Chapter 736: Let the Bullets Fly for a While

There is a saying that goes like this: I could have grown accustomed to the darkness, had I not seen the light.

For the common folk, a windfall from the heavens seemed to be a way to escape poverty.

But when Huang Silang went to collect the money, he made them understand that no matter how one obtained money, the result was the same.

He intended to exploit us for a lifetime, to keep us as poor people for our entire lives.

The beautiful fantasies you had after receiving the money, your outlook on the future, were all shattered.

This feeling of having something and then losing it is the most painful thing of all.

To be forced to be a slave for generation after generation, never able to rise up, that is the most desperate thing!

Ordinary audience members all thought that from this moment on, the commoners would surely stand on Zhang Mazi's side to deal with Huang Silang, right?

In their view, just this much was already logical, and the subsequent development could already stand on its own.

But it is very clear that Let the Bullets Fly is not such a shallow film.

Master Tang had already said earlier that the taxes in Goose City had already been collected decades in advance.

The exploitation never stopped, and everyone dared to be angry but dared not speak.

Similar things were happening in Goose City every single day.

In front of the powerful Master Huang, your Anger is not worth mentioning.

Then, how can one make the common folk dare to be angry?

——Armed Up!

Armed Up, what a familiar four-character phrase.

Zhang Mazi began sending people to cover the open spaces of Goose City with guns and ammunition!

Besides this, the propaganda could not stop either.

A group of people beat drums while shouting: Guns and bullets fill the streets in your hands, ten parts of silver are in the fortress.

Mobilizing the masses requires propaganda.

Everyone listened to the sound of the drums and the Shouting, and looking at the guns and ammunition filling the streets, their entire beings were ignited.

Zhang Mazi was seen standing on high ground, holding a cup that many people felt was a bit familiar after seeing it, and after taking a sip, he placed it heavily on the wall.

He looked calm, as if he had everything under control.

On the other side, Huang Silang and Hu Qian watched the scene in the city and couldn't help but exclaim: "Defeated repeatedly yet fighting repeatedly! I like it!"

"Those are guns, how about... letting the horses go?" Hu Qian said.

"Taking silver is greed!" Huang Silang said while fanning himself. "Taking guns is rebellion!"

"They don't have the guts!"

Sure enough, in broad daylight, not a single person dared to go to the street to take a gun.

Lao Qi watched this scene and said: "The silver was taken away, and no one took the guns either. What do we do, Boss?"

"What are the odds of winning?" they asked.

Zhang Mazi held up a seven.

"Huang Silang collected all the money, and no one took the guns we handed out, so where does this seventy percent come from?" Lao Qi was puzzled.

"If Huang Silang didn't collect the silver, why would I hand out guns?" Zhang Mazi asked.

Lao Qi blankly repeated this sentence, as if he still didn't quite understand.

Huo Yuan and the others, however, felt that this line of dialogue was already a clear hint.

"Brilliant, this part of the Drama is brilliant!" They slapped the table in admiration.

Sure enough, a scene similar to picking up money occurred.

It was another night, and all the guns and ammunition were picked up.

By the time dawn broke, the streets were already empty.

Lao Qi and the others were ecstatic and said: "I understand now, you didn't hand out guns, you handed out Anger!"

Huo Yuan began to think.

"For the people of Goose City, long-term exploitation and enslavement have kept emotions suppressed deep in their hearts."

"These emotions are like sticks of firewood piled together."

"But they are afraid, they don't dare, so this firewood cannot be ignited."

"But if there is a bang of a gunshot..."

Huo Yuan felt that what Lao Qi said was not quite right.

"It wasn't Anger that was handed out, it was the courage to ignite the Anger!"

"It was courage that was handed out!"

Huo Yuan smiled; he felt that this part of the Drama had many twists and turns and portrayed human nature extremely well.

Huang Silang watched all of this and also became a bit uneasy, shouting loudly: "Collect the guns!"

Carriages were sent out again to disarm the common folk of Goose City.

A Dark Horse galloped through the streets of Goose City.

Zhang Mazi, standing on high ground, picked up a gun and fired a few shots, bang, bang, bang.

This scene looked exactly like the scene when they hijacked the train at the beginning.

