Chapter 1421

The path was paved with stone slabs, moss grew on the slabs, and grass broke through the cracks between the slabs, but it had already been trampled into rotten roots by people, densely crowded in the cracks of the slabs.

A team of wounded soldiers walked along the road, limping. They were all wearing dirty and even damaged military uniforms. The 'stretch-leg-stare-eye pills' (a type of traditional medicine) rubbed from the skin exposed outside could fill a large plate. Their hair was all messy and knotted, and they might even be able to catch a few lice out of it.

Wang Yan, who was mixed in the team, was just as disheveled. The only better thing was that he didn't have blood-soaked bandages wrapped around his body. He carried a Zhongzheng rifle with a bayonet on his shoulder, and a cloth ammunition belt hung on his body, containing more than a dozen bullets.

His height was still relatively tall, making him quite conspicuous in the team.

Therefore, the station master of the reception station arranged for him first.

"That big guy from the Northeast, and those few beside you, you stay in this courtyard." He patted Wang Yan on the shoulder and said, "Don't say I, Old Deng, don't take care of you. There are your fellow countrymen from the Northeast in here, two of them, just right for you to recognize your kin. Oh my, these years, it's not easy for anyone..."

"Thanks, Old Deng." Wang Yan took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, used a kerosene lighter to light one for him, and said, "Tsk, I say, you're an official of some size, why are you so useless? Still thinking about the things of a lowly soldier like me?"

Old Deng was not ashamed at all and exhaled a puff of smoke: "This item of yours is fresh. Where did you get it?"

"Killed a Japanese major and searched it out."

"Whoa, really or fake? You aren't lying to me, are you?"

"Of course it's fake." Wang Yan laughed loudly. "If I really killed a major, could I still run all the way here? I'd definitely be fighting on the front line. This was all searched out from a pile of dead bodies. See you later. Don't forget to get me a set of bedding; I haven't slept well all the way here."

Patting Deng's shoulder, Wang Yan, with a cigarette in his mouth and a rifle on his shoulder, swayed and stepped onto the stone steps, crossed the threshold, and walked into this courtyard.

A glance around, there were more than twenty people scattered in the courtyard, gathered in twos and threes, bragging and catching lice. There was also one person lying in a hammock with a cattail fan, and a young boy beside him was pounding his legs.

Their gazes were all focused over.

Wang Yan friendly raised the hand holding the cigarette and waved: "Brothers are all sunbathing? I heard from the foreign devils that sunbathing supplements calcium."

"You know foreign devils?" Someone spoke up.

Wang Yan looked over; it was an old man with a welding pipe in his mouth.

"Who doesn't know that? I also heard it from others. Old man, how should I address you?"

"Everyone calls me Vet." The old man squatted there, with a Guanzhong accent.

"Old man, you're from Guanzhong?"

"Xi'an. You can even speak Guanzhong dialect?"

Wang Yan smiled and waved his hand: "Can't talk about being able to speak it. Our comrades-in-arms are from all over the country; I can say a few words in any dialect. Come, come, come, smoke this of mine, old man. This is a cigarette of the little Japanese I captured on the real battlefield."

"What, we aren't comrades-in-arms? Only he, Vet, has it, and we don't?" A person leaned over, hands on his hips, somewhat arrogant.

Wang Yan slapped him on the head: "If you want to smoke, just smoke. What are you pretending to be a big brother for? Distribute a round to the brothers, let everyone have a taste."

That person was slapped, but not angry at all. He took the cigarette and smiled with a fawning face: "You are the real big brother. The brothers all call me Kang Ya. Big brother, how should I address you?"

"Wang Yan. Go distribute the cigarettes, everyone is watching."

"Hey, alright."

Kang Ya was a bully who feared the strong, but after a slap, he became honest.

Wang Yan lowered his head, looked at the acquaintance sitting beside Vet, one leg stretched out, one leg bent, and gave that stretched leg a kick, not light and not heavy.

"What are you looking at? Do I owe you money?"

"Hiss..." The person yelled in pain, "I'm looking at what you look like. What's the matter, are you an old girl? Not even letting people look?"

"Oh my, a Beijinger? Greetings to you." Wang Yan smiled, and at the same time gave him another kick, "Why is your mouth so fragmented?"

"Hey, alright, alright." Vet stood up and stopped Wang Yan, "His leg is injured, but what you said is not wrong; his mouth is indeed annoying."

"Otherwise why would he be called 'Annoying' (Fanla)?" Someone on the side took the conversation, and seeing Wang Yan look over, he said, "I'm called Bula, from Hunan. This turtle son's mouth is fragmented; the brothers all call him Fanla."

"Hmm, really quite annoying." Wang Yan nodded seriously, gave him another kick, and while Fanla was glaring and daring not to speak, he smiled and said, "Roll up your trouser leg, let me see."

