War Photographer's Notebook

The next morning when Zhou Guochang woke up, there was another pouring rain in the sky. Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang could only hide in the stilted building, guarding Tan Shou, who was still unconscious, in a hurry.

In contrast, the little monk Sehao, who was also covered in wounds, got up early to give lectures to the villagers in this village, and those villagers who were almost isolated from the world were also extraordinarily pious.

"We can't wait any longer"

Zhou Guochang listened to the chanting that almost overwhelmed the sound of the rain and said, "Brother Wei, we have to hurry up. I asked that kid through Little Master Sehao in the morning. The large army passed by four days ago. We just need to go fast." Hurry up, I will definitely follow."

"Leave Tan Shouzheng here?" Wei Ran frowned and asked.

"I remember you said, isn't there a regiment behind us?" Zhou Guochang asked back.

"Indeed, there should be a 288 regiment behind us."

After a little hesitation, Wei Ran continued, "But I'm not sure whether the 288th regiment will take the same route as us."

"Master Sehao seems to be very popular in this village"

Zhou Guochang looked at the festering wound on his foot, lowered his voice and continued, "And little master's injuries are worse than ours, so he is not fit to continue walking."

"Let him stay too?" Wei Ran frowned and asked.

"Um"

Zhou Guochang nodded, "Let little master Sehao stay to take care of Brother Shouzheng, let's go on. Let little master ask Grandpa Tusi later to see if he can send a few people to give us a ride, and if not, even sell us one Buffalo would do too."

Before Wei Ran could speak, Zhou Guochang continued, "Brother Shouzheng is recuperating here first, we will leave a box of quinine for him, if he can catch up with the 288 regiment when he wakes up, those medicines can also save people.

If he doesn't meet the 288th regiment, when the situation is stable in the future, let the little master find a way to take him back. If the quinine is sold, it will still be enough for him to live on. "

After a moment of silence, Wei Ran asked, "When do you plan to leave?"

"Noon?" Zhou Guochang asked tentatively, "One day late is one more day of danger, so I want to leave today. What do you think?"

"Then it's noon." Wei Ran glanced sideways at Tan Shouzheng who was in a coma, "I hope he can wake up before noon."

"It's fine if he doesn't wake up," Zhou Guochang said, lying on his back on the floor, "If he wakes up, he will definitely walk towards us."

"Aren't you afraid?" Wei Ran asked incoherently.

"Afraid, why not afraid"

Zhou Guochang grinned, "But what's the use of being afraid? I can't be like that chieftain, hiding in the mountains and old forests all my life and being a bastard."

"We will definitely win this war." Wei Ran gritted his teeth and made a promise.

"Hurry up and win"

Zhou Guochang looked at the ring on his finger, "I don't know if my sister and brother are still alive now"

"And that Yin Lisabeth?" Wei Ran deliberately changed the topic to a lighter one.

Zhou Guochang smiled awkwardly when he heard the words, and then nodded seriously, "There is also Yin Lisabeth."

While the two were chatting, the sound of chanting sutras in the distance gradually stopped. Near noon, the little monk Sehao, who was also covered in injuries, also brought Wei Ran to look at the familiar children, and each came to Wei Ran with their meals. Ran and Zhou Guochang. …

While Wei Ran was feeding fish soup to Tan Shouzheng who was in a coma, Zhou Guochang also informed the little monk Sehao of his plan.

After two or three minutes of silence, the little monk Sehao folded his hands and bowed slightly, then turned and walked out of the Diaojiaolou.

After Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang finished their meal, a fat and strong buffalo was brought to the open space downstairs.Soon, under the busy work of the villagers, a large bamboo basket was tied to each side of the buffalo's body.

Under the watchful eyes of Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang, the villagers gradually filled the two large bamboo baskets with rice in clay pots, jerky wrapped in banana leaves, taro with soil, and even A few live ducks with their wings tied up with ropes, a basket of eggs, dried bamboo shoots and a water bottle tied together, and a large bundle of dry firewood wrapped in banana leaves.

When the two large bamboo baskets were filled, the villagers carefully tied them up with the tarpaulins that Wei Ran and the others had brought, and then brought over an additional, not too big, basket.

There is nothing else in this pannier, they are all weapons and ammunition originally used by Wei Ran and others.

Looking at each other, Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang quietly went downstairs with their respective panniers on their backs, and each took a submachine gun and matching ammunition.Then he took the bamboo hat from the little monk Sehao and put it on his head.

"Go, go."

Zhou Guochang found his own wooden gun case and hung it obliquely on his shoulders, folded his hands together and bent slightly towards the little monk Sehao, and at the same time, Burmese language that Wei Ran could not understand came out of his mouth.

