novelnext Chapter 46 Why Fight?
Chapter 46 Why Fight?
The army was getting closer and closer to Pyongyang.
The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and the temperature had already reached the point where water would freeze instantly when splashed on it.
On the march, Mo Qin carried his precious white wax gun across his shoulder.
The tip of the spear given to him by Zhao Tou had been carefully wrapped in an old cloth.
Liu Gao yawned as he walked.
"Brother Qin."
"Um."
"How much further are we to Pyongyang?"
Mochin glanced to the south.
At the end of the snowstorm, the mountain line slopes low, a gray-white expanse.
This is the northwestern border mountain of Pyongyang.
He had already calculated the distance of the journey in his mind, and with the rain and snow, traveling slowly, it would take exactly one day.
"There's still one day left."
Liu Gao muttered to himself:
"Along this way, all we've seen are burned villages, corpses, and the footprints of Japanese soldiers. The situation in Pyongyang is probably even more bizarre."
Lin Jun walked to the side and whispered.
"The bigger the city, the more people it has."
"The more people there are, the more crowded it is when they die."
Liu Gao didn't rush to speak; he had now learned to listen.
That's not a nice thing to say.
But along the way, most of what Lin Jun said came true.
At the front, Yan Qi stood firmly on his feet.
But then he quickly ducked down and used the arrow shaft to clear away the snow.
After looking at it for a long time, he said:
There are footprints.
Liu Gao immediately stepped forward.
"Are they ordinary people?"
Yan Qi shook his head.
"It's hard to say."
Lin Jun walked over and took a closer look.
There were seven or eight footprints in the snow, messy and hurried, heading south.
After extending for about a hundred paces, the footprints turned back and retraced their steps, as if someone had been running back and forth in a panic.
Liu Gao frowned. "Are these people being chased by Japanese pirates?"
Yan Qi glanced deeper into the forest.
Mochin asked, "What's wrong?"
Yan Qi said, "Something's not right."
Liu Gao was taken aback.
"Something's not right?"
Yan Qi tapped the footprints on the ground and tilted his chin toward the treeline.
"These messy footprints are meant to be shown to us."
Mochin's eyes flickered slightly.
"Is it bait?"
Yan Qi nodded.
Feng the Scout came from behind and also squatted down to take a look.
I touched the snow and glanced in the direction it was pointing.
"The boy is right."
"People who are really running for their lives may step haphazardly, but they won't step in such a neat and orderly fashion every few steps."
He stood up and turned his head slightly towards Yan Qi.
"Search another half mile outwards."
After responding, Yan Qi did not follow the trail of footprints, but instead went directly around to the western treeline.
The western side is a natural concealment barrier; the trees there are covered in snow, making it easy for people to hide, set up ambushes, and retreat in a roundabout way.
Based on his experience, Yan Qi predicted that the enemy's main force was hiding in the woods on the west side.
Instead of following false footprints, first circle around the forest line to encircle and block the road. This is a counter-luring tactic. Cut off the retreat route before searching and capturing, and avoid stepping into the enemy's pre-set trap.
In the wind and snow, his figure was quickly swallowed up by the shadows of the trees.
Liu Gao watched Yan Qi leave, feeling a little uneasy.
"Did he go alone?"
Lin Jundao:
"That's what he does."
After a while, Yan Qi returned.
There are two groups of people.
Mochin asked:
"direction?"
"South."
Yan Qi squatted down and drew two new lines.
"The first group's footprints were outside, messy, and heavy, deliberately meant for us to see."
He then drew a thin line next to it.
"The second group was in the woods, moving lightly and steadily, without turning back. They kept heading south."
He paused for a moment.
"There are people in the woods, specifically watching us."
Feng the Scout measured the distance between the two sets of footprints.
"The bait and the eye were half a mile apart."
"Normally, if a night scout sees the first group, they will usually follow the bait and not search more than half a mile away."
He looked at Yan Qi.
"Today, you saved several more lives for the front line."
Liu Gao's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
"Yan Qi, you're pretty good."
Yan Qi remained silent, simply putting the arrow shaft back into his quiver.
Mochin, however, became serious.
Lin Jun noticed that his expression was off.
"What are you worried about?"
Mo Qin said:
"I'm worried about you all. Please be extra careful from now on."
