Chapter 23: The System Arrives Without Warning

(I)

"I heard that was your first time firing a gun?" Chen Bo asked.

His tone sounded much milder than yesterday. Guan Shan remembered very clearly that when the political commissar introduced him to this commander, Chen Bo, yesterday, the way the man had looked him up and down had been truly unsettling.

Guan Shan figured that after some background checks, they had likely learned his "true colors": just a simple, honest young man from a remote mountain village. As for his ability to read and write, those were just virtues, weren't they?

Moreover, the literacy class for writing Chinese characters was run by Zhao Gang, while the Japanese language classes were taught by Teacher Bai, County Magistrate Wang, and the propaganda officer, Miss Ge.

As for his ability to read contour maps, that was even easier to explain—after all, he had the guiding light that was Li Yunlong standing right there.

According to Li Yunlong’s own account in the story, before he became a bodyguard for the commanders in the Red Army’s Fourth Front Army, he was just a little bamboo craftsman who had attended a private school for a year or so. Yet, the first time he encountered a military map, the mountains, rivers, and topography seemed to come alive to him, leading his commander to praise him as a genius.

Regarding Guan Shan’s map-reading skills, Li Yunlong had offered two comments:

"He was taught by me!"

"The kid is a genius too, just a hair behind what I was back in the day!"

Furthermore, his military skills could be vouched for by Wang Gensheng and several other villagers. Even the fact that his broken leg had healed so quickly had led the medic to conclude he had simply been mistaken in his initial diagnosis.

Guan Shan felt that with Commander Chen Bo, whose instincts were as sharp as a hunting dog, he had likely passed the test.

(II)

Guan Shan sighed and answered truthfully, "Yes, it’s been over half a month, and I’m still having nightmares."

Chen Bo said understandingly, "I’ve heard. Indeed, in that kind of situation, the pressure of pulling the trigger is immense. Oh, I heard yesterday you were learning Japanese. I’d like to know, have you ever hypothesized what measures you would take if the same situation were to recur and you knew how to speak Japanese?"

Guan Shan thought about it seriously, stood still, looked at Chen Bo, and said, "Commander, I have actually thought about this, very seriously..."

"Oh, let’s hear it," Chen Bo said with interest.

Guan Shan nodded, deliberated, and organized his thoughts. He squatted down, picked up a tree branch, cleared a patch of dirt with his foot, and sketched a simple diagram of the cliff location.

"First, I would still ambush from this position. From here, I can see both the Japanese soldiers on top of the cliff and those climbing up," Guan Shan explained. "If I knew Japanese back then, here is what I think: I wouldn't fire immediately..."

For a moment, the scenes from his dreams flashed before his eyes again. Guan Shan hurriedly shook his head to cast the images away.

"I imagine I would shout something like 'Password!' in Japanese. If they hesitated or answered in Japanese, I would immediately pull the trigger..." Guan Shan paused here, frowning as he looked at Chen Bo. "Commander, I just realized, what if, even though they could speak Japanese, they were actually someone like me who had learned the language?"

Chen Bo burst into laughter and patted Guan Shan’s shoulder firmly. "Comrade Xiao Guan! That right there—that’s an illness, and it needs curing!"

The laughter indicated that Chen Bo no longer had any doubts about Guan Shan’s identity. Unlike that suspicious fellow in Xiaoq Village, Guan Shan did not have the fatal flaw of an unverified background.

"Ah? Can it be cured?" Guan Shan asked with a mournful face.

"Easy to cure! Easy to cure!" Chen Bo said, standing up with a smile.

Guan Shan muttered softly, "Is it because I haven't killed enough Japanese soldiers? Maybe once I’m numb to it, I'll be fine."

"Hahaha! Is that what Li Yunlong told you?" Chen Bo asked with a laugh.

"Commander, did you call for me because you have a mission for me?" Guan Shan asked.

At first glance, Chen Bo did not seem to have any intention of tearing apart Guan Shan’s narrative for analysis, nor did he intend to return to the scene to exhume the two corpses for a detailed forensic examination.

"Bang! Bang!" Two gunshots rang out from the village.

Chen Bo and Guan Shan turned to look in the direction of the sound.

"Probably that Nationalist regiment commander showing off! Heh," Chen Bo muttered.

Guan Shan marveled inwardly. Since he knew the main plot, he knew this was the scene where Chu Yunfei would shoot two birds with one shot, followed by his argument with Li Yunlong over whether a gift pistol was female or male.

The fact that Chen Bo could determine it was Chu Yunfei showing off just from the sound of two shots—that was a true veteran revolutionary.

"Let’s go. We’re heading to the regimental headquarters to talk over that map you captured!" Chen Bo said.

"Yes, Commander!"

(III)

Taiyuan, Japanese First Army Headquarters.

Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka stood with his hands behind his back, facing a large military map on the wall. Not far behind him was a massive sand table.

Both the map and the sand table were dotted with small flags featuring numbers and English letters, presenting a complex, interlocking tactical situation.

To Shinozuka’s left, Ichiki Yamamoto stood in a standard, rigid military posture.

Behind Shinozuka, another fully armed, impeccably dressed Japanese officer stood by the sand table. Like Yamamoto, this officer was also a Colonel.

"Yamamoto-kun, Chief of Staff Miyano of the North China Area Army has officially informed me that they place great importance on your special operations. They have selected two hundred officers of the rank of Captain or above from various units in North China. Brigadier General Naoomi Hattori will personally lead them to observe your new tactics at my New First Army."

Shinozuka paused, turned his face toward Yamamoto, and said, "They are coming to see you. You are the protagonist!"

"When will they arrive?" Yamamoto asked.

"The day after tomorrow," Shinozuka said.

"Hai!" Yamamoto saluted.

"Matsuyama-kun!" Shinozuka turned back to the map. "Is there still no news regarding the two soldiers from the Okawa detachment?"

"General, I am deeply sorry!" Soemon Matsuyama bowed deeply in shame.

(IV)

Guan Shan opened his eyes abruptly.

He was still on the earthen bed in the room next to Li Yunlong’s at the regimental headquarters.

Nearby, Monk Wei and Li Yunlong in the next room were still snoring like thunder, shaking the very earth.

Was he dreaming again? But this time, he hadn't dreamt of his own execution; he had dreamt of the plot of *Drawing Sword*.

This was the content of the fourth episode of *Drawing Sword*, where Wang Gensheng threw a grenade into a basket and was invited by Political Commissar Zhao Gang to eat meat, before cutting to this scene—foreshadowing the next episode where Li Yunlong would lead the First Battalion to ambush and eliminate the Japanese officer observation group.

What did this mean? Guan Shan pondered.

Could it be that the reality he had transmigrated into was a side-story of *Drawing Sword*, and no matter how he turned, he would always be pulled back into the main plot?

Was his dream also a prompt or a path arranged by the system?