The War of Resistance Against Japan: Starting with a Calm View of Life and Death

P.S.: All characters and events in this book take place in parallel worlds. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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1938 2 Month 23 Day.

Ningwu County, Shanxi Province.

Dongzhai Town.

Zhou Jindong woke up leisurely, only to feel a wave of dizziness.

He looked around and found himself lying on a traditional earthen bed that he had only seen since childhood.

All around, the light was dim, with only a few hazy shadows filtering through the window paper, barely enough to make out the blackened beams overhead.

"You're awake? Thank God you're finally awake!" A voice from an elderly man with a heavy Shanxi accent rang in my ears.

Zhou Jindong turned his head with difficulty, looking in the direction from which the sound came.

A thin old man sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), wearing a dark blue cloth jacket with several patches.

He was probably in his early fifties, and his face was filled with relief.

The old man was holding a damp cloth in his hand, about to put it on his forehead.

"father?"

Zhou Jindong's mind was a complete blank. After seeing the person in front of him clearly, he blurted out the answer subconsciously.

This address seemed to be a reaction of bodily instinct before conscious thought.

Immediately afterwards, a memory that did not belong to him at all surged into Zhou Jindong's mind.

Steep cliffs, the panic of slipping and falling, and endless darkness...

"Hey! It's Dad, it's Dad!"

The old man's eyes reddened, his hands trembled slightly, and he carefully placed a wet wipe on Zhou Jindong's forehead.

"You stubborn mule! Even with the mountains blocked by heavy snow, you insisted on picking those 'Seven-Leaf Lotus' plants and fell down the mountain. You weren't seriously injured, but you were unconscious for three whole days and three nights! It scared me to death! I thought… I thought…"

The old man's voice choked, and he didn't finish his sentence.

Zhou Jindong closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the churning memories.

He needs to figure out his current situation as soon as possible.

This was clearly not the world he was familiar with.

His last memory was of drinking a large glass of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) at his workstation during lunch break, boasting to his colleagues about his "glorious deeds" in the reconnaissance company, bragging that if he had been born during the War of Resistance against Japan, he would have achieved this and that.

After finishing the drinking, the effects of the alcohol kicked in, so naturally, I needed to find a place to take a nap.

And then... that's it.

I didn't have any extraordinary luck, so why would I have such good fortune?

Is this a case of time travel?

This body now, this place...

Zhou Jindong licked his lips, feeling a dryness in his throat.

It's partly a physiological reaction and partly a psychological effect.

"water……"

The old man quickly got up, poured half a bowl of water from a rough porcelain bowl next to him, carefully lifted Zhou Jindong's head, and fed him the water.

The cool water slid down my throat, slightly relieving my anxiety.

Zhou Jindong took a deep breath, secretly moved his body, and felt that he seemed to be alright, but to avoid alarming the world, he still pretended to be very weak and asked, "Dad... my head... is a little confused from the fall... what time is it now? Why... can't I remember some things?"

Looking at his bewildered eyes, the old man sighed heavily, his voice filled with heartache and helplessness. "Alas! What a tragedy! This is Dongzhai Town, Zhou's Pharmacy! Your name is Zhou Jindong, my son, Zhou Yannian! The date? The 27th year of the Republic of China! It's the 24th day of the first month!"

He paused, a flash of anger in his eyes, and said in a low voice, "Yesterday... Ningwu County... fell! The Japanese devils occupied it! I heard that a lot of Japanese devils came, killed a lot of people... and set fire to half a street!"

This morning, a group of Japanese soldiers marched into our Dongzhai Town! They searched house to house, saying... saying they were looking for some kind of anti-Japanese element...

It's causing widespread panic and chaos! You've finally woken up, so please don't run around; things are in complete disarray outside!

The 27th year of the Republic of China? That's 1938!

Ningwu County has fallen! The Japanese devils! Sweep them away!

Northwest Shanxi!

Damn it, I really transmigrated! And I even transmigrated to the time when the Japanese were sweeping through northwestern Shanxi!