At noon, the army passed through a half-destroyed village.
This place was miraculously not burned down.
The roofs of some of the houses are still intact, and the wooden buckets by the well are still there.
The strangest thing is that there was even a bag of rice at the entrance of the village.
That bag of rice was very new.
A white burlap sack lay on the snow, its opening tied with a thin rope.
Next to the rice bag, there was also half a torn sleeve.
The cuffs were frozen solid, with a few words scrawled crookedly on them.
The Korean interpreter accompanying the army glanced at it and his expression changed.
"What did you say?"
Feng Chi asked.
The interpreter swallowed hard.
"Save us, there are still people in the woods..."
Upon hearing this, Liu Gao subconsciously took a step forward.
Mochin immediately pressed down on his shoulder.
Liu Gao was stunned. "Brother Qin?"
Mochin didn't explain why, he just pointed at the bag of rice with the butt of his gun.
"Use your shield to push it aside."
Liu Gao's expression changed, and he immediately held the lion-head shield horizontally forward, slowly approaching and striking with the edge of the shield.
The rice bag tipped over, spilling rice grains all over the ground.
Beneath the snow, a thin black line was revealed.
Liu Gao's scalp tingled instantly. At the same time, a dark shadow flashed a dozen meters away.
"Is this a medicine thread?"
Mochin stepped forward and used the butt of his gun to clear away the snow.
The fuse extended from under the rice bag to the back of the house, connecting to a pile of oil-soaked firewood.
Behind the firewood, another line stretched out toward a dead tree outside the village.
There was no gunpowder under the dead tree.
There was only one row of new footprints.
The trajectory was exactly the same as the one Yan Qi had discovered earlier.
Liu Gao's face darkened upon seeing this.
"Damn it, is there a drug thread hidden under the rice bag?"
"That's such a sneaky trick."
Mochin stared at the footprints and slowly stood up.
"They'll use any despicable trick they can think of."
Lin Jun took over the conversation.
"They're using bait and setting traps."
Mochin nodded.
"I may be a tiger, but I'm not an idiot."
Liu Gao gritted his teeth.
"These scum!"
Mochin shouldered the gun.
"They're trying to outsmart us."
Lin Jun looked at the half-collapsed house, and his voice turned cold.
"I'm afraid they'll get pecked in the eye while playing with eagles."
After listening, Feng the Scout did not say anything more.
He ordered his men to remove the fuse and then commanded the night patrol to sweep the forest line outside the village.
As expected, nothing was discovered. Seeing that Mo Qin was alert, the other party had already left.
By evening, the army had not set up camp.
The so-called "dead camp" refers to a complete and fortified camp where the Ming army would dig trenches, build fortifications, and erect palisades after stopping, and would remain there for a long time once it was established.
Now, it's only half a day's journey to Pyongyang, and it's all in the middle of nowhere.
Li Rusong was unwilling to spend time and effort building a fortified camp, and even less willing to have his army linger there haphazardly, thus delaying the opportunity to advance.
The vanguard camp, of course, was only temporarily resting and regrouping.
The firearms carts were parked in the innermost layer, the grain carts were to the north, and the wounded soldiers' carts were to the rear. The night patrols bypassed the camp by going around the three snow tracks outside.
Mo Qin stood beside a gunpowder cart, helping several auxiliary soldiers to right a ladder.
The ladder was so heavy from the cold that the two auxiliary soldiers lost their balance and swayed to the side.
Mo Qin instinctively reached out his hand.
With a gentle push, the ladder came to a stop.
The two auxiliary soldiers were both taken aback.
Liu Gao saw it too, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Brother Qin, what you just did..."
Not to mention him, even Mo Qin himself was slightly shocked.
"I haven't even exerted any effort, how did I manage to hold on?"
But he didn't say much, and when he rested, he pondered to himself.
The small ladder usually weighs a little over 200 pounds, but when it absorbs moisture and freezes in winter, it gains 30% more, bringing it down to exactly 300 pounds.
I just pressed it so lightly...
Since acquiring the gas core, I've started to evolve towards being non-human.
It's already this strong even before its core has fully awakened; if...
"If I push it a little, maybe..."
Just as I was thinking this, Lin Jun's voice came from the side.
Don't try it.
Mo Qin turned his head, a hint of impatience on his face.
