War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1628 Return to Langcaozigou

Deep in the snowy forest, a thick layer of snow had already formed on the tent. Compared to the bone-chilling cold outside the tent, the inside of the tent was exceptionally warm because of the red-hot cast iron stove.

Wei Ran, who had taken off his boots and lay down on the sled covered with thick bear skin, was not sleepy. Instead, he played with the food-cutting knife that Hu Bazhi had just found in his boot, while continuing to wonder about the purpose of the Oroqen girl's visit.

From time to time, he would raise his ski poles and poke the tent cloth above his head to prevent the thick snow from collapsing the tent.

Not only that, he would go out from time to time to check on the mule to make sure it wasn't frozen to death, or to add some firewood to the cast iron stove.

As for the coal in the airdrop box, he was reluctant to burn it. Given his character, who knows when he would need that little bit of coal to save his life next.

Although he was a bit busy this night and couldn't sleep well, Wei Ran was particularly content to be able to eat well and sleep warmly.

When it was dawn, Wei Ran, who had just had a night's sleep, saw that the wind and snow outside had stopped. He immediately packed up his things and transferred all the remaining charcoal to the brazier.

He waited until he shouted at the mule to start running again before he opened the lunch box which still contained two pieces of meat bones, half a bowl of soup and half a piece of bread from last night. He then slowly ate his free breakfast while sitting by the brazier on the sled.

Before he could fill his stomach, he noticed that there was a new wheel track and two rows of reindeer hoof prints on the mountain road.

  It should be the girl from last night.

Wei Ran muttered to himself, picked up the torn pancake with chopsticks and pressed it to the bottom of the lunch box. He waited until the pancake was filled with the thick soup with oil droplets floating on it, then he picked it up again and put it into his mouth.

Less than one kilometer away, the Oroqen girl who had robbed Wei Ran last night was also eating the same breakfast. The only difference was that she did not have delicate knives and chopsticks, but only two makeshift birch branches as chopsticks.

Of course, compared to Wei Ran who was strolling leisurely, this young girl was more cautious. Even when she was eating while walking, her beautiful black eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings, but she seldom looked at the food in her mouth.

He walked like this from morning to noon, and from noon to evening, until the sky was getting dark again and the wind and snow began to fall. Wei Ran, who had been following the sled marks, became more and more familiar with the surrounding environment.

  Just when he was wondering whether he should go directly to the abandoned mine in Langcaozigou to look for clues, a sudden gunshot was heard in the cold wind blowing towards him!

Fighting again?

Wei Ran was startled. After a brief hesitation, he immediately shouted at the mule to go into the woods and stop!

Wei Ran put on his skis as quickly as possible and rushed towards the direction where the sound of gunfire came from, holding his ski poles.

Before I saw anyone, a small sled pulled by two reindeer came running towards me.

What was worrying was that although the sled was loaded with things, there was no one on it. Not only that, after the gunshot in front, there was no more movement.

  I won't shoot that girl to death.

Wei Ran, thinking something was wrong, took a few steps forward, circled around to meet the oncoming sled, and while grabbing the sled, he turned the car, put away his skis and poles, turned over and jumped on it.

When he pulled the reins to stop the two reindeer, he immediately confirmed through the sack of hay and the three lunch boxes on the sled that they belonged to the girl from last night.

After looking around, he called the reindeer to run again and headed straight for the nearby forest, then tied the reindeer to a birch tree as quickly as possible. He stepped back on his skis and rushed towards the direction where the gunshots had just been heard.

After chasing for about five minutes, he also saw in the wind and snow that there were two people on skis in front of him who were trying to use a wooden bar to lift a skinny figure who was tied up like a pig. He could even hear the two people swearing at each other in excitement.

Instead of rushing forward, Wei Ran carefully observed the situation around him, then skied into the woods, using the cover of the trees to close the distance between the two sides.

Finding a suitable opportunity, Wei Ran shouted out the jargon he had learned, "Ancestor Bodhidharma is mighty!"