At that time, he had shot the reins of the white horse, breaking the rope.

After firing, he hid in the shadows.

"There's no movement," Lao Qi and the others asked.

"Let the Bullets Fly for a while!" Zhang Mazi said the same words.

He started it off, using empty guns to lead the charge.

Not long after, violent gunfire began to ring out through the streets and alleys.

A Dark Horse ran out, but after running only a few steps, it collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.

"They're angry! They're all angry!" Lao Qi and the others were ecstatic.

On the other side, Huang Silang, who was watching from afar, was furious.

"Damn those unruly people, daring to kill my horse!"

This time, even Huo Yuan and the others felt that everything had fallen into place, and everything was ready.

Next, it should be the riot, the big scene!

Zhang Mazi was seen riding on horseback with Lao Si, Lao Wu, and Lao Qi.

He drew that kaishaku sword, raised it, and while riding, shouted, "Guns in hand! Follow me!"

Lao Qi and the others followed behind, shouting, "Kill Silang, seize the fortress!"

They galloped through the streets, running a full circle, yet the streets were empty, and the common people kept their doors shut.

Only the wind blew past, causing the door signs at the entrances to sway left and right, proving the inner conflict and hesitation of the common people.

"Why is it like this?" Huo Yuan heard a woman whispering behind him.

Yet Huo Yuan felt that this was the reality.

Because this was going to risk their lives.

At least they were no longer completely numb.

This was not the wind moving; it was their hearts that were moving.

Zhang Mazi looked around, then began to turn his horse around, and once again shouted, "Guns in hand, follow me!"

Lao Qi and the others quickly followed: "Kill Silang, seize the fortress!"

They kept shouting in the street, stopping after every lap to check for movement.

Even if there was no movement at all, Zhang Mazi would choose to circle again and continue Shouting.

Even if this was one shout after another... a lonely Shouting!

These repeated shouts, the repeated galloping of hooves.

For some reason, everyone watching felt both moved and felt their blood boiling, with goosebumps rising wildly.

When Luo Mo was filming this scene, for some reason, he thought of a passage from Lu Xun's "Shouting".

【"If there were an iron house without windows, absolutely impossible to break down, and many people were fast asleep inside, soon to die of suffocation, they would pass from sleep to death without feeling the sorrow of dying. Now, if you shout loudly, waking a few of the more clear-headed ones, causing these unfortunate few to suffer the unbearable agony of their final moments, do you think you are being fair to them?"】

【"However, since a few have awakened, you cannot say there is absolutely no hope of destroying this iron house."】

Zhang Mazi was perhaps that person shouting loudly.

Huang Silang's fortress also seemed very much like the iron house in this passage.

Just like that, Zhang Mazi rode his horse and shouted for many laps.

Here, the method of Moving to Set off Stillness was used, making the audience tense and expectant along with them.

In the long street, the audience saw one person after another holding guns!

In an instant, the entire Cinema was boiling!

One after another, the hoarse calls and Shouting, one after another, the desperate galloping, brought about the blood-boiling scene before their eyes.

All the audience members had goosebumps!

Countless people followed behind them, rushing toward Huang Silang's fortress.

But when Zhang Mazi and the others arrived outside the fortress, there was no one behind them, only a group of geese from Goose City had followed.

"Happy too soon, no one is helping us!"

The audience was bewildered.

Why?

Why did they get scared and give up halfway through the charge?

Huo Yuan and the others, however, did not know how to describe this movie for a moment, or rather, it was already a masterpiece in their hearts.

Yes, there are many people in this world who get hot-headed.

But most of them will also give up the fastest.

Because the road ahead is unknown.

Throughout history, there have been many who gave up their ideals halfway, and many who turned around to become traitors.

Only a small portion of people do not know what the road ahead is like.

But they still chose to be Burning!

It is said that a single spark can start a prairie fire.

But someone must first become that spark.

Zhang Mazi looked back, slowly sheathing his sword.

"Understood."

"They help whoever wins," Zhang Mazi said in a low voice.

They began to fire continuously at the main gate.

This iron gate was so thin, the iron sheet seemed as thick as a layer of paper.

Yet, no one dared to follow them in launching a full-scale attack.

