Chapter 36: He Yuzhu Escapes the Japanese Trap

Suddenly, He Yuzhu realized the situation was wrong—bullets were whizzing over his head, yet the Japanese soldiers opposite him were falling one after another.

Strange! He muttered to himself, who would dare to brazenly attack in this Beijing territory? On second thought, the little Japanese devils were like grasshoppers after the frost; every faction wanted to take a bite while there was chaos.

He quickly pulled his head back, pressing his body against the cold cover to play dead, while his eyes remained fixed on the exchange of fire.

The Japanese soldiers, having been ambushed once, suffered heavy losses again, with only a dozen or so left retreating in a panic.

The camp entrance suddenly fell silent.

He Yuzhu dared not linger. Seeing that those who had charged in were dressed like guerrillas, he left the captured Type 11 Light Machine Gun and dozens of Type 38 Arisakas from his space right there on the position—rather than letting them gather dust in his space, it was better to put them to use.

He flashed into his space to change back into civilian clothes, and by the time he came out, the guerrillas had already charged into the camp, and the weapons on the position had been swept clean.

He Yuzhu smiled knowingly: sure enough, they were short on gear.

He crawled toward the main gate. A few guerrillas saw this half-grown boy but did not stop him, waving their hands to signal him to leave quickly.

He Yuzhu grinned: "Thank you for your hard work, everyone!" With that, he slipped out of the camp in a flash.

At this moment, the guerrillas were at a stalemate at the arena.

The frantic Japanese soldiers had lined up the commoners in a semicircle as human shields, hiding behind them to put up a desperate struggle from the arena.

Thousands of martial arts experts were helpless with guns pointed at them. He Daqing was also squatting in the crowd, holding his head and sighing to the kitchen helper Xiao Wang: "This time we've truly jumped from the frying pan into the fire!"

Xiao Wang said with a mournful face: "Master He, can we still survive?"

"Protecting yourself is what matters most; thinking about anything else is useless!" He Daqing spat.

Although the guerrillas had a machine gun, they were afraid of harming the hostages and could only hide behind a low wall to confront the enemy.

Xiao Duizhang, with a face full of whiskers, stomped his feet in anxiety: "Lao Zhou! The Japanese reinforcements from the direction of Yongdingmen will arrive soon!"

Lao Zhou frowned: "Give me half an hour, I'll lead the assault team to flank them!"

"Two quarters of an hour at most!" Xiao Duizhang gritted his teeth, "Otherwise, my three hundred men won't be able to hold off the reinforcements!"

"How about you take all five hundred brothers to intercept them? Take the Type 11 Light Machine Gun too!"

Xiao Duizhang slapped his thigh.

After slipping out of the main gate, He Yuzhu followed the perimeter wall to the drainage ditch.

It was freezing cold, and the sewage had long since frozen into icicles.

Relying on his nimble body, he slid right in.

When he ran to the stables, he saw Chen Qingshan and his daughter crouching behind a pile of low walls, two Box Cannons pointed directly at the arena.

"Zhuzi!" Chen Daya whispered, "I thought you were trapped in the crowd!"

"I was looking for my dad."

"What's going on at the arena?" Chen Daya asked.

"The guerrillas have broken in, but the little Japanese devils are real bastards, using the commoners as shields! Both sides are at a stalemate!" He Yuzhu said.

"Can we run out now?" Chen Daya asked.

"You guys go first, run from the sewage outlet side; there's no one outside the wall. There are puppet soldiers in other directions."

"No, we want to go with you to find your dad!" Chen Qingshan said.

"The crowd is a mix of good and bad, there are many Japanese plainclothes agents, it's too dangerous!" He Yuzhu said.

"Is it not dangerous for you to go?" Chen Daya said.

"I'm fast; it won't be easy for them to kill me even if they want to."

"Then we'll wait here to cover you." Chen Daya said.

"That works!"

As the three were talking, they suddenly saw over a dozen Japanese in kimonos running toward the stables under the escort of several guards, their leather boots creaking on the ice.

"They're going to crawl through the drainage ditch!" He Yuzhu whispered sharply.

"Should we shoot?" Chen Qingshan narrowed his eyes.

"They didn't die at the arena, and now they're delivering themselves to their deaths, so let's send them on their way here!" He Yuzhu gritted his teeth.

Chen Qingshan stared intently ahead, the muzzle of his gun slightly adjusting its angle.

"Zhuzi, the Box Cannon must be used at close range, it's only effective within thirty paces. Wait for me to fire first, then you shoot!" Chen Qingshan whispered, his voice revealing a hint of tension.

"Got it!" He Yuzhu replied, stroking the three Hand Grenades in his hand; despite the freezing winter, a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Forty paces, thirty-five paces..." Chen Qingshan kept counting; every number felt like a countdown, making the atmosphere increasingly tense.

