Chapter 3 night

When the two of them slid down the river on a raft made of bamboo, they passed four checkpoints on the water, all of which were mixed by them, and they were only five miles away from the destination. The bamboo raft was near some water reed swamps. On the bank of the river, stuck.After the bamboo raft stopped, both people on the raft heard the sound of water gurgling past the bottom of the raft, and the rustling of reed leaves when the wind passed by. Luo Yi, the communication contact person of ××’s army, in the dark, with a slightly hoarse voice, insulted his young partner: “What’s the matter, mediocrity, you’re damned, treat it like a game, let’s leave it here , Let people use guns to shoot targets from the embankment, and shoot them through our chests?"

That one didn't make a sound, squatted first, and then stood up.In the darkness, the river water shimmered a little, slightly drawing an outline of the man's crooked shadow. He walked from one end of the raft to the other. "It's stranded, something is stuck." From the voice, it sounds like this person is just a child. After finishing speaking, the young man pulled the small oar beside his friend, took the penny, and tried to prop the bamboo raft from side to side.The water does seem to be too shallow.But from the gurgling of the water, they knew that the water here was flowing and the bamboo raft should not be stranded, so they both stood up and pushed the two pennies to one side as far as they could, hoping that the thing floating on the water would Can swing into the water.The punts of the two were deeply sunk in the soft mud on the bank. When they tried hard, they could only hear the rattling of the bamboo raft, but they still did not move.They took out the poles and tested the surrounding water to see if there was something blocking the front and back of the raft.All was well, with water on all sides, and water flowing beside the raft at the bottom of the raft, for no other reason than being grounded.

Logically, this stretch of bamboo rafts should not have reached here.Luo Yi was a little anxious and complained to his young companion: "There are still five miles, what a hell! You should understand that this is a dangerous place. If someone shines a flashlight at any time, something bad will happen!" That young man, who never knew horror or sorrow, listened to his complaints silently, while taking the pistol bullet box from his waist, rolled up his trousers and prepared to go into the water to have a look. He gently jumped into the water from the shore side, and after standing still in the water, he was silent and happy, and pushed the bamboo raft hard.While the raft was turning, it made a creaking sound, just like the joints of a human body.Bamboo Raft also seems to be struggling and is willing to leave here as soon as possible.But there seems to be something holding, dragging, and holding on underneath, and it can turn a little bit but can't flow away arbitrarily.

The one on the raft said: "Easy, light, I know you are very strong. Take off your clothes and try to feel around the bamboo raft to see what ghost is blocking our way. There must be a ghost, there must be of." The young man smiled and said: "There must be, well, let me do it..." The partner really walked along the bamboo raft in the water, stretched out his hand into the cold river, and met the kudzu vines that bound the raft. I just put my whole body in the water, and when I stretched out my arms to the bottom of the raft, my chin was close to the water surface. The river is not deep, but there is deep mud, and it is very difficult to pull out your feet.Slowly, he walked to the other end of the raft, where kudzu vines were bound, and suddenly touched something, round and hard, a millstone.There was some rope, clothes, and a cold creature, the young man called out softly in a voice mixed with surprise and joy.

"Oh, hell, there's a ghost here! So it's it!" "What?" He didn't answer immediately, but stretched out his hand to feel everywhere, picked up the hair, touched the face, and got the arm. The stone mill and the body were tied together by the rope, and the rope was hanging on the bottom of the raft, and another wooden stake in the river was again. It is deeply trapped in the bamboo gap at the bottom of the raft.This is the reason why the bamboo raft turns.The young man yelled softly: "A thing, it made us mess up. It was bound by a stone mill and sank into this water!"