"Are you kidding me! I haven't done anything yet."
Lin Jun, however, glanced at him sideways.
"I anticipated your prediction; the look in your eyes just now was so lewd."
Liu Gao was stunned.
"What kind of look is that?"
Lin Jun said calmly:
"A look in your eyes that seems to want to do something stupid."
Mochin chose to remain silent.
Liu Gao suddenly realized.
"Oh, so Brother Qin often does stupid things."
"Slander! And you, Liu Gao! You even chimed in!"
Mo Qin was so angry that he turned around and glared at her.
Liu Gao immediately lowered his head to wipe the shield.
Lin Jun pulled Mo Qin aside and lowered her voice.
"Don't move around in your belly, remember what Old Ding said."
Mochin exhaled two heavy breaths quickly through his nose.
"Troublesome woman, I shouldn't have told you this during the day."
"Ugh, I'm going to find Old Ding!"
On the other side, Old Ding was squatting down, listening to the young fireman named Zhu Yu report his numbers.
"Thirty-seven medicine barrels."
"Twenty-one bundles of dried sap."
"Seven boxes of matchlock."
"Twelve rolls of oilcloth."
After Zhu Yu finished reporting, he swallowed.
After a long while, Old Soldier Ding said:
"Gunpowder will become dull if it's damp, and it will explode if it's too dry."
These words came suddenly and were of unclear meaning, leaving Zhu Yu completely bewildered.
In fact, Ding Laozu said this because he had already seen Mo Qin approaching.
"People are the same."
Mo Qin immediately stopped, stroking his chin as he said:
"Are you saying this to me?"
Old Ding nodded.
"Is there another person in this camp who eats like a mule and has the energy of a powder keg?"
Zhu Yu lowered her head, not daring to laugh.
To cover his embarrassment, Mo Qin touched his nose.
"Is it obvious?"
Old Ding stood up and slowly patted the snow off his knees.
"Those who are too rigid are easily broken."
"It's best to take it easy."
Mo Qin wanted to retort, but after touching the booklet in his arms, he swallowed his words.
In the end, he could only nod.
"I've got it."
Old Ding glanced at him.
"It's best to really remember it."
Before nightfall, news came from the central command.
Konishi Yukinaga sent a messenger.
Supported by his personal guards, Shen Weijing limped to the central command tent.
Not long after, Shen Weijing came out of the tent again, a playful expression on his face.
With nothing else to do, Mo Qin took a stroll outside the tent.
Seeing the conman come out, they went to greet him.
Upon seeing Mo Qin, Shen Weijing sighed before even speaking.
"That guy in Pyongyang is still trying to stall."
Mochin asked:
"Yukinaga Konishi?"
Shen Weijing nodded.
He said he was willing to talk, that he could retreat, that there were still Korean civilians in the city, and that since both armies were wounded, it would be better for each side to save face.
He scoffed as he said this.
"If he had said this six months ago, I would have praised him for his benevolence and righteousness."
"Now, it's like asking someone if they're in a lot of pain after you've stabbed them."
Mo Qin pressed on, asking:
"What did Li Shuai say?"
Shen Weijing's smile deepened.
"Li Shuai said that he felt there was room for negotiation."
Mo Qin was taken aback. What did this mean? Was it a feint to the east while secretly advancing west?
Shen Weijing lowered his voice.
"Li Shuai wants Xiao west to feel that he can hold out."
Mo Qin looked towards the central command tent, wanting to give Li Rusong a second thumbs up.
Shen Weijing said to himself:
"This soldier is even more ruthless in deceiving people than someone like me who makes a living with words."
Mochin asked:
"Aren't you also lying?"
Shen Weijing spoke with righteous indignation.
"Shen was lying."
He looked toward the central command tent.
"Li Shuai is deceiving people out of their lives."
At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the vanguard continued its southward advance.
But it was no longer a rapid advance; after all, they had already traversed the land and were beginning to move forward cautiously.
The Korean envoy was led to observe the battle from a distance.
They didn't get close to the artillery battalion, but they could still see rows of Ming soldiers' torches, a forest of spears, and artillery wagons gradually advancing southward.
A group of North Korean officials stood in the wind and snow, their eyes red, but they did not cry.
Everyone simply bowed deeply in the direction of Li Rusong's tent.