Some audience members were bewildered, not understanding why they were wasting bullets to keep shooting; was it just to vent their anger?

And amidst the gunfire, Lao San, who had gone to find Hua Jie and the missing Body Double of Huang Silang, finally returned.

He brought back both Hua Jie and the Body Double of Huang Silang.

Hua Jie's explanation was that the Body Double of Huang Silang had run away, so she went to chase him.

Third Brother's explanation was that she would chase, and he would block.

Ordinary audience members were all confused in their hearts: "This Body Double is just someone for Singing, so how did he go off-key at the beginning?"

"Third Brother is so capable, why does it take so many days to chase a Hua Jie and a Body Double?"

"Besides, Hua Jie looks wrong at first glance; this woman has problems."

"Third Brother also looked wrong earlier; he has long since been disloyal."

But Zhang Mazi did not ask a single extra question.

What he wanted now was just this result.

He needed this Body Double of Huang Silang.

Actually, there was a detail earlier, which was that Huang Silang had sent people to request reinforcements.

The reinforcements said they would arrive in three days.

Three days passed, and the reinforcements did not come.

Hua Jie and Third Brother brought the Body Double back at this time to help Zhang Mazi.

Several people fired continuously at the fortified building, the firepower fierce as hell.

"This is four people, goddamn it?" Huang Silang was stunned to hear it.

The wealthy gentry of Goose City, hearing the gunfire, also thought they were fighting intensely.

"People are going to die."

"At least one has to die."

They were all just a group of onlookers.

But this was exactly the effect Zhang Mazi wanted.

As soon as the sky brightened, the Body Double was tied up tightly.

Everyone lifted the Body Double up.

Even though they had been firing blanks all night and hit nothing, and no one had charged into Huang Silang's fortified building, Zhang Mazi shouted loudly: "Brothers, we have won, let's return in triumph!"

"Do you understand?" he asked.

"Understood!"

"Say it once!"

"Won, returning in triumph!"

Zhang Mazi stretched out a hand and shouted loudly: "Parade through the streets! Follow me!"

Just like that, they carried the Body Double and went to parade through the streets of Goose City.

The Martial Graduate turned into a rhythm master, shouting happily and setting the pace: "Huang Silang has been caught, Huang Silang has been caught!"

At this moment, Huo Yuan and the others were all stunned.

Holy crap, you can play it like this?

"When the false is treated as true, the true becomes false!" Huo Yuan felt this scene was incredibly satisfying.

At this time, the commoners of Goose City were actually holding guns and had all run out, gathering together to Shouting and cheering.

Huo Yuan only felt that Zhang Mazi's ideological awareness was too high.

This perfectly corresponded to the lines he told Master Tang earlier about himself being called Zhang Muzhi.

People don't believe a Bandit is called Zhang Muzhi; they feel a Bandit should be called Zhang Mazi and should be covered in pockmarks.

People only believe what they are willing to believe.

Whether I have pockmarks or not is not important!

Whether he is the real Huang Silang or not is also not important at this moment!

What is important is—do they believe it or not!

Huo Yuan only felt a rush of exhilaration surge straight to his crown.

Amidst the stirring background music, Zhang Mazi picked up a long blade and, in front of everyone, chopped off the Body Double's head with one strike.

At this moment, the fake County Magistrate became the real County Magistrate.

Because behind him, there were originally no people of Goose City.

Now, behind him stood the commoners of Goose City.

However, what about inside the fortified building?

Huang Silang, watching this scene through binoculars in the fortified building, was completely bewildered.

In great shock, he uttered that famous line:

"Oh no, oh no! I've become the Body Double!"

If the Body Double is beheaded in the identity of Huang Silang, then doesn't the real Huang Silang become the Body Double?

Zhang Muzhi, his shirt stained with blood, held the long blade and shouted amidst the cheers of the crowd: "Go to the fortified building! Take back what is yours!"

The commoners were like crazy at this moment, holding guns and charging toward the fortified building.

The Martial Graduate even took the lead.

That iron gate which no one dared to attack before now really looked like it was made of paper.

The Martial Graduate smashed through it directly with his body!

It was too ironic; this scene was truly too ironic.

