Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 43: Life-saving stone (2)
The king of thieves said: "The teacher passed on to you today, not ordinary stones, but twelve life-saving stones. From now on, you have to hide this small cloth bag close to your body, and you can't leave it for a moment, even if you are eating. , sleeping, and taking a bath can’t be thrown away. Remember, the stone is in the person, and the stone is in the person’s life.”

Uncle and grandpa nodded in response, but he was quite disapproving in his heart.

After the uncle and grandfather left the teacher, he began to follow the master of the thief king to roam the rivers and lakes.But today's uncle and grandpa are no longer the gangsters who used to steal passers-by on the street. He obeyed his master's teachings and aspired to be a grand thief who robs the rich and helps the poor.For the proceeds of theft, two cents are taken by oneself, and eight cents are given to the poor.Over time, the common people gave him the nickname "Skillful Bandit".

In the winter of the 32nd year of the Republic of China, devil soldiers entered the city.There was a bloody storm in the city for a while, and everyone was in danger.In February of the following year, a regiment of the Eighth Route Army failed to attack the city from land and water, causing heavy casualties.

In the evening of this day, the uncle and the master thief king were warming up at home when suddenly a man came in from the half-covered door. He was dressed in old cotton-padded clothes and a felt hat. He looked like a farmer, but his waist was straight. , with piercing eyes, after entering the room, he clasped his hands at the Thief King and said, "May I ask if you are old, Mr. Man Tian Man?"

The thief king stood up from the fire, looked him up and down, and asked hesitantly: "You are..." The man readily reported his family name: "My surname is Zhao, and my name is Zhao Zhennan." The thief king was surprised and asked: "But Zhao Zhennan, the commander of the Eighth Route Army outside the city?" Zhao Zhennan said, "I'm right here."

The king of thieves was in awe, quickly closed the door, turned around and let him sit down by the fire, and said: "The little old man has admired the reputation of Commander Zhao for a long time. I don't know why Commander Zhao Han Ye came here, why?" Zhao Zhennan Said: "I came to the city in disguise, and I want to ask the old man, master and apprentice, to help the Eighth Route Army." The thief king said "Oh", and said: "The Eighth Route Army has something to do, send someone to send a message, the little old man dare not From. Commander Zhao is charged with the task of resisting Japan, so why bother to venture into the city and take risks in person?" Zhao Zhennan said: "If you want to invite seniors to go out, the only way to show your sincerity is to come in person."

The thief king said: "Commander Zhao has something to say, please tell me."

Zhao Zhennan said: "Recently, our Eighth Route Army fought several major battles with the Japanese army. Our army suffered heavy casualties. Many wounded are in urgent need of treatment. There is a medicine called penicillin, which is very effective in controlling wound infection. It is a medicine we urgently need. But now the Japanese army Water and land transportation in the surrounding area was blocked, and Western medicine from other places could not be brought in at all. Now there is only one place where this kind of medicine can be obtained, and that is the warehouse of the wartime hospital set up by the Japanese army at the girls' middle school in the city. However, the Japanese military hospital is heavily guarded, and ordinary people cannot approach it at all. "

The uncle and grandpa had already understood, and asked, "You mean to ask Master and I to steal penicillin, don't you?"

Zhao Zhennan nodded and said, "This is exactly what Zhao wants to ask you two to do. As long as there is penicillin, many seriously wounded people in our Eighth Route Army can be saved."

The thief king murmured, "To share the worries of the country is an incumbent duty. We, the master and the apprentice, will accept this task."

Zhao Zhennan held his hand tightly and thanked him repeatedly.He also told them that the medicine was a powder in a small glass bottle, usually stored in a cardboard box.Because the medicine is produced by an American pharmaceutical factory, the English name Penicillin is written on the cardboard box.After the medicine is in hand, the Eighth Route Army will send people here to respond.When leaving, Commander Zhao straightened his body and saluted the master and apprentice with a standard military salute.

The girls' middle school is located at the foot of Xiulin Mountain in the outskirts of the city. The campus that used to be clean and full of books has now become a field hospital for devil soldiers.Surrounded by a wall of more than three meters high, after the Japanese soldiers occupied the place, they installed barbed wire on the wall, and built machine gun posts at the four corners.It is almost impossible for ordinary people to get close to the school.But this will not trouble the master and apprentice of the king of thieves.The uncle and his master thief king found a chimney in the school cafeteria, and the mouth of the chimney opened on the fence.Although the opening of the chimney is smaller than the tea tray, it is enough for the master and apprentice of the thief king to display his skills.

When the moon is dark and the wind is high, when thieves come and go.It was late at night, the moon was dark and the wind was cold, and there were no pedestrians. Uncle and his master thief king put on night clothes and sneaked under the wall of the girls' middle school. , Then sneaked into the warehouse of the Japanese military hospital and broke in through the door.It was pitch black in the warehouse, but fortunately, the master and the apprentice had developed a pair of night vision eyes, and they could see things in the dark like daytime.There were many medicines piled up in the warehouse. The two searched for a long time, and finally found four boxes of penicillin. When they opened the carton boxes, they found that each box contained many small glass bottles, and the bottles contained exactly penicillin powder.

