Chapter Seven: The Phoenix and the Wild Chicken

  A small-scale Sino-Japanese war broke out in the "Ghost House", ending with a miserable victory for the Chinese side. Ouyang Yun was lucky enough to be the last yellow sparrow to appear on stage. After thinking about it, he regretted not striking earlier and sacrificing several of his comrades in vain. But then again, those comrades had come with the intention of silencing him, which made for a pretty good self-consoling excuse.

  The car at the door is Japanese, and Ouyang Yun's greatest concern is that they will have someone run away and expose the secret of the "Ghost House". After inquiring carefully, he confirmed that it had been parked there since early morning. Thinking about the five big men on the other side, it was just right to squeeze into one car, and no one should have stayed overnight. He didn't need to be polite with the Japanese, so he naturally accepted this old Ford.

  The neighbors around had long heard of the ghostly mansion and were worried about the young man living alone with ghosts. The kind old men and women suggested inviting a master to drive out the evil spirits, introducing a bunch of fake monks and pseudo-Taoist priests. Ouyang Yun jokingly told them that there were indeed ghosts in the house, but he had negotiated with them and they agreed to coexist peacefully. Many of the old men and women had been scared by Bai Liuxu's "hanged ghost" disguise, and upon hearing this, their faces turned pale as they whispered among themselves, thinking that perhaps the young man had a strong yang energy, so the ghosts didn't dare to haunt him. One of the old men even asked, "Young man, are you still a virgin?" which left him laughing and crying at the same time.

  The car couldn't enter the courtyard, so Ouyang Yun drove it into an alleyway to hide it. When he returned, he saw Bai Liuxu sleeping soundly and didn't wake her up. The events of last night had clearly left a huge impact on her; there were still tear stains on her face, and the bed sheet under her cheek was damp, indicating that she had cried for a long time even in her dreams. Looking at the scar on her face, he thought about how nice it would be if he could simply peel it off like a worm, and let out a soft sigh.

  Heaven is always unfair, or the world is inherently unpredictable. Therefore, before the early Qing dynasty, the Chinese mainland had always regarded itself as a heavenly kingdom, and the emperor was called the Son of Heaven. However, from the late Qing dynasty onwards, the world turned upside down. Not to mention those so-called barbarians in the West, even Japan, a small island nation, could ride on the head of a giant and act arbitrarily. If Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Genghis Khan were still alive, who knows what they would think!

  The girl in front of me, with no scars on her face, was once so stunning that she made many girls jealous and sparked the longing of several boys. But a scar has now driven all these things away from her. Now people call her "Saltless Girl", I reckon even the original Saltless Girl would have an opinion: it's true that I'm ugly, but that's because of my parents, what's her excuse? Poor upbringing.

  He put soy milk and buns beside her bed, just as he was about to leave, Bai Li Su opened her eyes.

  He said in a soft voice: "Promise me you won't run around wildly and I'll help you untie the rope."

  Her gaze shifted away from the soy milk, and the confusion and sadness inside disappeared, leaving only a deliberate hatred: "I won't run wildly, but I'll kill you!"

  "It's possible, as long as you're capable," he helped her untie the ropes, gathered all the corpses into the main room, and then covered the bodies of his fellow villagers with the bed sheet from his own bed. Then, he put the sacks and wooden boxes back in the cellar and closed the wardrobe.

  Bai Liu Su watched all this with a cold gaze, her left hand repeatedly putting something into her waist and then taking it out again. Finally, she let out a soft sigh, picked up the bowl with her left hand, and used her right hand to pick up chopsticks and grab a bun, starting her breakfast.

  "We buried them at night," said Ouyang Yunduan, sitting down in a chair and quietly watching her finish breakfast.

  Bai Liu's gaze fell on Shen Jian, her eyes becoming increasingly red and swollen. She rubbed them hard, forcing herself not to shed tears.

  Ouyang Yun looked at the tear stains on the bed sheet and thought to herself, "Women are really made of water, this ocean-like depth of tears." She stood up and walked out. At this moment, letting her cry for a while was beneficial and harmless to her mental health.

