Why Bother? Just One Shot!

In a basement beneath an abandoned courtyard in Sijiucheng, water was sprinkled across the ground as the floor was swept. Doctor Sakata looked utterly haggard, having gone without sleep for two full days. Opposite him, Liu Ren leaned against the doorway holding a broomhandle Mauser, watching him sweep. "What are you spacing out for? Sweep faster! If he doesn't wake up today, I'll offer you up as a living sacrifice! Understand?" Liu Ren's gaze held not the slightest shred of pity. To him, all the Japanese were the same—if you could kill them, you never showed mercy. Fighting back tears, Doctor Sakata turned to check the wounded man's condition. "Water... water..." At the faint sound, Doctor Sakata instantly grew excited. "He's awake! He's awake!" "Then what are you standing there for? Give him water!" Liu Ren raised the broomhandle Mauser and barked at him. Under Liu Ren's watchful eye, Doctor Sakata carefully dipped a cotton swab in water and moistened the man's lips. A few minutes later, once the man slipped back into sleep, Liu Ren stepped forward to inspect him. Sensing that his pulse had genuinely stabilized, he looked at Doctor Sakata. "Yoshi, very good!" Hearing Liu Ren's praise, Doctor Sakata immediately bowed his head, not daring to speak. "All right, you can go!" Liu Ren gestured toward the door with a broad smile. "You... you're not going to kill me?" Doctor Sakata looked at him in sheer disbelief. "You saved him. I keep my word—I won't kill you! Come on, I'll see you out!" Liu Ren spoke with an expression full of sincerity. Doctor Sakata beamed with joy and bowed repeatedly. "Arigatou, arigatou!" Following Liu Ren as they climbed out of the basement, Doctor Sakata pursed his lips in relief, feeling as though he had been granted a new lease on life. Yet just as hope swelled within his chest, a cold combat bayonet pierced straight through his heart. Looking at Liu Ren, who had turned back with a chilling smirk on his lips, Doctor Sakata's mouth dropped open in horror. "You..." "Fool. Did you really think I'd let you go? I just swept down there—getting it dirty again would be too much trouble!" Pulling out the combat bayonet, Liu Ren looked down at the collapsing doctor, a cold gleam in his eyes. "No wonder you're just an intern. Clearly not the brightest bulb!" After tidying up the area, Liu Ren descended back into the basement, only to find the wounded man struggling to sit up. The man glared at him warily, clutching a jagged piece of broken glass in his hand. "Big brother, what are you playing at now?" Liu Ren slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Who are you? Was that guy Japanese? I heard your conversation!" the man demanded, suspicion burning in his eyes. He feared Liu Ren was putting on an act to extract intelligence from him. Liu Ren stared at him in silence, then raised a hand. "Hold on!" With that, Liu Ren climbed back up and tossed something down from above. When the man saw Sakata's lifeless corpse thud to the floor, he froze on the spot, utterly stunned. "Ah?" "'Ah' what? I don't know medical skills! To save you, I had to kidnap a doctor! Look, the floor was just cleaned, and now it's filthy again! Just look at the mess!" Liu Ren spread his hands helplessly, pointing at the ground. His mouth twitching, the man asked in shock, "Are you really not a Japanese dog?" "Damn, you look so honest with your thick eyebrows and big eyes—how can you spout such foul slander? I f***ing..." Pointing at the man, Liu Ren wished he could stab him on the spot. That was the nastiest insult he had ever heard across multiple lifetimes! That wasn't just cursing his parents—that was digging up his ancestral graves! "You really aren't?" The man remained somewhat skeptical. "I'm a f***ing Chinese person! Pure Chinese, with blood redder than yours!" Liu Ren snapped in fury. The man stared at him for a long moment without answering, his gaze still laced with doubt. "Last time you were cornered in that alley by the military police, I'm the one who opened fire to save you! Otherwise, you'd have died long ago!" Liu Ren snapped, annoyed by his distrust. Even so, the man remained silent, watching him with guarded eyes. "Fine, fine, believe whatever you want!" Resigned, Liu Ren could not find the words to argue further. After all, he really had been speaking Japanese to the doctor earlier; he couldn't entirely blame the guy for being suspicious. "Here, these are painkillers, these are anti-inflammatories, this is for cleaning wounds..." Pointing to the medicines in the crate nearby, Liu Ren lifted Sakata's corpse with one hand. "I'm taking this guy out to dispose of him!" "Wait!" The man narrowed his eyes. "I want to check him!" Tilting his head, Liu Ren chuckled and tossed the body over. Upon seeing the puncture wound straight through the chest, the man was momentarily stunned. Was Liu Ren truly not with the Tokko? If Liu Ren had known what he was thinking, he would have kicked him on the spot. What kind of Tokko agent would bother putting on a show like this? They would have dragged him straight into an interrogation room! Five or six days later, once the man had gradually regained his mobility, Liu Ren yawned and said, "You can move now? Then hurry up and get going. I found a tunnel that leads out of the city—just crawl through when you're ready!" Staring at him in astonishment, the man asked, "You're really letting me go?" "What else?" Liu Ren spread his hands with a sigh. "What good does keeping you do me? To take care of you, I even put my revenge on hold! You owe me a massive favor, you know!" The man remained silent for a long time before saying softly, "I'm sorry. It seems I misunderstood you." "No big deal, nothing to sweat over! Plenty of people have called me a 'beast'! I'm still alive and kicking!" Liu Ren smiled fondly, recalling Forrest's nickname for him. "Do you need help? I can..." Looking at Liu Ren, who barely looked older than a half-grown lad, the man felt a wave of guilt. "You? I doubt you can handle it! Besides, why bother with all that trouble? It's just one shot!" Liu Ren replied nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow. Leaving behind plenty of food and water, Liu Ren made his way to the front gate of the military police headquarters. Just as he arrived, his eyes went wide in shock. "Holy crap, what the hell is this? Where did Su Daqiang come from?" Watching the man who looked like Su Daqiang step out of the headquarters, Liu Ren was utterly flabbergasted. "Hai, hai, hai!" Bowing obsequiously, "Su Daqiang" nodded with terror plastered across his face. Right then, reporters nearby began taking photographs. "Wait, that bastard is here too!" Spotting the enemy who had slain his predecessor, Liu Ren raised his Garand rifle and took aim. Because he had been saving that wounded man, he had let the bastard live this long. If he let him survive any longer, he would truly be letting his predecessor down! Bang! Bang! Bang! A flurry of gunshots rang out in rapid succession. While "Su Daqiang" was still staring in blank confusion, the Japanese colonel being photographed right in front of him collapsed backward, a gaping bullet hole through the center of his brow. At the same time, the enemy soldier who had killed Liu Ren's predecessor crumpled into a pool of blood. "Bakayarou! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" As the Japanese soldiers frantically scrambled to find the shooter, Liu Ren stowed his Garand rifle and strolled away, humming a jaunty tune. After all, in this era, that fellow definitely wasn't Su Daqiang—he was probably He Daqing, that lover of widows!