"What are you looking at?"

"My family has a traditional Chinese medicine heritage. I can fight thousands of miles north and south, experience hundreds of battles, and come here after wandering, all relying on such a craft to save my life."

"Are you really, or is it just talk? Even if you are, what's the use?" Fanla muttered, but his hands were not slow at all. Gritting his teeth, he rolled up his trouser leg, revealing a hideous, cracked lower leg.

Wang Yan squatted down, tilted his head with a cigarette in his mouth, picked up a small piece of wood from the ground, and flipped the flesh. It had already rotted, festered, and was emitting a foul smell.

Just in the few moments of flipping, Fanla was already gritting his teeth, eyes wide open, sweating profusely, trembling all over, clenching his fists and holding on hard.

"Can you cure it?" Fanla asked, trembling.

Wang Yan asked back with a smile: "Are you afraid of pain?"

"Nonsense, who isn't afraid of pain? Can you really cure it?"

"Actually, it's quite simple. Cut out this rotten flesh, sew up the wound. If there's alcohol, wipe it with alcohol; if there's no alcohol, use a hot iron. Then eat some sulfonamide, and after ten days or half a month, it will basically scab over. Besides the pain, there's nothing else."

"Can it really work?"

Wang Yan stood up with a smile and stopped paying attention to him.

Vet squatted back down: "I feel this young man can succeed, it's just that he'll suffer."

Fanla didn't speak; the pain hadn't passed yet.

At this time, Kang Ya, who had distributed a round of cigarettes, walked back, smiling fawningly: "Big brother, distributed them all, the brothers don't have enough to smoke."

"I only have this half a pack, share it. Just smoke two puffs to taste it." Wang Yan waved his hand.

"I have a way." Seeing that Wang Yan was about to leave, Kang Ya leaned over again, "Big brother, I hear your accent is from the Northeast? Did you see that person? He is also from the Northeast. He is quite capable in the black market here. Look at the watch on his hand, and then look at the small hut behind. I tell you, there are all good things in there. Big brother, you don't look like an ordinary person at first glance. Want to have a go with this fellow countryman of yours?"

"Right, right, right, big brother, he is a bully here, very fierce. Big brother, you can definitely handle him." Bula, who was squatting on the side, also jumped up to stir up trouble when he heard the words.

"You guys don't have good intentions." Wang Yan slapped each of them, and amidst Kang Ya and Bula's fawning smiles, he turned and walked toward the guy in the hammock.

Before he reached the place, the people in the courtyard rustled and stood up, automatically gathering together to watch the fun.

The acquaintance in the hammock heard the movement, used the cattail fan to shade the sun, glanced at the mob behind, smiled disdainfully, then sat up and watched Wang Yan drinking his tea.

He asked: "I heard what you said. What's the matter, you're also from the Northeast?"

"Rehe."

"I'm from Longjiang. We're fellow countrymen. How did you run over here?"

"How else to run? Eating defeats all the way, fleeing all the way, running from north to south. I just ran to the vicinity a few days ago and was caught to recuperate. My name is Wang Yan, how should I address you?"

"Milong."

After replying, Milong asked, "Which unit were you in before?"

"53rd Army of the Northeast Army."

"What rank?"

"Second Lieutenant Platoon Leader."

"Oh my, then you're still my superior. I'm just a private first class." Milong mocked.

"Then you don't respect your superior either."

Milong turned his head and glanced at a person with a knife-like face squatting on the side: "If you put it that way, that club is closer to me. He is my platoon leader. Still calling him Li Liansheng, dog shit! Fart of a continuous victory, grass! Just right, I'll introduce you. You don't have to call him Liansheng, call him Ula. He doesn't deserve Liansheng, he's just suitable to be that smelly shoe pad, a dog basket!"

Li Ula squatted there, his eyes swept over, but he didn't say any words of defense.

Wang Yan smiled at him and raised his head, but didn't get a response.

Milong glanced at the crowd watching the fun behind him again and asked: "What do you mean?"

"Kang Ya and Bula said you have the most money, a room full of good things, I want to ask for some."

"Ask for some? You really dare to open your mouth." Milong was so angry he laughed, "Remembering that we are fellow countrymen, I won't be the same as you. Three numbers, hurry up and disappear for me, don't wait for me to shave you."

"You can't beat me." Wang Yan shook his head with a smile, "I don't want to rob you of your things either, let's..."

"Forget about 'let's'." Milong got off the hammock and stood firm, "I see it clearly now. If I don't clean you up, you really won't be convinced. Only talk and no practice is a fake style, come, come, come, let's practice."

"Don't hold a grudge."

"A man is a man, who the hell holds a grudge?" Milong patted his chest with a bang.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, threw the Zhongzheng rifle to the side, stepped back a few steps, and stood firm, beckoning to Milong: "Come."