Hu Qian had originally brought a gun to guard the fortified building, but seeing the situation was wrong, he wanted to blend into the crowd, pretend to be an inside man, and even shouted: "Follow me!"

The Martial Graduate, carrying the Body Double's head, went up and punched him, knocking him unconscious—screw you!

All the audience members felt this scene was both shocking and comical.

But yet... it was so realistic!

Up to this point, Huo Yuan and the others felt that the depth of this film had been thoroughly displayed, and the scope was already grand enough.

However, was it really grand enough?

Not enough, far from enough.

One could see everyone rushing into the bunker, emptying everything inside.

The real Huang Silang was also caught, being bullied as a Body Double.

Zhang Muzhi brought Huang Silang to the side to sit down, and the two began to chat.

Huang Silang took a puff of his cigarette and asked him, "What are your plans for the next step? Staying in Goose City, replacing me?"

"I am not poultry," Zhang Muzhi said, taking a puff of his cigarette.

It is said that the dragon-slaying hero eventually becomes an Evil dragon.

When the hero slaughters the giant dragon, looks at the treasures in the dragon's lair, and sits upon them, dragon scales slowly grow on their body.

But clearly, Zhang Muzhi did not have this intention.

When everyone is sharing the joy of victory, a great leader is often thinking about the direction of the future.

Huang Silang threw away his cigarette butt and said, "The money belongs to you, I accept that, why distribute it to them?"

"Master Huang, I have a question for you," Zhang Muzhi said, turning his head toward him.

"Speak."

"Do you think money is more important to me, or are you more important to me?" he asked.

"Me," Huang Silang replied without hesitation.

"Think again," Zhang Muzhi shook his head.

"It wouldn't be money, would it?" Huang Silang was puzzled, frowned slightly, and even sighed.

"Think again."

"It is still me who is important," Huang Silang said firmly.

"Neither you nor the money is important to me," Zhang Muzhi said.

Huang Silang turned his head in astonishment and met his gaze.

"Then who is important?"

The next moment, Zhang Muzhi said a line that made Huo Yuan and the others feel as if their brains had suddenly exploded; the scope of the entire film was maxed out at this moment.

——"Without you, that is very important to me."

Huang Silang is a symbol of a certain type of person; this world is full of Huang Silangs.

What he wants is a world without Huang Silangs.

"I came to Goose City to do three things: Fairness! Fairness! And still, goddamn Fairness!"

"Stand up, no kneeling allowed!"

For some reason, Huo Yuan felt his hands trembling.

He still thought of that person.

"Someone asked, who is the greatest person in Huaxia? The people said it was him, he said it was the people."

"The correct answer is the people."

"But if he did not appear, this answer would not exist."

In the film, Zhang Muzhi gave Huang Silang a gun; he knew he was a man of Decency.

The scene shifted; the Third Brother and the others were pushing bicycles, bringing Hua Jie along.

"Boss, we are preparing to go to Shanghai," the Third Brother said.

"Not coming back to the mountains with me?" Zhang Muzhi asked while walking.

"Still want to go back to the mountains? Your legs and feet aren't nimble anymore," the Third Brother said.

"How come... you didn't even say goodbye to me," Zhang Muzhi asked.

"Aren't we saying goodbye to you right now?"

"Aren't you going to be a Bandit with me and distribute money everywhere?" he asked Hua Jie again.

"Didn't we distribute all the money today? Is there anything more satisfying than today? Look, I've even changed into this outfit," Hua Jie said, having changed her clothes.

"So... you've changed your mind?" Zhang Muzhi asked.

"Need you even ask?" She glanced at the Third Brother and the others.

In the course of the conversation, the Third Brother also indicated he wanted to marry Hua Jie on behalf of the Second Brother.

Zhang Muzhi asked them, were they not happy being with him?

Everyone said they were happy, just not very relaxed.

Only the Seventh Brother did not answer directly.

Zhang Muzhi took out his guns, imitating Hua Jie's initial posture, with one gun pointed at his own head and one gun pointed at the person in front of him.

This time, everyone stood in front of Hua Jie.

But when Hua Jie pointed her gun at Zhang Muzhi like that, everyone just sat there.

