“Japanese soldiers have entered the city. They’ve come three times, grabbing anyone who looks like a soldier. I heard they’re killing people everywhere on the streets, not sparing children or elderly, and when they see women they…” The nurse bit her teeth and didn’t continue. “Don’t run around. Young men like you are very dangerous.”

Xiao Wangyun threw off the blanket to leave. His calf shot with severe pain and he nearly fell. The nurse supported him back into sitting position. “Your leg was just stitched up.”

“I need to go out.”

“There are Japanese soldiers everywhere outside. What are you going out for?”

Xiao Wangyun pushed her away. “Please move aside.”

“You can’t leave.” The nurse grabbed him. “The stitches will tear open again!”

“Xiao Wangyun.”

Xiao Wangyun looked toward the voice and saw a tall woman in a nurse’s uniform. Just from her eyes and brows, he recognized her. “Wanzhi? How are you here?”

The nurse, seeing he knew Xie Chi, said, “You change his bandages.”

“Alright.” Xie Chi moved closer and said to Xiao Wangyun, “You have multiple injuries. You shouldn’t move around.”

“I thought you had left.” Xiao Wangyun’s face was clouded with worry. “That nurse just said Japanese people are killing people outside? Raping…” He couldn’t bear to say this filthy word.

“Yes, not just soldiers, but civilians too. This is Gulou Hospital, within the International Safety Zone, so it’s much safer.”

“Shouyue is still at home. I have to go back.”

“Are you going out like this to seek death?” Xie Chi looked at his wound. “I’ll go take a look.”

“No, those beasts have no humanity. You can’t run around.”

“I know the roads well – they can’t catch me.” Xie Chi bent down to unwrap his bandages. “The devils are holding celebration banquets. There aren’t many on the streets.”

His leg had several stitches, and changing the dressing was very painful. Xiao Wangyun frowned, gripping the blanket tightly.

Xie Chi talked to distract his attention. “How did you end up coming to Nanjing? People inside are breaking their heads trying to get out, yet you’re running in.”

“Shouyue’s father came back to handle business and was killed by bombing. I accompanied her back to handle the funeral arrangements, then we couldn’t get out.”

Xie Chi finished bandaging him. “Death is death – just a pile of bones. You shouldn’t have come.”

…

Around two o’clock this afternoon.

Jiang Shouyue was so anxious she couldn’t sit still. Xiao Wangyun had been gone so long without returning. There was no food left at home, and with this pile of people gathered together, adults could go hungry for a few meals, but there were several children.

But she didn’t dare go out. She had just taken in two new refugees who said Japanese soldiers were killing people madly outside – whether young adults, twelve or thirteen-year-old boys, or men in their fifties or sixties, as long as they were male, they’d be killed as Chinese guerrillas. It made everyone’s hearts flutter with fear.

Jiang Shouyue hurriedly collected all the military coats she had picked up yesterday for everyone to use as bedding for warmth, piled them in the back yard and burned them clean. She watched the roaring flames, a huge breath stuck in her heart, thinking that Xiao Wangyun might very well not be coming back.

She clenched her fists and suddenly crouched down, burying her head and crying bitterly. She thought: if it weren’t for her, Xiao Wangyun wouldn’t be trapped in Nanjing either.

Just as she was grieving, sounds of people scattering came from the front yard. She couldn’t care about her sorrow and got up to walk over, only to see one man and two women rushing toward her in competition. Jiang Shouyue grabbed one of the women. “What happened?”

“Japanese soldiers climbed over the wall and came in!”

Jiang Shouyue wiped away her tears, straightened her back, and resolutely walked toward the front yard.

The woman grabbed her. “Run quickly, madam, don’t go over there.”

“You hide well.” Jiang Shouyue, in her qipao, overcoat, and small high heels, appeared otherworldly and independent in this chaos. When the Japanese soldiers saw her, they excitedly pulled and tugged at her.

Having lived in Shenyang with her father for a long time, she knew some Japanese people and could speak a few sentences of Japanese. She cursed at that Japanese soldier and demanded directly to see their commanding officer.

The squad leader was stuffing a jade carving into his chest when Jiang Shouyue approached from behind. “Tell your men to stop! This kind of behavior violates international conventions…”

The squad leader turned around, stroking his chin as he looked her up and down from head to toe, completely ignoring what she was saying.

“If you continue to rob, rape women, and kill innocents indiscriminately, I will go tell Colonel Qingtian and the Japanese consulate.”

The squad leader didn’t know any Colonel Qingtian, nor did he care about any majors, colonels, or consulates. Everyone was doing these things – it was tacitly permitted.

He walked toward Jiang Shouyue, about to touch her cheek.

Jiang Shouyue slapped him across the face. The squad leader turned his face back with a smile. “I like that.”

…

These beasts didn’t even spare sixty-year-old grandmothers.

Girls who were slightly prettier were more favored. After the assault, Japanese soldiers rarely left survivors, and unwilling to waste bullets, they mostly used bayonets to stab them to death.

