Chapter 8

Treading through the snow, Dongku and his group finally arrived at the Black Wind Pass.

Upon reaching the entrance of the valley, Shunzi and Mangzi put down Shanzi and Dog Egg, drew their thick-bladed knives, and headed straight for the nearby bushes.

Huzi gathered the guns the two had put down and followed them. In no time, he returned with a bundle of smooth branches and threw them in front of Shanzi and Dog Egg, who were sitting there. He then turned and ran back toward Shunzi and the others.

Dongku, still puzzled, hadn't paid much attention when Shunzi had asked if they could rest here earlier. Since they had already reached the Black Wind Pass, a short rest seemed fine, so he had agreed casually. Now it seemed they had stopped intentionally.

As Huzi's figure disappeared into the shrubs, Dongku noticed that Dog Egg and Shanzi had taken off their cotton gloves and started weaving something.

After watching for a moment, the oval shape, resembling the bottom of a basket, made Dongku suddenly realize what they were doing. They were making snowshoes, used to walk on snow, increasing the surface area to avoid sinking into the snow. These were about a foot wide and two feet long, made from branches. Looking at the branches, Dongku remembered a type of basket called a "tulanzi" sold in the northeastern market when he was a child, which was made from the same kind of branches and locust flower branches.

Thinking about the snowshoes he had worn as a child, Dongku recalled something Liu Zhong had mentioned on the way. The snow at the Black Wind Pass was four to five meters deep, blown by the wind. Were they going to cross a snowfield?

While he was pondering, Shunzi and the others returned from the forest, each carrying a bundle of branches.

"Brother Dong, we'll be done in a bit. Once we finish, we'll take Shanzi and Dog Egg through the Black Wind Pass first, then come back to wait for Brother Zhong and the others."

Shunzi, while skillfully twisting the branches to make them flexible without breaking, explained to Dongku.

"Is there a snowfield inside the Black Wind Pass?"

Dongku asked directly, without responding.

"Snowfield?"

Shunzi was surprised, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't know about a snowfield, but we call it a 'snow cap' here. I'm not sure if it's the same thing you're talking about."

"Snow cap?"

Dongku's eyes lit up. In the Wanda Mountain region, a snow cap, snowfield, and snow crust all referred to the same thing: deep snow with a hard crust on top, allowing people to walk on it.

Understanding what was inside, Dongku quickly took off his Type 38 rifle and handed it to Huzi, who was also making snowshoes, saying, "Huzi, keep an eye on the back. I'm going to check it out."

Without waiting for Huzi and Shunzi to respond, Dongku ran quickly into the mountain pass, which was about two thousand meters wide.

The Black Wind Pass was located at the base of two mountain peaks, facing north, with a higher elevation, so it wasn't a watershed and had no river. Inside the pass, the wind blew snow particles across the exposed rocky ground, continuing deeper inside.

Entering the Black Wind Pass, Dongku walked quickly on the ground covered with rolling snow particles. After a couple of minutes, he saw the snow accumulation.

The snow started accumulating about 700 to 800 meters into the pass, gradually increasing in height until it was out of sight. The snow ridges were flat like a lake surface, with no trees or shrubs, only rolling snow particles on the hard crust, moving upward. Estimating the depth, if the ground below was flat, the snow was over five meters deep, and even ten meters in some places.

"Here it is!"

After observing the surroundings, the flat valley confirmed Dongku's earlier thoughts. He turned and ran back.

Liu Zhong and his group were in a dire situation. After four hours of running through the snow, they no longer had the strength to run quickly. Each of the four carried only one gun, with the rest thrown away, even the grenades, to reduce their load. Despite this, they hadn't managed to distance themselves much from the pursuing Japanese soldiers, who were still visible.

"Quickly! The Chinese pigs are about to run out of energy!"

Shankou Heng, breathing heavily, urged his soldiers to catch up.

Along the way, he saw the guns and grenades the fleeing villagers had discarded, knowing they were exhausted. Determined to capture these villagers, Shankou Heng ordered his soldiers to eat the emergency rations, "Yuanqi Food No. 3" and "Liangjing," to maintain their strength, even if it meant exhausting themselves to collapse the Chinese.

"Brother Zhong... I can't run anymore..."

Sun Tao's steps were unsteady, and he was gasping for breath.

"Taozi... Just a bit more, once we get over this ridge, we can enter the Black Wind Pass..."

Mangzi, pulling Sun Tao along, encouraged him.

"Just a bit more... The Japanese are also exhausted..."

Liu Zhong, panting, glanced back at the distant figures, trying to boost their morale.

They knew they couldn't stop; stopping meant certain death. So, they relied on their willpower to move their stiff legs, grabbing onto shrubs and tree trunks to climb the ridge.

Their exhausted state couldn't match the speed of the Japanese. In less than half an hour, when they were still about a kilometer from the top, the Japanese, through the trees, could see their backs.

"Fire!"

Shankou Heng, seeing the figures ahead, immediately ordered his men to fire.

Bang...

The sharp gunshots shook the snow from the trees, creating a mist in the cold wind.

"Quick! The Japanese are catching up!"