  "Thanks for breakfast," said Bai Li Su, and with a "bang", she closed the door.

  Ouyang Yun smiled, and his confidence in winning the prize increased a bit - he was determined to get that money, not for buying a supercomputer or building Hope Primary School, but just to drive away the Japanese.

  This morning, after killing several Japanese people in a battle, he finally understood the true intentions of the two old men's households and clearly knew what he should do and what he could do.

  Lying in bed, he had no sleepiness at all, took out his handheld computer and slowly browsed through it.

  Adjust the search date to April 25, 1935, and press the confirmation key. A log-style historical record appears on the screen - at this time, Beiping is still under the control of the National Government as a special municipality, with the Third Battalion of the Constabulary Corps led by Chiang Xiaoxian as the garrison. However, with the signing of the He-Mei Agreement, the Third Battalion of the Constabulary Corps and the 51st Army of the Northeastern Military Region stationed in Tianjin, the Second and Twenty-fifth Divisions of the Central Army stationed in other parts of Hebei will withdraw along with the Nationalist government agencies. At that time, Song Zheyuan's 29th Army will enter Hebei at the invitation of the Beiping Military Council and become the de facto ruler of the Pingjin area. After that, until the July 7 Incident, Beiping will gain a rare period of peace.

  The July 7th Incident broke out, and the Japanese army was not in an advantageous position in the Beiping area. If Zhao Dengyu's unit could have annihilated the surrounded Japanese army at that time, Lugou Bridge would not have fallen. Which path would history have taken then?

  The records show that the Pingjin War triggered by the July 7th Incident ended with the withdrawal of the Nationalist Party's 29th Army from Hebei and the abandonment of Pingjin. In retrospect, the failure of the Chinese side was due to various reasons, but it can be attributed to two people: Song Zheyuan, the commander of the 29th Army, and Pan Yuquan, the director of the Political Department of the 29th Army.

  History still gives Song a high evaluation - an anti-Japanese general, saying that he has made great achievements in both military and governance. This is not entirely true. In the Battle of Xifengkou, the 29th Army did indeed show its mettle and prestige, at that time, it was not excessive to call Song Zheyuan an anti-Japanese general. However, from the moment he entered Chahar, this halo of being an anti-Japanese general began to lose some of its luster.

  However, after carefully reading the growth history of Song and the 29th Army, it's not hard to understand why he would undergo such a transformation. The 29th Army was formed after the Central Plains War, and it was a reorganization of the defeated Northwestern Army. It was precisely because of his experience in the Central Plains War that Song deeply felt the hardships brought by civil war to the country and its people, so from the very beginning, he clearly put forward the slogan "no internal war, guns pointing outwards", which was unanimously supported by his generals. Later, when Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly tried to deploy the 29th Army southward to suppress the Communists, Song dodged with various excuses. And precisely because of his extreme distrust of Chiang's cunning and opportunism in the warlord wars, Song always had doubts about the National Government he led, which affected many of his important decisions later on, and was also the main reason for his ambiguous attitude towards Japan during his rule in Chahar and Beiping.

  Because it was not Chiang's direct unit, the 29th Army encountered great difficulties in terms of military funding and equipment when it was first established. The soldiers were extremely poor, with tattered clothes, like beggars. When they moved to defend Chahar, they had to march at night for fear of being seen by civilians during the day and mistaken for bandits, frightening the people. As a result, the big knife became an essential part of the 29th Army's equipment. Therefore, it would be more accurate to say that the 29th Army's big knife battle tactics were not Song Zheyuan's innovation, but rather his helpless move. The fact that the 29th Army achieved great fame with its big knives in the Battle of Xifengkou is indeed a strange thing.

  The fate of the 29th Army did not improve until it was relocated to Chahar in 1932, when Song Zheyuan was appointed chairman of Chahar Province and the 29th Army finally got a place to rest and recover.