Jiang Shouyue had never cursed in her life, and even now she couldn’t utter a single profane word.

The squad leader went first. After discovering she was still a virgin, he became even more excited, cutting off her hair and keeping it to make into an amulet later. They believed wearing such items could ward off evil.

After he left the room, several more Japanese soldiers entered one after another. Jiang Shouyue could no longer make a sound, half-opening her mouth, letting tears flow, staring vacantly at the ceiling. The curtain tassels swayed back and forth, and only the creaking sound of the bed frame remained in the room.

After stopping for a while, another squad of Japanese soldiers arrived, having heard there was a particularly beautiful woman. They clamored noisily to come in and see. The one inside wasn’t finished yet and cursed loudly, driving them out.

So the other Japanese soldiers waited at the door chatting, taking turns going in. This continued for over two hours before they left satisfied, discussing in bursts of laughter:

“Really beautiful.”

“White as snow.”

“Take her back with us.”

…

Xie Chi changed into her own clothes and carefully went out, not expecting Xiao Wangyun to also limp along following her.

Xie Chi pushed him. “What are you following for?”

Xiao Wangyun said, “I’m worried.”

“If you encounter devils like this, you can’t run away yourself and will drag me down too.”

“You go back. Don’t worry about it – I’ll go myself.”

“In this pitch darkness, with ruins everywhere, can you even find the Jiang house?”

Xiao Wangyun fell silent. He really couldn’t find it, but he remained stubborn. “No, I can’t let you go alone. It’s too dangerous.”

“You still know it’s dangerous.” Xie Chi knew she couldn’t persuade him. “Then follow me closely.”

They didn’t encounter any Japanese soldiers along the way and successfully reached the Jiang house. Xiao Wangyun knocked on the door. Xie Chi looked through the door crack and saw it wasn’t locked inside, so she pushed the door open directly. At that moment, both of them froze.

Bodies all over the courtyard…

Xiao Wangyun stumbled and rushed in, fell once, crawled and rolled to get up and charged inside. Xie Chi searched through the corpses with him but didn’t see Jiang Shouyue.

Xiao Wangyun ran around frantically, out of his mind. “She’s not over there either.” He beat his head in anguish. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her here. It’s all my fault!”

Xie Chi grabbed his hands. Knowing the hope was slim, she still comforted him. “I see the back door is open with many footprints. Maybe she escaped.”

Xiao Wangyun gritted his teeth, too angry to speak.

There was movement outside the yard. Xie Chi signaled him not to speak, and they hid in a room. Japanese soldiers came in noisily, rummaging through things, muttering, “Everything’s been taken, not a bit left for us.”

“This one seems pretty good.”

Xiao Wangyun was blocked inside by Xie Chi. “How many?”

“Three.”

Xiao Wangyun pulled out his small knife. Xie Chi pressed down his hand. “You’re in this condition.” She took the knife. “Let me do it.”

The Japanese soldiers searched everywhere for things. What they couldn’t take, they smashed. The Jiang house was large, and the three soldiers quickly dispersed.

Xie Chi followed one short soldier who was alone. He was looking at a calligraphy painting, muttering to himself. Without even time to react, Xie Chi covered his mouth from behind and slit his throat with one stroke.

“Fukui, there’s a vase here that looks very valuable.”

“Fukui.” The Japanese soldier came out holding the vase. Just as he turned the corner and saw Xie Chi standing in front of him, he was stunned for a moment, completely unprepared. “Flower girl…”

Halfway through his words, Xie Chi stabbed the knife into his throat. The vase fell to the ground with a crash.

The distant Japanese soldier heard the commotion. “Fukui, Fujino.”

“Fukui.”

No response.

The Japanese soldier realized something was wrong and immediately raised his gun, carefully probing forward. Suddenly there was a click behind him. He turned and fired a shot. Xiao Wangyun rolled to the side, lunged over and pinned him down. The two rolled and wrestled together.

How could a scholar match a soldier’s strength? Soon, Xiao Wangyun was pinned down by the Japanese soldier, who strangled his neck tightly. The Japanese soldier reached for his knife. Xiao Wangyun suddenly roared, grabbed a stool beside him and smashed it hard on his head.

Xie Chi followed the sound and arrived to see Xiao Wangyun sitting astride the Japanese soldier, smashing his face into a bloody pulp.

She went forward and pressed him down. “Enough, he’s already dead.”

Xiao Wangyun kept smashing, blood splattered all over him.

Xie Chi pulled him up and dragged him out. “Let’s go quickly.”

…

Xie Chi pulled him back to the hospital. Before dawn, Xiao Wangyun secretly ran away, disregarding his injuries and the surrounding dangers, searching the safety zones for half the day, still holding onto a sliver of hope.

Xiao Wangyun wore a black wool overcoat, particularly conspicuous among all the blue and gray jackets. A’Ru spotted him from far away. “Is that Teacher Xiao?”

Meng Yuan looked in the direction she pointed, her heart tightening. It was indeed Xiao Wangyun.