The one on the raft ordered: "Pull him away." Hearing the rooster crowing in the distance, he cursed softly anxiously: "Damn it, it won't help you to survive. A millstone is hung around your neck, sinking If you come here, you will come to make trouble for us after you die." Seeing that one in the water had not been resolved for a long time, I pulled out the knife beside me and tapped on the side of the raft: "Ping Ping, Ping Ping, reach out and chop with the knife. If that ghost hand clings to our raft , cut off his hand. Don't suffer any more. There are still five miles, this is a most dangerous place! ... Hurry up,... Swipe a little...." The young one thought, "Tighten your hands Our raft..." He laughed in the water at the acute point on the raft. *

There was a slight sound of the knife moving in the water, and the bamboo raft turned.After a while, the one in the water shouldered one end of the bamboo raft again, trying to lift it up.It seems that the age is too young, the strength is too small, the bamboo raft can only turn. The bamboo raft can turn, but not flow.It turned out that the wooden stake in the river was stuck in the gap between the bamboos. The wood was at the bottom of the raft in the water, and it was not easy to cut it with a knife. Time does not allow the two of them to make such a leisurely plan.When the bamboo raft arrived near the floating bridge downstream, it could not pass and had to be discarded. Therefore, although the one on the raft was very anxious and cursed all kinds of words, the one in the water simply suggested: "From the dry road Let's go, we can arrive before dawn."

"Going on the dry road, we have to use the devil to hang a millstone around our necks." "Aren't you afraid that that thing won't hurry?" The younger of the two actually won at last, and the two of them moved two box guns, two knives, and other things from the very muddy river to the embankment, and slowly Fumbled in the dark and climbed up the embankment.When they got to the embankment, the two of them sat in the tall grass beside the road and estimated the distance to their destination.The two of them walked across the river twice, but both were in the dark. Walking along the river was still very strange. They didn't know how many streams and swamps they had to pass, and how many houses and checkpoints they had to pass.It was so dark that it was impossible for the two of them to discern the direction from a familiar star or anything else.Although there is a flashlight by my side, which can illuminate the path, but the surroundings are surrounded by darkness. Everywhere around me, there seem to be some eyes with the same gun muzzle. As long as there is a little light, a bullet will fly.Once discovered, it is not easy to pass, you can only exchange your life, and all duties have to be taken by the second group of people.

The two paused for a while, because it was too dangerous to walk on the embankment, and they knew that there should be a trail along the river beside the embankment. The river has receded a lot in the past few days, so the trail must be easy to walk, and maybe it will be possible at a certain time. I got a small boat, so I got off the embankment and went to the riverside path.Time really couldn't be delayed any longer, so the two walked forward regardless of everything. They walked on the mudflat for a long time, and then walked into a swamp. The path was surrounded by reeds, so they felt relieved.After entering the reed forest, they only felt that their feet were very slippery and damp, and there was a disgusting smell, which became worse as they walked.

"There must be another one lying on this road, be careful, don't trip over this guy." "I forgot to touch the one at the bottom of our raft, or our buddy!" "It's not ours, who do you think it is?" "I know that document No. 74 is sewn on the collar, and No. 13 is hidden in a cigarette. And that..." "Be careful, we are still in a cage, or we will rot here too of. Watch where you step. " Because Luo Yi felt that the dead body must be within five feet, he was about to inspect the ground with the flashlight. The very young one with a cheerful personality suddenly stopped his companion.The two listened intently, and heard a slight sound of wooden oars splashing water in the river, which sounded evenly nearby.They were only five feet away from the river, but they were separated by a dense reed forest.Both of them knew that they were in a very dangerous situation, because this boat was obviously not their own, and it was obviously patrolling the river port, and they were invited to intercept the communication between the two parties.If the boat found the bamboo raft a little upstream, and found clear footprints on the muddy ground beside the embankment when checking the bamboo raft, and followed it immediately, only God knows.

