Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"How many Japanese soldiers were there, and how old were they?"

"Two, just two people. One is in his fifties, almost sixty, that's Tanaka. The other is younger, only in his early forties, his name is Matsuki Gakuno."

"Only two?"

Zhou Rui's voice remained unchanged, but the pressure he put on the short man was only increasing.

"There were originally three people. Two years ago, the oldest one died after being injured and unable to receive treatment."

Zhou Rui stroked his chin and analyzed carefully.

There were three people; one died, and two remained.

The older one was clearly an elite soldier from the Japanese army, while the younger one was probably one of the last batch of child soldiers, who were probably still minors when they were sent over.

Tell me about the two of you.

"W-what is it?" the short man asked tremblingly.

Zhou Rui gently kicked the short guy, but even this light touch made the short guy's heart jump into his throat.

"What's your name? Where are you from? What's your relationship with the Japanese? Tell us everything."

"His nickname is Black Wolf, I always call him Brother Wolf. I don't know his real name, he never lets me mention it."

"Oh, you're all in cahoots. You don't even know his name?"

This was the first time Gu Dayong had interrupted Zhou Rui's interrogation.

Perhaps it was because Gu Dayong's voice was relatively normal that it broke the pressure in the short man's heart. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and began to talk non-stop.

"I didn't know Wolf Brother from the beginning. We were from two different groups at first, and we met in these mountains."

"We had some conflicts and even a fight with Wolf Brother and his gang at first. Several of us died, but neither side could really defeat the other."

"After that, my older brother led us and Wolf Brother and the others to stay here, and we kept to ourselves."

"They were all dead, how come only the two of you are left?"

The cold voice came again, and the short man's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"No, no, we have five people left, Wolf and the other three..."

After speaking, the short man looked up timidly at Zhou Rui.

This man in his thirties is now like a mouse under a cat's claws, his life and death in Zhou Rui's hands.

Zhou Rui didn't reply, but simply raised his chin slightly, signaling him to continue.

"We didn't stay in the mountains for long before they found us in the fields and wanted to make a deal with us. They needed us to buy supplies for them, and in return, they would give us some furs, gold, silver, and even weapons as payment."

"It was fine at first. The job was easy, just a few days of travel, and the pay was pretty good."

"But, but, after six months, the boss became somewhat dissatisfied..."

"Hehe... Is your eldest son being greedy?" Gu Dayong's eyes crinkled with laughter as he teased him playfully.

Unexpectedly, this clearly derogatory tone resonated with the short man, who really didn't want to be shrouded in Zhou Rui's gloomy atmosphere.

"Yes, yes, my eldest son is greedy. He didn't want to earn a little bit of running errands, so he thought of killing Tanaka and taking all their money and things."

"The boss found Black Wolf and wanted to cooperate with them to take down Tanaka, splitting the profits 30/70."

"Why did you end up with Black Wolf? There are five of you, while only Tanaka has shown up. Why would you share your spoils with an outsider?"

"The boss discovered from the food he bought that Tanaka wasn't alone. Besides, he wanted Black Wolf and the others to hold the line. So, so..."

"Cannon fodder?" Gu Dayong sneered.

"Yes, yes, they're cannon fodder." The short man quickly nodded in agreement.

"Your boss is really something else; he's already scheming before the cooperation has even started."

The short man lowered his head, not daring to respond.

"Go on, what happened next?"

"Let's go find Tanaka's hideout together. Although we've never been there before, we followed the trail based on the locations of past transactions."

"I never expected that Tanaka never trusted us. They had already laid an ambush outside their stronghold."

"The old man, along with Matsuki Gakuno and another man, set up two machine guns on the mountain and opened fire on us. Our men fell like wheat being harvested."

The short man's face showed fear, as if a scene from many years ago was resurfacing in his mind.

"Especially Tanaka-kun, he was a devil. After we fell to the ground, he held a gun to our wounded brothers and shot them one by one. Their brains exploded like watermelons right before my eyes..."

After that, the short man could no longer speak, as if he had been rescued from drowning and was breathing heavily.

Looking at the short man's change, Zhou Rui finally understood why this man in his thirties was so respectful to Tanaka, the Japanese soldier, when he spoke, addressing him as "Tanaka-kun" repeatedly.

He was so frightened that he developed a psychological trauma and didn't dare to resist at all when talking about this person to others.

Snapped!

Zhou Rui slapped the short man again without realizing it.

We can't let him wallow in fear, otherwise we won't be able to get anything out of him later.

The pain on his face snapped the little man out of his daze. There was still a killing god standing in front of him, and the black wolf tied to his back was still missing, its fate unknown.

"continue."

"Continue. Continue what?"

"Was it around that time that only the two of you were left alive? Where is Tanaka's hideout?"

"Yes, there were nine of us from the two groups, and only Black Wolf and I were left alive. Black Wolf begged for mercy, saying he was willing to take me with him to continue trading with Tanaka, and that's how we survived."

Zhou Rui nodded; that made sense.

Tanaka needs people to continue helping them purchase daily necessities. Black Wolf and Little Man, having experienced the massacre, no longer dare to resist, making them the best trading partners.

"What's your name? Didn't you and Black Wolf ever think about leaving the mountains with the money?" Gu Dayong asked gently, purely out of curiosity and gossip.

"My name is Naughty Dog, and Black Wolf won't let me leave. Besides, besides, I've done some things outside..."

"You've committed a crime. What crime could you have committed that would make you stay in these dangerous mountains, disregarding the danger?"

The sullen dog lowered his head and remained silent; it seemed he was unwilling to say more about his own affairs.

Gu Dayong glanced at Zhou Rui, but Zhou Rui had no other choice but to continue asking.

"You can at least tell me where Tanaka and his gang's hideout is, right?"

"We've never been to the field's lair. But the mountain where they ambushed us has two peaks, like camel humps, which Black Wolf and I call Camel Mountain."

How far is it?

"It's about ten miles from here. We used to live further in, but after that incident, Tanaka wouldn't allow us to live too close to them."

After a long while, Zhou Rui and Gu Dayong emerged from the dugout.

Zhou Rui handed a cigarette to Gu Dayong. Two wisps of smoke rose, the glow of the cigarette butt flickering.

"Uncle Dayong, please don't make me put on a cold face next time. My face is frozen."

Zhou Rui rubbed his face with one hand and complained to Zhou Dayong. The interrogation lasted for more than an hour, and Zhou Rui remained expressionless, clearly exhausted.

"Isn't this great? We've gotten so much information out of them."

"Uncle Dayong, what's the next step?"

"Can you still hold on?"

"It's alright." Zhou Rui nodded.

"Then let's keep sneaking over there and take care of everything tonight."

Gu Dayong threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out.