Short, Light, Free

I couldn’t see them since I was hiding in the underground passage, but I could hear their voices.

Two of them were panting.

“Is Old Chen going to make it?”

“He’s fainted but he’s no longer losing blood.”

“Let’s just leave him here. He’s already half dead and there’s no doctor here.”

“No! How can we abandon our comrade for the revolution?”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Xiaowang. It’s worth the sacrifice precisely because it’s for a revolution.”

“You can’t say that, Old Jin. Didn’t Old Chen land himself in this state in order to save us from the landmine?”

“Alright, stop bickering. Let’s vote but count Old Chen out. There are five of us here. We will act according to the voting result.”

…

I stayed motionless.

Five people?

I pondered over their conversation.

No, six of them.

One injured Old Chen.

They spoke in Chinese so they must be from China.

Not wanting to alarm them and cause panic, I did not dare to act blindly.

I had two guns and some bullets left.

There were enough bullets to kill all of them but I couldn’t do that all at once.

I wondered if they were mountain bandits who escaped.

I’ll fight it out if I get discovered

…

“Raise your hand if you think we should take Old Chen along.”

“2 votes.”

“Raise your hand if you think we should leave him here.”

“3 votes.”

“Then let’s just put him here. He’s already fainted anyway. We’ll leave tomorrow morning to open up a path for the team.”

“Hey, I saw a slight glimmer when we walked in. I looked up and saw meat hanging from the door frame. There’s no one here so let’s eat it. It’s been a day since we last ate.”

“You’re making a mistake again, Xiaowang. There’s no one here because they’ve been killed by the ghosts. The meat must’ve been poisoned and placed by them as a trap.”

“Old Jin’s right. Don’t fall victim to their evil scheme.”

“Alright, alright. We’ll take turns to guard at night starting from tomorrow. We’ll continue finding a region and path without landmines so that we can supply war equipment to the west flank and fight our way up to Beiping.”

…

Up to Beiping? Supplies?

What were these people trying to do?

Landmines?

The region in which the ghosts had planted them?

So these people were from the volunteer army?

And they’re looking for a landmine-free region?

I thought about it and waited to see how they would handle that injured soldier.

…

“Hey, I’m so hungry.”

“Don’t eat it. We can’t have more casualties.”

“How about we let Old Chen test it first?”

“Go check if he’s still alive.”

“I…I still have my last breath. I’ve heard the votes. For the revolution, I… let me test the food for you. Even if it’s poisonous, at least I won’t… die a hungry ghost.”

“Old Chen is wise. Xiaowang, you go. There’s a pot inside. Fill it with water and meat, find somewhere further to start a fire and boil some soup. We can’t have an open fire here or our location will be exposed,” Old Jin instructed.

…

I was dumbfounded.

Lighting a fire outside was just as good as revealing our positions.

It would easily be detected from a high ground.

If the ghosts were to come for us, who knows what they’d do.

I crawled out of the hidden passage and shouted, “Wait!”

All six were startled.

I could also clearly see their faces.

A few of them automatically raised their guns up.

I immediately put mine down and raised both arms.

“Ghost’s clothes,” Xiaowang pointed out.

“Don’t shoot, I’m Chinese. Hear me speak. Can the ghosts speak Chinese?” I questioned.

“Why are you in their clothes then?” Old Jin asked.

“I really don’t have a choice if I wanted to survive.”

No one responded.

I saw one of them lowering his gun.

I added, “I know you’re all hungry but you can’t light a fire outside.”

“What should we do then, if we can’t light a fire?”

“I didn’t say you can’t light a fire. You just can’t do it outside. The ghosts can see clearly from high up and they will send people down faster than you think. No matter how far you light the fire, they would still launch an extensive search the moment they spot it.”

“But we’re too hungry.”

“This is my house. The meat in your hands was hunted by me. I can fill you guys up but you must believe me,” I said calmly.

The five of them were dumbstruck.

Old Chen, who was at his last gasp, spoke, “Vote.”

Xiaowang was the first to raise his hand. “I agree.”

“He’s an outsider after all so I can’t trust him.”