  Half a year later, the Great Wall Anti-War broke out, and the 29th Army fought against the Japanese army's Suzuki and Hattori brigades at Xifengkou. With big knives and hand grenades, they resisted the Japanese army's advanced weapons, killing more than 5,000 enemies and gaining fame in one battle. However, they also suffered casualties of over 10,000 men, severely damaging their strength. Nevertheless, due to Feng Yuxiang's civilian anti-Japanese alliance army being disbanded by Chiang Kai-shek, the 29th Army was able to regroup and gain new life - expanding into four divisions with more than 60,000 men, while also receiving a large amount of weapons and equipment from the disbanded alliance, including over 30 mountain guns from Tang Yulin's former Northeastern Army. This truly made them a military force capable of influencing the situation in North China.

  That was also the most glorious time for Song Zheyuan and the 29th Army, as newsreels of the Battle of Xifengkou were shown in major cities across the country, composer Ma Xin even composed "The Big Knife March" specifically for this occasion, the 29th Army's Big Knife Brigade and Song Zheyuan became famous throughout the land.

  Because of the huge contrast between before and after, Song deeply realized the importance of a solid foundation for stabilizing an army. As a result, he tried to maintain good relations with both the Nationalist Party's central clique and the Japanese, hoping only to preserve his own territory.

  However, man proposes but God disposes. The Japanese ambition is too great, and the National Government is really incompetent.

  After the July 7th Incident, Song Zheyuan hoped for a political solution to preserve the last stronghold of the 29th Army. Under the circumstances where the Japanese military had the upper hand, he continued to compromise and sent his aide Pan Yugui to negotiate with the then Commander-in-Chief of the North China Garrison Army of Japan, Shinichi Tanaka.

  Pan Yuogui, however, was a thorough traitor who betrayed Song at the critical moment, allowing the 29th Army's troop deployment to be completely grasped by the Japanese. As a result, in the subsequent Battle of Nanjing, the 29th Army was passive and fell behind at every turn, making defeat in the North China campaign inevitable...

  "Pan Yu-Gui! Pan Yu-Gui..." Ouyang Yun softly muttered the name of this traitor several times, and a murderous intent arose in his heart. If he were to kill Pan Yu-Gui now, would the history of the 29th Army be rewritten? No, it wouldn't be that simple. As long as Song Zheyuan was determined to "resolve it politically", there would be a second, third...

  He shut down the computer, pulled out a cigarette and lit it up, took two puffs, then started coughing violently. This cigarette was now a street vendor's goods, and couldn't be compared to its counterparts in the 21st century - it was choking him to death.

  He heavily flicked away the cigarette, and Ouyang Yun began to bitterly smile: What's the point of thinking so much? Take it one step at a time. It's just a small butterfly, what can you expect from it? Sleep!

  "Big brother, I often hear you recite Li Bai's 'Quiet Night Thoughts', but I never quite understood it. Now, now I finally understand... The moonlight in front of the bed, I suspect is frost on the ground. Raise my head to gaze at the bright moon, lower my head to think of my hometown. Big brother, did you anticipate this day would come? We Sichuan wanderers will ultimately be buried in a foreign land... I'll bury you here, and you can often see the moonlight. You're fine, with Old Mouse and Blind Bear keeping you company, but you've left me all alone..." White Flowing Sand sat on a mound of new earth by the window, gazing up at the night sky where the moon was fuller than the previous night, saying in a hushed tone.

  Ouyang Yun slowly opened his eyes, shook his somewhat heavy head, and reached out with his right hand to feel the bed, but felt nothing. He was startled and sat up. The moonlight was very bright, shining through the window, and everything on the bed was vaguely visible, nothing was missing, except for his laptop.

  "How could I have slept for so long? It must be that saltless girl's doing, ah, how careless of me, this little girl is originally a female ghost after all!" Thinking like this, he was filled with great hatred in his heart. Without even putting on shoes, he jumped to the door and heard her soft humming. He thought to himself, "I didn't expect this woman to still enjoy romantic affairs", remembering that she was currently injured, he let out a sigh. He walked to the gate and sat down at the threshold.

