and the others immediately drew their pistols and opened fire.

Bang, bang, bang—the gunfire erupted.

The collaborators were actually quite capable, not the cowards portrayed in films who flee at the first sign of battle. Especially the Manchurian collaborators, whose combat prowess rivaled the regular troops of the Nationalist Party. Elsewhere, though, the collaborators were far inferior; not fleeing at the first gunshot, but their military discipline was akin to that of street thugs.

Li Wensheng and his group hid in the trees, and the collaborators never expected gunfire raining down, catching them off guard. They could only flee behind distant trees.

After more than twenty deaths, Qin Chi, now hiding behind a large tree, wiped his face, drew his pistol, and shouted angrily, "Brothers, shoot!"

As he finished, he peeked out, raising his pistol to fire—but before he could pull the trigger, bang! A bullet struck him in the center of his brow.

That shot wasn't fired by Li Wensheng; his position was to Qin Chi's left front, and Qin Chi poked out to the right—Li Wensheng couldn't have hit him.

It was another marksman, a pistol expert who never missed within thirty meters. Hearing Qin Chi's command, he knew this was the leader, so he quickly aimed and fired, killing Qin Chi with one shot.

With Qin Chi dead, the remaining collaborators panicked and fled down the mountain.

Bang, bang, bang—

After leaving behind a dozen corpses, all the collaborators vanished from Li Wensheng's sight.

Li Wensheng immediately shouted, "Get down!"

He scrambled down, and after waiting a few seconds for the others to descend, he led the charge up the mountain. "Follow me!"

Running uphill—but wouldn't that run into the collaborators above?

The group hesitated, bewildered, yet followed Li Wensheng.