Chapter 41

Xu Feng heard Xiaotao Hong say this and could only echo her, "Mm, right, I am a magician."

Then, Xu Feng made an excuse to go to the toilet, sneaked to a place where no one was, took out the gun and bullets, and hid them in his waist. Fortunately, the robe was very wide, so it couldn't be seen from the outside.

When Xu Feng returned, Xiaotao Hong said, "Brother, put your clothes in our trunk. It's inconvenient for you to carry them." Without waiting for his response, Xiaotao Hong picked up his clothes and handed them to a man.

However, the man did not put the clothes in the trunk in front of Xu Feng. Instead, he took the trunk to a place where Xu Feng couldn't see it, making Xu Feng feel something was amiss.

After resting for a while, the group started heading towards China. Xu Feng knew there must be something in the trunk because the trunks looked very heavy, and the people carrying them were always drenched in sweat. So he secretly kept an eye on them, but the group guarded the trunks very strictly, and Xu Feng had no chance to see what was inside.

A few days later, the group arrived at Yanbian in China, a small city. They stayed at an inn and quickly settled down.

Late at night, Xiaotao Hong knocked on the boss's door. The boss looked around to make sure no one was there and quickly let her in, saying, "Leader, why did you bring a Chinese person?"

Xiaotao Hong whispered, "This person is extraordinary. Can we find a way to take him to Japan?"

The boss thought for a moment and said, "The channel for transporting people is not a problem. The key is how to make him follow us obediently."

Xiaotao Hong said, "Then we have to kidnap him."

The boss thought for a moment and said, "For a kidnapping, we need to gather more people. The earliest we can do it is the day after tomorrow morning."

Xiaotao Hong said, "Let's do it that way. I'll try to delay him until the day after tomorrow. Once this is done, you arrange for us to go into the mountains."

The boss nodded, and Xiaotao Hong turned and left.

That night, Xu Feng couldn't sleep. He was thinking about how to find the Beijing warship. The reason he didn't dare to go south and return to the battlefield was that he was afraid his strange attire would draw attention. So he returned to China with this group. However, he didn't know what these people were up to. As he pondered, the sky gradually brightened.

When the sky was bright, Xiaotao Hong came to find Xu Feng and asked him to accompany her for a walk around the town. Xu Feng quickly agreed.

Xu Feng wanted to find an opportunity to be alone with her because he wanted to get her to reveal her true identity. Xiaotao Hong had the same idea. Thus, the two people, each with their own ulterior motives, walked down the street together.

The street was quite lively, with stalls lining the roadside, selling food, drinks, and trinkets, making it hard to take it all in. Xiaotao Hong asked, "Brother, what kind of magic tricks can you do?"

Xu Feng smiled and said, "I can do a lot. My best trick is that I can go back in time!"

Xiaotao Hong said coyly, "You're lying. How can you go back in time?"

Xu Feng said, "You don't believe me? I really can go back in time."

Xiaotao Hong asked, "Your things are so strange. Where did you buy them?"

Xu Feng thought, "Those things were uniformly purchased by the General Equipment Department. I don't know which factory made them." But he couldn't say that, so he said, "I made them all."

Xu Feng decided to take the initiative and said, "What's in those trunks? They look so heavy."

Xiaotao Hong giggled and said, "Heavy? I didn't feel it."

The two of them probed each other, but neither gained any information. As the day grew hotter, they found a teahouse and sat down, ordering a pot of tea.

In the teahouse, a performer was singing a fast-paced ballad: "Divine assistance, the Righteous and Harmonious Fists, all because the devils are causing trouble in Central China."

Xu Feng listened and was puzzled. How could the Boxers appear now? Wasn't it supposed to be a couple of years later?

The performer continued, "The gods are angry, the immortals are annoyed. They came down the mountain to teach the art of boxing. They burned yellow paper and lit incense, inviting all the immortals from the caves. No need for weapons, just fists, to defeat the devils easily."

At this moment, a customer laughed and said, "Singer, have you ever seen a god?"

The performer, not daring to offend the customer, smiled and said, "Sir, I don't have that kind of luck."