"Grass, you're quite arrogant. Today I'll let you know who is the daddy."

Milong cursed, rushed forward, and raised his foot in a front kick.

Wang Yan twisted his body and turned half a circle, dodging the kick, and at the same time held the Baji closed-ground elbow, leaning his shoulder back. Milong, who was preparing to turn and whip-hammer, was hit in the back. Before he could turn around, he staggered and backed away.

Milong gritted his teeth and rubbed his back, then shouted: "Come again." And rushed up again.

This time he didn't start with a front kick, but rushed to the front and swung a big swing punch. However, his door was wide open. Wang Yan just easily raised his hand to block, and the other hand became a palm, rushing from the abdomen to the sky—Baji Heaven-Piercing Palm.

However, he didn't break Milong's chin. Although the momentum was fast, there wasn't much force when it touched the chin; it just lifted Milong up, and at the same time, he tripped him, and Milong fell backward to the ground.

To avoid his back of the head being injured, Wang Yan raised his foot to support his head and said from a high position: "That's about enough."

"My skills are not as good as others, you are the daddy." Milong stood up angrily, "Your two hands are Baji Fist, right?"

"You have a good eye."

"I've fought with someone who practiced Baji before, that guy was beaten by me and couldn't find north, didn't use any moves. You are indeed awesome, still able to use moves. I recognize that move you just used, it's called Heaven-Piercing Palm, right?"

"Yes." Wang Yan nodded with a smile.

"I really met a ruthless person today, I'm convinced!"

As soon as Milong finished speaking, the crowd watching the fun cheered.

Bula opened his face: "Dog days, you Milong also have today, someone can clean you up, hahaha~"

So a group of people became even more lively, as if they were the ones who beat Milong.

"Grass!" Milong rushed forward two steps, the sound of mockery stopped abruptly, and a group of people retreated two steps, looking at Milong carefully.

Seeing this, Milong smiled disdainfully, "A bunch of trash, I can't beat him, not that I can't beat you. A bunch of bastards, whoever dares to be arrogant again, I'll shave him to death."

Glaring at these people fiercely, Milong walked back and drank the tea, wiped his mouth, and looked at Wang Yan who was already sitting there, "Speak, what's your plan?"

Wang Yan raised his head toward the table: "Don't you have dice? Let's gamble a few rounds for fun."

"Okay." Milong smiled again, took the dice and the bowl, and walked over, "To tell you the truth, I'm invincible in gambling all over Chanda. Do you think how all the things in that room of mine came from? Let's put it this way, half of them were won back by me. Now no one plays with me anymore. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Come on." Wang Yan nodded with a smile, patted the rifle beside his hand, and looked at Milong's wrist, "This Zhongzheng rifle of mine, five rounds in the gun, seventeen rounds of bullets, bet on a watch."

"Okay." Milong immediately took off the watch on his wrist and put it aside, "Pick whichever one you like, come on."

During the conversation, Milong sat on the ground, put the chipped porcelain bowl in front of him, and shook the three dice in his hand.

"Let's play big or small, you speak."

Wang Yan shook his head: "I'll throw."

Milong frowned: "Do you suspect my dice have tricks?"

"To be safe."

"Okay." Milong nodded and threw the dice into the bowl, "I want big."

Wang Yan took the dice out of the bowl, gathered them with both hands and shook them, and smiled slightly. Sure enough, they had been tampered with.

After shaking for a while, he found the feeling, and when Milong's patience was about to run out, he finally threw the dice into the bowl.

Following a burst of crisp collisions, the three dice stopped spinning.

"One, two, three, small!" Kang Ya clamored on the side.

"Get lost!" Milong pushed Kang Ya, who had leaned over, a somersault, "What does it have to do with you? Get lost to the side, don't block the light here."

After cursing, Milong looked at Wang Yan, "Okay, you have two tricks, pick a watch yourself. Wait for me to find another pair of dice."

"Go."

Wang Yan smiled and looked through the watches on the ground, finding one that was relatively good. It was a pilot watch customized by Longines for the little Japanese, and its collection value was still very high.

Of course, there was no talk of collection at this time. It's just that relatively speaking, this watch was the best and newest, and I don't know where Milong got it.

Very quickly, Milong returned, looking at the watch that Wang Yan had already put on his wrist: "Okay, brother, you really don't have a soft hand."

"I'm not stupid. They're all watches, so I must pick the best one."

"Fine, you have some insight." Milong shouted, threw the newly found dice into the bowl, "Come again, this time no one can play dirty. You take one round, I take one round, you go first, I still want big."

"No problem."

Wang Yan smiled, took the dice into his hand, and shook them with both hands together just like before. This time they were indeed proper dice, with nothing inside.

Under Milong's unblinking gaze, he threw the dice into the bowl.

The three dice spun in the bowl, making a clattering sound...

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? (End of chapter)