Bright Sword: Conquer the monk at the beginning and take down Zhou Weiguo

"You are... Shen Yue?" he murmured softly, like a ghostly whisper.

The woman chuckled lightly, but there was no warmth in her eyes: "You remember me? That's truly... rare."

Qin Cang's chest heaved with emotions, memories flooding back like a tide. He remembered her. How could he possibly forget?

As a boy, he was forced to leave the training camp and wandered into a mountain village. During that time, Shen Yue was the only girl who was willing to share her cornbread with him. She was still young then, but she was very brave and often said that she would become the most powerful hunter in the future and control the lives of all the mountain beasts.

He once smiled and told her, "I'll believe you have the ability once you can catch up with me."

But that winter, she suddenly disappeared. There was no further news of her. He thought she was dead.

And now, she was standing right in front of him.

Shen Yue picked up a bowl of porridge and placed it on a blue stone in front of the shack, saying indifferently, "Eat if you want. If you don't want to eat, then get out."

Qin Cang stood there, motionless for a long time.

He was on guard. Too many questions made him uneasy. How could Shen Yue be here? Why did she seem to know he would come? Why did she cook just enough porridge for the two of them? Each of these questions was like a poisonous thorn, piercing his heart.

The target of this operation was a pillbox occupied by the enemy. The enemy used it to block nearby passages, making it a major concern for the guerrillas. The intelligence was provided by Liu San.

Liu San was a local resident, or you could say a "half-enemy, half-along" person. During the day, he did odd jobs for the enemy, and at night he secretly delivered messages to the guerrillas. Logically, such a person shouldn't be trusted, but he had already delivered three crucial intelligence reports, each time with perfect accuracy. Even Qin Cang had to admit that although this man was timid, his insight and judgment were extraordinary.

But just before this operation, Liu San was suddenly late.

The team was waiting for him at the assembly point. Qin Cang leaned against an old locust tree, quietly smoking his pipe, saying nothing. The others had already begun to mutter curses, and some even suggested simply turning back to avoid taking this unnecessary risk. But Qin Cang didn't move. He kept his eyes fixed on the path, as if waiting for an old friend he was sure would come.

As the moonlight nearly sank behind the mountains, Liu Sancai arrived, panting heavily, his face covered in mud and sweat, and a corner of his clothes torn. He knelt on the ground, still catching his breath, and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket: "They temporarily redeployed troops and changed the password. I... I had to get this, otherwise you'd all be sending yourselves to your deaths..."

Qin Cang reached out and took the blueprints. A quick glance revealed that Liu San was not speaking empty words. He simply nodded, offering neither reprimand nor gratitude, and turned to look at the pillbox beneath the shadows: "Action."

The group disappeared silently into the night, like an undercurrent about to devour everything.

The battle went exceptionally smoothly, with almost no casualties. The enemy was completely unprepared, and even their last resistance was scattered and weak. By the time dawn broke, the pillbox had been completely destroyed, and the enemy had been wiped out. The troops returned to their temporary camp, each one as excited as a victorious hunter, dancing and dividing the spoils.

But Qin Cang did not celebrate. He stood outside, gazing at the distant hilltops where the smoke from the fires had not yet died down, and remained silent for a long time.

Liu San stood beside him, holding a bowl of hot porridge in his hands, but there was no victor's smile on his face. He seemed more silent than usual, and even had a hint of fear.

"What are you afraid of?" Qin Cang suddenly asked.

Liu San's hand trembled, spilling some porridge onto the back of his hand. He gritted his teeth in pain but dared not cry out. He swallowed hard and whispered, "I...I'm afraid they'll retaliate. I have an elderly mother and a lame sister at home..."

Qin Cang nodded, as if he had expected him to say that. After a moment of silence, he asked calmly, "Do you know what the consequences will be if they find out what you did this time?"

Liu San nodded, his eyes bloodshot: "I know... but I did it anyway."

Qin Cang didn't say anything like "You're very brave." He looked into the distance and said indifferently, "If you had been ten minutes later, I wouldn't have waited for you."

Liu San lowered his head: "I...I didn't mean to, I really just wanted to get the changed password."

"I believe you." Qin Cang suddenly turned his head and looked into Liu San's eyes. "But I also warn you, if the intelligence is false once, you will be our enemy next time."

Liu San swallowed hard and nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes..."

As everyone else dispersed that night, Liu San remained. He leaned against the wall, chain-smoking, his gaze blank, his face betraying neither regret nor relief. His hands trembled, as if even smoking couldn't suppress the fear within him.

He recalled the night he first joined the guerrillas. At that time, he didn't want to "be a hero"; he just wanted to provide food for his mother and sister. His family was poor; his father had died early, his mother suffered from rheumatism, and his sister had broken her leg, becoming a burden. He barely made ends meet by working as a handyman for the enemy, enduring humiliation and seeking only a peaceful life.

But one autumn night, on his way home, he saw a guerrilla fighter being chased by the enemy, panting heavily in a cave. The man had been shot and was bleeding profusely, yet he was still clutching a roll of documents tightly.

He could have pretended not to see it and continued on his way. But at that moment, he remembered something his father had once said: "Living isn't just about living; you also have to know why you live."

That night, he secretly rescued the guerrilla fighter and hid him near a small well behind his barn. A few days later, the guerrillas contacted him, gave him some money, and left a signal.

From that moment on, his fate was no longer in his own hands. He walked a tightrope between friend and foe, and the first thing he did every morning wasn't to open his eyes, but to check if he was surrounded. The neighbors' gazes began to become complicated; some said he was a traitor, some called him a "collaborator," but others quietly handed him rations and said, "Well done."

No one knew his predicament, nor dared they speak of it. If they did, his family would be ruined.

Although Qin Cang didn't ask, he knew that this middle-aged man, who always carried a sense of timidity, had reached a point where there was no turning back.

After that night, Liu San was a changed man. He became more cautious and ruthless. He knew better than anyone else where the enemy's transport vehicles stopped or which sentry posts had loopholes. He would even volunteer to find out officers' passwords and whereabouts.

Once, his identity was almost exposed. The enemy suspected someone was leaking information from within, so they handcuffed him for an entire night, hung him from a tree, and beat him until he was covered in bruises. When he returned, his face was so swollen that even his own mother couldn't recognize him, but he said, "Luckily, I made up a story, saying that my wife was kidnapped by the guerrillas, and that's how I found out their movements."