Chapter 58

As Dong Ku and the others moved, he reached out to pull Shui Linglong and instructed, "Follow me, and under no circumstances take off your gas mask." With that, he got up and ran forward.

Shui Lingong hesitated for a moment after standing up but still followed Dong Ku. Although she had countless thoughts in her mind, she chose to obey.

When the bodies of the Japanese soldiers appeared in her line of sight, she was deeply moved. The terrifying faces, covered in blisters, made her believe that the surrounding area was indeed toxic. Looking at the agile figure ahead, with a cloth covering the face, the hatred in her heart disappeared, leaving only an inexplicable unease.

These people clearly had their own set of gas masks, yet this person had given his to her...

Leaving aside Dong Ku and the others as they ran quickly away from Jiamusi, the city was now in chaos. In the western part of the city, Japanese soldiers, like mad dogs, were breaking into houses one by one, searching for any suspicious individuals, causing a commotion and filling the air with cries of distress. The entire settler camp was eerily quiet, except for the areas not affected, where the settlers huddled in fear near the barbed wire by Songjiang Road, trembling. The entire residential area was empty except for the soldiers wearing gas masks searching for survivors.

Nan Jiro was furious, but he also felt a chill. The high-ranking officers had not chosen to live in the settler camp because there were not as many mansions to requisition in the west of the city. This allowed the Kwantung Army's top brass to escape unscathed; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Who did this? Is it aimed at me?"

Nan Jiro rubbed his thinning hair, frowning in deep thought. All the answers would have to wait for the results of the Special Higher Police's investigation.

At that moment, a report broke the gloom in the meeting room.

Everyone's gaze turned to the door. When they saw the bedsheet being carried in, they all paused. In such a high-level meeting, at such a tense time, bringing a bedsheet into the meeting room was tantamount to courting death.

But as the bedsheet was unfolded, everyone was stunned. A chill ran through their spines, despite their countless experiences with bloodshed.

"Kill one civilian, and tenfold revenge will be taken!"

The bloody words reminded them of the same bedsheet and the same bloody words from a few days ago.

This was the work of a group!

Nan Jiro, looking at the bloody words, came to this conclusion. But he was immediately at a loss. Who could this group be?

Before he could finish his thoughts, another report made the generals in the room tremble, turning their heads toward the door.

At the door stood a Japanese soldier in a white coat, holding a file.

As Nan Jiro flipped through the still damp photos, his anger began to rise.

"Damn it!!" Nan Jiro slammed the photos on the table, shouting, "It's the Soviet Red Devils again! I want to see who still advocates advancing first and then dealing with the Red Devils!"

Thirty-odd officers sat at the conference table, none of them standing up to take a look at the photos.

Nan Jiro vented his anger, picked up a photo, and asked, "Has the Special Higher Police confirmed that these are the shells lost in Dahu Town?"

"Yes, Commander!"

With the affirmative answer, Nan Jiro's eyes narrowed, and after a moment, he ordered, "Contact the War Ministry and the General Staff. The Soviets are making frequent moves. Small units have infiltrated Manchuria and intercepted the newly developed mountain gun special shells, threatening the lives of our excellent soldiers and civilians. In Sanjiang Province, they have committed a bloody massacre, poisoning over ten thousand people and injuring tens of thousands more. I request a reevaluation of the operational direction to reduce the casualties among our soldiers and civilians."

After the signalman left the meeting room, Nan Jiro ordered, "Notify all surrounding units to stop all actions against Chinese civilians. Instruct the search teams in the city not to kill civilians indiscriminately."

After giving the orders, Nan Jiro muttered to himself, "This is an opponent who doesn't play by the rules, willing to do anything to achieve their goals! If the wind changes, the hundreds of thousands of Chinese in the western city won't escape either. It seems they are just sending a strong signal and don't truly care about the lives of Chinese civilians."

As Nan Jiro muttered to himself, the radio waves flew into the night sky, heading for Japan.

In Tokyo, at the headquarters of the War Ministry, the heads of the War Ministry, the General Staff, and the Training Director, the three most powerful figures in Japan's military and political circles, read the message and fell into debate. An hour later, in the middle of the night, they came up with a plan, ordering Nan Jiro to adopt a strict encirclement and suppression strategy. They would not withdraw large numbers of troops from the Sanjiang Province area until all Soviet units that had entered the country were eliminated. The key was not to provoke this opponent who would do anything, and to send Special Higher Police elites to the Sanjiang Province area, accelerating the construction of fortifications in places like Hutou and Erlong Mountain.

Upon receiving the order, Nan Jiro immediately sent the following telegram to the foreign affairs officials in Changchun and Beiping.

Under the rule of the Manchukuo Empire, the Nanjing government-authorized thugs used gas to attack and kill over ten thousand of the Empire of Japan's excellent soldiers and civilians, with eight thousand being civilians. The Nanjing government is required to hand over the perpetrators, stop the inhumane and internationally condemned use of gas, and compensate for the losses of the dead and injured soldiers and civilians.

This telegram was actually to confuse the Soviets, stabilize the Soviets, and increase pressure on the Nanjing government, diverting international public opinion away from the Japanese army to buy time for preparations.

As the radio waves flew out, the major newspapers under Japanese control began to print large articles condemning the Nanjing government's actions in the middle of the night.

