My god, run!!!

After leaving Lijia Village, Zhou Zheng and his two companions hurried all the way to the county town. They finally arrived at the county town just before dark, and the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Tired and hungry, they found a roadside stall to eat a few bowls of noodles, and then found a small hotel to wash up and sleep.

The three of them got up before dawn the next day, washed, packed their things and went out. They bought some buns and steamed buns on the roadside and started walking out of the county town, hurrying on their way.

Just as Zhou Zheng and his three companions left, the Red Army and Communist Party members, who had been searching Lijia Village all night, returned to the county seat. Battalion Commander Li Laoer was furious, having spent a long time searching without seeing a single Red Army or Communist Party member. Upon returning to the county seat, he ordered a thorough search of every intersection and every hotel. Anyone suspected of anything was to be apprehended and interrogated.

For a while, the whole county was in chaos.

Zhou Zheng and his two companions left the county town and walked for dozens of miles in one breath, only stopping when they reached the border of another county town.

We rested under a large tree not far from the main road, then took out some steamed buns, steamed bread, roast chicken, and water, rested for a while, and filled our stomachs. As the saying goes, "Man is iron, and food is steel; only when you are full can you continue your journey."

After eating and drinking, Zhou Zheng looked at Hua Rong, who seemed to be hesitant to speak, and said to him with a smile: "You seem to be hesitant to speak. Just say what you want to say! Don't be so hesitant."

"Then I said it?"

"It's not like I'm not telling you to say it, just say it directly."

Yipao also looked at Hua Rong, wondering what his second brother was going to say. He was very curious.

"We left Lijia Village and rushed all the way to the county town, where we had dinner and stayed at a small hotel. This morning, we got up before daybreak and continued on our journey so quickly, even out of the county town. You didn't relax until you reached the borders of another county. I don't understand why."

"Even if we travel slowly, there is no need to rush!" Hua Rong asked in confusion.

"Is that all you want to ask?"

"Yes, these are it!"

"I thought it was some big deal! So that's what you want to ask!"

"The White Dogs' appearance in Lijia Village was no accident. They were probably hunting down Red Army members and Communists everywhere. It was just a coincidence that we ran into the White Dogs and Li San and the others."

"Many Kuomintang thugs were simply robbing ordinary people and bullying men and women under the pretext of arresting Red Army members and Communists. We just happened to run into this incident."

"We killed more than a dozen white dogs, including Li San. Do you think there are no white dogs around Lijia Village? There are definitely many more."

"They said they were moving around in groups. We were just lucky to have only encountered a dozen or so of them."

"When they hear the gunshots, the white dogs around Lijia Village will definitely come running over to see what's going on! If we don't leave in time, run..."

"Once we are surrounded by these white dogs, what do you think will happen to us?"

"The reason I told you two to collect the White Dogs' guns, bullets, and grenades is to make them think that these were all done by the Red Army and the Communist Party."

"These white dogs can only be attributed to the Red Army Communists, because they were killed during a search for the Red Army Communists, and their guns, bullets, grenades, etc. were all gone. These could only have been taken by the Red Army Communists."

"The White Dogs would then dig deep into the village to hunt down the Red Army and Communists, and they would even seal off the village to prevent them from escaping."

"This gave us time to escape in time,"

"Lijia Village is so big that it would take until midnight to complete the search. Even if they all rushed back to the county town, it would take until dawn. We left the county town before dawn and rushed to the borders of other counties in one go. That way we would be safe."

"If we move slowly, what if a Kuomintang leader orders a strict inspection of all suspicious people entering and leaving the county intersections, and then searches all suspicious people in the hotels?"

"In order to escape responsibility for the deaths of so many soldiers, these Kuomintang bastards used a trick to call a horse a zebra. They arrested us suspicious individuals and mistook us for Red Army Communists, and then shot us. Do you think we were wronged?"

The Kuomintang's white dogs are definitely capable of doing such things, and they do it frequently. Battalion Commander Li Laoer did what Zhou Zheng said, looking for a scapegoat, and after some arrangements, the matter was left unresolved.

"I've told you two that safety is always your top priority. Never do anything that's not beneficial to you, and never put yourself in danger."

"If I were a Kuomintang official, I would immediately search the entire county, arrest all suspects, interrogate them one by one, find a few scapegoats and claim they were Red Army Communists, then execute them all. I would also make some arrangements, and the matter would be over."

"This is the KMT, they're ripping off the people, layer upon layer of fat. Not only do they enrich themselves, but they also cause hardship to the people, without caring about their lives."

"You two have seen everything I've seen and heard since I was a child. With a political party and government like this, is there still hope for our country?"

"It's... hopeless..."

"So we have to protect ourselves, and our own safety always comes first."

“Safety first…”

“Yes…yes…yes…yes…yes…”

"Brother, you are absolutely right." Hua Rong said.

"Brother, you are right. If we hadn't met you, we would have died long ago. The Kuomintang is really destroying the Kuomintang." Yipao also echoed.

"In short, when you're out in the world, you must be vigilant and alert. If you see something is not going your way, retreat immediately. Of the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best."

"When you're alive, you have everything. When you're dead, you have nothing. And what's more, you died unjustly."

Hua Rong and Yi Pao nodded in agreement when they heard what their elder brother Zhou Zheng said. These words were deeply etched in their minds. They calmed down and thought carefully about what would happen to them if what their elder brother Zhou Zheng said happened to them. They shuddered, terrified at the thought.

Oh my god... Oh my god...

In the years that followed, at many critical moments, the words and opinions Zhou Zheng said saved Hua Rong and Yi Pao's lives many times. So Hua Rong and Yi Pao believed in what their elder brother Zhou Zheng said without a doubt, but that's all for later.