DDT - Chapter 109
Chapter 109: Tycoon's Daughter (17)
With a click, the squad leader pulled the trigger, and the gun in his hand let out a "bang."
At the same time, hearing the click of the trigger and the "bang" from the squad leader's side, the student leader subconsciously pulled the trigger of his own gun. The two shots rang out almost simultaneously. Upon hearing the sound of gunfire from the other side, both men reflexively shut their eyes.
Although the student leader had been with the Secret Party for several years, he had only been shot once. That was two or three years ago. He was on a mission outside Huaping City and was spotted by a Japanese patrol on his way out. He was hit in the arm while escaping. Because he was in a hurry to flee, he couldn't bandage it properly and nearly bled to death on the road.
He had been unconscious for over a month after being shot that time before slowly recovering. Though it had been a long time since he'd been wounded by a gun, the memory of the pain still made him frown.
He wondered where he would be unlucky enough to get hit this time. As long as that squad leader had listened to him and hadn't gone crazy and aimed for his head, he would be fine if he survived.
He had aimed for the squad leader's right shoulder. Crippling his right shoulder would prevent the squad leader from firing again after being hit. Whether it was getting shot a second time or stray bullets hitting other students and civilians, these were outcomes the student leader did not want to see. The squad leader was right-handed; crippling his right shoulder was the same as crippling his right hand, which would at least temporarily resolve the immediate crisis.
The anticipated pain never came. The student leader reacted instantly, opening his eyes. The surrounding students, the crowd, and the men behind the squad leader were all stunned, their faces blank with confusion.
Everyone had been prepared for a mutually destructive outcome. Some of the more thoughtful students had even readied a first-aid kit, prepared to rush forward and treat their leader's wounds at a moment's notice.
But who would have thought that while both sides had fired one after the other, the student leader was still standing there perfectly fine. The squad leader, on the other hand, was probably startled by the very real gunshot from the student leader's weapon. His nerves instantly tensed. In that split second, his adrenaline surged. He held up his right hand, his index finger squeezing the trigger all the way down. A jet of eerie blue flame shot out from the muzzle of the "gun" in his hand. The flame was perfectly formed, shooting straight forward like a miniature flamethrower. The eerie blue flame was a good six or seven centimeters long, and though somewhat slender, it didn't flicker in the wind like an ordinary lighter.
Only then did the squad leader realize that the thing he had swiped from Chief Liang's drawer wasn't a damn service pistol at all. What he had gotten was just a high-end lighter shaped like a gun!
Perhaps it was due to the shock and the immense blow, or perhaps the short-lived effect of the adrenaline had worn off.
The squad leader felt a sharp, tearing pain in his right shoulder. It felt as if something had pierced right through it!
Pain washed over him like a tide. Without the stimulation of adrenaline and with his shoulder severely injured, the squad leader's arm went limp. Because he had been gripping the gun-shaped lighter so tightly before pulling the trigger, his right hand now seemed frozen, still clutching the large lighter. The beautiful lighter, still spouting its eerie blue flame, continued to display its heroic posture.
Although the squad leader had once been a soldier in the New Government's army, he had never truly participated in a war, let alone been on a battlefield. So, apart from training, he had never suffered any major injuries, to say nothing of a large and serious wound from a gunshot.
He had never felt such pain before. After just a few seconds of stunned silence, before anyone else could react, a scream like a pig being slaughtered erupted from the squad leader's mouth.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The squad leader collapsed to the ground, his right hand dragging beside him at a strange, awkward angle. He tried to cover the wound with his left hand, but the slightest touch sent a heart-wrenching agony through him as blood gushed out. The squad leader's wails changed pitch several times, twisting and turning in the air.
Seeing that the patrol squad leader had lost his ability to fight, his stunned subordinates were also terrified by the real weapon in the student leader's hand. They didn't dare act rashly, afraid that the fearless student leader would put a bullet or two in them. That would be a raw deal, wouldn't it?
The student leader cautiously pointed his gun at the motley crew across from him and said warily, "From now on, these few streets are ours for the night market. Aren't you going to stop your captain's bleeding and take him to the hospital to get that wound treated?"
"The New Year is almost here. Don't let your filthy, disgusting blood stain our side."
Seeing that the student had no intention of firing again, the members of the patrol squad swarmed over, clumsily trying to stop their leader's bleeding. From the crowd, the pig-like squeals and curses of the pampered, soft squad leader, who had never known hardship, could be heard intermittently. The faces of some patrol squad members turned ugly. This time, their leader had brought them out here in front of so many people in Huaping City without any real weapons, causing a scene. He had completely disgraced their patrol squad! A grown man, crying and howling after taking one bullet—wasn't he just making a fool of himself for everyone to see?
The men in the squad had been living more and more frugally over the past few years, their status in the city dropping lower and lower. Occasionally, they would hear people pointing and whispering behind their backs. They had a premonition that if no one higher up was willing to handle today's incident, they would soon become the most powerless dogs in Huaping City, left to be laughed at by everyone!
