Hang Jiaqing pulled out a telescope from his bosom and peered down carefully. The weather was bad today; it was overcast, and the snow on the dam was falling heavily, scattering and covering the ground in a short time. Just like now, the footprints they had left when they arrived were almost completely covered.
Wang Benguo saw that Jin Wangsheng was starting to have a fever, so he took out an analgin pill from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth.
Every forest police officer carries antipyretics with him, because the weather on the dam is so unpredictable. It is cold and windy for nearly ten months a year, and people can get sick if they are not careful. If you are in the yard, it is okay because there is a doctor and you can get injections and medicine if you are sick, but it is not possible if you are patrolling outside.
There is no specific medicine, it is really torture, if you are not careful, you will be doomed.
Jin Wangsheng didn't want to die, so he started chewing the antipyretic medicine as soon as it entered his mouth. Seeing him like this, Wang Benguo stood up and pointed the gun at his head. It was self-evident what he was thinking.
If Jin Wangsheng had acted rashly, he would definitely not have been able to see the sunset tonight.
Lin Shuyue held up the camera and looked down. The area that the camera could capture was a world covered with snow. The poachers hid under the snow, their eyes emerging from the dry bushes, staring closely at the road surface under Chuzigou.
Lin Shuyue's camera was pointed at the position of the guy whose sin value was black as oil, without moving.
Hang Jiaqing and the others couldn't figure out what was going on, but they still maintained their original movements. After years of dealing with poachers, Hang Jiaqing knew clearly that they were a group of extremely cunning people. The best strategy was to keep the enemy still and not move.
Time passed minute by minute, and Jin Wangsheng had felt much better. He was very anxious looking at the silent scene. His moving leg kicked a stone, and he secretly kicked it down hard. After about ten minutes, the stone finally loosened. He was delighted and was about to kick the stone away with all his strength, but his foot was stepped on by Lao Zhang.
The wind was howling, Lao Zhang smiled at Jin Wangsheng, and then, under Jin Wangsheng's gaze, he took out the stone that he had kicked loose from the snow and gently placed it aside. Wang Benguo shot Jin Wangsheng in the back of the head, and Jin Wangsheng rolled his eyes and fainted.
Old Zhang gave Wang Benguo a thumbs-up and said, "When it comes to knocking people out, we still have to rely on Brother Wang."
Old Zhang's voice was so soft that it could not be heard without paying attention over the howling wind. Wang Benguo raised an eyebrow at Old Zhang and said, "Learn from me."
After this conversation, the two of them fell silent.
In Lin Shuyue's camera footage, a piece of snow covering the man with a sin value of 96% fell off, revealing one side of his yellow, white and black clothes, which looked very much like the color of a tiger.
Considering the occupations of those people, it is indeed a tiger's skin.
Lin Shuyue paused the camera, put it in front of Xing Jiabai, and beckoned Hang Jiabai to come and see. Hang Jiabai saw it and his expression froze. Then he brought the camera in front of Hang Jiaqing.
Without even seeing the face or figure of the man in the tiger skin, Hang Jiaqing guessed who it was: "Zhang Xiaohu."
When the team members of Hang Jiaqing heard the name that was carried to their ears by the wind, they immediately became extremely alert. Zhang Xiaohu's reputation in the underworld was well-known. The people who came today were from Zhang Xiaohu's group, and today was bound to be another fierce battle.
Wang Benguo began to recall whether there was anything that was not clearly stated in his suicide note.
"Didn't they say he fled to Xingling? When did he come back?" Old Zhang came to Hang Jiaqing's side without knowing when.
They were at least three hundred meters away from Zhang Xiaohu and other poachers. They were above the poachers and spoke in low voices, so those below could not hear them.
"He probably came back a long time ago. He came here this time probably to cause trouble for me." The moment Hang Jiaqing saw Zhang Xiaohu, he knew why Jin Wangsheng had spent a whole year mentioning Cao Manjin in his ears.
He had just been wondering what he had done to deserve Jin Wangsheng's deliberate scheme against him. He couldn't understand it, considering there were many people in the Bashang Forest Farm who were better than him. But if he could say that Jin Wangsheng was Zhang Xiaohu's man, Hang Jiaqing would understand.
Zhang Xiaohu is also from Mulan County, and his family is also in Badi. When Zhang Xiaohu was a child, his family was very poor. In order to have a meal, he followed others to explore the outside world, and it is unknown where he learned a good set of kung fu.
After serving as a militiaman for half a month, he quit. Later, he started poaching. In just two years, he had several brothers under his command.
