Hearing this, Wang An frowned and asked
"Great merit? Where on earth can such merit be found? Tell me, I'm listening."
To be honest, Wang An really couldn't figure out how there could be any merit in this matter.
Because among those five Japanese, the old geezer with glasses looked like a highly educated, sophisticated old devil.
And the four younger Japanese were also professionally trained.
For Japanese of this caliber, the possibility of them entering the country secretly was slim, because there was simply no need; coming in openly and officially would be their first choice.
Therefore, in this situation, anyone wanting to move against them would have to weigh the options and consider it carefully.
Of course, if the higher-ups could be a bit more forceful, it would be a non-issue.
But as long as things were handled under the banner of "Guoji Youren" (The Nation's Benevolence), small entities would be wiped out instantly, and even large entities, if not wiped out, would inevitably be stripped of a layer of skin.
After all, many things are not something ordinary people can wrap their heads around; the higher-ups had their own considerations.
Thus, Wang An only dared to play dirty, but didn't dare do anything substantial.
Of course, if they happened to be killed by those bottles and jars in the stone mountain, or used their predecessors' seppuku knives to disembowel themselves, that would be a different story.
After all, suicide and homicide are two completely different things. Some people might want to say something, but he would shut them up directly.
As the old saying goes, "Kind words cannot persuade a ghost who is meant to die."
After Wang An finished asking, Mu Xueli explained
"Brother-in-law, look, that stone mountain was a Japanese base back in the day. How did they know there was a hollow stone mountain there? Even if they knew, how did they know where the entrance was? Furthermore, their act of posing as ginseng diggers can't be explained. In short, just lay everything out in the open; the bigger the commotion, the better."
Hearing this, Wang An's eyes suddenly lit up. What Mu Xueli was suggesting was clearly an open "overt plot"!
Because they could simply treat these five Japanese as spies. Once the word "spy" was involved, there would be no reason or excuse that could save them.
Whatever conventions or restrictions existed would become meaningless.
This was something Zhang Shuya and Wu Dong could easily accomplish.
Most importantly, regardless of the outcome, they would be in an invincible position!
Thinking of this, Wang An patted Mu Xueli on the shoulder with a face full of smiles and praised
"Not bad, Xueli! That brain of yours really didn't grow for nothing, hahahaha!"
After Wang An spoke, Mu Xueli and Wang Li laughed along.
After the laughter subsided, Wang An said to Mu Xueli and Wang Li
"Then I'll head back now and make a trip to the county town. I'll have my eldest sister and the others arrest these stupid Japanese bastards."
Wang An stood up to leave, but paused, then suddenly squatted back down. He picked up the deer-bone skewer and spoon and continued digging.
Seeing Wang An say he was leaving but not actually leaving, Wang Li and Mu Xueli instinctively looked at each other. From their silent exchange, it wasn't hard to tell they were both thinking
"What the hell is wrong with Brother-in-law (Fourth Brother)?"
Although Wang An was scraping soil to dig for ginseng, he noticed their silent communication out of the corner of his eye and said with a wicked grin
"Tell me, with all those stones pressing down on them, do you think they can get out?"
Wang Li instinctively asked back
"Fourth Brother, how many stones did you pile on?"
Wang An estimated and said
"At least three manure baskets' worth. I figured that even if they smashed that stone slab, they'd still be crushed pretty badly by the rocks."
After saying this, Wang An let out a "ga ga ga ga..." wicked laugh.
Imagining the scene, Wang Li and Mu Xueli laughed along.
The laughter of these three contained a kind of sleazy satisfaction of a successful scheme; one listen was enough to know that not a single one of these three brats was a "good seed."
Mu Xueli squinted her eyes while laughing, recalling
"That stone slab was actually quite thick. I reckon it weighed at least 200 jin. It'll be tough to break it from the inside. The key is that the angle doesn't allow for any leverage; you couldn't even swing a sledgehammer. If they want to get out..."
At this point, Mu Xueli suddenly spoke with anxiety and concern
"I just remembered, there are mortars in there! If they use a mortar to blast their way out, it might be unpredictable."
Actually, what Mu Xueli thought of, Wang An had thought of too. But before Wang An could speak, Wang Li said
"I don't think it's an issue. Those shells are covered in rust; some are rotted through. Who would dare use shells in that condition?"
After thinking for a moment, Wang Li continued
"Besides, in that enclosed space, just shouting would be unbearable. If a shell actually went off—holy crap—wouldn't the shock make their noses and mouths bleed!"
After Wang Li finished, the three fell silent, all instinctively imagining what kind of scene it would be if a shell exploded inside the stone mountain.
After a while, Wang Li frowned and said
"Could there be a secret passage in there that we don't know about? What if they sneak out through a secret passage?"
It had to be said that Wang Li's thought was very reasonable, as this was a question everyone had been ignoring.
Wang An shook his head and said
"That's unlikely. If there were a secret passage, they definitely would have entered through it; there'd be no need to go through all the trouble of going to that entrance."
Wang Li countered
"What if they couldn't find the secret passage entrance and had no choice but to enter through this one? I think that's possible too."
After Wang Li spoke, the three fell into silence again, because such a possibility did indeed exist.
A few minutes later, Wang An suddenly said with a nonchalant expression
"Whatever happens, happens. Once we finish digging this old plot, we'll sneak over and take a look. If they escaped, consider them lucky; if they didn't, they won't starve to death. We'll see then."
With that, Wang An made the final decision, and the three continued digging for ginseng.
Meanwhile, in the stone mountain over ten li away, those five Japanese were already flying into a rage.
In truth, when Wang An placed the stone slab, these five Japanese already knew. No matter how careful Wang An was, the slab would make a sound when it landed.
However, they likely stayed put for safety, and more importantly, they didn't understand the situation outside, so they instinctively didn't dare come out to stop him.
Unfortunately, Wang An was a malicious sort who didn't play by the rules, and he had piled the slab full of stones!
And he'd piled so damn many!
This resulted in the stone mountain currently being filled with sounds of "Baka!", "Baka-yarou!", and "Yamete!"
It was clear that these Japanese were truly desperate!
All politeness and decorum had been thrown out the window.
One of the young Japanese was even kneeling there, holding the barrel of a mortar, repeatedly slamming it against the stone slab.
(End of Chapter)