The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

At dawn the next day, a thick fog blanketed the mountains. Lei Tao, sleeping on the windowsill of a dilapidated temple, was suddenly awakened by the sound of footsteps. He sensed several people approaching the temple, and he couldn't tell if they were friend or foe. Lei Tao quickly retrieved two Scorpion submachine guns from his Bagua gyroscope, inspected the weapons, loaded the magazines, and then crouched down near the skylight, ensuring he wouldn't be seen. Then, the small stone he'd set up as a security cord, connected to a thin wire, began to shake. Lei Tao knew they were getting closer.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps broke the long-standing silence in the temple. Two figures dressed in Taoist attire slowly entered the temple, one older and the other younger.

They carried bulging packages on their backs and held tightly in their hands a wooden stick that looked quite old, but they held it firmly.

The old Taoist priest surveyed the once-familiar, now deserted temple and sighed, "Alas! What a sin! I haven't been back for so long, and yet this place has become like this. The world is ravaged by war, and the people are suffering. The fighting has reached this point. If I were still stronger, even at my advanced age, I would definitely shoulder my spear and personally fight to liberate those abominable demons!" He shook his head heavily, his face filled with regret and helplessness. The young Taoist priest beside him listened quietly to his master's lament, his eyes filled with grief and indignation, and a sense of uncertainty about the future.

The young Taoist priest helplessly responded: "Oh, Master, please stop talking. You have mentioned this at least twenty times along the way."

The young Taoist priest continued, "We encountered guerrillas yesterday. I wanted to join them in fighting the Japanese, but they said I was still young and you were old and needed someone to take care of you."

The old Taoist priest retorted: "Go away, who asked you to take care of me? You can't even carry a gun yourself."

The young Taoist priest quickly retorted: "Master, what are you saying? How can I not be able to lift the gun? I am very strong!"

The old Taoist priest snorted: "With your small body, you'd fall down at the slightest gust of wind, and yet you claim to be strong."

Just when the two Taoists were enjoying bickering with each other, a chaotic and heavy sound of footsteps came from outside the dilapidated temple, accompanied by bursts of shouting and cursing.

"We can't let our brave and fearless guerrillas sacrifice in vain! They are all great people, we can't swallow this!" One of the rough voices roared angrily.

Then, another sharp voice followed suit and shouted, "That's right, we must avenge our fallen brothers and make the enemy pay with blood!"

However, before these two excited people could continue to vent their anger, another majestic voice exploded like thunder: "All of you stop right there! Look at what you have done? Acting so impulsively, there is no organization or discipline at all! Now that the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, and the situation is still unclear, if you rush forward like this, aren't you courting death? Before Brother Lei returns, no one is allowed to mention revenge again! All of you go back and strengthen your training, especially your lurking skills, otherwise when Brother Lei comes back, you will see how he will deal with you!"

When the master and disciple in the dilapidated temple heard the noise, they immediately quieted down.

Lei Tao was about to climb down from the skylight, but his calves were numb from sleeping there all night and lying there for so long. When he sat up to rub his calves, he was spotted by an old Taoist priest. The old Taoist priest said, "Wulian Tianzun, layman, what are you doing on the skylight in my dilapidated temple? It's dangerous to climb so high up. Come down."

Lei Tao showed an awkward smile on his face, and hurriedly explained with a laugh: "Master, you don't know, I really had nowhere to go last night, so I found this dilapidated temple to stay overnight. However, I was really afraid that the ferocious beasts passing by would suddenly appear and swallow me up. After all, the world is not peaceful now, and there are scenes of war and chaos everywhere. If I lie on the ground and sleep honestly, if I unfortunately encounter those vicious bandits, I'm afraid my life will be in danger! So, with no choice, I can only choose to hide on the beam to sleep. I hope that Master, you will be magnanimous and don't blame me..."

At this moment, a young Taoist suddenly jumped out from the crowd. He pointed at Lei Tao with wide eyes and shouted, "Humph! Your words are too outrageous! Are you afraid of wild beasts eating people? So you climb up this high beam to sleep or hide? In my opinion, you are secretive and sneaky. You don't look like a serious person at all! Tell me, what is your intention in coming here? Do you want to harm our Taoist temple?"

Lei Tao laughed helplessly: "Little Taoist priest, I really didn't lie to you. I'm scared alone in this desolate wilderness."

The young Taoist priest put his hands on his hips and said, "Scared? I think you have something to hide!"

The old Taoist priest coughed lightly and said, "Disciple, please don't be rude. But, sir, where do you come from?"

Lei Tao sighed and said, "Master, to be honest, I was looking for the guerrillas and happened to pass by here."

Lei Tao jumped down from the skylight on the beam and said, "Okay, I have something important to do now, so I'll bother you later. Let me say one more thing. It's wartime now, and this is an occupied area. You should come back and stay here. Remember, when you meet strangers, don't easily reveal your thoughts of resisting the Japanese, otherwise you will have a bad fate..." After that, he hurried away.

The master and disciple looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

Lei Tao caught up with the guerrillas and shouted, "Wait, I, Lei Tao, am back!"

After the leading captain saw clearly and confirmed that it was Lei Tao, he excitedly stepped forward and said, "Lei Tao, we finally waited for you to come back. We have been looking forward to it for a long time!"

Lei Tao asked anxiously, "How's the situation in the team?"

The leading captain sighed and said with a face full of grief and anger, "On the third day after you arrived in Shanghai, a Japanese squadron raided our area. Due to lack of guns and ammunition, we could only fight and retreat. On the fourth day, the Japanese mopping-up force withdrew, but who would have thought that they would leave behind sharpshooters to deal with us? As a result, half of our team members died at his hands..."

Hearing this, everyone was stunned at first, then their faces showed excitement and joy. Some team members clenched their fists and said with gritted teeth: "That bastard is finally dead, avenging our fallen brothers!" Others, with red eyes, muttered to themselves: "Brothers, your revenge is partially avenged..." Another team member patted Lei Tao on the shoulder and shouted: "Brother Lei, well done! Now the Japanese know how powerful we are!"

Lei Tao then asked: "Captain, how many people are left in the team now?"

The captain looked gloomy. After a moment's silence, he said, "With you back, there are less than twenty people left."

Lei Tao paused, then continued, "I brought back a batch of weapons and equipment this time. You guys wait in this temple now. I'll go prepare the equipment and distribute guns and ammunition."

After saying that, Lei Tao turned and walked down the mountain to find a temporary place to store his equipment...