He is cruel and ruthless, and his reputation is well-known throughout Mulan County.
Because his name contains the character "虎", Zhang Xiaohu is particularly fond of tigers. Throughout the year, whenever it is cold or he goes up the mountain, he will wear a suit of clothes made of tiger skin. This has become a symbol of Zhang Xiaohu. (TL's Note: "虎" (hǔ), literally meaning is 'Tiger'.)
Six years ago, Hang Jiaqing's partner, Zheng Moli, had died at the hands of a group led by Zhang Xiaohu. In that battle, Zhang Xiaohu and his men hadn't gotten away with anything either; five of them died, one of them being Zhang Xiaohu's younger brother, Zhang Xiaolong.
The parents of Zhang Xiaohu and Zhang Xiaolong have passed away. Zhang Xiaohu attaches great importance to his only younger brother and treats him very well. This is something known to both the black and white circles in Mulan County.
Zhang Xiaohu was a ruthless man, and his younger brother, Zhang Xiaolong, was no less cruel. However, unlike Zhang Xiaohu, Zhang Xiaolong didn't like tormenting unintelligent animals; his favorite thing was tormenting people. From the young to the old, from men to women, Zhang Xiaolong had no taboos.
Sometimes he even tortured people just because he was idle, bored, or in a bad mood.
One of the most famous things Zhang Xiaolong once did was towards an old man who was walking slowly. He saw the old man when he was passing by and found the old man very annoying. So he grabbed the man on the street, beat him up severely, chopped off his legs, and threw him in the middle of the railway to be crushed to death by a passing train.
Afterwards, he described the moment the old man was crushed as red fireworks, which exploded with a bang and splattered blood. It was so beautiful.
And this is just one of the countless bad things Zhang Xiaolong has done. His crimes are too numerous to list!
After he died, countless people applauded.
Zhang Xiaohu was wanted for killing Zheng Moli and others, so he had no choice but to run to Xingling. Now so many years have passed, it's time for him to come back.
The reason why Jin Wangsheng wanted to match him with Cao Manjin was also found out, because they were both rescued by Cao Manjin. Given Zhang Xiaohu's character, how could he let her go?
Hang Jiaqing pondered, feeling that Sanya's death might not have been so accidental. So, what role did the Cao family, who had been so kind to Cao Manjin since childhood and had called the hospital the day before Sanya's death to report that someone was ill and unable to get out of bed, play in this incident?
Hang Jiaqing didn't think about it any further. He lowered his head and wiped the snowflakes off the wooden spear. It had been six years, and it was time to settle some accounts.
"Fuck him." Old Zhang looked in the direction of Chuzigou, his eyes full of hatred.
In that battle, three policemen died. One of them was a forest policeman, Old Zhang's apprentice. He had just retired from the army and was only 20 years old. He had not even gotten married. Because he admired Old Zhang's shooting skills, he spontaneously became his apprentice.
How comfortable was Old Zhang during those two years? His water bottle always had water in it: cool in spring and summer, warm in autumn and winter. He never washed his own clothes, never wearing dirty clothes, no matter the season. His socks were washed after he took them off, a meticulous process that was uncharacteristic of him.
Old Zhang married a wife early in life. During childbirth, she died in the hospital due to complications, and the child also died. He was deeply in love with his wife and never thought of marrying again. He treated the child as his own son.
Not only did he give him all his skills, he was also very kind to him. Their daily interactions were no different from those of a father and son.
Hang Jiaqing and Zhang Xiaohu have a deep hatred, and so does Old Zhang?
"Be careful in your plans and don't act on impulse. Old Zhang, we can't do something that will not only fail to avenge ourselves but also get ourselves into trouble. We all need to live well." Hang Jiaqing's voice was unusually calm.
After he finished speaking, he looked at Hang Jiabai beside him and said, "Wait a moment, take your partner and leave. Don't look back, go back to the yard."
Hang Jiabai didn't know about the grudge between Hang Jiaqing and Zhang Xiaohu, but he knew what Hang Jiaqing meant by this sentence.
He nodded to Hang Jiaqing, who smiled and said, "Be nice to her in the future."
Hang Jiaqing patted his brother's shoulder and said something that seemed very ordinary, but Hang Jiabai felt uncomfortable.
He was a policeman, and he knew what Hang Jiaqing was up to. Although Hang Jiaqing told Old Zhang to be careful about his plans and not to do anything that would get him into trouble, he had already prepared himself for the possibility of not going back.
