Chapter 77: Auspicious Star

  June 2nd, overcast, in the afternoon at two o'clock, in the southern suburbs of Beiping, "Wolf's Den", Ouyang Yun led the Wolf Teeth members to stand in front of a newly built brick wall, preparing for climbing training.

  The wall had two sides, three meters high, with a roof on top and stood upright at a right angle on the ground. Ou Yang Yun was wearing a pair of fingerless gloves that he had just received from a leather goods store, a sandbag vest on his body, and sandbags tied to his legs. He said, "Whether it's a strong attack or hiding our tracks, we'll encounter obstacles like this in future battles. That's why today's targeted training will come in handy - climbing a wall with no footholds requires the most strength from your hands and feet. This is also why I asked you all to practice 'hanging bricks' and 'frog jumps' during your free time." Everyone watched as he took a few steps back, then suddenly charged towards the right angle of the wall and pounced upwards with his legs. His hands tightly grasped the wall, followed by his feet sticking tightly to it, just like a gecko. Without any pause, he used his legs to clamp onto the corner of the wall, quickly moving his hands up, then clamped his hands onto the corner and moved his legs up, repeating this motion rapidly until he reached the top of the wall. At that moment, the roof became an obstacle. The recruits looked up at him, wondering what he would do next, when suddenly a gunshot rang out from the entrance. The recruits were startled and quickly turned around to see Zhang Yi standing guard at the door, holding his rifle and shouting at two soldiers. Yang Xiu Cheng immediately called out, "Lieutenant, there's a situation!"

  Ouyang Yun was in a high place, heard the gunshot and turned around to understand the situation. He immediately jumped down and said: "Everyone is present, attention, at ease, rest in place, I'll go take a look." Then he ran towards the door.

  Yang Xucheng and others immediately sat down on the spot. Ouyang Yun ran over, about 50 or 60 meters away, and saw clearly the appearance of the two soldiers who clashed with Zhang Yi. The corner of his mouth twitched, thinking: It can't be Jixing Wen, can it?

  He guessed it was true, the soldier wearing a school uniform at the door was indeed Jixing Wen, and behind him was his guard Huang Chengqiang. Since Jixing Wen received the military order, he immediately went to visit Ouyang Yun because his troops were also stationed in Wanping. He arrived at the training camp of the student army and learned from Li Tieshu that he was leading troops in Langwo, so he rushed here. However, being unfamiliar with the place, he wandered around Beiping City for half a day before finding Langwo. When he arrived at the door, he was stopped by Zhang Yi.

  Ouyang Yun considered the special training method of Langya, it's best not to show it to others, so the requirement for the sentry post is very strict. Zhang Yi seriously executed this order, before Jixingwen could say anything, he had already raised his gun and asked them to leave here.

  At that time, the old-fashioned army was far from modern discipline. The sentry's actions fell into Ji Xingwen's eyes, not only making a big deal out of nothing but also showing disrespect to his superiors. He had joined the army in 1926 and was an old hand, how could he tolerate this? He thought to himself that he had come all the way here with great difficulty, not to curry favor with his superiors, but simply as a matter of course for a soldier, just doing his duty. However, this little sentry didn't care about anything and chased him away, even daring to fire a warning shot, clearly not taking him seriously at all. In a fit of rage, he pulled out his pistol, and if Ou Yangyun hadn't arrived in time, it's hard to say what would have happened next.

  Ouyang Yun was still thirty or forty meters away from the entrance when he saw the other party pull out their equipment, and hurriedly shouted: "Zhang Yi, it's our own people, please let them in - is that General Ji? I'm Ouyang Yun."

  Just now, when Ouyang Yun was climbing the wall, Ji Xingwen saw it. He didn't know what those soldiers were doing, and at this time, he heard him introduce himself, and couldn't help but be surprised. He looked at each other, seeing that he was in his twenties, similar to the legend, wearing strange clothes, with something tied on his legs. He quickly put away his gun, stared at Zhang Yi, and then took a big step forward to greet him. Who knew that Zhang Yi's gun blocked him again, saying loudly: "Without a travel permit signature, no one can enter."

  He was taken aback, but he couldn't muster up any anger. He had heard of Ou Yang Yun's great name long ago - "Anti-Japanese Hero" and all that. Rumor had it that he was also well-versed in technology, and now it seemed like he was quite skilled at leading troops as well. To be honest, although he felt uncomfortable in his heart, he couldn't help but admit that this little sentinel was lovable and had the makings of a good soldier. He stood at attention, saluted Ou Yang Yun loudly, and said: "Lieutenant Colonel, Ji Xingwen reporting for duty under orders from the Military Department."

  Ouyang Yun did not expect Zhang Yi to be so capable, and he didn't even listen to his own words. Of course, he had no reason to get angry, this was a good thing worth being proud of, it was the strict discipline he always emphasized. So he returned a military salute and said: "Chief of Staff, sorry about that, please wait a moment, I'll go get the pass right away."