  There are three new graves in the courtyard, with small wooden plaques standing in front of them and paper streamers floating above. In the moonlight, it seems to have a haunting atmosphere. This courtyard was already rumored to be haunted, and now with three new graves, it's indeed living up to its name. He looked around the main hall, which was empty, and asked in surprise, "Where are those Japanese devils?"

  "In the grassy ditch!"

  "Maokeng, big sister, you're ruthless!" Ouyang Yun raised her thumb and walked towards the Maokeng, thinking that it was still necessary to bury it, exposing it would be troublesome after all. When she arrived, however, she didn't see the corpse. "Did you really throw it into the Maokeng?"

  "Alright."

  "Is this pit very deep?"

  "I've been had."

  Cremation?

  "Do you want some bone-eroding powder?"

  "Bone-eroding powder?" This seems to be something that only exists in martial arts novels, Ouyang Yun had always thought it was just something made up by the author, but now he realizes that this vicious thing actually really exists, and he can't help but feel a chill run down his spine. "No, no, you keep it for yourself. By the way, where's my laptop?"

  "What laptop?"

  It's just a plastic box.

  "I took it."

  "Oh," for some reason, after confirming this matter, Ouyang Yun felt a sense of relief, "Return it to me, if you're interested, I can teach you how to use it."

  "That's quite expensive, isn't it?" Bai Liangsu's voice was husky and magnetic, pleasant to listen to, although it always gave people a cold feeling.

  "Of course, priceless treasure!" Ouyang Yun said proudly, but immediately regretted it, because he saw her dig it out from the mud beside the tomb with "Big Brother Shen Jian's Grave" written on the wooden sign, and wipe it clean before putting it into her own bosom.

  "Today, you're pimping out your old man?! Luckily I'm not a young lady, otherwise my belly would have been poked big by you!"

  "What nonsense are you spouting?! Do you still want this thing or not?!" Bai Liu Su was so angry that the veins on his face began to bulge, looking very menacing!

  "No need," said Ouyang Yun, lowering the price without knowing what she wanted to exchange.

  "Really?" Bai Liu Su blinked her eyes in surprise.

  Ouyang Yun turned around and walked towards the house, "Hey, I actually slept for so long," his mouth opened wide, revealing two rows of big white teeth, thinking to himself, you want to deceive me? Hum, no way.

  "I'll throw myself into a pit," said Bai Li Su lightly, her body floating up lightly.

  Ouyang Yun was shocked, "Don't" slipped out of his mouth. He turned around to see the girl's mouth curl up, revealing her first smile since they met. He knew he had been deceived and couldn't help but shake his head with a bitter smile: "I really didn't expect it, you're actually a negotiation expert. Say, what do we exchange?"

  "Help me send all the sacks and wooden boxes to Nanjing," said Bai Liusu, taking out a notebook and adding: "If you don't agree, I'll throw you into the latrine immediately."

  The laptop can't get wet, if it's really thrown into the cesspit, it'll be ruined. With no other choice, he said: "I agree with you."

  "Alright, once you deliver the goods, I'll give you this box."

  "Is it?" He flashed a smile, his right hand flicked out, and the steel needle flew.

  Bai Liu Su saw his smile and felt something was off, her body quickly flashed back, but still a bit too slow. A streak of white light struck her waist, she only had time to curse out the word "despicable" before she fell soft and lost consciousness.

  A few minutes later, Bai Liu Su opened his eyes to find himself lying on the bed. He moved his hands and feet, feeling very comfortable, and was unexpectedly delighted. He jumped out of bed, feeling that his weapons were still with him, and couldn't help but feel great joy: "This scoundrel is so careless, he didn't even search me for my weapons." With his right hand holding a short sword and his left hand grasping a flying knife, he slowly walked to the window.

