Fujita Kiyono was sent back to the villa.

Fujita Noo hadn’t gone to sleep yet. Already in a foul mood, seeing his son return wearing Chinese cotton clothing, his fury immediately erupted as he drew his sword and slashed toward him.

Hiss—

The blue fabric was sliced open, and the cotton inside spread out like white moths emerging from cocoons, some falling to the ground.

Fujita Kiyono frowned with his eyes tightly shut. Feeling no pain on his body and still alive, he lowered his head slightly. “I’ve caused you worry.”

Fujita Noo sheathed his blade without saying much more, only giving him a cold stare for a moment. His deep voice echoed in the empty room: “Change out of those clothes.” With those words, he returned to his room.

Fujita Kiyono picked up the cotton that had fallen to the ground. A servant quickly stepped forward, “Let me handle this.”

He stood up, and the servant looked up at him. “Please take off your clothes and give them to me.”

Fujita Kiyono unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it down. When he tugged it past his left arm, he broke out in a sweat from the pain.

The servant took the clothes. Fujita Kiyono looked toward the staircase. “My room?”

“It has already been prepared for you.”

“There’s no one else there, right?”

“No one.”

Fujita Kiyono breathed a sigh of relief and went upstairs, exhausted in body and mind.

Standing at the doorway, he looked at the bed and was reminded again of those humiliating experiences.

The bedsheets had all been changed to new ones.

Yet he still spent the night sleeping on the sofa.

Early the next morning, a servant prepared breakfast and called him to get up.

Having slept with an aching back and waist, he still sat upright at the dining table. Looking at the table full of food, he thought of the bread and thin porridge from the refugee area, and those terrifying wounds, which immediately killed his appetite entirely.

Fujita Noo was in a good mood, a smile playing at his lips as he sat down. “What are you thinking about?”

Fujita Kiyono quickly lowered his head. “Good morning, Father.”

Fujita Noo hummed in acknowledgment and picked up a spoon. “What happened to your injury?”

“I was struck by a collapsing wall.”

“I’ll have the military doctor examine you later.”

“No need, it’s just a minor injury, nothing serious.” Fujita Kiyono emphasized, “I nearly died out there. It was Chinese people who saved me, took me to the hospital, and treated me.”

Fujita Noo scooped up some soup. “Mm.”

“They were all very kind. I think we should help those patients and refugees. Their living conditions and medical environment are terrible, and there’s been an outbreak of infectious disease.” Seeing his father remain silent, Fujita Kiyono continued, “We’ve occupied this city. We should treat the defenseless civilians with kindness. They are innocent. You should order our soldiers to be strictly forbidden from entering—”

Fujita Noo threw down his spoon. “You still have the face to bring this up! Mixing with refugees in the camps, accepting treatment from the enemy—if it were your older brother, he would never have suffered such humiliation. He would have committed seppuku to preserve his dignity.”

“So my brother’s death makes you feel glorious!”

“He died fighting for the empire. It was his glory, our family’s glory.” Fujita Noo slammed the table. “But you have not only disgraced the Fujita family, you’ve completely disgraced the face of Greater Japan!”

“Our soldiers entered the refugee camps and hospitals to arrest people, rape, and rob. I saw with my own eyes in the hospital a soldier steal food from a ten-year-old child! Isn’t that disgraceful? There are still many Western missionaries and doctors in the safety zone. Doesn’t the military care about Japan’s diplomatic image at all? Aren’t they afraid of international public opinion?”

Fujita Noo interrupted him. “Those who died were all anti-Japanese elements. We are friendly to law-abiding citizens. As a soldier of Greater Japan, you must not be deceived by what you see before you. Put away your ridiculous sympathy.”

“Father, don’t deceive yourself! You clearly saw the civilian corpses throughout the city! Why ignore the atrocities that have already occurred when such things are still continuing! Our soldiers are brutalizing Chinese civilians like rabid beasts! They have completely lost control and lost their humanity! I can hardly believe those are our countrymen! They are demons wearing human skin!”

Fujita Noo picked up his spoon and stirred his soup, saying calmly: “Since occupying Nanking, our soldiers indeed haven’t controlled themselves well, but this isn’t something that can be managed in a short time.”