This shout scared the two men who were carrying the girl. Almost subconsciously, they stopped, let go of the poles in their hands, pulled out the Spanish waist drums from their waists, and looked warily at Wei Ran who was slowly coming out of the woods on skis.

Imitating Hu Bazhi's behavior, he clasped his fists and raised them over his left shoulder and weighed them three times. Then, Wei Ran took off the dog-skin hat on his head and threw it at his feet. Then he took off the box gun and threw it on the hat at his feet. He lifted up his dog-skin coat with both hands and turned around.

His proactive goodwill immediately made the two men relax their guard. One of them even put the box gun back on his belt, raised his fist over his left shoulder and weighed it, and said something in a friendly way, "I'm out in the world, who would come to visit me?"

Which sentence was used?

Wei Ran muttered something as his mind raced, and he also said the cliché he had heard from Hu Bazhi, "There is only one flower hanging in the sky in the northwest, and all the green forests in the world are one family."

"are friends?"

"are friends!"

Wei Ran showed a simple and honest expression, and continued, "People are not close to each other, but the gun handles are close to each other; the gun handles are not close to each other, but the mountain tops are close to each other!"

"Men, let's go and meet them head-on!" said the bandit who still had a gun in his other hand. Not only did he have a gun in his hand, but he also had a horse hoop wrapped in rags and animal skins on his shoulder.

"Burning the pot dry" Wei Ran replied with a smile.

"It's Brother Hu! TOEFL TOEFL! I wonder which red flower pavilion you are worshipping at?" The man who collected the gun asked with a fist.

"I heard that Sun Dazhang is a coder, and I want to go and worship Sun Dazhang, but I can't make up any more stories!"

Wei Ran, who was speaking halfway, was already close enough to the man who had put away his gun. He rushed forward and grabbed the man's arm, which was still clenched into a fist, twisting and pulling it, and the man had already hidden behind him!

"boom!"

Before the other bandit could react, Wei Ran's left hand already held a box gun, which stretched out from the waist of the bandit in front of him, and he pulled the trigger at the bandit who was very close to him!

"Crack!"

Without even waiting for the bullet shell to fall to the ground, Wei Ran, who had put the gun back into the metal book, had already grabbed the bandit's head in front of him and twisted it hard, breaking his spine skillfully.

He held the body in front of him and looked around. Seeing that there were no other bandits around, he pushed the body in his arms and looked at the girl who was tied up particularly tightly.

As he got closer, he also noticed that the girl not only had a torn sack on her head, but her mouth also seemed to be blocked.

Without rushing to untie her, Wei Ran searched the two bodies one by one.

The weapons used by these two bandits are still the Spanish waist drums that were commonly used by Cao's minions when he was still alive.

However, the man whose neck I had just broken had a three-gun box in his arms.

Although their weapons are okay, these two guys don't even have a Nine Dragon Belt on them, and it is obvious that they are just minions.

After collecting the weapons from the two corpses and taking off an extra pair of skis, Wei Ran dug up the snow on the spot, buried the two corpses, and used the skis to flatten and compact the snow to prevent it from being blown out by the cold wind.

Only after he had dealt with the aftermath did he walk over to the tied-up girl, first tearing off the sack on her head, and then pulling out the towel stuffed in her mouth.

"It's you?" the young girl asked in surprise, and then subconsciously looked around.

"Don't look at them. They've already been buried. Also, I'm here to save you, not to kidnap you."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already pulled out the knife that Hu Bazhi had given him from his boot and cut the rope on the man's body. "You can use a fast horse, right?"

The girl first glanced at the knife in Wei Ran's hand, then nodded and said, "Give me back my gun!"

"I'll give it to you later. Come with me first." Wei Ran said as he pulled the other person up, then took a step back.

The fierce girl glared at Wei Ran and quickly tied the skis to her boots. "Put down the gun."

"Come with me"

Wei Ran ignored the conversation and just greeted the other party before rushing into the woods on his skis.

After looking around and subconsciously pinching the roe deer horn hat on her head, the girl muttered something and caught up with Wei Ran on her skis.