The two took out the long cloth strips they carried with them, tied two boxes of penicillin on their backs, and went back to the cafeteria. They wanted to go back the same way as the chimney, but they didn't expect that the cardboard box containing the medicine was bigger than the mouth of the chimney. There are many, and it is impossible to get out no matter what is carried on the back.The thief king frowned, and said decisively: "Let's climb over the wall and get out!"

The two of them leaned against the wall to find a blind spot where the Japanese searchlights could not reach, put their flying claws on the top of the wall, climbed up the wall, slipped through the barbed wire, and then quietly jumped onto the haystack outside.Coincidentally, beside the haystack outside, there was a ghost soldier on patrol squatting in the dark with diarrhea. Suddenly, he saw two men in black jumping down from the fence. He didn't have time to lift his pants, so he fired the gun and screamed strangely in Japanese.The Japanese army inside the wall was alarmed, and the alarm was raised immediately, and the gunshots rang out like fried beans. The Japanese army, led by several three-wheeled motorcycles, chased them out.

Seeing that his whereabouts were exposed, the king of thieves hurriedly took off the medicines on his body, tied them to his uncle's back, and said: "Boy, I will lead the pursuers along this straight road, you escape from the fork in front, we will meet at home. Remember the life-saving trick that my teacher taught you, at a critical moment, that bag of life-saving stones may save your life."

The uncle touched his chest subconsciously, unable to speak.The thief king saw the clue, and asked, "What's the matter, have you lost your life-saving stone?" The uncle scratched the back of his head and said, "I thought it was just a bag of ordinary stones, and it was too cumbersome to carry around, so I threw it away a long time ago." The king of thieves glanced at him, sighed, and said, "Stinky boy, if you don't listen to the teacher's advice, you will suffer big losses." Then he took out his own life-saving stone from his personal pocket and handed it to him, "Good life Take it, don't lose it again, it can save your life at a critical moment!"

Although the uncle didn't know what the life-saving stone was for, but seeing the solemn expression on the master's face, he also knew that this object must be of great importance, so he asked the master, "You gave me the life-saving stone, what should you do?" He seemed to take out two grenades from his body and shook them at him, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, just now the teacher touched two good things from a dozing sentry, which are enough to protect himself." The man had already reached the fork in the road, and the thief king pushed his uncle and grandpa onto a small path, while speeding up and galloping forward.

When my uncle looked back, he saw that the Japanese army was attracted by the master, and only a small group of Japanese soldiers were left chasing after him.As soon as he breathed a sigh of relief, he heard the king of thieves roar from the other side of the road: "Little devil, grandpa will die with you!" Then there were two loud explosions of grenades and the screams of devil soldiers.Uncle Grandpa's feet were weak, and he fell into the reeds by the side of the road. He called out "Master" in his heart, and his eyes were red.

Before my uncle had time to get up from the reeds, the Japanese army chased after him, stabbing indiscriminately in the reeds with shining bayonets.Seeing that he was about to be stabbed in front of him, his uncle and grandpa looked back, and there was the icy Xiulin River behind him. In a panic, he reached a desperate situation with no way to escape.He secretly sighed: "Heaven will kill me!" He squatted on the ground, closing his eyes and waiting to die.

Suddenly, his knee touched something in front of his chest, and he touched it with his hand. It was the life-saving stone that Master gave him.His heart moved, the master said that this is a life-saving stone, could it really save his life?He took out the life-saving stone, and using the technique taught by his master, he bowed from left to right, and threw the stone far away.The ghost soldier who had already searched for him was stunned for a moment, holding a long gun, shouting loudly, and looking for the direction where the sound of the stone falling.

Uncle Grandpa's heart was pounding, and he threw four more stones, which landed a little farther than the first four stones. All the ghost soldiers heard the sound and turned around and rushed towards him.Uncle and grandpa threw the remaining four stones further away, beeping, beeping, just like the sound of someone walking quickly on tiptoe.The ghost soldiers yelled and chased all the way, following the sound of the stones, they went farther and farther.

Only then did my uncle understand Master's hard work and the true meaning of the "life-saving stone", and tears flowed down his face.

When the ghost soldiers were far away, he sneaked in the reeds for a while, and finally escaped the Japanese army's search and escaped.

When I got home, the Eighth Route Army commissioner was already waiting at the door.His uncle solemnly handed him four boxes of penicillin.The special commissioner said: "The Japanese army lost so much penicillin, it is estimated that a large-scale search will be launched in the city soon." He invited him to go out of the city together and join the Eighth Route Army.

Uncle and grandpa declined politely.He said, "I'm here to wait for Master to return."

(End of this chapter)