“He’s wearing a ghost’s uniform and holding his gun. He must’ve killed and snatched those from a ghost. I believe you, what about the rest?”

“Who else can we trust, if not him? I’m in.”

“Raise your hand if you trust this man.”

A total of five hands, including Old Chen’s, were raised.

Xiaowang walked toward the meat.

“Flint’s on the table,” I said.

Old Jin passed it over instantly.

“How do you plan to do this?” Xiaowang asked.

“Yeah, the fire in the house can’t be controlled,” Old Jin added.

With a bitter smile, I answered, “I’m going to use a heatable brick bed.”

I’ve been using bricks to shut the chimney for a long time now.

It was my secret to not being discovered.

I struck the flint.

Once, twice.

The fire was lit.

And the blocks had previously been filled.

I added a layer of small rocks.

Because the smoke was shut in, it filled the whole house.

The skeptic in their team spoke up, “Are you trying to choke us?”

I replied, “There’s no other way to keep our position hidden.”

Frustrated but helpless, everyone kept silent.

Even Old Chen, who was covering his nose, refrained from commenting.

I asked slowly, “Why are you guys here?”

No one answered me so I shook my head with a bitter smile.

Minutes passed and the fire was roaring.

I got up and took the pot before picking out the red-hot rocks with a pair of fire tongs.

I used soil to bury the fire and stir-fried the pot of meat and burning rocks. The fragrance was irresistible.

Everyone stared lustfully at the pot.

I put it in the middle of the table. “Eat slowly, the rocks are hot.”

Before I could finish they reached in to snatch the meat.

Xiaowang wanted to scream when he got scalded but held it in to protect their safety.

I asked once more, “What are you guys here for?”

Old Chen took a piece of meat before answering, “To find a path to the front line in order to replenish the supplies for Red Army.”

“Red Army? What supplies?”

“The Red Army that kills the ghosts. Unfortunately, there are landmines here, or else we wouldn’t be in this state,” Old Chen struggled with his words.

“Wait, kill ghosts? Who’s considered a part of Red Army?” I refined my question.

“The army that resists the Japanese. We call ourselves the Red Army and we’re all comrades. You’re a part of us now since you’re helping us, right?” Xiaowang responded.

“I’m not sure about this stuff but I know that you guys are after the ghosts.”

They nodded profusely.

I smiled. “The landmines you’re talking about are the things in the ground that explode, right?”

Xiaowang nodded again. “Yeah, those evil ghosts placed landmines in all crucial locations, making it difficult for us to pass through. The front line isn’t far from here but there are too many landmines in Beiping.”

I searched for the metal chunk and showed it to them. “This is it?”

“It explodes, why are you holding it!” Xiaowang exclaimed.

When I showed it properly to him, his jaw dropped.

“This has been torn open so it won’t explode.”

The young man beside Xiaowang asked, “You know how to do it?”

I nodded.

Even though I’d only seen that ghost do it once, I’ve been studying it for a long time.

“That’s great,” Xiaowang smiled gleefully.

…..

The next morning, two people remained to look after Old Chen while Xiaowang and Old Jin brought me to the area outside Beiping City.

I disarmed a landmine with a bayonet and placed it in front of them.

They couldn’t contain their joy.

Half a day later, they brought me to a camping ground that was filled with Chinese.

They called themselves the Red Army.

I met the leader of the army.

After a short conversation between the leader and Xiaowang, the former ran over to me

“Surname’s Jiang. I heard that you can get rid of bombs?”

Bombs? Landmines, right? I nodded before handing the deactivated landmine to him.

The leader smiled at me, calling me a bomb specialist.

A month later, I freed a path for the team to transport supplies.

Old Chen and the other two comrades were rescued, too.

Two months later, I followed Leader Jiang in his fight from Beiping to Nanjing.

Leader Jiang treated me very well and made me an official.

He even sent me to study and had the newspaper write a whole load of reports on me.

He stayed in Nanjing while I went over to Shanghai.

The war over there lasted for three months and was coined the Battle of Shanghai by later generations.

And ever since I disarmed my first landmine, I never stopped until the day I died.

A total of a thousand four hundred and sixty-three of them.

Did you ask what’s my name?

My name’s Yang Jie.