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

Soon they would be checking Mancang and his group. Mancang had one hand behind his back, ready to take out his gun, but Mancang stopped him. The two looked at each other and Mancang shook his head at him.

The guards watching over the old man's family were from Morigen Products, not Japanese soldiers, meaning the Japanese were most likely not after them. Mancang was gambling that the bodies of the guards hadn't been discovered yet!

"What are you doing?" A Japanese soldier came up to Manxiang a moment later and became nervous when he saw their attire. He pointed his gun at the two men and said menacingly.

Before the two could answer, four or five Japanese soldiers surrounded them, and the squad leader also came over and kept looking them up and down!

"Sir! We are rickshaw pullers, we run very fast! We are law-abiding citizens!" Manxiang quickly took out his rickshaw purchase documents from the dealership and handed them along with his good citizen certificate to the Japanese captain.

"Pulling carts? What are you doing here?" the squad leader asked, glancing at the identification in his hand.

"Send them off, send the old man back to his hometown. Once he's on the cart, we'll go back to pulling the cart!" Manxiang said timidly, pointing at the old man and his family.

"Arrest them..." The Japanese captain clearly didn't believe it. Even though the things in his hands were real, he couldn't let them go just because they were wearing the same clothes as that person! He didn't care at all whether they were being framed!

But before he could finish speaking, a Japanese soldier ran over and interrupted him.

"Report! That person ran into the toilet!" the Japanese soldier reported quickly.

"Baka! Chase after them!" Upon hearing that the man had already run into the train station, the squad leader abandoned the two people in front of him, dropped what he was holding, and quickly led his men to give chase.

In a flash, all the Japanese soldiers chased after them, and in the blink of an eye, there wasn't a single Japanese soldier left in the waiting room.

Manxiang wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead, a wave of fear washing over him. If the Japanese hadn't discovered the clues, they would have been in real trouble!

"Go to the restroom and change out of these clothes!" Mancang urged.

The Japanese were clearly looking for the person who gave them the film, and his rickshaw driver's clothes made him an innocent bystander; he'd better change quickly. The Japanese might come back, and being harassed by them was no good.

Manxiang nodded, took his bundle, went into the restroom, and came out dressed as a merchant again. Mancang changed his clothes as well. Soon the train pulled into the station, and people rushed towards the entrance. The two brothers helped the old man and his family board the train and find their seats. As the train slowly started moving, a huge weight was lifted from their hearts.

"I don't know when I'll be able to come back..." the old man sighed, looking out the window at the train station that was gradually disappearing into the distance.

"They'll be back! The Japanese devils won't be so arrogant for long. When they are, you'll be able to stroll around the park every day with a birdcage, singing operas and having your birds and grandchildren around you, just like an old immortal!" Once in the car, Mancang felt more relaxed and was in the mood to tease the old man.

"Hahaha, that was truly the life of a god! I hope the old man can still see it!..." the old man laughed. The sorrow of leaving home was somewhat lessened.

……

At noon that day, Inoue Masao, who was thousands of miles away, received a phone call from Fujimoto Nori.

"Inoue-kun, how have the master and apprentice been lately?"

"It's Fujimoto-kun! That's great! They have a small squad of soldiers stationed at Mount Mochizuki for protection, so you can rest assured, Fujimoto-kun."

"That's good! To be honest, all the people from Senyuan Resources who went to guard the Song family have perished, and those they were supposed to be guarding have also disappeared..."

"Huh?...Have they found out who did it? Where did those family members go?"

Inoue Masao didn't take it seriously. After all, businessmen aren't soldiers; they're not good at guarding or watching people.

"I'm ashamed to say! We haven't found any clues yet. The garrison in Tianjin is too busy suppressing the protests to spare any personnel to investigate this matter! So I implore Inoue-kun to keep a close eye on the master and apprentice; nothing can happen to them before the gold mine goes into production!"

"Of course, no problem. They're being watched by soldiers all the time, so they can't even think about making any small moves!"

"I think Inoue-kun should send more people to keep an eye on them. If someone can rescue his family, they might be able to rescue them as well. We have to be on guard before the gold mine goes into production!"

"Alright! I'll send another squad to keep watch right away!"

After hanging up the phone, Inoue Masao didn't take it too seriously. After all, the location was thousands of miles away, and rescuing someone wouldn't be easy, given the distance. However, just to be on the safe side, he still sent another ten-man team to Mount Mochizuki to keep watch, since the gold mine was of great significance to them.

At the Wangyue Mountain camp, Professor Song, Zaohua, and several people from Senyuan Resources were busy calculating various data. Since they moved into the camp over ten days ago, their daily work had been arduous; the amount of data needed to maximize the extraction of a gold mine was enormous!

Fujimoto Toku demanded that they work overtime to design a mining plan within half a month, and even assigned specialized personnel to assist them. In short, he was pressuring and supervising the two to produce results as quickly as possible; they had waited long enough for this gold mine!

During lunch, the two finally had time to talk alone.

"Teacher, have you noticed? There are suddenly twice as many Japanese soldiers guarding us today!" Zaohua said, glancing at the Japanese soldiers around her.

"The Japanese are in a hurry. What's the use of sending so many Japanese soldiers?" Professor Song analyzed.

"Do you think it might have been that swordsman who succeeded?" Zao Hua guessed.

"Hmm?... Hopefully! I hope they're not just alerting the enemy..." Professor Song couldn't help but worry. His whole family was under the control of the Japanese. If they really alerted the enemy, his family would be in danger!

"No way! When my father was young, he was always traveling around doing business and he always hired these swordsmen to escort him. These people are reliable! Wait a few more days, and maybe there will be good news!" Zao Hua said to comfort the professor, as if she were comforting herself.

She was actually quite worried. She hadn't heard from him since she'd seen him in the fitting room. She'd considered going to the tailor shop to inquire, but then she was told to stay here. So much time had passed; she was getting anxious!

"The old man is already over seventy years old and he's still being tormented by the Japanese devils... How unfilial!" Professor Song was filled with sorrow and helplessness!

They say scholars are useless, and after dedicating half my life to teaching and nurturing students, I've encountered such a distressing situation in my old age, causing my family to suffer as well. I feel deep remorse and guilt!

That's not all. If the Japanese actually manage to mine gold with my help, then I'll be a criminal! Even more despicable than a traitor! Sometimes I really want to die, to end it all and avoid this torment!