Chapter 12: For Whose Sake the Darkened Expression

Chapter 12: Whose Face Is Darkened?

(Part One)

Guan Shan nodded slightly as Li Yunlong continued, “You’re to set out immediately. Coordinate with the two comrades from the surveying squad to gather intelligence on the area surrounding this road. Meet up at this spot in three days!”

Surveying squad? That should be part of the artillery unit. The independent regiment doesn’t seem to have Italian artillery pieces yet—when did they even get a surveying squad?

Or perhaps this is to assist the artillery units from the brigade or even division headquarters in reconnaissance?

Though puzzled, Guan Shan understood discipline and knew better than to ask questions that weren’t his place.

He bent slightly forward, gazing at the meeting point Li Yunlong marked on the map.

“Mo Pan Village? That’s not far from my home in Niu Shan Village.” Guan Shan roughly understood why Li Yunlong entrusted him with this task.

“Leave your gun and satchel with Monk first. Just take two grenades! You’re to help the surveying comrades carry their instruments and such,” Li Yunlong instructed.

“Oh? No gun?” Guan Shan was slightly reluctant.

“What good is a gun if you don’t know how to use it?” Li Yunlong shot a stern glare at him.

The officers in the room burst into inexplicable laughter again.

“Shanzi, why don’t you borrow the lady county magistrate’s pistol?” Zhang Dabiao teased.

Everyone laughed even harder.

“Enough joking! Keep it serious!” Zhao Gang banged the table with a stern face.

“Exactly, look at you all—platoon and company commanders, especially you, Zhang Dabiao!” Li Yunlong’s face turned serious as he pointed at Zhang Dabiao, scolding, “You’re a company commander, and all you think about are the most vulgar things! What nonsense are you spouting!”

Then Li Yunlong couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, and everyone laughed uproariously, unable to stop—even Zhao Gang cracked a few smiles.

Only Guan Shan wore a long face, and seeing him like that only made everyone find it funnier.

For some reason, Guan Shan felt a vague unease.

Normally, the narrow mountain paths unmarked on the map would be ones neither Japanese troops with machine guns and mortars nor puppet soldiers would dare take.

But clearly, the independent regiment was still unaware of Yamamoto Kazuki’s special forces, who specialized in traveling where there were no roads.

From various movies and dramas, accidents always happened after such “foreshadowing.” Guan Shan wondered if his own time-travel story would follow this cliché.

“Alright, I’ll take a bayonet then…” Guan Shan muttered quietly, removing the bayonet from his Type 24 rifle.

(Part Two)

“Put it down! Put it down now!”

Guan Shan froze at the sudden angry voice, his movements stiffening.

“Put it down slowly! Who are you? Can you afford to pay if you break this equipment?”

Gritting his teeth, Guan Shan held back from snapping back… What kind of day was this? Nothing was going right!

He carefully placed the wooden box labeled “Surveying Instruments” on the ground, then turned to see who was scolding him. It was a young man wearing glasses and a student uniform, looking thin and quiet, but with an unexpectedly fierce tone.

“Who are you? What are you doing with our equipment?” The Eighth Route Army soldier pushed up his glasses and asked cautiously.

Guan Shan frowned slightly, pointing at the scattered items on the ground, “Aren’t these things needed for field surveying? Oh, there was no one in the room just now…”

“You just take things without permission? What company are you from? Who’s your commander?” The bespectacled soldier scolded, poking Guan Shan’s nose.

“What’s going on? Little Shen, who are you talking to now?”

A man in his thirties appeared at the door, hurrying over.

The young man called Xiao Shen shouted, “Teacher Bai, come quickly! I caught a thief!”

“Who’s a thief? What are you saying?” Guan Shan’s temper flared instantly, taking a step toward Xiao Shen.

Xiao Shen quickly backed away a few steps, pointing at Guan Shan, yelling, “Look, look! He even wants to hit people! What kind of character is that!”

“Xiao Shen, don’t say nonsense!” Teacher Bai looked at Guan Shan and softened his tone. “Young comrade, who are you?”

“Teacher Bai, I’m Guan Shan, a communication soldier from the independent regiment!” Guan Shan stood at attention and saluted the man called Teacher Bai. “My superiors assigned me to assist you in this field survey.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he explained, “When I came over just now, no one was in the room, so I thought I’d test the weight of these things first… I didn’t expect Comrade Shen to misunderstand.”

“Guan Shan? You’re Guan Shan?” Comrade Shen took several quick steps over, scrutinizing Guan Shan, then turned to Teacher Bai. “Teacher Bai, what does the independent regiment mean by this? I’m going to find their commander!”

As he spoke, Shen headed out the door.

What was this all about? Guan Shan had never even seen this Comrade Shen before, yet it seemed like he bore a grudge against him. Guan Shan was puzzled.

“Shen Xingbei, stop right there!” Teacher Bai raised his voice sharply.

With Teacher Bai’s reprimand, Shen Xingbei’s foot was one inside the door, one outside on the threshold, halting him. But he seemed still upset; though his steps stopped, he didn’t turn his head back.

“Teacher Bai, what’s up with Comrade Shen?” Guan Shan hesitated, then asked softly.

“Bourgeois! Petit bourgeois!” Teacher Bai scolded sternly.

Guan Shan was taken aback by the phrase—it was deeply stamped with the times. He remembered his grandfather telling him stories about Pavlik Morozov and Tonya, and that was from a book on steelmaking.

Teacher Bai saw Guan Shan’s stunned expression and explained, “Oh, young Comrade Guan, I wasn’t talking about you.”

“Hah!” Shen Xingbei sneered, “He’d have to understand it first!”

Guan Shan sighed silently inside. He was almost certain he now understood what was going on.

If he guessed right, it definitely had something to do with that County Magistrate Wang, though he wasn’t yet sure what relationship Comrade Shen had with the magistrate.

Just as he was pondering this, County Magistrate Wang’s voice came from outside.

“Brother Shen, why are you standing here with that face? Who’s upset you?”

Ha! Could this plot get any more melodramatic?

“Teacher Bai, when are you setting out? I’ll bring some rations over… Little Guan?”

“Greetings, County Magistrate Wang.”

“Oh, wonderful! So it’s you going on this mission with Teacher Bai and Brother Shen. That puts my mind at ease!” County Magistrate Wang entered, carrying a blue cloth bundle, smiling warmly as he passed Brother Shen. “Teacher Bai, this is the clever, diligent young soldier I told you about this morning—he’s the one!”

Teacher Bai smiled slightly and glanced at Guan Shan. Guan Shan wanted to laugh but held back politely.

Both he and Teacher Bai noticed the expression on Brother Shen’s face—it was too unpleasant to describe.

End of Chapter 12