“Is it that they can’t be controlled, or that you don’t want to control them! Is it that the soldiers have gone mad, or that the military is turning a blind eye! If burning, killing, raping and pillaging are acts of losing control, then what about the elimination of prisoners? I heard that after the Chinese army surrendered, they were all executed. The laughable reason for the massacre was that there wasn’t enough food or bowls to give to the prisoners! And that large numbers of soldiers would be needed for guarding, so they simply eliminated them all. This not only satisfied the soldiers’ terrible bloodlust and vented their anger from fighting in Shanghai for three whole months, but also intimidated and threatened the Chinese government and people, showing off military might to reveal Japan’s enormous ambition to conquer Asia and even the world! All of this is fundamentally a planned policy of terror!” Fujita Kiyono stood up and slammed the table hard. “There are even two second lieutenants openly conducting a killing competition! As a general, you should maintain strict military discipline and can no longer indulge soldiers in their evil deeds! If this continues, our countrymen will be unable to hold their heads up in the world. Order them to stop entering the safety zone!”

Fujita Noo suddenly burst into laughter.

Fujita Kiyono frowned, unable to bear the humiliation. “What are you laughing at!”

Fujita Noo took a sip of soup. “You finally look a bit like a man.”

“I’m talking to you about the safety zone!”

“Sit down. Watch your attitude, whether toward your elders or your superior officer.”

Fujita Kiyono slowly unclenched his fists. “I apologize for my rudeness.”

Fujita Noo served him a rice ball. “Since they saved you, to show our gratitude, you can take some people today to deliver food there.”

Fujita Kiyono found it somewhat hard to believe. “Really?”

“Eat first. I’ll arrange it afterward.”

“Yes!”

…

Fujita Noo kept his promise, having him take four hundred pounds of rice, two hundred cans of food, and some medicine to deliver to Gulou Hospital. He naively thought he had persuaded his father, not realizing that Fujita Noo had other calculations, arranging for a photographer to follow him and capture images of Japanese soldiers being “close to the people.”

Atrocities! Hypocrisy! Deception!

It was utterly shameful. Fujita Kiyono wished he could find a cloth to cover himself from head to toe.

The hospital accepted the food and medicine. This was not the time for stubborn pride. Due to food shortages, many people suffered from malnutrition, which led to various diseases. These supplies could solve many problems, especially now when the grain and rice market was completely monopolized by the Japanese army.

By now, most refugees had nearly finished eating the food they had initially brought. Some relied on the porridge kitchen’s twice-daily distributions to survive, while others, unable to bear the hunger, risked their lives returning home for food—most were killed by Japanese soldiers on their way to find sustenance. Some people, in order to get a share of rice, turned to robbery and theft, even abandoning their principles to work for Japanese soldiers, doing things like cooking and washing clothes.

Xie Chi was still at the outdoor clinic near Jinling University附中.

After much internal struggle, Fujita Kiyono decided to see her once more.

As soon as the refugees heard the sound of Japanese military boots, they scattered like they had seen ghosts. In an instant, the area was empty.

Fujita Kiyono had the Japanese soldiers who came with him wait in the distance while he went to the clinic alone.

Dr. Li didn’t even give him a proper look, his lips pressed tight with displeasure as he returned to his tent to write medical records.

Xie Chi kept her head down cleaning injection needles, also ignoring him.

“You are called… Wanzhi.” Fujita Kiyono carried a cloth bag, holding it in his hand the whole time. He held it up for her. “I brought you something to eat.” Seeing Xie Chi take a broom to sweep the floor, he followed her. “There are fruits, candies, chocolate, cookies.”

“Take it away.”

Fujita Kiyono followed her around. “I have no malicious intent. I want to help you. I will make sure they don’t come to harass you anymore.”

Xie Chi straightened up and looked at him coldly. “Can you make them stop harassing all Chinese people and get out of Nanking?”

Fujita Kiyono lowered his head slightly. “I cannot do that yet.” He immediately looked up again, saying firmly, “But I will work hard at it.”

Xie Chi continued bending down to sweep. “I initially guessed you might be Japanese—a merchant, or a civilian who came here to live.” She let out a self-mocking cold laugh. “I didn’t expect to misjudge so badly. You’re actually a military officer.”