Mochin was in the snow when he heard the amusement park's announcement.
[Second phase main battle zone contact detected.]
Both sides have entered the Pyongyang war zone.
The faction chat has been upgraded.
[World chat is now open.]
[Note: Players from both the Ming and Japanese factions can speak in the world chat.]
[Note: Posting anonymously will consume reputation.]
Lin Jun looked at Mo Qin and whispered:
"This is going to be even more exciting."
Mochin nodded.
Indeed, the public channel is now flooded with messages like a waterfall.
Japanese players are taunting each other in the public chat.
[Anonymous: Nine-Headed Bird, did you see that bag we left by the roadside? It was a full sack, full of North Korean noses. When they were cut, some weren't quite dead yet, lying on the ground groaning, their blood soaking through the snow.]
[Anonymous: These bumpkins' worthless lives are a waste of food just to live. Cutting off their noses is easy, and convenient for recording their deeds. Anyway, nobody remembers them while they're alive, and nobody remembers them when they're dead.]
[Anonymous: Aren't you always pretending to be a saint? Saving everyone you see, crying over every corpse?]
[Anonymous: Tomorrow, when you arrive outside Pyongyang, we'll tie up dozens of North Korean natives by the roadside and display them openly in front of you. Will you save them or not? If you save one, I'll stab ten to death right in front of you.]
[Anonymous: If you save a few more, you'll completely delay the Ming army's siege. Li Rusong will hold you accountable, and Konishi Yukinaga will be laughing as he watches you die from the city walls. We learned this double-pronged tactic in China; we're very familiar with it.]
[Anonymous: You bunch of hypocritical fools are easy to manipulate. You get red-eyed when a village is burned down, and you lose your composure when a few corpses of the elderly and weak hang by the roadside. You're all too easily provoked; on the battlefield, you'd be sitting ducks.]
[Anonymous: We drop half a bag of rice in the snow, write a couple of lines of text, and you all obediently crawl into the ambush area. Like training dogs, you come as soon as you're called.]
[Anonymous: Nine-headed Bird, what are you trying to achieve by working so hard?]
[Anonymous: North Korea isn't your country, what business is it of yours if these people die? Even if Li Rusong wins, how many more days will you live? Or do you really consider these lowly bastards in the mission world to be human?]
Come.】
Also, impose a fine.
[Anonymous: Those things are written in your history books, but have you even read them yourselves? Do you remember them? You probably don't. We remember them for you. We remember how readily you knelt, how horribly you cried, and how worthlessly you died.]
[Anonymous: Why do you think I practiced on North Koreans' noses? Why do you think I set traps with North Korean children? This is nothing new. This is my old tricks.]
[Anonymous: Don't you Chinese people love to talk about never forgetting national humiliation?]
[Anonymous: You think this is what you call a national disgrace?]
[Anonymous: This is nothing.]
[Anonymous: You think you're done for after stopping us this time?]
[Anonymous: Let me tell you, there are countless timelines in Paradise. We've entered Wanli's Korea, and we can even enter the Republic of China. Can you guard just one timeline, or every single one?]
[Anonymous: And then what? You still buy our cars, watch our anime, learn our language, and line up in long lines at our stores to buy toilet seats.]
[Anonymous: Did you ever hate? Yes. For how many years? Three? Five?]
[Anonymous: You've finished hating? Forgot everything.]
[Anonymous: That's why we dare. Not because we're strong, but because you're easy to bully. Because you yourselves don't value your own lives. Because your backbone won't last three generations.]
[Anonymous: So, Nine-Headed Bird, what are you pretending for here?]
[Anonymous: You hit me, killed me, and tried to stop me with bloodshot eyes! But could you stop me, could you stop your own people?]
[Anonymous: Today you risk your life to protect these people during the Wanli era, but two hundred years from now, their own descendants will still be kneeling and begging us.]
[Anonymous: The people you protect will be forgotten by their descendants. But we in Japan will always remember them.]
[Anonymous: In the past? We haven't. We're on every timeline, waiting for the moment you completely forget.]
[Anonymous: You're asking me if North Korea is your country?]
[Anonymous: Let me tell you! We've walked on that patch of land behind you, whatever its name may be.]
[Anonymous: Once you've stepped on it, you can step on it again.]