Hang Jiabai couldn't say anything to stop him, just like no matter how dangerous something he did, Hang Jiaqing never stopped him after knowing about it.
They both had faith and belief in their hearts. His belief was to protect the people, and his brother's belief was to protect the boundless forest that he had worked so hard to grow, as well as the animals that lived in it.
Hang Jiabai took the camera and retreated to Lin Shuyue's side. He pursed his lips tightly. Lin Shuyue heard everything he said to Hang Jiaqing clearly. She reached out and grabbed Hang Jiabai's hand, but Hang Jiabai held it back with his hand trembling slightly.
Lin Shuyue set up the camera and took out a brick from her bag. Looking at Hang Jiabai who had no weapon, Lin Shuyue took out another brick.
That piece was recently collected by Lin Shuyue. It came from a corner of a courtyard in the capital and was originally used by Aunt Zhao to pad the legs of flower pots.
The reason she put an extra brick in her bag was because she felt she had been encountering more and more perverts recently. One brick wasn't safe enough; if she threw it out, she wouldn't be able to retrieve it in a short time, so she had to have a spare brick.
Hang Jiabai looked at the red brick with two arc-shaped marks on it and was speechless for a moment. But he still took the brick in his hand.
The snow was getting heavier. Hang Jiaqing and the others were fine, but the poachers below had entered the forest early in the morning and had been lying there for two or three hours. There was still no news from Chuzigou.
They hadn't even had a sip of hot water and were already freezing. One of them couldn't bear it any longer and crawled out of the snow first, his face red from the cold.
Once there is one, there will be two. These poachers have not received professional training. Although they work under Zhang Xiaohu and are usually obedient, it is obvious that they cannot follow orders like soldiers.
"It's freezing cold. Brother, how long should we wait? Could it be that Jin Wangsheng has betrayed us?"
"Get down right there! Ask Jin Wangsheng how brave he is to betray me. Is it because there are too many people in his family or because his house is too nice? Get down right away. If your actions alert those stinky mountain patrolmen, I will make you pay." Zhang Xiaohu's voice was loud, and his head poked out a little from the bushes where he was hiding.
Opportunities are rare and will never come again. Hang Jiaqing made a gesture, and Old Zhang, who had already aimed at Zhang Xiaohu, narrowed his eyes and pulled the trigger.
With a "bang", a bullet hit Zhang Xiaohu's head. When Zhang Xiaohu heard the gunshot, his face changed and he rolled away from the spot. The bullet hit the tree behind him.
"Damn it, they're up there, beat them!" Zhang Xiaohu was furious. He raised the retaliatory gun in his hand and fired it towards Hang Jiaqing and the others.
The snow, which had been flat just a moment ago, began to move. One person after another emerged from the snow. Following the movement on the snow, Lin Shuyue discovered that within the 200-meter detection range, there were still seven or eight people who were too far away and had not been detected.
Some of them even had machine guns in their hands.
The machine gun fired at Lin Shuyue and the others. There was a cover in front of Hang Jiaqing and the others, and because they hid well, no one came forward.
They leaned against trees or rocks, their backs to the mountain, breathing quietly. Their patrol had limited ammunition, and if they missed a shot, they couldn't show their heads. Zhang Xiaohu's team also had a sniper.
Hang Jiaqing looked in the direction of Lin Shuyue and the others. Hang Jiabai looked at him and pulled Lin Shuyue's hand: "Let's go."
Lin Shuyue glanced at Hang Jiabai, pursed her lips, and followed him to retreat little by little. Their retreat route just passed by Jin Wangsheng. It was also a coincidence that when Lin Shuyue crawled to Jin Wangsheng's side, Jin Wangsheng just opened his eyes. Lin Shuyue raised the brick, and Jin Wangsheng closed his eyes again.
The two moved to the foot of the hillside, and Hang Jiabai put the camera in Lin Shuyue's hand: "Ah Yue, I know you remember the way here. Go back and tell my mother about the situation here. My mother will call the police."
"What about you?" Lin Shuyue looked up.
Hang Jiabai touched Lin Shuyue's pale face, held her in his arms, and kissed her forehead: "I have to go back. I can't watch my brother fall in front of me."
As soon as Hang Jiabai finished speaking, they heard Zhang Xiaohu's voice: "They have no bullets and not many people. Brothers, charge!"
"As long as we kill them, we can take as much as we want from this forest in a short period of time!"
Following Zhang Xiaohu's instigation, several people couldn't help but cheer out loud.
Hang Jiabai pushed Lin Shuyue in the direction they came from: "Go now!"