Waking
Volume Two, Chapter Four
The journey was more difficult than expected. In order to completely shake off the pursuers, Gu Tieshan chose a route that was almost untouched by human footsteps—traversing the edge of a treacherous canyon called "Wolf Leap Gorge." Here, the mountains were steep, the forests were dense and blocked out the sun, and underfoot were loose gravel and tangled tree roots, while on one side was the bottomless gorge with its roaring water.
Two consecutive days of forced marching, coupled with intense mental strain, left everyone exhausted. Xiu Niang could barely move without the support of Shuanzi and Geng Dashan, and the child's cries were weakened by hunger and fear. Xiao Chen and Zhao Xiaoshuan, acting as scouts and rear guards, had also expended a great deal of energy.
Only Gu Tieshan, like a tireless rock, always led the way at the very front of the column. His steps remained steady, his sharp eyes scanning the front and flanks. Fragments of memory, like undercurrents beneath the ice, constantly collided and surged in his mind. The vague sounds of gunfire, shouts, and a heavy sense of responsibility grew clearer and clearer.
As dusk fell, they found a shallow cave under a sheltered rock face, a place where they could take refuge. The cave was narrow and damp, but it offered temporary shelter from the biting winds of the mountain night and the possibility of pursuers.
Geng Dashan and Xiao Chen went out to find water and wild fruits and roots to eat. Shen Lanjun was busy comforting the children and checking the dwindling amount of dry food and medicine left. Gu Tieshan, on the other hand, sat at the cave entrance, holding his large sword, staring at the forest gradually being swallowed by twilight, motionless, as if in deep meditation.
A silent storm was raging in his mind.
...Smoke filled the air, and dirt and rocks flew everywhere. Amidst the deafening shouts of battle, he wielded his heavy broadsword. When the blade chipped, he smashed it with the back of the blade, with his fists, with his teeth! Familiar figures fell around him, their blood staining the ground beneath his feet. A rough voice boomed in his ears: "Tieshan! Hold the line with the brothers! We can't let the Japanese devils get past Xifengkou! We, the 29th Army, have no cowards!"
Xifengkou! The 29th Army!
...The icy rain lashed their faces as he and his surviving comrades helped each other through waist-deep water, behind them the burning battlefield and the bodies of their fallen comrades... "Brothers, hold on! Hold on!"...A violent explosion, endless darkness...
"Ugh!" Gu Tieshan suddenly covered his head, letting out a suppressed groan of pain. Veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat instantly soaked his inner shirt.
"Tieshan?" Shen Lanjun noticed his abnormality immediately, quickly put down the child, came to his side, and looked at him with concern.
Gu Tieshan gasped for breath, raising his head with eyes filled with immense shock, pain, and a fiery light that Shen Lanjun had never seen before, like a dormant volcano suddenly awakening.
“I remember now…” His voice was terribly hoarse, with a slight tremor, “Xifengkou… the 29th Army Big Sword Team… I am… Gu Tieshan!” He almost gritted his teeth as he said the last three words, with a heavy force as if reshaping his bones.
Shen Lanjun held his cold hand tightly, her heart filled with mixed emotions. The moment she had been waiting for had finally arrived, but seeing his pained expression, her heart ached. "You remember everything?"
Gu Tieshan slowly shook his head, his eyes gradually becoming clear and resolute: "Not all yet... but most importantly, they're back." He looked out into the deep night, as if he could pierce through time and space to see his fallen comrades. "I am a man of the Northwest Army, a soldier of General Song Zheyuan. Xifengkou, we held it..."
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps and Geng Dashan's low, urgent shout came from outside the cave: "Brother Gu! Something's wrong! We've been spotted!"
Gu Tieshan and Shen Lanjun immediately stood up and grabbed their weapons.
Geng Dashan and Xiao Chen ran back to the cave entrance in a disheveled state, a bloody welt on Xiao Chen's arm. "It was a Japanese search party! About seven or eight people, well-equipped, like special forces! We were spotted by their scouts while we were fetching water!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a low shout in Japanese and the crisp sound of a rifle being cocked came from not far outside the cave! The enemy was closing in!
"Prepare for battle!" Gu Tieshan roared, his eyes no longer filled with confusion, only the cold killing intent of a seasoned soldier. He glanced at the panicked Xiu Niang and the child inside the cave, then quickly said to Shen Lanjun, "You protect them, find a chance to escape through that crevice at the back! Da Shan, Xiao Chen, Xiao Shuan, hold them off with me!"
"Brother Gu!" Xiao Chen exclaimed anxiously, "Your injury..."
"Execute the order!" Gu Tieshan's tone carried an unquestionable authority, the kind of imposing presence only those long accustomed to positions of power could possess.
He was the first to rush out of the cave, his figure leaping out like a cheetah. Using the rocks and trees as cover, he instantly closed in on the two nearest Japanese soldiers! The two Japanese soldiers were clearly well-trained and reacted extremely quickly, immediately raising their guns and taking aim!