Leading the other party all the way to the reindeer sled, Wei Ran said before the other party could speak, "Drive your sled and follow me."

"gun"

"I've told you I'll give it to you later," Wei Ran said, and rushed out again on his skis.

Hearing this, the girl threw off her skis, sat on the reindeer sled, shook the reins hard, and shouted at the two reindeer to run and catch up with Wei Ran who was moving alone on skis.

By the way, she also secretly pulled out a pistol with bullets from the bundle of bedding tied to the sled.

Wei Ran naturally didn't know about this, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care. He just slowly walked on his skis to find his mule sled. After taking off his skis and sitting on the sled, he immediately shouted at the mule to change direction and run.

The snow was not heavy enough at this time, and the girl's origins were a mystery. He naturally couldn't take her straight to the abandoned mine. Moreover, gunshots had just been heard here. Even if he wanted to ask, he had to run far away first.

Under his leadership, the two sleds ran one after the other for more than an hour, until it was completely dark and the snow was getting heavier. Wei Ran then shouted at the mules to stop in a leeward valley.

"Are you not running anymore?" asked the Oroqen girl who had been chasing after him unhappily.

"Come and warm up"

Wei Ran greeted him in a friendly tone and added a few more pieces of firewood into the brazier.

"Gun."

"Here you go, here you go. You look so stingy. I don't want your gun."

As Wei Ran spoke, he picked up the horse four-ring that was casually placed on the sled, and handed it over with the handguard.

"There's also a box gun and three boxes."

As the Oroqen girl spoke, she got off her reindeer sleigh, walked forward a few steps with one hand behind her back, and snatched the rifle from Wei Ran's hand.

"this?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out the box gun he had seized from the bandits and handed it to the other party.

After taking the gun, the girl first closed the large and small fuse of the box gun, then put it in her arms, and then slung the rifle over her shoulder.

"Come up and warm up"

Wei Ran invited him again, "If you haven't finished the lunch box you took away last night, bring it here to heat it up. If you have finished, I still have baked potatoes and sweet potatoes."

After hesitating for a moment again, the girl backed back to her sled, picked up a lunch box, walked over, and sat on the sack on the sled with Wei Ran across a brazier.

"From the Oroqen ethnic group?" Wei Ran picked up a piece of hot sweet potato and handed it to the other party while speaking.

Glancing at Wei Ran warily, the girl took the roasted sweet potato, took a bite, and said bluntly, "Let me see your knife."

Hearing this, Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, then he happily took off his bearskin mittens and pulled out the butcher knife from his boot.

Taking advantage of the light from the brazier, the girl glanced at Wei Ran's hands again, muttered something in disappointment that he couldn't understand, and then asked in Chinese, "Where did you get this knife?"

"A friend gave it to me." Wei Ran took the food knife that the other party returned and put it back into his boot. He asked casually, "Are you looking for Hu Bazhi?"

Sure enough, after he said this, he saw surprise and vigilance in the other person's eyes as he wished.

"You just told the bandits that your last name was Hu?"

"Cheating them"

"What's your last name?" the girl sat down again and asked cautiously.

"Don't try. I'm not Tian Xiaohu."

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he also picked up a piece of roasted sweet potato and took a bite. "It's your turn now. You have to reveal something so that I can trust you and we can continue the conversation."

After a long silence, the girl said, "Sister Hongxia, Song Hongxia, she has seen me, she knows me."

"Do you know where to find them?" Wei Ran continued to ask. "Langcaozigou," the girl replied briefly, "It's my turn to ask. I don't trust you either."

"Who asked you to come?"

Wei Ran remained unmoved and continued to ask, "Shiyi or..."

"Do you still know Shopkeeper Yang?"

"Yang Yang what? Shopkeeper Yang?" Wei Ran looked at the other person in astonishment, "That girl has become the shopkeeper?"

"who are you?"

The girl sitting opposite the brazier suddenly raised her hand. This time, hidden in her sleeve was a pistol with a flower-mouthed handle.

