Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

Chapter 1016 is expired! Invalid!

As he shouted, he frantically held Xiao Juan tightly with one hand, while his other hand trembled and almost spasmed as he reached into the innermost layer of his tattered cotton-padded coat, groping around.

My fingertips touched a piece of paper, softened by sweat, body heat, and even faint traces of blood, its edges already torn and curled. It was the temporary pass that the military police had given him when he left yesterday.

At this moment, this light piece of paper became his only "talisman" and his last "lifeline".

He held the crumpled piece of paper high above his head as if it were a sacred object, his hands trembling violently from the cold and fear. He tried to hand it to the leader, a stern-faced sergeant with a sword at his side.

His face was a mixture of pleading, fear, and a hint of humble expectation.

The sergeant frowned, his face filled with vigilance and impatience.

He didn't step forward immediately, but first used the beam of his flashlight, like a searchlight, to carefully scan Li Shouren and the child in his arms from top to bottom.

The beam of light swept past Li Shouren's tattered clothes and dirty face, finally settling on the small body in his arms, wrapped in a tattered cotton-padded coat, its face obscured.

The sergeant's eyes were sharp as an eagle's. After confirming that there seemed to be only a harmless Chinese civilian holding a child, he signaled the soldiers beside him to remain vigilant, while he himself cautiously took two steps forward to maintain a safe distance.

Instead of taking the note with his hands, he used his gloved hand and the beam of his flashlight to focus on the held-up note and examine it carefully.

The light illuminated the blurred Japanese seal and the date of signing on the paper.

Just seconds later, the sergeant's face suddenly darkened, as if frozen. He raised his head and, in extremely broken Chinese with a heavy accent, shouted sharply:

"Baka! Expired! Invalid!"

These few words, like icicles, pierced Li Shouren's eardrums and went straight to his heart! Expired?

He had no idea that the note had an expiration date! In his simple understanding, since it was given by the Japanese, it should remain valid indefinitely.

"No! Sir! It's useful! It's something the sir gave me yesterday!!" Li Shouren's voice trembled with anxiety as he stammered, trying to rouse the other's attention: "Look! My child! My child! She's dying! Please! Have mercy! Find that sir from yesterday! Save her! Save her!"

He screamed and waved his arms wildly, almost frantically, trying to make his words more persuasive.

At the same time, he carefully peeked out a little of Xiao Juan's pale, bloodless face, her eyes closed, and her breath so faint it was almost imperceptible, from under her tattered cotton-padded coat, so that the flashlight could shine on it.

He hoped the other person could see the fragility of life and understand a father's desperate cry for help. Xiao Juan's pale face, under the glaring light, resembled a crumpled sheet of white paper, filled with an ominous premonition.

However, in the eyes of the disciplined Japanese soldiers who valued rules above all else, the behavior of this Chinese man was a combination of multiple violations: violating curfew orders, holding an expired and invalid pass, behaving agitatedly, making loud noises, and gesticulating wildly, which posed a potential threat.

Any one of these points would be enough to make them take strong measures.

Compassion? In the face of cold military regulations, it is a luxury, even a forbidden weakness.

The sergeant refused to listen to any explanations, his face remaining completely unmoved. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he gave a curt order in Japanese: "Restrain him!"

Two fierce military policemen immediately stepped forward, one on the left and one on the right, and roughly twisted Li Shouren's arms. The immense force made him cry out in pain.

He was holding Xiao Juan in his arms and had no way to resist effectively.

"No! Don't arrest me! My child! Save her! Please!" Li Shouren burst into a heart-wrenching wail, like a dying beast.

He struggled desperately, trying to break free of the restraints and shield his daughter in his arms with his body.

This resistance, in the eyes of well-trained soldiers, further solidified their suspicion of being "dangerous elements."

"Baka!" the soldier who had twisted his left arm cursed, raised his hard leather military boot, and kicked him hard in the back of the knee.

Li Shouren screamed and uncontrollably collapsed to his knees on the cold, hard ground, a piercing pain shooting through his knees.

But he still curled up his arms and body into a protective posture, shielding Xiao Juan in front of his chest.

Seeing this, another soldier did not hesitate to raise the iron-clad butt of his rifle and slam it heavily into his back!

"Ugh!" Li Shouren almost spat out a mouthful of blood. The intense pain made his vision go black and he almost suffocated.

But he gritted his teeth and refused to let go of the child.

More punches, kicks, and gun butts rained down on his back, shoulders, and head.

He could only curl up, using his not-so-broad back to endure the storm of beatings, tightly protecting Xiao Juan beneath him.

Blood seeped from his forehead and the corners of his mouth, dripping onto the cold snow and spreading into glaring dark red patches.

He continued to utter incoherent, desperate sobs and pleas: "My child... my child... save her..."

Consciousness flickered in Li Shouren's mind like a candle in the wind.

The icy snow water mixed with the warm liquid running down his forehead, blurring his vision.

The excruciating pain from the gun butt and boots had become numb, as if it came from another body far away.

He only remembered using his last bit of strength to curl up and shield Xiao Juan beneath him, enduring the hail-like beatings with his not-so-thick back.

All I could hear were harsh rebukes in Japanese, the creaking of leather boots on the ground, and the incoherent sobs and pleas emanating from my own throat.

The world shrank to the cold earth beneath me and the faint, almost imperceptible breath in my arms.

Despair, like an icy tide, drowned out his last shred of lucid thought.

It's over... Everything's over... Xiaojuan... Daddy's sorry... We, father and daughter... are going to die here...

Just as his consciousness was about to completely sink into darkness, and he was about to give up all struggle and let fate devour him.

A slightly deep voice pierced through his hazy senses, clearly striking his eardrums:

"stop!"

The Japanese rebuke wasn't particularly loud, but the commanding tone and the air of authority it carried made the previously noisy beating and shouting stop abruptly, as if cut off by a sharp blade!

The punches and kicks landing on Li Shouren stopped.

An eerie silence instantly descended upon the surroundings, leaving only the howling of the cold wind and Li Shouren's own heavy, painful breathing.

With difficulty, he barely managed to lift his heavy eyelids, and through his vision blurred by blood and snow, he vaguely saw a figure also wearing a khaki officer's overcoat, walking briskly from the direction of the gate.

The man was about twenty years old, with a sharp and capable face and a furrowed brow.

I think I saw this Japanese man yesterday; he was standing not far from that officer!