But Gu Tieshan was faster! Without the slightest hesitation, he changed his footwork, using the swift and agile "Nine Palaces Step" from Chuojiao Fanziquan. His body twisted like a ghost, narrowly avoiding the gun barrel. His left hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the wrist of a Japanese soldier holding a gun with a "Golden Thread Wrist Entanglement" and twisting it forcefully!
"Snap!"
Amidst screams, the rifle fell to the ground. Simultaneously, the broadsword in his right hand, with a piercing whistling sound, transformed into a streak of cold light!
"puff--!"
Just as another Japanese soldier turned his gun around, he was cleaved diagonally from his left shoulder to his right rib by this powerful blow! Blood and internal organs instantly splattered all over the ground!
All of this happened in the blink of an eye! Geng Dashan and the others following behind Gu Tieshan were stunned. They had never seen Gu Tieshan's killing techniques so ferocious and efficient! This was no ordinary fight, but a battle-hardened art of killing!
"Baka! He's a master!" The remaining Japanese soldiers were both shocked and furious, and they all sought cover and opened fire.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The bullets struck the rocks, sending up countless sparks and fragments of rock.
Gu Tieshan was not afraid at all. He seemed to have returned to the battlefield of Xifengkou. The surging blood in his body and the revived memories put him into a mysterious state. He used the terrain, sometimes dodging behind rocks, sometimes moving like a nimble ape. The broadsword in his hand was sometimes as powerful as thunder, splitting Mount Hua in two, and sometimes as unpredictable and cunning as a venomous snake emerging from its hole.
A Japanese soldier attempted to flank him, thrusting his bayonet at his ribs! Without even looking, Gu Tieshan, using his sense of direction, spun around, his broadsword flashing, delivering a swift and deadly sweeping strike! In a flash, the Japanese soldier's legs were cleanly severed at the knees! His screams abruptly ceased, for Gu Tieshan's blade had already shattered his Adam's apple!
"Northwest barbarians! Die, die!" A Japanese sergeant seemed to be enraged by Gu Tieshan's bravery. He stopped shooting, drew his samurai sword, and charged forward with a howling voice, unleashing a powerful slash!
The words "Northwest barbarians" were like a spark, instantly igniting all the memories and humiliations in Gu Tieshan's mind! The brothers who died at Xifengkou, the displaced people, the sorrow of a broken country... all the emotions erupted at this moment!
"roar--!"
He let out a roar like a wounded tiger, neither dodging nor avoiding, but instead met the descending samurai sword head-on with a fierce upward slash! This strike contained all his power, all his anger, and all his memories!
"clang--!"
A deafening clang of metal clashing rang out! The Japanese sergeant felt an irresistible force surge from his sword, his hand instantly splitting open, the katana flying out of his grasp and soaring high into the air! He was thrown backward by the force of the impact!
Gu Tieshan's sword thrusts continued unabated. Using the force of the sweeping strike, his broadsword drew a perfect arc in the air. His body spun around as he unleashed the most domineering move in the Chuojiao Fanziquan weapon routine—"Night Battle Eight Directions Hidden Blade Style"!
The blade flashed like a wheel, and a chilling aura emanated from it!
The moment the sergeant's eyes showed fear, the cold blade sliced across his neck as easily as cutting tofu!
A head, with an expression of disbelief, shot into the sky! The headless corpse stood for a moment before collapsing heavily to the ground, gushing blood!
The remaining two Japanese soldiers were utterly terrified and turned to flee. But Geng Dashan, Xiao Chen, and Zhao Xiaoshuan had already surrounded them, their eyes bloodshot as they hacked them down with their knives.
The battle began suddenly and ended even faster. In just a few minutes, all seven well-equipped Japanese search team members were dead.
The air around the cave entrance was thick with the pungent stench of blood. Gu Tieshan, leaning on his broadsword, stood amidst the corpses, breathing heavily. Sweat mingled with splattered blood, streaming down his resolute face. The old wound on his chest reopened from the violent movement, staining his clothes crimson with blood, but he seemed oblivious.
The last rays of the setting sun pierced through the gaps in the forest, falling on him and the blood-soaked, dark red greatsword in his hand, as if gilding him with a tragic yet sacred golden light.
Geng Dashan, Xiao Chen, Zhao Xiaoshuan, and even Shen Lanjun, who cautiously peeked out from inside the cave, all stared in awe at the figure that resembled a god of war.
At this moment, they clearly felt that the silent and resilient blacksmith "Old Gu" had completely disappeared. Standing before them was Gu Tieshan, the true hero of the 29th Army's Big Sword Brigade, who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood!
Gu Tieshan slowly raised his head and looked south, the direction where he had once fought and bled. He raised his hand to wipe the blood from his face, his eyes burning like stars.
"Brothers, I, Gu Tieshan... am back."
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