  The night had deepened, the moon was shining brighter, and the insects were chirping loudly. Under the moonlight, incense was burning in front of three newly dug graves. Ouyang Yun stood upright in front of Shen Jian's grave, saluting with a military salute: "A man should be a hero in life, and a brave ghost in death. Brother Shen Jian, rest assured, I will take care of your sister, and complete the unfinished work you left behind. Farewell!"

  Bai Liu Su had been seething with hatred in her heart, thinking that only by cutting him alive would she feel satisfied. But seeing him like this, she became somewhat bewildered: "Born to be a hero among men, dead also a heroic ghost..." She murmured softly, momentarily dazed.

  Ouyang Yun sincerely paid his respects to the martyrs, and didn't have too many twists and turns in his mind. Seeing her, he said sincerely: "Miss Shen, I'm really sorry, I deceived you just now, but this box is really too important to me, so..."

  "My surname is Bai, not Shen. Are you Ouyang Yun?"

  "Yes."

  "Does what you just said to my brother count?"

  "Of course, humans can deceive other humans, but they cannot deceive ghosts. Moreover, Shen is a heroic ghost!"

  "Alright, then trouble you to send these sacks and wooden boxes to Nanjing," said Bai Liusu, her eyes fixed on him without blinking, like two moonlit ripples on the river's surface, very clear and also very cold.

  Ouyang Yun smiled and sighed in her heart: If it weren't for that earthworm, just a pair of eyes like this would have killed many men. "Miss Bai, I think you misunderstood my meaning. I don't think Mr. Shen's career is just about sending these things to Nanjing. His grand ideals, you still don't know until today? You've been with him for so many years."

  Bai Liu Su thought for a moment, the colors in her eyes dimmed and then brightened again, her tone turned icy: "Do you want to play dumb? Or have you set your sights on those riches?" Her voice suddenly became sharp: "If it wasn't for you coveting those riches, how would my brother have died?! You wicked thief, taste the blade that took my brother's life!" With a crouch of her body, she sprang out of the window towards him, in mid-air her left hand shook and a flying dagger shot towards his heart, while her right hand followed with a short sword thrust.

  Two people were only a grave apart, Ouyang Yun was caught off guard and was suddenly stabbed by flying knives and short swords at the same time. If he hadn't been wearing bulletproof clothing, he would have had two more holes in him - even so, his chest hurt badly, which really stirred up his anger - no matter how good his temper was, he couldn't stand it when a woman provoked him again and again, and he couldn't help but shout: "You're really unreasonable!" Taking advantage of her momentary stunned expression, he grabbed her right wrist, bent his left knee, and rammed into her abdomen.

  Bai Liu Su obviously didn't expect that with all his might, he couldn't budge him. The terms "Golden Bell Cover" and "Iron Cloth Shirt", legendary names that flashed through his mind, left him momentarily stunned and forgetting to resist.

  Ouyang Yun didn't show her any courtesy either, knocking her to the ground. With one kick, he sent the short sword flying and quickly pulled out his belt to tie up her hands, saying: "That batch of stolen money, I'm confiscating it!"

  Bai Liu Su sat on the ground, staring at him with hatred: "Kill me if you dare, otherwise, one day I will avenge myself."

  "You dare to try if you're not afraid of your elder brother dying with his eyes open in the underground."

  Thinking of Shen Jian, the girl fell silent. She was just momentarily stunned and didn't want to think too much about it. If she thought deeply, she also knew that her brother's enemy was actually already dead.

  "Women, you now have two choices: leave or follow me to kill Japanese."

  The salesgirl looked up at her with a complex gaze: "Which part are you from? The Communist Party?"

  Ouyang Yun shook his head and asked: "Are you a member of the Kuomintang?"

  The woman hesitated for a moment and said: "Blue Clothes Society, Beiping Branch Special Agent 'Phoenix', what about you?" She thought: Could it be a colleague?