"Young lady, you look better when you hold a gun like that."

"It's yours."

Everyone seemed to have discarded their original intentions.

They shouted goodbye, yet left him all alone.

A gunshot made him turn his head.

Huang Silang stood on high ground, the entire building exploded, and he was also submerged in the explosion.

The scene shifted, Zhang Muzhi sat on a white horse, looking up at the eagle soaring in the sky.

The movie begins, also using the eagle in the sky as the first scene.

It's just that the Zhang Mazi of that time is not the same as the Zhang Muzhi of now.

At this moment, he is weary, alone, and covered in dust.

He rides a horse along the railroad tracks.

It is as if everything has returned to the beginning, with a group of horses pulling a train, galloping forward.

The singing of "Farewell" rings out once again.

This time, sitting inside the train are Lao San, Hua Jie, and the others.

Inside the carriage, Lao San's voice rings out: "Shanghai is Pudong, and Pudong is Shanghai!"

The travel-worn Zhang Muzhi suddenly turns his head.

His physical body is exhausted, but his spirit is still like the white horse beneath him.

His gaze is incomparably complex.

The "Farewell" here is particularly fitting.

His former brothers have left him, and it is not as simple as just forgetting their original intentions.

He looks at the back of the train, where a figure seems to be standing; the Back Shadow, seen from afar, looks exactly like Huang Silang.

Huang Silang is already dead.

But the Huang Silangs are still here.

His former brothers have already turned into new Huang Silangs.

Zhang Muzhi looks at the train, his eyes filled with endless fighting spirit and anger.

The mountain pass is like iron, yet today we step over it from the beginning.

The music from the opening credits begins to play; he rides his tall horse, chases after the train, and launches his final charge.

The movie "Let the Bullets Fly" officially ends with this scene.

The lights come on, and the audience members leave one after another.

Huo Yuan, however, insists on sitting in the Corner.

"I want to see the credits at the end; I'm very curious what this background music is called."

"Besides, there are so many people, it's not safe for Cao Tong to be in a wheelchair," he adds as a reason.

Everyone sits with him until the name of the piece appears in the credits—"The Sun Also Rises."

"What a good name, what a good name!" Huo Yuan praises it endlessly.

He was very curious about the name of the piece, and when he finally saw it, he was not disappointed; instead, he felt that Luo Mo was a great talent, truly talented.

This name is very much to his liking.

Since everyone is idle anyway, they begin to discuss the ending of the movie.

Yao Yu and the others feel that the ending of this movie is tragic; it looks like a Comedy, but the underlying tone is bleak.

Solving the problem of one Goose City has made Zhang Muzhi become like this, and in this world, how many Goose Cities are there?

Huo Yuan, however, does not think so.

He agrees that the ending is tragic, but he does not agree that the underlying tone of this movie by Luo Mo is bleak.

Because he feels that as long as there are Huang Silangs in this world, there will be Zhang Muzhis!

"Look, in the final scene of the movie, the sun is already about to set."

"The weary and dust-covered Zhang Muzhi seems to have exhausted all his strength, yet he cannot stop the dusk, cannot stop the Reincarnation of history."

"But he still launches a charge and chases after it," Huo Yuan says.

Damn, the Back Shadow is so cool, holy crap!

"But new darkness will still come; it's like a dead Loop," Yao Yu says.

On Earth, many people are debating whether Huang Silang faked his death, that he didn't actually die and got on the train.

But these few literary masters seem to have their own tacit understanding; they all conclude that Huang Silang is already dead, and the Back Shadow of Huang Silang here is actually a metaphor, an image.

Lao San and the others are clearly the dragon-slaying heroes who eventually became the Evil.

But Zhang Muzhi did not.

Didn't he perform that action at the end, holding a gun toward the enemy with one hand and a gun toward himself with the other?

His original intention did not change.

"Did you forget what this piece is called?" Huo Yuan begins to argue.

Darkness will return.

However, people living in the darkness, please do not be afraid! Tomorrow, "The Sun Rises"!

"The sky doesn't brighten in an instant," Huo Yuan says.

"Let the bullets fly for a while longer!"

(PS: Seeking double monthly votes.)

(End of this chapter)