[Anonymous: You're welcome to come to Pyongyang tomorrow.]
[Anonymous: We've already prepared a pit for you and those bastards by the roadside.]
Mo Qin didn't want to respond to such shameless remarks, but those words felt like sharp knives.
Each stab pierced his chest, making it feel tight.
He looked up and glanced at Pyongyang.
There were Japanese soldiers' torches on the city wall.
Some people don't even have names.
Mo Qin looked at the lines of text surging on the public screen, at “(lvsun)”, “(nanjing)”, “You Chinese are more obedient when you kneel than when you stand”, and at “Put (yinger) on the tip of a bayonet as a street lamp”.
His hand holding the gun began to tremble from the fingertips.
It's not because I'm afraid.
It was because he saw a city in those words.
He was familiar with that city!
It's written in history textbooks, engraved on the walls of memorial halls, and spoken by survivors in documentaries with trembling lips.
Three hundred thousand.
That's not a number.
Those are three hundred thousand people with names, surnames, fathers, mothers, and people waiting for them to come home.
Then suddenly he stopped shaking.
The trembling is because the fire has nowhere to burn.
Once the fire found its direction, the hand became steady.
He slammed the white wax gun into the snow.
The gun butt penetrated three inches into the ground, and a thin crack appeared in the frozen soil.
"I didn't want to argue with you."
He spoke very slowly, so slowly that each word seemed to be uttered with all his might, "You insist on settling the accounts for me."
The public chat was silent for a moment.
It wasn't that no one was speaking; it was that everyone was waiting for him.
[Central Nine-Headed Bird: You mention (lvsun). Mention (nanjing). Mention those names you cut off, buried, and burned to ashes. You ask if we remember. I tell you, we haven't forgotten. We remember every knife wound to whom, every bullet to where it hit. We build memorials not to cry, but so that our descendants will know when they open their eyes that there is a group of people in this world who owe us a blood debt. You ask why we interfere in North Korean affairs? Because the hand you used to cut off noses in North Korea today is the same hand you used to cut off queues in China back then. Because the thing you did today, using (yinger) on the tip of a bayonet as a street lamp, is the same thing you did in (nanjing) back then.]
[Central Nine-Headed Bird: You think you've angered me? You've reminded me. You reminded me that you beasts bit us once, leaving blood everywhere, and then laughed at us for being easy to bully. You said we Chinese have the worst memories, forgetting everything after we've had our hatred! Well, look closely, today I stand here, in the snow of Korea in the 21st year of the Wanli reign, and I tell you: I am that debt. The debt we've kept for generations, passed down from generation to generation, has never been forgotten. Every word you utter today—(lvsun), (nanjing), bayonet, (yinger)—only makes one thing more certain to me: here, right here, not a single step will be allowed to get any further.]
This is 1593.
But he saw more than just 1593.
He saw one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four, he saw Nineteen Thirty-One, he saw Nineteen Thirty-Seven.
I saw a fire line that burned from the Korean Peninsula all the way into Northeast China and into the heart of the Central Plains.
[Central Nine-Headed Bird: You say we're more obedient kneeling than standing? That was when you ambushed us. After we stood up, you couldn't even leave the gates of Pyongyang. Today, I fought this battle. Not for prestige, not for reward. It's so that the wronged souls in (Lvsun) city can hear my gunshots, know that someone is still fighting for them. It's so that the white bones beneath (Nanjing) city can know we haven't forgotten. It's so that from now on, every generation of Chinese people won't have to cry in front of the glass cases in memorial halls! Instead, they can turn back and point to history and say: That battle, we won.]
[Central Japan Nine-Headed Bird: You Japanese love to say "Never forget." Well, remember this: Today, as I fight you outside Pyongyang, I'm not fighting in history, I'm fighting on your very lifeline. You trampled Korea during the Wanli era, and we'll kick you back from here. You invaded during the First Sino-Japanese War, and we'll settle accounts along this line. You invaded during the Showa era, and we'll scrape the blood you owe us from your bones, slice by slice. Every time you trample, we'll remember. One day, we'll trample back every inch of soil you've trodden.]
[Central Nine-Headed Bird: You ask me how many we can protect? I'll tell you, we're not just here to protect a few people. We're here to tell you that the people of the Dragon Kingdom are never intimidated. We're here to tell you that what you did in other timelines won't work here. Here, you'll have to get past my spear first.]