  Ji Xingwen nodded, looked at Zhang Yi's serious face and thought this little guy was getting more and more adorable. He couldn't help but tease him, saying: "I heard that I'm your chief of staff, how about it? Can't you let us in now?"

  Zhang Yi put away his gun, stood at attention, and gave a military salute. "Private Zhang Yi reporting for duty to the Chief of Staff!" he said. Then he added, "Private Zhang Yi is on official business, please excuse me, Chief of Staff."

  Ji Xingwen smiled and said to Huang Chengqiang: "Chengqiang, learn from them, look at how they execute orders, not a single mistake."

  "Huang Chengqiang muttered in a low voice: 'He is despising his superiors...'"

  Ji Xingwen furrowed his brow and glared at him, then looked around the wolf's lair facilities, seeing a pool covered with iron wire mesh, horizontal wooden beams about 1.5 meters off the ground... Looking again at the soldiers sitting cross-legged under the high wall, he recalled the scene of Ouyang Yun climbing the wall earlier and couldn't help but think: It's said that Ouyang Yun once led over 200 students to annihilate over 400 devils, it seems it wasn't a rumor! So, it seems that Commander Feng's plan this time will likely come to nothing.

  When Ou Yang Yun first learned that Ji Xing Wen would be bringing his 219th Regiment to join the Student Army, he had some small concerns. He didn't know if Ji was truly a loyal and patriotic general as described in history books, or if he was like Song Zheyuan, an old fox with ulterior motives. When they met, Ou Yang Yun saw that Ji looked around 30 years old, gentle and refined, without the usual arrogance of Nationalist army officers. After talking to him, Ou Yang Yun discovered that Ji was actually the nephew of Ji Hongchang, which made him feel more at ease, and he became confident that he could "win him over" to his side.

  While Ji Xingwen accidentally discovered his military command skills and advanced training methods in the wolf's den, he greatly increased his favor for this little superior. Unconsciously, both sides have stuck a lot of gold on each other, which also laid a good foundation for their future cooperation.

  The number of the Wolf's Fang team, Ouyang Yun had no intention of keeping it a secret. The Wolf's Fang was his dream, and for this dream to come true, the Wolf's Fang must truly grow into an invincible team, and that required having its own glory. In that case, making it public would be inevitable. However, the highly advanced training methods, which were far ahead of current society, were absolutely top-secret, and the fewer people who knew about them, the better. Ouyang Yun still couldn't determine what kind of person Ji Xingwen was, but he solemnly asked him to keep the secret of the Wolf's Fang that he had seen today. Ji Xingwen readily agreed, only making one request: when the Wolf's Fang needed to expand in the future, they must consider including their 219th regiment as well. Ouyang Yun, having confidence in turning him into his own man, naturally had no reason to refuse and gave a definite affirmative answer. The first meeting between the two men, under deliberate arrangement, achieved the expected effect, and the original three big shots of the Learning Soldier Brigade were also confirmed.

  Since there was no class tomorrow, that night, after sending away Jixingwen, Ouyang Yun still stayed in the wolf's den. After dinner, he chatted with the soldiers for a while and returned to his dormitory. He was thinking about whether to come here for an emergency gathering tonight when the window was suddenly knocked on, followed by Bai Liusu's voice: "Big brother, are you inside?"

  Bai Liuxu's hands had already removed the plaster, and although she still couldn't exert too much force, eating and dressing were no longer a problem. Hearing her urgent tone, Ouyang Yun was startled and hastily opened the door to let her in, asking: "How did you come? What happened?"

  Bai Liu Su suddenly grabbed his arm and said urgently: "Big brother, hurry back and take a look, Shifu has been poisoned."

  Ouyang Yun was shocked and asked: "How is it possible? She's an expert in using poison."

  "She went out in the evening and came back around 6 o'clock. She was covered in blood, then walked into the yard and fainted."

  He realized the problem was serious and said: "You go out first and wait for me, I'll be right there - how did you get here?"

  "Ran over."

  He only then noticed that she was covered in dust and asked: "Aren't your hands hurt? Be more careful. Alright, you go out first, I'll go get a bike."

  Liu Zhe-liang went to the training ground for extra practice after dinner, while Ouyang Yun didn't disturb him and found Yang Xucheng to get a bicycle. Then he put on his backpack and rode away quickly.

  It's said that adversity reveals true feelings. When he and Gu Liyun were together, laughing and chatting, he didn't think much of it, but now that he suddenly heard she was in trouble, he realized how important she was to him.

  He left the wolf's den, loaded the flowing su on the outside, and quickly rode to the ghost mansion. While pedaling desperately, he secretly prayed: Lianyun, you mustn't have any accidents! A person who never believed in ghosts or Buddha now couldn't help but place his hopes on them, and in his heart, he had already invoked Guanyin and the Tathagata, hoping they could protect Lianyun from harm.