"Do you want to go to that abandoned mine?" Wei Ran proved his identity with a question.

There was another long silence. The girl finally lowered her hand and nodded. Then she said in a slightly desperate tone, "I don't know the way."

"Shiyi sent you here?" Wei Ran asked again.

This time, the girl shook her head, and her big eyes with frosty eyelashes turned a little red.

"Who else could it be?"

Wei Ran thought for a moment, "It can't be Zhao Jinyu, right? Or Zhao Jinge? Zhao Jinshan?"

"When can you take me to find them?" The girl did not respond to Wei Ran's guess. "I have something urgent to do. It's very urgent."

“Let the animals rest first.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he stood up, opened a sack, poured out the fodder inside, and distributed it to the mule and the two reindeer. At the same time, he asked casually, "My name is Wei Ran, what's your name?"

"Unakan," the girl replied, "I don't have a Chinese name."

"What happened just now?"

Wei Ran asked a new question while filling the lunch box lid with ice and snow.

“I haven’t slept for days.”

Unakan replied, "I fell asleep on the sled while running. When I woke up, the two bandits were already holding the reindeer and pointing guns at me."

“Let’s eat something first.”

Wei Ran said as he handed the lunch box that had been heated by the stove to the other party. "Take a rest after you're full. When the snow covers our sled marks, I'll take you to the mine."

Una Kan looked at Wei Ran warily, but did not take the lunch box. Instead, she opened the lunch box she had snatched yesterday, took out a small knife from her boots and stirred the soup that had not yet completely dissolved, then tore open the half-eaten pancake and threw it in.

Seeing this, Wei Ran smiled indifferently, sat back on the sled, picked up a big bone and took a bite.

"Can you really find that mine?" Unakan asked worriedly.

"I think so. I haven't been here for a few years."

Wei Ran answered ambiguously, but at the same time he was secretly wondering about something he had been thinking about since last night.

According to the letter Yang Shiyi sent to Zhao Jinyu, didn't Hu Bazhi and his men join the Anti-Japanese Alliance under Wang Yachen's command? Why are they still active here?

Since this Oroqen girl named Unakan was not sent by Yang Shiyi or Zhao Jinyu's brothers, who could have sent her? It couldn't be the legendary commander Zhao, right? No, no, no, it shouldn't be possible.

Seeing Wei Ran looking up at him, Una Kan didn't care and continued eating with big mouthfuls.

In the light of the brazier, he could see that the girl's cheeks and nose had been frozen red, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

  I guess she has been traveling for a long time? Then where did she come from?

With increasing confusion, the two of them filled their stomachs in almost the same amount of time. Unakan couldn't wait to ask, "When do we leave?"

Looking up at the large flakes of snow still falling overhead, Wei Ran picked up the lid of the lunch box and took a sip of hot water. "Let's go now. Follow me. Don't rush to shoot if you see bandits."

"If you dare to lie"

"Just shoot me to death," Wei Ran replied, "You can just walk behind me and shoot me at any time."

Hearing this, Unakan was stunned for a moment, but then she couldn't help laughing. She left the warm brazier and walked onto her reindeer sled.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Wei Ran shouted at the mule and started running without waiting for the other party to get ready.

The two sleds sped along for more than half an hour, and under the cover of wind and snow, they successfully arrived at the Sancha Gold Rush where Cao Dazhanggui was killed that year.

Without stopping at all, Wei Ran continued to shout at the mule to go into the woods, and took advantage of the cover of night to sneak into Langcaozigou, and found the abandoned mine buried by snow.

However, what disappointed him was that when he dug through the thick snow, he found that the iron gate facing the wooden board seemed to have not been opened for a long time. In particular, the thick chain was not only rusty, but even the iron lock had been frozen to the ice on the rock.

"Are you in the right place?" Unakan asked suspiciously.

“Nothing wrong”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already brought the brazier over and placed it next to the iron lock and chain, patiently roasting them.