Fortunately, the two landed on the shore, otherwise they would have gambled their fate in the river. At this time, I don't know whether it was frightened by the two of them or by the sound of oars on the river. In the reed forest, a huge water bird flapped its wings and rushed into the air in the dark. It made an aimless turn and flew towards the opposite river. , I only heard someone talking on the boat, it seemed that I had suspected this piece of reed forest, and was about to park the boat near the reed forest, but after a while, I followed the direction where the waterfowl were flying, and I was still paddling very well and leisurely Swayed to the opposite river. When the two heard that the boat was approaching the edge of the reed, they both fell down on the wet ground, took out their pistols and aimed at the side where the oars sounded, their hearts were deep and quiet.After the boat was far away, the danger was over. In the darkness, the two reached out and held the other hand, and squeezed it tightly. The two didn't dare to lose a second of opportunity, and immediately started to move forward again. After walking a little bit, the smell of corpse is already more palpable, but after walking a few more steps, it seems that he has already passed the dead corpse again.The dead body was obviously not on the path, but it fell in the reed forest on the left. Luo Yi was pulled by his partner. "how?" "Wait a minute, I'm sure this is our comrade No. 74, I'm going to touch him, just for a minute, half a minute." No matter how unhappy the leader was, the partner still bowed his waist to face the direction of the smell, and bravely drilled into the dense reed forest, and turned around and came back within three minutes. "I said it was him. That rancid smell also has his character. This kid was very brave when he was alive, and he was still very brave when he fell down and rotted!" "What did you get?" "Get a hand of maggots." "How do you know it's him?" "I pulled the boy's collar with the papers sewn on. I knew it was him as soon as I touched the collar." "You are all good boys." The two started on the road again, silent and dazed, almost forgetting their fate and responsibilities, and then they took big steps without end in the dark. After the reed forest was gone, a new danger came. The front turned out to be a turning point, the place the two of them had to pass through. If you go down the mountain, you will turn around a ferry, and there will be a pile of fire in the distance, which proves that there are people guarding there.If you go up the mountain, the mountain is a strange road, and there are too many dangers.The two can't decide whether to go up or down, because both sides are very dangerous, but they don't know which side can pass. One more second of hesitation means that one second of opportunity is lost. Because it is more convenient for the two of them to see the fire from the dark than the enemy to see the darkness from the fire, and the road is familiar, and they can cross the river when they have to, so they went straight Walk to the ferry with fire.It was only when I got closer that I realized that the fire was not a blaze, and it was almost extinguished.The young man had clear eyes, boldly estimated that there would be no one there, and walked over without hesitation, but the elder pulled him away. "Pingping, hell, are you still walking over, you can't go any further!" "Don't worry, it must have been set on fire by the ghosts stationed on the mountain pass when they boarded the boat. Didn't we hear the oars of a small boat before? It was a fire that was put down on purpose, a fire that was bluffing!" Again the young man took the victory and approached the fire.Fearing that it was a trick, the two of them leaned carefully on the edge of the embankment, waited for a while, and then slowly climbed over. There was nothing, nothing. The two of them passed the fire, knowing that after passing the mountain mouth and turning around, they would be It was a long flat road, with a forest next to the mountain, and a piece of tall grass next to the river. When it was about to approach XX, there was no new danger, so I became more courageous.The two walked along the grass beside the road. After walking for a while, the young companion had sharp ears and heard the sound of horseshoes on the road, and then the other one also listened.The two knew that it must be the devil who delivered the letter passing by.Fearing that the horse-riding messenger had a dog with them, they could smell a stranger, so they hurried up the mountain, and scrambled for a long time with the help of a little shadow.But after a while, the sound of horseshoes really approached the foot of the mountain, and they stepped on the uneven bluestone mountain road. The horseshoe hit the stone and released sparks. When the two went down the mountain and walked back, Luo Yi twisted one of his feet. But the two knew that they had to go through the danger of the last section of ×× earlier, so they almost ran. Near the dangerous pass, I heard the village chicken crowing for the second time, and the sound floated on the water. The two of them should have walked down the river, buried their guns in the reed forest on the bank, and then went down to the river, passed the pontoon bridge, and nothing happened within half a mile.But Luo Yi has sprained his foot and lost all his ability to swim.If they do not go to the water, the two should climb over the mountain.The road on this mountain is very strange, and the back of the mountain is full of cut