This must be the Japanese army's five-pronged attack on the Shanxi-Northwest base area in early 38, right?

Zhou Jindong forced himself to calm down and quickly analyzed the situation.

The town where they lived had been occupied, and there were large groups of Japanese troops outside.

We have an enemy, their numbers are unknown, and they're armed to the teeth!

In the original owner's memories, she seemed to be a glorious guerrilla fighter.

Okay, because I signed up late, I'm still a reserve team member...

Unfortunately, it seems the guerrillas went out on a combat mission a couple of days ago.

So now, it seems that his only helper is his middle-aged father in front of him?

As for weapons...

Unarmed?

No, wait!

Because the original owner's physical abilities far exceeded those of ordinary people, and he had also learned some martial arts from a passing Taoist priest, who apparently even gave him a... weapon.

Out of the corner of his eye, he subconsciously glanced at the corner of the wall next to the earthen bed.

There, right by the wall, stood a long weapon, quietly.

The wooden shaft was polished to a shine, and the spearhead was made of fine iron, with a three-sided conical shape and a length of about half a foot.

Below the spearhead, a cluster of dark red hemp tassels hung down.

Red-tasseled spear!

Zhou Jindong's heart began to pound violently for no apparent reason.

All the skills and combat awareness he had honed in the military in his previous life seemed to awaken instantly.

However, reason told him that he had to leave!

Even the strongest fist can't beat four hands.

There are hordes of little bastards outside. If I fight them all by myself, I'll just be asking for death.

The only way to survive is to run to the mountains and find the main force of the Eighth Route Army or guerrillas!

He struggled to sit up.

"Dad, we can't stay here any longer! Those Japanese devils are inhuman! We need to get some food and water, we have to hurry..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

"Bang--!"

The already somewhat dilapidated wooden door of the pharmacy made a loud, strained sound as it was kicked open from the outside!

The two doors suddenly sprang open, slammed against the wall, and bounced back with a screeching sound, causing dust to fall from the door frame.

A biting wind, carrying icy snowflakes, rushed in, causing several prescription papers on the counter to swirl and fly up.

Three Japanese soldiers, dressed in khaki military overcoats and wearing hats with hoods, carrying Type 38 rifles with bayonets fixed, blocked the entrance like three wolves that had broken into a sheepfold.

The bayonets gleamed with a bloodthirsty coldness in the reflection of the snow outside the door.

The leader was a short, stocky sergeant with a fleshy face and a small mustache under his nose. His fierce eyes swept across the dimly lit interior of the pharmacy.

He was accompanied by two equally arrogant soldiers.

The front pharmacy space and the back residence were actually separated only by half a curtain, so the two sides saw each other from the very beginning.

Zhou Yannian's expression changed, and with a seemingly slow but actually quick turn, he got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and stood in front of his son.

At the same time, he quickly glanced around out of the corner of his eye, his hand behind his back clenched into a fist, then slowly relaxed as he thought of his son behind him.

Zhou Jindong's heart sank at that moment.

What you fear most is what happens.

There's no way out!

He immediately abandoned his plan to get up, instead shrinking his body further into the kang (a heated brick bed) to make himself look as weak as possible. At the same time, his right hand silently slid to the inside of the kang edge, his fingertips less than a foot away from the red-tasseled spear shaft leaning against the corner of the wall.

His gaze was lowered, but all his senses were locked on the three targets at the doorway, calculating the distance, angle, and possible movement trajectories.

The enemy is strong and we are weak, so we must strike first.

"Baka!" the short, stocky sergeant cursed in broken Chinese, spitting as he shouted, "You anti-Japanese bastards! Where are you hiding? Hand them all over! Otherwise, you'll all die!"

He said that, but in reality he didn't even look at Zhou Jindong and his son, who looked like complete weaklings on the kang. His gaze was greedily fixed on the rows of drawers filled with medicinal herbs and several medicine cabinets that were half a person tall against the wall.

He strode in, his heavy leather military boots making a dull thud on the ground.

Two other Japanese soldiers followed in with sinister grins!