The gunshots startled Liu Zhong and his group, who, like frightened rabbits, burst with their last reserves of energy, not even looking back, and launched their final sprint.

The distance of six to seven hundred meters, combined with the tree cover, made it impossible for the Kwantung Army, even with accurate aim, to hit Liu Zhong and his group. However, the gunshots instilled a strong sense of danger, indicating that the Japanese were close behind.

"Damn! Catch up quickly!"

Seeing the figures suddenly accelerate, Shankou Heng cursed and ordered his men to speed up.

On the slope, the pursuers and the pursued were both pushing their limits, knowing that once they reached the ridge, the downhill sprint would either widen or narrow the gap. Especially for the Japanese, once they reached the ridge, with a clear view of four to five hundred meters, they had a good chance of hitting their targets with a barrage of gunfire.

The gunshots also made Dongku and Shunzi, waiting at the valley entrance, extremely tense.

Shunzi, gripping his gun, was about to rush toward the gunfire, but Dongku held him back, shook his head, and looked around the terrain, saying softly, "Shunzi, stay here and watch the things. I'll go and meet Brother Zhong and the others." He then ran toward the gunfire with his M4A1.

Liu Zhong and his group, using their last reserves of energy, climbed the ridge on all fours.

Once on the ridge, they saw the Black Wind Pass. Liu Zhong, panting heavily, took off his Type 38 rifle, removed his military coat, tightened the bullets wrapped in a Japanese shirt around his waist, and put on the two Type 38 rifles. He laid the coat on the ground and sat down.

Mangzi and the others did the same, removing their coats and sitting on them, grabbing the collars, and sliding down the slope with their legs spread out, clearing a path through the sparse trees and shrubs.

The four created a wave of snow, knocking down shrubs and branches, and in less than two minutes, they had slid down the steep slope of over five hundred meters.

Without pausing to wipe the blood from their faces, cut by the branches and mixed with melting snow, they stood up as soon as they slowed down, not even shaking the snow off their coats, and ran down the mountain.

Dongku ran quickly, the rustling of the branches helping him pinpoint Liu Zhong's position. He slightly changed direction, ran for thirty meters, and quickly climbed a birch tree, peering through his gun's scope.

Soon, he saw the four running through the snow. Seeing they were unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief and scanned the slope for any Japanese soldiers.

Finding none, Dongku relaxed and quickly climbed down, heading toward the four.

Liu Zhong and his group, using their last reserves of energy, ran down the slope, using the momentum to their advantage.

Suddenly, Liu Zhong grabbed a tree, slamming into the trunk. Ignoring the pain in his chest, he quickly drew his Type 38 rifle. Just as he was about to raise it, Dongku, a hundred meters away, shouted, "Over here!"

"Brother Dongku!"

"Brother Dong!"

"Brother Dong, they're safe!"

Seeing Dongku waving, Liu Zhong and the others, who had just picked themselves up after a sudden stop, shouted in relief.

"Quick, over here!"

Dongku shouted again, raising his gun and aiming behind Liu Zhong.

"Quick, quick!"

Liu Zhong, putting his gun back on his back, grabbed his coat from the snow and urged the others to run.

"Quick, Shunzi and the others are safe!"

Mangzi shouted, pulling Sun Tao toward Dongku.

The other two also moved quickly, not even wiping the snow from their faces, and followed Liu Zhong without looking back.

"Quick, Shunzi is waiting at the Black Wind Pass!"

Letting Liu Zhong and the others pass, Dongku kept his gun aimed at the ridge, only lowering it when they were a hundred meters away, and then ran to catch up.

Seeing Dongku, Liu Zhong and the others knew they were safe. The excitement of survival temporarily overcame their exhaustion, and they ran along the footprints Dongku had left, not even stopping to ask about the situation.

Just as Dongku and the others disappeared into the forest, Shankou Heng and his soldiers reached the ridge.

"Damn!"

Not seeing the pursued, Shankou Heng, panting, cursed and pointed to where Liu Zhong and the others had slid down, shouting, "Slide down! Slide down!"

The exhausted Japanese soldiers, without a moment's rest, tumbled down the slope, following the path Liu Zhong and the others had created.

As the Japanese descended, Dongku caught up with Liu Zhong and the others, running and saying, "Mangzi and the others are safe. Just a bit more, and we'll take care of these Japanese."

"Take care of... them?"

Liu Zhong, panting, didn't understand what Dongku meant.

"Yes, take care of them," Dongku said firmly. "Since they dared to step onto Chinese soil with force, they'll stay here to fertilize the trees."

"Fertilize..."

Though Liu Zhong and the others thought Dongku's words were a bit boastful, the previous scenes of his powerful killing and the endless ammunition from his strange gun left them in no doubt about his capabilities. Encouraged by his words, they ran even harder, eager to see and personally deal with these human-eating wolves.

PS: Yuanqi Food No. 3 (made from chocolate, sugar, and green tea powder) and Liangjing (made from skimmed milk and sugar) were the rations of the Japanese Kwantung Army at the time, used to maintain energy during marches, without stopping to cook.