And many of the people they had offended in previous years might take this opportunity to kick them while they were down or seek revenge.
In any case, this squad leader had no real power and usually just acted tyrannically, bullying his subordinates. Why not just replace him this time?
Several of the men exchanged glances, tacitly understanding the meaning in their teammates' eyes. Immediately, one of them clamped a hand tightly over the squad leader's mouth. The piercing wails finally stopped. The squad leader was sweating from the pain, and seeing himself treated so roughly, his face filled with disbelief. A few men hastily stopped the bleeding for the time being, and the squad leader was then hoisted onto the shoulders of several large men who ran towards the hospital.
Just as the patrol squad was about to flee the scene in disgrace, they heard the student behind them push his luck. "A few of you stay behind and clean up the blood on the street before you go. If anyone dares to disobey, don't blame me for being impolite."
The few patrol squad members who were running slower had no choice but to grit their teeth and stop. Seething with resentment, they found a hose, connected it to a water source, and began washing the ground, their faces burning with shame. Not far away, the students and neighbors had already returned to normal, preparing for the upcoming night market.
A few students came over, worried that today's incident had blown up and that the New Government would send people to arrest them, or that the patrol squad would report the matter up the chain of command, eventually leading to the city defense army coming to disperse or arrest them.
The student leader reassured the students and the worried neighbors. After supervising the few patrol squad members until the ground was clean, he let them leave.
Watching the few large men flee in disarray, the student leader holstered his gun. He gave some final instructions, then turned and walked towards the Secret Party's stronghold. He needed to communicate with his superiors about everything that had just happened.
He had to get the organization prepared.
Over at the hospital, the doctors helped remove the bullet from the squad leader's shoulder. The bullet was lodged between two bones in his shoulder, cracking them. Due to the limited medical technology of the era, the doctors inevitably damaged the nerves in his shoulder and arm during the surgery. There was a high probability that the squad leader's right arm would be crippled.
A few of the more influential members of the squad ordered the others to keep the squad leader under house arrest in his hospital room, not allowing him to go anywhere. Then, they went to the military headquarters themselves, wanting to report what had happened today.
In the banquet hall on the top floor of the Wanxing Restaurant, the head of the New Government, Commander Hou Wanxing of the city defense army, and several other military officers sat at their seats, dining and enjoying a song and dance performance by some of Huaping City's most famous songstresses on stage.
The bigwigs were chatting idly when suddenly a man who looked like a soldier pushed the door open. After saluting them, he leaned down and whispered something in Hou Wanxing's ear. An impatient look appeared on Commander Hou's face. He gave the soldier a few instructions and waved him away.
The head of the New Government had been watching their interaction, trying to overhear something, but the voices were too low.
Commander Hou turned his head and saw the leader's curious expression. He sighed softly. "Some of my men were causing trouble in the streets just now. That patrol unit we were planning to disband anyway somehow got their hands on a gun and ended up shooting one of their own. Now they've brought the mess all the way up here. I didn't want to spoil everyone's mood, so I had Old Liang lock them up for a while. We'll deal with it after the fuss dies down."
Sensing the slightly awkward atmosphere, another officer immediately raised his glass. "Let's not worry about such trivial matters. Come, Commander Hou, let me toast you."
The men from the patrol squad had used all their connections to try and escalate the matter, but they never expected that, through the manipulation of certain interested parties, the message got distorted in transmission. Not only did they not receive help, but they were also arrested by armed soldiers and thrown in jail, including the squad leader who was still recovering from his injury.
After several years, the New Year's Eve market in Huaping City finally saw the light of day again.
As the sky gradually darkened, the students removed the barricades at the entrance of the street. People who had been waiting outside for a long time chattered excitedly as they walked into the night market. At this moment, they completely forgot that this was an era of war. They didn't think about the Japanese army just across the river, nor did they think about the years spent fleeing and hiding. They just wanted to have a good New Year.
Chi Junluo and Yi Shuhan came out of a shop. Chi Junluo led Yi Shuhan towards the night market. The sky had already darkened, and the streetlights were on. For once, the streets were bustling with people at this hour. Residents from the more remote parts of Huaping City came from every corner, all heading towards the night market street. The night in Huaping City was, for a rare moment, filled with the warmth of life.
Soft, white snowflakes began to drift down from the sky. It was the first snow of the winter in Huaping City.
What started as a light flurry gradually grew heavier.
Hou Wanxing stood on the top-floor balcony of the Wanxing Restaurant, extending a hand to catch a few snowflakes. Watching the beautifully shaped flakes melt into clear, transparent water in his palm, he seemed to be praying for something. "A timely snow promises a good harvest."
Behind him, through the partially closed door, decadent and sultry music still played in the banquet hall. The several officers and the government head were dead drunk, lying haphazardly on the sofas, snoring loudly.
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