1 '1933: The Empire of Manchuria'

[This chapter was an incident that took place in Manchukuo, a puppet state in Northeast China created in 1932 by the Japanese Army after the defeat of Russians in Russo- Japanese war.]

"Woooash....woooo..oo...hooo"

The cold wind blew hard.. hard enough for those tight buttoned and worn out, zhongshan suits to tear out and glide with the breeze.

In and out, they went with the bricks, cement and shovels, disregarding the cold, harsh breeze revolting against them. Some ploughing deep; deeper and harder till they lost their breathe. Heavy stones on their backs, parched completely and weaker by every second, the labourers went on and on as their commander's demand.

"Hey, you! Who said that you could rest? Huh?" Get up you scum!!"

The Kwantung soldier, (The Kwantung Army was an army group of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945.) kept striking him with the gun. "Hey, you I'm talking to you, jerk."

A weak, old man barely managing to lift his head gets hit again and again on his chest with the gun.

The deadly working atmosphere got distracted, everybody turned their gaze towards the spiteful words, from the soldier. The extreme weather gave it a much more unbearable effect.

A short and stunt labourer suddenly thomped, shuddering and breathing heavily, towards a tall- pale man in his mid- thirties, whose zhongshan suit was less worn, tidy enough and he stood cross- armed, sighing with helplessness as he saw the old man being mocked.

"Chang Lee...Chang..!!"

He ran with an attempt to keep his voice low but his fear and panic came along with a yelp.

" What is it, Xaong? Don't you know that, your scream can put you in trouble?"

"There.....there in....the woods...a white..!!"

"What are you saying? Calm down... Xaong!!

"There in the woods... a skull...!"

"What?"

"A skull, at the bank of Songhua River!!"