  "Blue Shirt Society?" Ouyang Yun blinked a few times, rushed into her own room, and after getting detailed information from the computer a few minutes later, came out and said: "It's really ridiculous. Didn't you used to take 'overcoming the crisis of Japanese invasion and stopping the corruption of the Nationalist Party' as your mission? How did you end up becoming bandits now?! 'Blue Shirt Society', I said so, why are all of you dressed in blue shirts and pants."

  "You're the thief, we're raising funds for the 'Second Revolution'."

  "Abolish feudalism to unify the country, reorganize military equipment to resist war, ban opium, anti-corruption, and revive rural areas—"

  Listening to him recite the purpose of the "Second Revolution", Bai Liu Su was shocked and asked in a somewhat frightened tone: "Who are you, after all?"

  Ouyang Yun stroked his chin, where a few whiskers had grown. The information about the "Blue Shirt Society" on the computer left a good impression on him. If the "Blue Shirt Society" could really make a big impact within the Nationalist Party, it might be a good thing for the anti-Japanese movement. However, the problem was that the "Blue Shirt Society" was modeled after Germany's "Blackshirt Party", which advocated for leader worship, and Chiang Kai-shek had too much influence within it. If he were to cooperate with the "Blue Shirt Society", wouldn't he indirectly be helping Chiang Kai-shek?

  Bai Liu Su gazed at him with a look of surprise, suddenly remembering that Shen Jian had said that the headquarters would send someone to receive this batch of goods recently. Could it be that Ouyang Yun was the special envoy? He suddenly recited: "But sadly, I do not see the same nine states."

  This is a line from Lu You's "示儿", which was the pre-arranged password between them. If Ouyang Yun was indeed an undercover agent, he should have responded with "家祭勿忘告乃翁". The Blue Clothes Society chose these two lines of poetry as their password, showing great care and thoughtfulness in their selection.

  Ouyang Yun won again, and he immediately realized that there was something fishy about Bai Li Su's words. However, when it came to reciting Du Fu's poem, he forgot the seven characters in the middle, opened his mouth to continue, but ended up saying the last sentence: "Family sacrifices must not forget to inform their ancestors."

  The code is correct, and a faint smile appears on Bai Liangsu's face, who has been in sorrow all along. "Wild chicken!"

  "Wild chicken?!" As soon as Ou Yang Yun heard this nickname, she almost fainted. Alas, he said "Phoenix?!" and walked forward to help her undo the seatbelt and lift her up.

  "It would have been better if you had come a few days earlier," Bai Liu Su said sorrowfully, gazing quietly at Shen Jian's grave.

  Patting her shoulder, he said: "Don't grieve, the revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard! There are more things waiting for us to do."

  "Where's your ID? Let me confirm one last time, I'll hand it over to you here."

  "It's lost."

  "Lost?" Bai Liu Su turned around and looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise.

  Ouyang Yun remained calm and tentatively said: "You can send a telegram back to headquarters to confirm."

  Bai Liu furrowed her brow. The Huabei region, Tianjin was the main area of activity, where there were radio stations, but not in Beiping. She began to suspect his identity again.

  Ouyang Yun saw that things were taking a turn for the worse and hastily said, "Chen Jiaoyao, you've seen it yourself. As soon as we arrived in Beiping, she was kidnapped by someone. In order to rescue her, the result was..."

  She had heard about this matter and thought for a moment before asking: "You came here, did the Dragon Head give you any instructions?"

  Ouyang Yun did not answer. The Counter-Interrogation Handbook has this to say: When you are unsure of the truth or falsehood of a matter, it is best to remain silent.

  This question was indeed used by Bai Liu Su to continue probing him, "Lan Yi She" didn't have a leader like that. Maybe she hadn't recovered from the sorrow of losing her loved one, or maybe she was just too tired, so she didn't dwell on Ou Yang Yun's identity and decided to leave instead. The reason she joined "Lan Yi She" in the first place was because of Shen Jian, now that Shen Jian is dead, she had no more reason to stay. "Wild chicken, I'll leave this to you," after saying that, she walked into the room.