After the Tokyo message was sent, a debate immediately broke out over whether to confront the Soviets first. The death toll was already enough to enrage them, even before the final statistics were in.

As the Japanese messages were frequent and various departments were urgently seeking countermeasures, Dong Ku and the eleven others, after six hours of running, crossed the main force's encampment between Huachuan and Huinan.

This was not because they were particularly skilled, but because the Japanese in the east of Jiamusi had received orders to evacuate and clear the way. Even the settlers were hastily leaving their homes, following the army's movements to the sides of the wind, allowing Dong Ku and the others to pass without any obstruction. Despite running through the vast land and wild forests, they managed to cover thirty kilometers in six hours.

In a dense forest, Dong Ku and the others stopped. Beyond this point was Qitaihe, and it was no longer possible for there to be gas.

He ordered Liu Zhong and the others to remove their gas masks, wash off the smeared makeup, and reapply it. Then, Dong Ku turned and said, "Miss Shui, we are out of the toxic area. You can remove your gas mask."

In the darkness, Shui Linglong saw that everyone else had removed their masks, and the person carrying her had also taken off the cloth on his face. She reached up and pulled off the gas mask, removing the carbon box and throwing it on the ground.

At that moment, her hair was tightly plastered to her face, as if she had just washed it. Although she was a woman, she had practiced leg techniques since childhood. Running for six hours had completely dispelled her initial underestimation. These people's stamina was far better than hers. The things they carried weighed at least forty to fifty pounds, and she was empty-handed, yet she still needed them to wait for her.

Looking at the person who had been carrying her, Shui Linglong was even more astonished. This person's face showed hardly any sweat, and although he was not suffocating in the mask like they were, he had run for six hours!

Shui Linglong took a deep breath, calming her slightly rapid breathing, and walked up to the others, squatting by the stream to wash her face.

Dong Ku waited for everyone to reapply their makeup, then indicated that they should eat and rest, waiting for dawn to determine their exact location before deciding how to proceed.

Dong Ku handed Shui Linglong a piece of dried meat and a packet of rations, and passed her a water bottle. He then said, "Miss Shui, when it gets light, we will part ways. It's not far to Qitaihe. Where do you plan to go?"

"Where to go?" Shui Linglong slowly drank some water, but she had no place to go.

Dong Ku sighed inwardly. Where could a person without a home go?

As they rested, the sky gradually brightened. Dong Ku checked the map and found their exact location. They were not far from Huinan, about ten miles away, and Qitaihe was in front of them.

Putting away the map, Dong Ku took out a willow leaf throwing knife and began carving something on a piece of dry oak.

Shui Linglong, after resting for over an hour and recovering her strength, heard the sound of wood chips falling and looked up.

Seeing Dong Ku skillfully manipulating the willow leaf throwing knife, she slowly sat up from the grass, wondering how this guy could have the leisure to carve something.

Dong Ku focused on his carving, and soon, a seal was completed. He took out some ink, found a blank civilian certificate in his bag, and filled it out with a pen, stamping it with the seal.

Noticing that Shui Linglong was awake, he handed her the civilian certificate and said, "Miss Shui, this is a civilian certificate. Your name is Shui Yan." Without waiting for her to speak, he took out ten silver dollars and said, "Be careful when you kill the devils again. One person's strength is limited, so take care of yourself."

The others, who had been listening, also sat up. When they saw Shui Linglong's appearance, they were all taken aback. Even Liu Zhong, who usually showed little reaction, was surprised. It wasn't that he had any ulterior motives, but he hadn't expected her to be so beautiful.

When Shui Linglong took the silver dollars, Dong Ku thought for a moment, rolled up his pants, and inserted the willow leaf throwing knife into a leather sheath, which he then took off and handed to her, saying, "Miss Shui, I haven't seen a yanzi dang, but I don't know if you can use a throwing knife. If you can, take it for self-defense."

Shui Linglong took the leather sheath, drew a throwing knife, and played with it skillfully, thanking him, "Thank you, this throwing knife is really well-made."

"This is what I made."

Goudan subconsciously added, his tone full of pride. This was a throwing knife Dong Ku had designed based on the Iron Arhat's throwing knife and had Goudan make. It was probably as good as the original.

"Can you forge iron?" Shui Lingong asked, surprised, looking at Goudan, who was covered in makeup and spoke with a heavy northeastern accent, not expecting to find a northerner among the group.

Goudan looked at Dong Ku, who nodded slightly, indicating no disapproval, and said, "Yes, I made it."

Shui Lingong's gaze swept over the group and finally settled on Dong Ku. "Can I borrow your pen and a piece of paper?"

Dong Ku, not knowing what she intended, still gave her the pen he had obtained in Baoqing and a piece of paper.

Shui Lingong quickly and skillfully drew three diagrams on the paper, adding annotations below. After checking them, she handed the paper to Goudan, saying, "Take a look. Can you make this? If you can, make twenty for me. If we meet again in the future..."

Goudan did not take the paper, but his gaze turned to Dong Ku.

At that moment, Shui Lingong realized that the possibility of meeting again was slim.

She sighed, handed the pen back to Dong Ku, and was about to tear up the paper.

Dong Ku took the pen and said, "Give it to me. If we meet again, I'll give it back to you."

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