Chapter Four, Wrath of Heaven (Part Two).

The machine gunner immediately chambered a round and entered a state of readiness

Not long after Chu Lekang left, Takahashi Jiro finally regained consciousness. After clumsily getting up, he looked around and then turned to Quan Qianzhang.

Qian Qianzhang indeed does not understand; he is a geologist and can at most determine the texture of the Buddha statue, but he is completely ignorant of its age, carving techniques, and so on

Chu Lekang raised his hands and covered the little girl's ears, saying: "If you can't hear it, then you won't be afraid."

Qian Qianzhang questioned: "What does it mean to clean this place up? What are you all planning to do?"

Blue ... ... blue fire? Fu Beixue stared in astonishment at everything happening below.

Fu Beixue knelt there, finally withdrawing his gaze and looking at Quan Qianzhang beside him. Quan Qianzhang was kneeling in pain, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably, and a strange sound emerged from his throat. He wanted to scream, to denounce.

After the sergeant nodded in acknowledgment of the order, he immediately gestured to the machine gunner beside him

Takahashi Jiro asked: "What is the matter?"

Chu Lekang squatted down and asked, "What is your name?"

At this point, Quan Qianzhang glared fiercely at Takahashi Jiro: "You bunch of beasts will face divine retribution! This is just the beginning!"

Qian Qianzhang stepped forward to examine closely: "The material should be talc, which is an ordinary mountain stone. However, the surface of the Buddha statue has many strange tortoise patterns. Talc should not have such tortoise patterns; talc with tortoise patterns would have long since shattered and could not be this intact."

At this moment, the gunfire continued, and the little girl's complexion grew increasingly pale.

When Takahashi Jiro arrived in front of the car at the high ground by the village entrance, the car window remained tightly closed

Takahashi Jiro fell awkwardly. Just as he was about to struggle to pick up the handgun, his hand was stepped on by Chu Lekang. At the moment he was about to raise his eyes, he was directly kicked unconscious by Chu Lekang.

Takahashi Jiro was also puzzled, so he simply stepped forward and gently tapped on the car window

Takahashi Jiro drew his pistol, standing there, calming his breath. It was his first time doing such a thing, his first time firing at an unarmed ordinary citizen, and from behind no less

Japanese soldiers began to enter the village, searching for those who were injured but not dead, as well as villagers who were still fleeing. Under the orders of the sergeant, they ceased firing their guns and instead resorted to bayonetting the remaining living beings.

Takahashi Jiro hesitated for a moment and said: "It's almost done, the murderer reappeared, but unfortunately he escaped."

But what use are these?

Takahashi Jiro stood by the train window and bowed, speaking in a low voice: "Colonel Miyake."

Takahashi Jiro finally could not help but turn his head to look at Quan Qianzhang

"Hey—" Takahashi Jiro pressed down on the sergeant's shoulder, calming him down, "Don't forget, we have the Emperor's protection"

Otherwise, how could the mountain flood have washed out the three Buddha statues

Takahashi Jiro was about to pull the trigger, but Chu Lekang swiftly changed his stance and threw a rope that ensnared Takahashi Jiro's wrist. With a clever tug, he pulled him down to the ground.

Looking below, the fire spread along the mudslide towards the direction of Feisi Mountain, ultimately forming a fire river that flowed back up the mountain.

Qian Zhang said: "He has left"

Takahashi Jiro asked, "Teacher, how did these three Buddha statues come to be here? What is their origin?"

At this moment, a voice came from the side: "This is a Buddha statue from the Ming Dynasty"

At that moment, a Japanese soldier hurriedly ran in and was quite surprised to see Takahashi Jiro, who was covered in dust and dirt

The little girl completely did not understand what Chu Lekang was saying

Some Japanese soldiers who were unable to retreat were also caught in the blue flames, not even having the chance to scream before being instantly reduced to ashes

Although this was not his first time killing, it was the first time he killed someone he considered innocent and unarmed. In the moment he pulled the trigger, he hesitated, but that hesitation was quickly overshadowed by the thought of dedicating himself to the Emperor and the Greater Japanese Empire

Quan Qianzhang did not express any opinion, merely raising his eyes to observe the extraordinary scene before him, unable to comprehend how all of this had come to pass

At this moment, Quan Qianzhang laughed, wearing a smile that resembled madness, and said: "The gods have finally become enraged, finally enraged..."

Quan Qianzhang stared in astonishment at Zhengjia Village, engulfed in blue flames, his earlier anger transformed into shock

Takahashi Jiro picked up the pistol: "Teacher, this person should be the one who attacked the soldiers the night before last."

The massacre has finally come to an end. The sergeant commanded the soldiers to move the bodies into the village, piling them into small mounds, and then dousing them with gasoline in preparation for incineration to erase all traces.

The sergeant struck a match and threw it into the pile of corpses. At the moment the pile was ignited, an unexpected event occurred; as the flames surged, they unexpectedly ignited the surrounding mudslide. The flames rapidly spread across the mudslide, and in an instant, the entire Zhengjia Village was transformed into a sea of fire

The last shred of conscience within him controlled his guilt, preventing him from turning back

The car window finally opened, and the Japanese officer Miyake Kyoji, who had a stern expression, turned to look at Takahashi Jiro sitting inside the car

Naive, too naive, having passed the age of fifty, still so naive

Takahashi Jiro immediately brushed off the dust from his body, straightened his military uniform, and then left with the soldiers

Takahashi Jiro and the sergeant led the other soldiers in a retreat, finally stopping only after they had escaped to the high ground

Quan Qianzhang immediately explained: "Hero, do not misunderstand. If this Japanese person dies, the people of Zhengjia Village will all suffer!"