[Central Nine-Headed Bird: If you kill another person, I'll kill ten Japanese devils to pay with my life! We want revenge for those whose noses you cut off, who were impaled on the tip of a knife, and who were buried in mass graves! You said you'd prepared graves for us. Well, you should measure the soil in Pyongyang yourself—is it enough to bury your corpses?]
[The Nine-Headed Bird of Central Taiwan: If justice comes too slowly, I'll pave the way for it.]
Wait until he finishes speaking the last word.
In the Ming army camp, someone posted a single word:
【kill!】
Then came the second, the third, the hundredth, and the thousandth.
Lin Jun stared at the world chat channel, speechless.
She just looked at Mo Qin's lips, which were still moving slightly, as if he were talking to someone.
She didn't ask.
But she heard that sentence clearly:
"I haven't forgotten. I have no right to forget!"
Liu Gao was startled by the sound.
"Brother Qin? What have you forgotten?"
Mochin did not look at him.
He was whispering to himself:
"This battle is not for myself. It's only for those who come after me, so they won't have to kneel!"
"I won't let these beasts defile me!"
Lin Jun noticed that Mo Qin's hands were trembling.
She whispered:
"Don't let them see you lose control."
Mo Qin closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, he slowly suppressed the immense humiliation and anger back into his chest.
"I know."
Lin Jun looked at him.
"you do not know."
Mochin did not refute.
Lin Jun then said:
"You just exposed your weakness."
That's right, that's why Mochin remained silent.
Lin Jun lowered her voice even further.
"They'll use this to provoke you."
Mochin shook his head.
"Then let them come."
"no."
Lin Jun's voice turned cold, and Mo Qin turned to look at her.
"You can hate! But don't let them lead you by the nose."
Mochin remained silent for a long time.
Then he nodded.
"it is good."
In the distance, sounds came from the central army.
It is the drum used for nighttime drumming.
The drumbeats were short and heavy, each one pressing down on the snow.
The artillery piece began to move forward.
Soldiers from the firearms battalion carried medicine barrels as they ran around amidst Old Ding's curses.
Han Shouyi's voice echoed from the camp:
"Each battalion, follow your flag!"
"Anyone who wanders off will be executed!"
"Make way for the gunpowder truck!"
"Forward troops, listen to my command!"
Li Rusong's banner fluttered in the wind and snow.
Immediately, the messenger rode out from the center of the army.
"Commander Li has given the order!"
"The scouts will advance at night to scout the outskirts of Pyongyang!"
"Move the firearm cart forward three hundred paces!"
"Each camp should prepare meals before dawn!"
"Tomorrow, we'll see what Xiaoxi says before deciding on the attack!"
This news spread far and wide.
The sound reached the Korean envoys outside the camp, who also heard it.
If there were indeed Japanese spies nearby, they should have been able to hear it.
Shen Weijing stood outside the central command tent and suddenly smiled.
Looking south, he whispered:
"Little Xi, Little west."
"You'd better not really think you're guaranteed to make a profit on this deal."
At the same time, Mochin also raised his head and looked towards Pyongyang.
Liu Gao cautiously approached.
"Brother Qin, have you remembered what you forgot?"
Mochin glanced at him.
"Hmm, I remember now."
Liu Gao scratched his head.
"That's good."
At this moment, Yan Qi also returned from outside the camp.
"How's it outside?"
After taking a few steps closer, Yan Qi gestured for everyone to gather around, and then drew two lines with the shaft of an arrow.
"There are Japanese pirate spies, and their numbers have at least doubled."
Lin Jun frowned.
"where?"
"They're everywhere."
Yan Qi said:
"They're probably watching our siege route."
Mo Qin then walked to the side, patted Lin Jun on the shoulder, and slowly exhaled a breath of white air:
"How can we kill these beasts to vent our anger!"
Lin Jun glanced at the sky and said quietly:
"When in doubt, ask the spring breeze; if the spring breeze remains silent, follow your heart."
Hearing this, Mo Qin twirled his spear, then fixed the tip on the ground, pointing it towards the sky, and proclaimed loudly:
"Starting tomorrow, let's set every single one of those 'Dirty Japanese' up in the sky!"