It was not until the iron lock melted the ice due to the heat and was finally dried by the charcoal fire and became covered with rust that Wei Ran moved the brazier aside. Then he took out the lighter from the metal book, unscrewed the oil tank, pulled out the cotton wool inside, and squeezed out a few drops of kerosene into the keyhole.

After waiting for a while, he fumbled around on the sled and removed a small piece of thin wire and poked it into the keyhole. Not long after, with a slight click, the lock was successfully opened.

After opening the door with some difficulty, Wei Ran took the kerosene lamp handed to him, lit it, and was the first to walk into the dark mine.

I returned to the "living room" of the mine with familiarity. I hadn't been here for "a few years" and now it was empty, with only dust on the ground and dry, hard horse and mule manure that had not been cleaned up.

Instead of going further inside, Wei Ran asked Unakan to go back and said, "Bring the animals and sleds in first, and we'll talk about the rest later."

After a slight hesitation, Unakan nodded and helped Wei Ran to get all the food on the animals and sleds in. Then she let Wei Ran help her to get her two reindeer and sleds in as well.

Finally, he closed the iron gate and locked it with an iron chain. Wei Ran took Unakan along the original mine tunnel and went inside. He once again returned to the "inner room" where they had stored the spoils and taken care of the wounded.

Except for the mud stove built with mud and stones, everything else here has been moved out. And judging by the dust accumulated on the grass left behind, it's likely they've been gone for a long time.

"Are you sure you've found the right place?" Una Kan looked at Wei Ran suspiciously, and the barrel of a box gun popped out from her sleeve again.

“No mistake.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already entered a mine tunnel carrying an oil lamp. He wanted to see if the things that Young Master Cao had hidden had been taken away.

Following his memory, he came to the small mine cave, but found that except for the opium paste in the tin can, all the other items, including submachine guns and silver dollars, were gone.

Not only that, he also noticed that diagonally opposite this mine, there was another mine sealed with mud and stones. There was a small incense burner at the entrance of this sealed mine.

Bringing the kerosene lamp closer, he could clearly see that in the middle of the wall, on a thermos-sized stone, there were a few small words written in red paint: "Joint Tomb of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces Fighters Sun Sisters."

"Do you know the Sun sisters?" Wei Ran asked without turning his head.

"Yes, Sister Hongxia told me about it." Unakan replied, "Sister Hongxia said they are dead."

"yes"

Wei Ran pointed to the sealed mine and said, "This is the tomb of the sisters. They are buried here."

"I can't read," Unakan said after taking a look.

"Who taught you Chinese?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"My father"

"Did your father send you here?"

"No"

Unakan paused, then abruptly said, "It's the uncle with the beard."

"Big Beard Cui?"

Wei Ran raised his eyebrows and moved the oil lamp in his hand to the side of Unakan's face. Then he saw the girl nodded.

"he"

"he died"

Una Kan said guiltily, "I'm here to report the news for him. I want to see Hu Bazhi, Tian Xiaohu, or Sister Hongxia. Any of them will do. Do you know where they are?"

"I"

Wei Ran shook his head, "I don't know, sorry, I thought they were here."

"That's what the bearded uncle said, too."

Unakan said blankly, "He couldn't have lied to me."

"How did he die?" Wei Ran asked tentatively, "Big Beard Cui, how did he die?"

"The standing-eared dog that recruited the nuclear man chased us in the mountains for five days"

Unakan hugged his knees, sat down against the dusty rock wall, and curled up his body little by little. "My father was shot to death by them. He was also shot in the stomach. Before he died, he asked me to come to Langcaozigou to report the news."

"What news?"

"I can't tell you"

Unakan, who was almost crying just now, suddenly became alert, and the gun in her hand was pointed at Wei Ran again, "I only trust these three and Shopkeeper Yang."

"I will find a way to help you find the three of them," Wei Ran sighed, "I promise."

"You need to hurry up"

Una Kan gritted his teeth and continued, "If it's too late, someone will die, and Shopkeeper Yang will also be in danger."

"I'll do it as soon as possible," Wei Ran said worriedly.

Happy National Day, and may our motherland prosper.