walls. If you fall down, your life will be hopeless.But one of the two paths must be chosen. The older man knew that he was getting closer to his destination, so he said to his partner a little angrily: "Pingping, this is made by a ghost, I should be rotten here too, let you come and touch my collar next time. My pair of My feet are really bad, and going into the water won’t help, so let’s go each other, okay? You hand me the gun, you go out of the water, and I’ll slowly walk along the mountain road.” "How can this be done? Since my foot is broken, I should be with you. Let's go up the mountain immediately. If it's rotten, it'll be in a pile!" That one suddenly cursed angrily: "Do you have the right to die? You little brat. Can the two of us rot together? Take my orders and give me the gun without further delay, understand?" The young man was silent, and Luo Yi said it again, and the young man said in a low voice, "Got it." As the young man untied the belt, he thought: "How can one foot climb over that mountain?" Therefore, although he agreed, he was still hesitant.Luo Yi understood what his companion meant.This child has worked with him through danger several times, and the two of them work very well together, knowing that the mountain road is dangerous now, the child means that he is absolutely unwilling to let his old friend go alone, but in fact it must be so, so the voice It softened a lot and comforted the child. "Comrade Pingping, don't worry about getting into the water. I have two guns, which can save the lives of his dogs. You can take a little risk and walk this way. Your way is also very dangerous. When you reach the pontoon bridge , if there is already barbed wire in the water, you have to cross the pontoon, how difficult it is! I can go up here, I can find the way, and when I get there, I will return this gun to you, and I will return it to you. See you over there in a while, see you in a while." Everyone who said it and listened to it understood that "see you later" was an empty talk without any basis. As he talked, the man went to disarm his young companion's gun, the belt of the cartridge case, and as soon as it was undone, hung it on himself, patted his young friend on the shoulder, made a few jokes, and wanted to see his companion with his own eyes. After jumping into the water, he walked on his own.The young man was forced by this domineering and kind companion, using the strict discipline of the party and the honesty of friendship, until he slipped down the high sill and walked towards the water, without saying anything. The river flows coldly. When the young man swam silently to the center of the river, he made an announcement to his companion standing by the bank, imitating the cry of a water bird, and immediately a stone was thrown from the bank and fell into the water nearby.The two had an explanation, so they broke up and went their separate ways. The young man floated downstream cautiously, never forgetting his companion.When we approached the pontoon bridge, we could see from a distance that there were blazes burning at both ends of the pontoon bridge, and the light of the fire was reflected on the water.The pontoon bridge is made of some small firewood boats and fish boats tied with thick iron wires by the devil. There are guards at both ends, and patrolling sentries must be placed on the bridge.He only exposed part of his head above the water, and drifted down the current. He had just approached the bridge, and was worried about how he would get across if there was a barbed wire fence in the water. He was planning this when he heard a gunshot on the ridge. , and then another, and from the sound of the gun he knew it was the opponent's rifle.Haven't heard the echo of a friend's box gun after the shot.But it is very obvious that my friend has been discovered by others, and he is being targeted.At this time, from the twilight of the fire on both sides of the river, he realized that he had flowed to about two feet away from the bridge, so he had to dive into the bottom of the water and cross the pontoon bridge before resurfacing.Fortunately, there were no obstructions in the river as rumored. After passing the pontoon bridge three feet away, when the young man exposed his head to take a breath, he heard the box gun rattling seven times in his ears, and the other gun stopped.But almost immediately, the sound of the rifle was heard again, and the box gun returned four shots. Then I heard three sporadic shots of the rifle, and after a long time, I heard another shot of the box gun.And I heard the sound of whistles from the fire pile next to the pontoon bridge, and the light of a small flashlight on the pontoon bridge flickered on the water.The young man sank his head back into the water and swam downstream with all his might. When he showed his face for the second time, all gunshots fell silent. Under the young man was a river of water flowing silently and alive, surrounded by only darkness, boundless darkness.The darkness occupied the entire space, and seemed to be soaking into the young man's body along with the coldness of the water.He knew that if he went down a mile, he could see their own fire. He swam hard.Swim towards the light and heat that is near you. ………… "slogan!" "Ten-nine, wrap your head with your feet." "One? Why one?" "Ask your ancestors why only one came here." "Is it lost?" There was no answer, only the sound of the young man's hands and feet slapping the water as he landed. September 1932, Qingdao. It was written to commemorate the deceased friend Zheng Zishen.