At this moment, a thought flashed through Quan Qianzhang's mind: Could it be that the legend of the Qinglong Temple buried in the mountains is true

There was no response from inside the car, and not far away, Quan Qianzhang and Fu Beixue were also puzzled, unsure of what kind of significant figure was seated inside the vehicle

Qian Qianzhang knelt on the high ground, staring blankly, finally understanding the meaning of Chu Lekang's words

"My surname is ... ..." the little girl said two words and then swallowed the rest of her words, "Who are you? I want to go home"

Takahashi Jiro immediately drew his gun and said: "Who are you?"

Chu Lekang raised his eyes to look at Quan Qianzhang and said, "Do not forget that you are a Chinese."

After the bus drove away, Takahashi Jiro turned to look down the hill, not bothering to glance at the puzzled Kwon Cheon-jang

Chu Lekang faced the gunpoint of Takahashi Jiro without flinching: "It is evident that I am a Chinese."

Amidst the gunfire, the villagers fleeing in all directions fell to the ground one after another, while Takahashi Jiro stood before the corpse of the village chief, looking down at it.

"Takahashi! Takahashi!" Qian Qianzhang, who was firmly pinned to the ground by the soldiers, finally understood what Takahashi Jiro intended to do. He shouted hoarsely, watching as Takahashi Jiro raised his gun and aimed at the village chief, who was walking at the back.

"Heaven still has eyes," Chu Lekang said, looking at the panicked little girl, "leaving a seed for Zhengjia Village."

Chu Lekang coldly said: "Do you think that if I do not kill him, the people of Zhengjia Village will not suffer?"

As he spoke, Chu Lekang was about to take action when Quan Qianzhang stepped forward and grabbed his wrist: "Do not kill him, I will find a way!"

Chu Lekang looked at Quan Qianzhang and ultimately let go of his hand

What I am doing is right. Takahashi Jiro keeps telling himself this.

At this moment, the Japanese soldiers below Gao Di had already driven hundreds of villagers from Zhengjia Village to the village entrance, surrounding them with guns. Quan Qianzhang realized that the situation was dire and immediately approached Takahashi Jiro, asking: "What are you planning to do?"

The little girl threw away the wildflowers in her hand and dashed out of the woods, but soon collided with the suddenly appearing Chu Lekang.

Chu Lekang turned and left, leaving behind a remark: "China has too many naive people like you, which is why it has repeatedly come close to the brink of ruin"

Quan Qianzhang and Takahashi Jiro were taken aback upon hearing the news, and they sought out the source, where they saw Chu Lekang standing not far away

Qian Qianzhang shook his head: "I do not know either, I only know that nature is miraculous, and anything can happen."

The sergeant stared wide-eyed and asked, "What is going on? What exactly are those?"

Takahashi Jiro ignored Quan Qianzhang, simply waving his hand to signal the soldiers to subdue Quan Qianzhang. He then strode down to the base of the high ground and whispered a few words to a sergeant.

Just as Chu Lekang was about to strike, Quan Qianzhang intervened, saying: "Stop!"

Qian Qianzhang was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Qian Qianzhang quickly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, may I ask for your esteemed name, hero?"

Returning home? The entire village is gone, how can we go back? The villagers looked at each other, but faced with the advancing Japanese soldiers armed with weapons, they could only turn and walk towards the village. Soon, their attention was drawn to the strange phenomena within the village, and they whispered in astonishment, believing that all of this was the work of the mountain god, while simultaneously cursing the invaders, hoping they would face divine retribution

The soldiers stand at attention: "Colonel Miyake has arrived!"

Not far away, Quan Qianzhang was watching Sanze Kyoji in the car. Sanze Kyoji also glanced at him and then asked: "Has the case of the harm to Nakamura Chuza been clarified?"

The gun fired

In the woods outside the village, the sound of gunfire caused a little girl, who was playing and picking flowers, to tremble all over. She turned around and looked towards the direction of Zhengjia Village, listening to the dense gunfire coming from there

The terrifying scene of blue flames instantly turning soldiers to ashes lingered in the sergeant's mind, and with this statement from Quan Qianzhang, his whole body began to tremble

Chu Lekang pointed at the solidified mudslide: "The Japanese will not come to Feisi Mountain for no reason, and with the current phenomenon before us, they will be even less likely to let any secrets leak out"

Miyake Kyouji gritted his teeth, merely uttering a "hm" before saying, "Clean this place up."

Takahashi Jiro angrily said: "What is it that you do?"

One is merely a pawn in the hands of the Japanese, and how can a pawn influence the actions of its master

Upon seeing the three Buddha statues half-buried in the mudslide, Quan Qianzhang felt a strange sensation, as if there were indeed deities in this world. The mudslide had neither submerged the three statues nor swept past the location of the statues, as if the statues themselves possessed a peculiar power that halted the advance of the mudslide.

Chu Lekang smiled and said, "It is anti-Japanese."

Takahashi Jiro stood there indifferently, not turning to glance at Quan Qianzhang and Fu Beixue

"There is no need to waste bullets," the sergeant said with a smile to Takahashi Jiro, his smile appearing so natural in the eyes of Takahashi Jiro

Indeed, I was too naive, naively believing that the Japanese valued me, and that I could thus influence the situation at hand.

At the same time, the sergeant approached with a beaming smile and said to the villagers: "Everyone, please return home for now"

Most remarkably, behind the three Buddha statues, there are three traces that have already dried up, as if at the moment of a mountain flood, a mysterious force gently pushed the statues down along the debris flow.

After speaking, Miyake Kyoji turned to the driver in front and said, "We are returning to Fengtian"

In less than half an hour, what were once hundreds of living beings turned into hundreds of corpses

The car started and quickly drove away