The man stood up, looked around, and said, "Has the Heavenly Emperor sent heavenly generals to help our Great Qing?"

The crowd looked at the man with surprise. Seeing everyone looking at him, the man felt very proud and puffed out his chest, saying, "During the naval battle, the heavenly general rode a flying jade kylin, held the Heaven and Earth bow, and carried the Heaven-shaking arrow. The Yellow Emperor used this bow and arrow to kill Chiyou. Later, the bow and arrow were passed down to the Shang Dynasty, where Nezha picked them up and shot the Blue Cloud Child of the White Bone Cave with one arrow!"

The crowd listened with rapt attention, and Xu Feng almost burst out laughing, thinking, "How did the *Investiture of the Gods* get involved?"

The man continued, "The heavenly general drew the bow and shot an arrow. Guess what happened?" He paused for effect and then said, "The Japanese warship was pierced through the heart and exploded into pieces!"

The crowd burst into laughter. A burly man stood up and said in a loud voice, "Well said! The Heavenly Emperor wouldn't abandon our Great Qing! I'm from Shandong, and the brothers there have already started attacking the foreign churches! One day, we will drive all the foreign devils out of our Great Qing!"

At this moment, a waiter carrying a large teapot walked in, singing, "Ladies and gentlemen, no talk of state affairs! No talk of state affairs!"

The waiter's humorous tone made everyone laugh. The burly man felt embarrassed and his face turned red. The performer quickly started beating his clappers and sang, "These Japanese women are so promiscuous, with big breasts, small feet, and a翘翘的屁股." (Note: The phrase "翘翘的屁股" is a crude reference to a woman's buttocks.) Seeing the burly man, he continued, "When you march into Tokyo, please let me have some fun too!"

The crowd burst into laughter again, and the burly man joined in. The performer used this lowbrow joke to defuse the burly man's embarrassment.

But just as one wave subsided, another arose. A loud voice came from outside the teahouse, "You Chinese pig, what are you saying?"

Before the words were even finished, five tall and strong men walked in. Although they were dressed as Chinese, their words revealed that they were Japanese.

The leader stepped forward, grabbed the performer, and angrily said, "Say that again!"

The burly man, seeing the Japanese, was filled with rage and lunged at them with a punch. However, the Japanese were clearly skilled in combat, and the burly man was knocked to the ground before he could reach them.

The Japanese surrounded and beat him. Xu Feng shouted, "Stop!"

The Japanese turned to look at Xu Feng. Seeing that he was not tall or strong and had a thick layer of clothes on his right hand, they underestimated him. The leader laughed and said, "Another meddling Chinese pig."

Xu Feng smiled and said, "Oh, I didn't know Japanese could be so tall." He looked around and asked with a smile, "Do you think these Japanese were sired by Westerners?"

Xu Feng started laughing wildly. At that time, the Russians were already in Northeast China, and everyone knew that Westerners were tall. The crowd quickly came to help the Japanese, and the injured Japanese man whispered, "Run, he has a gun!"

The Japanese fled, and the burly man rushed forward, knelt before Xu Feng, and bowed, saying, "Brother, you are the heavenly general we are looking for!"

The crowd burst into laughter again.

The Japanese, insulted in this way, could no longer hold back. They wanted to tear Xu Feng apart. Xu Feng pointed his chin at the outside and said with disdain, "Western bastards, let's fight outside."

Xu Feng went out, and the Japanese followed. They stood facing each other, about ten steps apart. The crowd formed a large circle around them. Xu Feng pointed at the Japanese with his left hand and said, "Come on." Then he raised his left arm and said to the crowd, "Fellow countrymen, cheer for us Chinese!"

Seeing Xu Feng's confident demeanor, the crowd felt more at ease and cheered loudly. The Japanese man charged forward, and Xu Feng raised his right arm. With a "pu" sound, the Japanese man screamed and clutched his thigh, falling to the ground.

It turned out that Xu Feng had secretly hidden the gun in his hand, covering the muzzle with his clothes to avoid detection. He also had the crowd cheer to mask the sound.