Chapter 44 The Most Beautiful Village Girl

That afternoon, Yingzi arrived to pick up her daughter from school and saw her child chatting and laughing with Summer as they stood outside, watching her approach from afar.

Yingzi was a young widow in her twenties, one of the prettiest in the village. She had married only briefly before her husband, a soldier, was killed in battle. As the saying goes, a widow’s door attracts trouble; over the years, the village chief had shown her special care. Since Chief Yan Kai was not much older than her, rumors began to swirl, and many villagers gossiped about her behind closed doors. Even her in-laws were not immune to such suspicions.

Yingzi endured much hardship from these malicious whispers, fueling her desire to leave the village and start anew in the city. To this end, she spent the past few years saving every penny, determined to realize her dream as soon as possible.

That night, Wang Kun teleported to a nearby Japanese military camp. Without hesitation, he unleashed his psychic power. Several flying knives became homing missiles, their black blades piercing the skulls of the Japanese soldiers. In mere moments, the thousand-strong garrison was annihilated, each soldier felled by a fatal blow to the head.

After wiping out the troops, Wang Kun detonated the munitions depot and casually tidied the battlefield. The thunderous explosions quickly drew the attention of nearby villagers, among them guerrilla fighters hiding amongst the locals.

“What happened? Who attacked the Japanese camp?” they whispered.

Once he finished clearing out the camp, Wang Kun immediately set his sights on the next target. His mission was clear: use the cover of night to eradicate all Japanese strongholds near Yingzi’s village, ensuring the tragedy of the past would never happen again.

If the Japanese returned after he cleared them out? That would be easy—he’d wipe out each new wave as they came.

That night, Wang Kun became the nightmare of every Japanese soldier. All around Yingzi’s village, more than ten Japanese outposts, with nearly ten thousand soldiers in total, were slaughtered in a single night.

Meanwhile, as Wang Kun was obliterating the Japanese positions, an American bomber crashed in the mountains near Yingzi’s village.

The deafening explosion startled many villagers from their sleep. Summer, who lived in the village, heard the commotion and quickly went to investigate the crash site. After searching, she found no surviving American airmen.

The next morning, as Yingzi set out to gather mulberry leaves with her basket, fate led her to the sight of an American airman hanging from a tree. Alarmed, Yingzi hurried back to the village.

Just minutes later, Summer, who had been following Yingzi, pretended to run into her by chance. “Yingzi, you’re in such a hurry—what’s happened?”

Yingzi hesitated, then replied, “There’s someone hanging from a tree in the woods.”

Summer’s expression turned grave. “Where? Take me there at once.”

Soon, Yingzi led Summer to the tree, where the American airman hung from a branch.

“Yingzi, this is an American airman. To be honest, my husband and I came to this village on a secret mission: to help these American airmen. Please keep today’s events to yourself, and don’t tell anyone,” Summer said earnestly.

Seeing Summer’s seriousness, Yingzi understood why she and Wang Kun, both city folk, had suddenly appeared in their village. It was a secret mission. Yingzi readily promised, “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t be afraid, Yingzi. I’m only asking for secrecy so the Japanese don’t find out and drag the whole village into trouble. Go back now—leave this to me.”

After Yingzi left, Wang Kun teleported to Summer’s side.

“Master, he’s only unconscious—he’s not dead yet.”

“Good. Find a cave nearby, settle him there, and treat his wounds so he survives.”

“Understood.”

Summer gently leapt up and brought the unconscious American airman down from the tree.

Carrying him, Summer found a rain-sheltered cave nearby, tended his wounds, and ensured he wouldn’t die.

Truth be told, Wang Kun had no real desire to save these Americans. Though America was currently an ally of China against the Japanese, they were far from saints. Wang Kun’s purpose in this world was clear: change Yingzi’s fate. As for the Americans, if they weren’t useful, he wouldn’t care whether they lived or died.

Meanwhile, the Japanese command responsible for the region received detailed reports of the previous night’s attacks on their strongholds. The commander was furious.

“Damn it! Who struck so many of our posts in one night? Investigate immediately!”

“Yes, sir!”

With nearly ten thousand Japanese soldiers wiped out overnight, the American airman’s crash seemed trivial by comparison. For the next few days, there were no Japanese raids, and the village enjoyed rare peace and tranquility.

During this time, Summer visited the cave daily to check on the American airman and bring him food. The rest of her time was spent seeking opportunities to grow closer to Yingzi.

Wang Kun knew Yingzi longed to leave the village for a new life in the city. As a widow, she faced constant scrutiny, and Wang Kun, as a man and an outsider, was ill-suited to approach her directly. Thus, he relied on Summer to bridge the gap between them.

According to Wang Kun’s plan, once the American airman could walk on his own, he would use the opportunity to take Yingzi away from the village. Once outside, without the prying eyes and gossip, everything else would fall into place naturally.

A few days later, new Japanese troops arrived to occupy the positions Wang Kun had previously cleared. With half of China under Japanese control and guerrilla forces unable to openly seize towns in such heavily surrounded areas, the cycle of occupation continued.