Chen Qingshan's gun suddenly fired, the crisp gunshot echoing in the air.

He Yuzhu knocked a Hand Grenade against a stone, paused for a moment, and then threw it out.

The Hand Grenade drew an arc in the air, and with a loud bang, the shockwave of the explosion kicked up a cloud of dust.

The Japanese soldiers were blown over, and a large group fell.

For a time, the battlefield was filled with wails and groans.

The remaining Japanese soldiers hurriedly lay down to return fire.

Bullets hit the low wall like raindrops, splashing up bursts of dust.

Chen Qingshan and He Yuzhu hid behind the cover, constantly changing magazines and continuing to fire at the enemy.

Their eyes were filled with determination and anger.

Smoke filled the battlefield; He Yuzhu rolled to a new position and threw two more Hand Grenades in succession.

Within a quarter of an hour, all the Japanese soldiers putting up a desperate struggle were killed.

Suddenly, over a dozen people climbed over the West Peace Wall. Chen Qingshan was about to raise his gun when He Yuzhu held him down: "They look like guerrilla fighters."

Looking closer, the leader was actually Lao Zhou, the school gatekeeper!

He Yuzhu patted Chen Daya: "You guys stay put, wait here to cover me, I'm going into the crowd to find my dad!"

"I'm going with you!" Chen Daya said.

"No need!" Before the words had even faded, He Yuzhu had already darted out like a civet cat.

The area around the ring was in total chaos, the atmosphere tense to the extreme.

The commoners were forced by the muzzles of the devils' guns into a semicircle, blocking the line of fire for the guerrillas.

He Yuzhu stared intently at the enemy, searching for the best moment to strike.

Finally, he spotted a momentary opening and violently flung out four Flying Knives.

A cold light flashed, and four devils fell to the ground in response, blood splattering everywhere.

However, at that very moment, a man in plainclothes suddenly pulled out a Pistol and fired at He Yuzhu without the slightest hesitation.

He Yuzhu's eyes turned cold, his wrist moved with lightning speed, and a cold light flashed once more; a Flying Knife was instantly embedded in the man's throat.

His body trembled, and after struggling unwillingly for a long time, he finally died completely.

He Yuzhu searched through the crowd for He Daqing.

At the same time, the other devils discovered their companions falling one by one; terrified, they raised their guns, intending to fire into the crowd.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A burst of intense gunfire suddenly erupted, and the remaining little devils fell to the ground one after another.

It was Lao Zhou and his men who had taken action; their marksmanship was precise and decisive, leaving the enemy with no power to fight back.

But the danger had not been averted; a plainclothes agent quickly pulled out a gun and aimed it at Lao Zhou.

He Yuzhu's heart tightened; he had no time to think and flung out another Flying Knife.

The plainclothes agent's chest was instantly pierced by the Flying Knife; he widened his eyes, his face full of astonishment, and then slowly collapsed.

The crowd erupted in panic, people crying out in terror and fleeing in all directions.

He Yuzhu was swept along by the flow of people when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure—He Daqing had lost his cotton hat in the crush and was being carried along by the tide in a sorry state.

Just as he was about to shout, heavy gunfire erupted behind him, bullets whizzing past his ears, and some commoners were actually hit and screaming in agony.

Lao Zhou roared in the crowd: "There are still devils' plainclothes agents in the crowd, everyone run toward the east!"

A few plainclothes agents did not continue running but stayed behind to fire potshots.

Lao Zhou left five guerrillas behind to keep returning fire.

He Yuzhu paid no mind to what was happening behind him; he grabbed He Daqing and charged desperately toward the stables.

A few guerrillas were stuffing Explosives into the drainage outlet.

The fuse hissed as it burned, and with a loud boom, a dozen meters of the wall collapsed in response.

Seeing Chen Qingshan, He Yuzhu shouted: "Siqiang, you all follow close behind!"

He Daqing exchanged a hurried glance with Chen Qingshan, and with no time for pleasantries, he focused only on charging out with all his might.

The group stumbled over the broken walls and ruins, sprinting toward the open wilderness.

By the time the four of them returned to Nanluoguxiang 91, it was already dark.

He Yuzhu earnestly introduced Chen Qingshan and his daughter to He Daqing.

He also stated that Chen Qingshan was his Siqiang; He Yuzhu did this so that He Daqing would understand that if he didn't come home in the future, it wasn't because he was up to no good, but because he was off learning Kung Fu from his Siqiang.

He Daqing agreed after hearing this; today's experience told him that in troubled times, people were as cheap as grass, and having the ability to protect oneself was very important.

When He Daqing proposed going home, he was stopped by He Yuzhu.

He Daqing said somewhat reluctantly: "Aren't you making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"Dad, not only can you not go home, but you also shouldn't go to work for the time being!"