“I’m not quite yet. I just arrived in Nanking.” He was so anxious his words came out unclear as he tried to explain. “I have never killed Chinese people. I hope we can live in peace.”

Seeing Xie Chi continue to ignore him, he calmed down for a moment, then asked: “Then why didn’t you kill me?”

“We are different from you. Chinese people don’t kill civilians and prisoners.” Xie Chi swept away needle sheaths by his feet. “Perhaps you consider this kindness as weakness, as stupidity.”

“No!”

Xie Chi looked toward the distant Japanese soldiers. This was the first time she’d seen them stand there so orderly—what a joke. “Searching for remnant soldiers—what a high-sounding excuse. If you could, you’d probably want to kill all Chinese people and rape all Chinese women.”

“No! That’s not true.” Though he denied it, he couldn’t help but face these naked realities. “I’m sorry.”

“If a simple ‘I’m sorry’ could earn forgiveness from hundreds of thousands of departed souls, then massacre would become far too simple.”

“I will do my best to make amends.” He raised his hand. “Please accept this first, to thank you for taking care of me.”

“Take it away. I don’t want it.” Xie Chi walked away.

Fujita Kiyono had no choice but to approach a small child.

The child was an orphan who hid behind a pillar. Fujita Kiyono crouched down and took out cookies from his cloth bag. “Here, for you to eat.”

The child dared not accept it.

He held out his hand. “Take it.”

The photographer who came with the group quickly ran over to take pictures. Click—Fujita Kiyono turned and angrily shouted at him, “Stop taking pictures!”

This shout scared the child into tears, who ran wailing into the crowd.

Fujita Kiyono dared not approach anymore. At a loss, he placed the cloth bag on the ground. “I have no malicious intent.”

He slowly backed away.

When the photographer tried to take secret shots again, Fujita Kiyono grabbed his camera and smashed it to pieces. “If you photograph again, I’ll make you end up like it!”

The photographer lowered his head.

Fujita Kiyono walked to the clinic entrance and looked at Xie Chi inside. “If there’s anything you need help with, find me. My name is Fujita Kiyono. I will assign two soldiers to protect the hospital. You don’t need to worry. Go back.”

Dr. Li glanced at him with a sneer and lowered his eyes, continuing to write.

Seeing they were ignoring him, Fujita Kiyono silently left.

Dr. Li listened to the military boots fade away, threw down his pen. “That little devil has taken a fancy to you?”

Xie Chi didn’t answer.

“Little Xie.”

“Mm.”

“You should cut your hair even shorter.”

“No need.”

“Damn it, I couldn’t tell at all that he was actually an officer. If I’d known, I would have killed him with one stroke.” He muttered to himself, growing depressed. “Why does a soldier show no signs of being one? Could he be a civilian official?”

Xie Chi picked up a box and came before him. “We already saved the person. It’s no use regretting it. Rather than getting tangled up in this issue, better to go out and work.”

…

As soon as Fujita Kiyono left the safety zone, he was taken by Fujita Noo’s men to outside the city.

Along the way, they encountered many Chinese men tied to crosses, being used by Japanese soldiers as live targets for sword practice. He could stop one, two, three, but couldn’t stop all the Japanese soldiers throughout the city.

Fujita Noo wasn’t wearing a military uniform, but instead wore a dark blue samurai outfit with two swords at his waist, standing with his hands on his hips looking toward distant trees.

Fujita Kiyono walked behind him. “Father.”

Not far away, three men were tied to a row of crosses. Fujita Kiyono looked at them and asked: “What are you going to do?”

Fujita Noo turned around. “These are three Chinese soldiers who hid in basements until today. They were just captured by our soldiers this morning.” Fujita Noo gestured for a soldier behind him to bring forward a sword. “All armies that attempt to resist Japan must be eliminated.”

Fujita Kiyono looked at this familiar sword and fell into silence and confusion.

“This was bestowed upon you by the Emperor when you graduated. Draw it and spar with me for a few rounds.”

“Father, I—”

“Pick it up! Let me see the ability of the top graduate.” Fujita Noo drew his sword. “Don’t let holding a brush for so long make you forget you were once someone who wielded a blade.”

Fujita Kiyono gripped his own sword. He hadn’t touched it for three years, yet once he grasped it, the feeling was still so familiar.

…