I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

The Japanese guards at the mine were comparable to the prisons depicted in later anti-Japanese war dramas! They had everything: guard towers, barbed wire, patrol teams, and searchlights. On the two tall guard towers alone, there was a light-duty gun facing the entire mining area. If there was any disturbance, the gun would fire, and not even a mouse could escape!

During the day, twenty-odd Japanese soldiers, carrying guns and whips, would roam around the mine to supervise everyone's work. At night, once the barbed wire gate was pulled up, the entire laborers' work area was enclosed, surrounded by dense barbed wire. Like chickens, they were penned up with no chance of escape!

The laborers were a motley crew, including captured Nationalist soldiers, bandits, conscripts like the two men, and puppet troops who had made mistakes. They spared no one, from teenagers to men in their fifties. Almost every day, someone was worked to death. The Japanese would then have two laborers carry them away and dump them deep in the mountains, leaving not even a trace!

"Time to work! Time to work! Hurry up! Lazy people will die!" When the time came, two Japanese soldiers lifted the gate and urged the laborers to get to work, waving their whips. Anyone who was even a little slow would get a lash!

"Let's go!" Third Master was also terrified of being beaten. He left behind half a bowl of thin porridge and pulled Zhao Mancang outside. He had already been whipped once in the morning and dared not be whipped again. They had finally managed to stop the bleeding, and if it got infected, the Japanese wouldn't waste their medicine treating them.

Zhao Mancang also had half a bowl of thin porridge left. He took a big gulp and followed Third Master outside, swallowing the porridge as he walked, his longing for the delicious food in the courtyard growing stronger!

I spent the entire afternoon hauling ore out of the mine. My shoulders were red and swollen from the weight, and my back felt like it was broken, so I couldn't straighten up. But I didn't dare stop for a moment and gritted my teeth to keep going!

"Hmm?..." Just as he was filling the basket with ore, the shovel in his hand couldn't withstand the test and a crescent-shaped piece of iron fell off. Zhao Mancang took advantage of the moment he bent down to pick it up and put it in his pocket without making a sound.

The third uncle next to him glanced at him but didn't say a word. He sped up the shovel of ore and stole glances at the Japanese soldiers not far away. Seeing that the Japanese soldiers didn't notice, he pretended not to see them and continued working.

Finally, night fell. The group put down their tools, dragged their tired bodies into the thatched huts, and fell asleep immediately. Soon, the sounds of snoring filled the rooms.

To prevent riots, tools and ironware were not allowed in the living area. If found, the punishment ranged from a beating with a leather whip to a bayonet, which would end the life of the person found. It can be said that the Japanese soldiers' management of tools was almost harsh, which made the piece of iron in Zhao Mancang's arms all the more precious!

I woke up in the middle of the night, my stomach growling with hunger. Lying there, seeing everyone else sound asleep, an idea popped into my head. I pulled the piece of iron from my tattered cotton-padded coat and examined it closely. One end was rounded, the other sharp, and the broken edge had sharp, jagged edges like a saw. I tore a piece of cloth from the old quilt, grabbed some cotton to wrap around the rounded end, and then wrapped the cloth around it again—and just like that, an irregularly shaped little dagger was born!

Don't let its simple appearance fool you; this is the first personal item he acquired after transmigrating, and it might come in very handy at a crucial moment!

He held the dagger and played with it for a while, feeling that it was quite good. A bold idea flashed into his mind. After thinking about it for a long time, he felt it was feasible, so he got up, put on his cotton-padded coat, and went outside.

Leaving the thatched hut and turning the corner towards the toilet, the intense beam of the searchlight from the watchtower swirled back and forth across the mining area. A beam of light shone down, casting a long, elongated shadow of his hunched figure. Zhao Mancang was extremely nervous; his steps faltered, and he nearly tripped over himself!

After all, he had only seen it on TV before, but this was his own experience. One wrong move and he could be torn to shreds by a machine gun! Fortunately, the light followed him to the toilet door and then shone elsewhere, which calmed his pounding heart a bit!

He stood in the toilet for a while before calming down, silently timing himself as he unzipped his pants to relieve himself. About fifteen minutes later, the light passed near the toilet again, and he made up his mind!

He quickly darted out of the toilet, took a few steps to the barbed wire fence, and crawled down on his knees. He found a spot, took out his homemade dagger, and started sawing rapidly with the serrated side.

Cutting a pea-thick wire with rudimentary tools is no easy task. After sawing a third of the way through one spot, I wrapped the ends of the wire with the sleeve of my cotton-padded jacket and bent them repeatedly. After a while, the wire broke through the notch, and I couldn't help but feel a surge of joy!

Calculating the time, it felt like only half had passed. I quickly split the wire in two, grabbed a hook at each end of the cut, and then hung the two hooks together after I climbed over. No one would notice that the wire had been broken.

I was overjoyed to have successfully crossed the first barbed wire fence. Every beginning is difficult; taking the first step brought hope. Next came the second and third. By the time I had successfully cut all three fences, it was almost time. Before the spotlight shone on me, I quickly retraced my steps, hung the hook, and returned to the toilet entrance. Sure enough, as soon as I stood still, the spotlight shone on that area again.

Looking up at the sky, I realized I was running out of time. People had been active in the courtyard since around 4 PM, and even if I managed to sneak in, I'd be easily spotted. Besides, it was impossible to sneak in under the spotlight. Pulling up my pants, I followed the light back to the thatched hut. The whole process went incredibly smoothly!

Only after he crawled into the thatched hut did the searchlight leave him and shine elsewhere. I'm sure the Japanese soldiers above would curse him viciously: "Taking so long to go to the toilet, you're such a lazy donkey trying to work the millstone!"

He lay down and hid the dagger in his cotton-padded coat before trying to sleep, but the excitement in his heart made it impossible for him to fall asleep. He tossed and turned for a while before finally closing his eyes.

Sure enough, it felt like I'd barely fallen asleep when the shouts of the Japanese soldiers rang out outside. They found a broken gong somewhere and started banging it to urge everyone to get up and work. Despite their reluctance, everyone had no choice but to quickly leave the yard, grab their tools, and get to work. A slight delay and they'd be in for a beating!

That day, the young man worked unusually diligently, secretly observing the enemy's route as he worked, preparing for his nightly raid on the enemy's territory. This drew glares from his partner, Third Master. "Has this kid taken the wrong medicine? Why is he working so hard for the Japanese? He's never like this normally!"

"Yoshi! You're a great citizen!" A Japanese soldier praised the young man, who was working with such enthusiasm. He then casually swung his whip at a laborer in a Nationalist army uniform, drawing several venomous glares in return.

"What's wrong with you, kid? Are you trying to kill yourself?" Finally, when it was time to eat, Third Master had a chance to ask the question that had been bothering him.