After the communication between Zhou Guochang and the little monk was over, Wei Ran also took pictures of the two who were saying goodbye, the forgotten small village, the chieftain, the little boy who had been taking care of him, and his little panda with his camera. Photos one by one.

Led by two villagers with bows and arrows on their backs, watched by the old man who once again put on the chieftain's official uniform and the villagers, Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang followed the buffalo and walked out of this difficult place step by step. It is a big stockade.

It wasn't until the village behind him was completely blocked by the bamboo forest, and a continuous paddy field appeared on the side of the road, that Wei Ran asked, "Did the little master promise to take care of Shouzheng?"

"accepted"

Zhou Guochang nodded, "Little Master Sehao promised to arrange for someone to go to the top of the mountain to watch. Once an expeditionary army passes by, he will send brother Shouzheng and the box of medicine. If he can't wait, after the war is over, he will take it with him." Brother Shouzheng went back to Mo's village and waited for us to go back in the temple."

"It's just the two of us"

Wei Ran smacked his lips, feeling more and more unhappy. In the end, only himself and Zhou Guochang were left during this long and arduous journey. So what happened in the real history?Isn't Zhou Guochang the only one left?

"yes."

Zhou Guochang clenched his fists, "But even if there are only two of us left, we will definitely find it."

"I can, I can!" Wei Ran murmured almost like self-hypnosis.

Under the leadership of the two villagers, they passed through a dense bamboo forest, turned over a not-so-high hill, and finally saw the swamp with floating corpses again.

Although there was no way for the two parties to communicate directly, the two villagers walked through a bush and pulled out the raft of Wei Ran and others from a well-hidden cave. …

Without their doing anything at all, the two villagers used leather ropes to link the cow and the life raft together, and even offered to help by reinforcing the waterproof canvas covering the raft, and using The banana leaves are camouflaged.

This is not over yet, when the life raft was pulled into the swamp by the buffalo, when Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang also got into the life raft, the two villagers even stuffed their respective shoulder baskets into it.

After receiving the whip from one of the villagers, Zhou Guochang knelt on the life raft and solemnly kowtowed, then raised the whip and flicked it lightly, driving the buffalo slowly to the depths of the swamp.

At the same time, a long-awaited intense white light appeared before Wei Ran's eyes.

"It's finally over." Wei Ran murmured with joy or regret.

He was glad that he finally didn't have to endure torture in this terrifying savage mountain, but he also regretted that he didn't follow Zhou Guochang all the way.

However, when the intense white light disappeared and his vision recovered, he found that he had returned to Mo's village again!
Although I don't know how long it has passed, all kinds of war equipment are still abandoned on the riverside next to the village.

It's just different from when I came here with Squad Leader Liang and others. Now I can see many villagers in this village. By the river, I can also see women who are busy washing clothes, and men who are busy in paddy fields. And the buffaloes, and the kids playing on those discarded war gear.

Looking down at himself, he was still wearing a British army uniform, the only difference was that it was much cleaner than before the white light, and all the festering wounds on his body had disappeared.

In addition, Wei Ran found that although he had no weapons on his body, he was carrying a bulging British army canvas bag and a British enamel water bottle on his waist. A shield-shaped armband of the c theater.

Looking around again, I was only accompanied by a donkey with thick lips. In the two bamboo baskets fixed on the donkey, there were a few knives of yellow paper, some candles, and even two clay pots sealed with mud. earthen jar.

After a little hesitation, Wei Ran gently tugged on the rein, and led the quiet donkey along the gravel road, step by step towards the temple outside the village.

From a long distance, he saw a monk wearing a dark red robe, with his back to him, sitting on a stone at the entrance of the temple, quietly looking after the cauldron with twenty seals on the bonfire. .The aroma of camellia wafting from the pot can be clearly smelled even from a long distance away.

Before he approached, another monk wearing a monk's robe came out from the door of the temple, but this monk had only one arm, and a wooden gun case was slung across his waist!
"Shouzheng! Tan Shouzheng!" Wei Ran recognized the other party at a glance, and immediately ran over while waving.

"Wei Ran! You are finally here!"

The one-armed monk also recognized Wei Ran at a glance, ran over without thinking, and hugged him together.

"Where's your arm? What happened to your arm?" Wei Ran looked at the other's missing left arm and asked, "Why are you wearing a monk's robe?"

"It's a long story." Tan Shouzheng looked back on tiptoe, "Where's Guochang? Why hasn't he come yet?"

"I don't know." Wei Ran shook his head blankly.

"Go, go, come in with me."

Tan Shouzheng enthusiastically helped lead the donkey to the gate of the temple, and Wei Ran also recognized that the person who was tending the bonfire was precisely the little monk Sehao!