Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

Zhou Tianyang's gaze sharpened slightly.

He didn't stop walking, but his right hand had already silently reached down to his waist.

The soldiers behind him also slowed down almost simultaneously, and some quietly dispersed.

The figures also stopped.

The two sides were about 100 meters apart.

They looked at each other across the winding dirt road.

Zhou Tianyang squinted at it for a while, then his eyebrows twitched slightly.

The people opposite were wearing gray cloth short jackets, some with straw hats on their heads, and some with cloth bags slung over their shoulders.

They had guns, some were old Hanyang rifles, and some were even just muskets.

They were neither Japanese soldiers nor puppet troops.

They are militia.

Or it could be the local people's self-defense force.

Zhou Tianyang raised his right hand and gestured behind him to calm down.

The soldiers behind him immediately straightened their scattered formation and resumed their marching ranks.

The people on the other side had obviously figured out their situation as well.

The leader was an old man in his fifties, wearing a coarse cloth jacket with several patches, and holding an old-fashioned rifle in his hand.

He squinted at Zhou Tianyang and the others for a while before slowly lowering the gun in his hand.

"Which part are you from?"

The old man shouted, but his voice wasn't loud.

But I could hear it very clearly even from that distance.

Zhou Tianyang quickened his pace and stopped about ten steps away from the old man.

He wore the kind of polite smile that you only see when a traveler encounters a stranger.

But after quickly scanning the old man with his eyes to confirm that the other party meant no harm, he spoke.

"Fellow villager, we are the Eighth Route Army, passing through here, heading west."

The old man's gaze lingered on Zhou Tianyang for a few seconds.

He then looked at the soldiers behind him, dressed in civilian clothes of various colors and carrying all sorts of guns.

He took two steps forward, hoisted the old sleeve onto his shoulder, and lowered his voice slightly.

"Which direction did you come from?"

"They came from the east."

Zhou Tianyang neither hid anything nor offered much explanation.

"Go west."

The old man's expression changed.

He glanced at the people behind him, then turned back, lowering his voice even further.

"The stronghold in the east seems to have received some instructions today, and is now closely monitoring this area."

Zhou Tianyang's gaze shifted slightly.

But his facial expression remained unchanged.

The old man glanced again at the group behind Zhou Tianyang, his gaze quickly sweeping over the guns they were carrying.

Then, as if remembering something, her voice lowered even further.

"You wouldn't happen to be the people they're looking for, would you?"

Zhou Tianyang was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes."

The old man let out a long breath.

"I knew it! Those Japanese devils at the stronghold were causing trouble today."

He turned to the side and gestured with his lip toward the fork in the road behind him that led to the village.

"If you want to bypass the stronghold and head west, you can't do it by taking the main road."

"The Japanese soldiers in the stronghold have increased their patrols today, walking back and forth along the road."

"With so many of you, you'll definitely be spotted if you take the main road."

Zhou Tianyang glanced at the fork in the road following the old man's gaze, then looked away and returned his gaze to the old man's face.

"Fellow villager, you're right."

"We are indeed trying to find a way around it."

The old man was silent for a moment, as if he was hesitating about something, then he turned around and waved to the people behind him.

The group of people walked over quickly.

"If you trust me, I'll show you the way."

"There is a small path that goes from the foot of the mountain behind our village, which can bypass the area of ​​sight of that outpost."

"That road is difficult to travel, but the Japanese don't know that and never take that route."

Zhou Tianyang looked at him and remained silent for two or three seconds.

Then he took a step forward and stretched out his hand.

"Thank you so much, fellow villager."

The old man grasped his hand, shook it hard, then let go and turned to walk towards the fork in the road.

"Let's go, it's getting dark."

Zhou Tianyang turned around and gestured to the team behind him.

The soldiers moved silently, maintaining a formation that was both dispersed and ready to regroup at any moment, and followed the old man into the side road.

The old man walked at the front, his pace neither fast nor slow.

He was indeed extremely familiar with the terrain of this area.

The group followed him through a grove of low, mixed trees and around a dry creek.

Then proceed along a path at the foot of the mountain that is almost completely covered by wild grass.

The path was indeed difficult to walk on.

Zhou Tianyang walked in the middle of the group, occasionally glancing back at the direction behind him.

The old man's voice came from the front.

"If we walk for another half hour, we'll be able to bypass the area around that outpost."

"Then you can turn back to the western road and you won't be afraid of being discovered."

Zhou Tianyang did not reply, but followed in the middle of the group, his steps still light and steady.

After half an hour.

The team finally managed to completely bypass the area of ​​that stronghold.

The old man who was leading the way stopped at a fork in the road.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over Zhou Tianyang and the soldiers behind him, then pointed westward.

"If you go west from here, and walk for another few dozen miles, you will enter the area of ​​operation of your Eighth Route Army."

Zhou Tianyang glanced in the direction the old man was pointing.

He withdrew his gaze, nodded to the old man, then turned to the side and whispered something to the group behind him.

"Ma Yong, come here for a moment."

Ma Yong quickly stepped forward and stood beside Zhou Tianyang, waiting for him to speak.

Zhou Tianyang didn't rush to speak, but first glanced at the old man and the people behind him.

The men's eyes were fixed on the Type 38 rifles carried by the soldiers behind him.

Although no one spoke.

But you could feel that sense of rarity even from several steps away.

"Ma Yong, pick out a few Type 38 rifles from the guns we captured, along with some bullets, and give them to these fellow villagers."

Zhou Tianyang's tone was not loud, but very confident.

"Our fellow villagers have led us such a long way; we can't let them work for nothing."

Ma Yong didn't ask any more questions and turned to walk towards the back of the group.

He took four Type 38 rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition from the captured supplies and carried them back.

The old man's eyes lit up when he saw the guns in Ma Yong's hand.

But he didn't rush to take it; instead, he glanced at Zhou Tianyang first, his tone somewhat tentative.

"Comrade, this is unacceptable."

"We're just showing you the way, how could we accept such valuable gifts from you?"

"Take it."

Zhou Tianyang took the gun and handed it directly to the old man.

"You can't operate in this area without a few good guns."

"These Type 38 rifles are much better than the old-fashioned ones you guys use; they can save your life in a critical moment."

The old man paused slightly as he took the gun.

He looked down at the several Type 38 rifles in his hand, his rough fingers lightly touching the gun barrels.

Then she raised her head again, her gaze lingering on Zhou Tianyang's face for a long while.

His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything and nodded vigorously.

"Comrades, if you ever pass through this area in the future, feel free to come and find me if you need anything."

"My name is Liu Dagen. My home is in the village over there. Anyone can ask me."

Zhou Tianyang reached out and shook hands with the old man.

"Uncle Liu, please be careful on the road."

"We should go too."

The old man released his grip and handed the guns to the men behind him.

The group immediately took it and examined it closely.