The two of them walked toward him. “Teacher Xiao.”

Xiao Wangyun turned around, his brows constantly furrowed. Previously when she saw him, he was always clean and orderly. Now his hair was disheveled, his glasses frames were covered with mud, and he looked much more weathered. Seeing it was them, he said, “You two should quickly cut your hair short.”

Meng Yuan touched her long braid but didn’t speak.

A’Ru asked, “Teacher Xiao, why are you in Nanjing?”

“Getting something.” Xiao Wangyun had just finished checking the refugee lists, hadn’t found Jiang Shouyue, and was about to rush to other safety zones.

A’Ru and Meng Yuan followed him. “In all this chaos, what are you getting?”

“Can’t explain in a sentence or two.”

A’Ru: “Are you injured?”

Xiao Wangyun had long stopped caring about the pain in his leg. “Yes.”

Meng Yuan had remained silent the whole time. Seeing Xiao Wangyun walking toward the exit, she called out, “Mr. Xiao.”

Xiao Wangyun looked back at her. “What is it?”

Meng Yuan shook her head. “Nothing. Please be careful.”

Xiao Wangyun nodded. “You too.”

Seeing him leave, A’Ru nudged Meng Yuan. “Aren’t you going to say a few more words?”

Meng Yuan watched him from afar and sighed. “Forget it. I feel like he doesn’t really want to talk to us, and he seems to have urgent business.”

Xiao Wangyun had lost too much blood, and having never rested, he hadn’t even reached the door when he collapsed unconscious.

Meng Yuan quickly rushed forward. “Mr. Xiao!”

…

Japanese soldiers seemed possessed, killing anyone they saw, raping any woman they encountered. The riverbank was piled with dark mountains of corpses.

Only an eleven-year-old boy remained of the Yang family. His mother had been stripped naked, her breasts cut off, and pinned to the wall with a bayonet. His father had been chopped at least twenty times, his left eyeball gouged out and stuffed in his mouth. There was also a four-year-old little brother who had been chopped from the top of his head down, splitting him in half while still alive.

He Feng rescued him from two Japanese soldiers, but he was still a step too late. The boy had been raped, and the Japanese soldiers had also cut off his genitals.

Blood flowed continuously from between the boy’s legs. His clothes were torn and couldn’t be closed properly. He Feng stripped his father’s clothes to put on him. The boy still had a trace of consciousness and weakly tried to retreat.

He Feng picked him up. “Don’t be afraid, Chinese.”

…

The hospital was full of wounded soldiers and civilians injured by artillery shells.

Xie Chi had no time to look for Xiao Wangyun again. The hospital already had few professional doctors and nurses, and they had basically all fled before the fall. The current medical staff were mostly people from within the safety zone who came to help. Though they couldn’t handle major tasks, simple disinfection and bandaging were easy to learn.

Before Shanghai fell, Xie Chi’s qipao shop had been bombed to nothing, and the landlord had also left Nanjing. She came to Gulou Hospital and had been working with the American doctor introduced by Xue Dingqing, learning some simple medical care.

From yesterday morning until this afternoon, Xie Chi hadn’t closed her eyes. She followed the rescue team out to carry injured patients, constantly going back and forth.

Because Americans were always with them, Japanese soldiers didn’t give them trouble.

They were going to Jinling Women’s College to pick up two seriously injured refugees.

Severed limbs lay scattered across the streets. Most female corpses were naked from the waist down. Those lying in the middle of the road had been run over by cars and trampled by horses – many no longer looked human. Some road sections had piles of corpses too high for cars to pass, so they had to get out and move the bodies to the roadside. The ground was red and black everywhere, and walking made your feet stick.

Just after getting out of the car, a nurse leaned against the wall and vomited violently.

Xie Chi patted her back. “Let’s go.”

Many women were gathered at the women’s college. When they first heard the car sounds outside, they thought the devils had come again and huddled together in fear. Only when they saw it was people from the hospital did they feel relieved. Among them were also injured people who begged for doctors and nurses to stay.

The ambulance stopped outside the school.

Xie Chi felt dizzy and about to faint, forcing her exhausted body to push the patient out.

She suddenly heard a male voice outside the door.

“Save him, he’s still breathing.”

Gunshots continued to sound in the distance. Underfoot were the rolling wheels and their hurried footsteps, plus the howling wind in her ears.

All sounds stopped abruptly. Only those brief five words instantly jolted her awake.

She quickly ran outside, scanning around, and saw a boy being carried into the ambulance.

Xie Chi was certain she hadn’t misheard.

“Who brought him here?” She grabbed the medical staff standing guard outside.

“A soldier.”

“Which way did he go?”

A doctor from behind pushed a gurney over. The medical staff casually pointed west and went to help.

Xie Chi turned and rushed toward the street, seeing a figure leaping over ruins. She didn’t dare shout loudly and chased after him with her head down.

Just as she climbed over the wall, a large hand pressed down on hers, pinning her against the broken wall.

…