Chapter 1724

Thunder rumbled, and the heavy rain poured down.

In the urgently erected tent, the group was somewhat soaked, drinking milk tea to keep warm, smoking, and watching the curtain of rain.

"Sangba, it's all your jinxing." Zha Cuo ruffled his hair, "If it weren't for your nonsense, how could it rain less than half a day after we came in."

"No matter how much I say, isn't rain decided by the Mountain God? Why don't you talk about the Mountain God?" Sangba was annoyed.

"That's also because the Mountain God doesn't like you talking, which is why it rained, just to make you remember the lesson. Sangba, I beg you, can you talk less in the future? Can you not make the Mountain God unhappy?"

Zha Cuo was serious and earnest, and the words he said made Sangba so angry he could die.

"I think it's because you always use the Mountain God's name to say your own words, offending the Mountain God." Sangba hummed, "You should also talk less and remember the lesson."

While they were bickering here, He Qingyuan said: "I'm afraid it won't be easy for us to find them this time; we don't know how many days we'll have to wander in the mountains."

"Then let's wander and see. Bolamula is so big, it's not like there's only that one group hunting sheep." Duojie's words were also helpless, and he smoked a bit more fiercely.

If they follow the tracks, then these people at most hunt a small group of sheep. But if they lose the trail, then hundreds or even hundreds of sheep will suffer. In winter, cashmere grows well, and poachers are rampant. One group comes in and kills dozens or hundreds, another group kills dozens or hundreds more—that's how the sheep are hunted to extinction.

Wang Yan sat on the side, smoking while looking at the stones he had just picked up from the ground, thereby making some judgments.

The route into the mountains this time is different from last time, and all the information obtained is new.

The rain came suddenly but didn't leave quickly. By the time it stopped, it was already dark. So everyone decided to continue camping here to rest and wait until tomorrow to pursue the poaching gang.

Because the altitude was not too high, Wang Yan used a little dried meat to make noodle flakes, and everyone ate in a muddled way.

When they first entered the mountains, they also had the energy replenished from the previous rest, so they just had to make do and keep from being hungry. As for high-energy foods like tsampa, cheese, dried yak meat, etc., they had to be eaten in the second half of the journey.

At the same time, a considerable amount of food had to be kept in reserve to deal with various unexpected accidents. In the Bolamula no-man's-land, any accident can happen. For example, if the car can't drive out and people have to walk out, crossing mountains and ridges for dozens or hundreds of kilometers, naturally more supplies must be stored.

Early the next morning, everyone packed their equipment and set off again, deep into the no-man's-land.

Although there were no people here, everyone was mostly traveling aimlessly. Only when they occasionally found tire tracks, saw shell casings, or encountered animal corpses, etc., would they begin targeted pursuit, and after the clues were broken, it would turn back into aimlessly driving around.

But their journey was not boring.

When driving, they would bicker; when parked, they would sing; when in the mood, they would wrestle, laughing and joking every day. Occasionally, when the car got stuck, everyone worked together to get out of trouble, howling and cheering in celebration.

The scenery here is also quite good. When the weather is good, one can always see the full view of the snow-capped mountains. Perhaps Duojie, Zha Cuo, and other natives have already seen enough of the unchanging scenery here and can no longer feel it, but their faith allows them to see the sacredness.

Wang Yan didn't feel bored either; there was a lot of fun.

Previously, he had cycled across the plateau once, which was just a cursory glance; this was his first time living here with his feet on the ground. To him, everything he saw was fresh scenery, and everything he experienced was fresh.

There are many wild animals in the no-man's-land. From time to time, one could see wild yaks, wild donkeys, etc., as well as marmots standing guard by their burrows. There were also snow leopards, Pallas's cats, lynxes, etc., seen this time, and Wang Yan took many photos.

On the other hand, this was also Wang Yan's first time doing geography, and he was constantly investigating, recording, and researching along the way, which was also quite fulfilling.

Even when camping, sitting in a chair drinking milk tea, smoking, and chatting with Zha Cuo and the others, listening to Duojie tell many stories from the past, was quite pleasant.

Along the way, they encountered many wind, frost, rain, and snow, and had many hardships, but everyone accompanied each other warmly every day, so they were at peace.

The journey this time was not as smooth as the last one. Along the way, there were actually three heavy rains, and one day there was a strong wind, and they got stuck more times than they could count.

This continued until the twelfth day, when the remaining food and fuel were not much, and everyone was prepared to return empty-handed this time.

However, just as everyone turned over another mountain and faced an open flat ground, the scattered corpses of Tibetan antelopes appeared before people's eyes.

Looking from afar, right there on the corpses of the Tibetan antelopes, some people were busy skinning them, and four vehicles were parked around. Two jeeps and two trucks. A dozen or so people were carrying AKs, smoking and chatting there.

Seeing the two vehicles coming from front and back, these people all raised their guns and loaded them, looking at this side with caution.

Their reaction was similar to that of Daji's group last time, and Duojie's response was also similar to last time.

The car drove to a position of more than 100 meters, and Duojie gave another instruction, then immediately jumped out of the car and shouted at the top of his lungs: "We are the mountain patrol team, put down your weapons and surrender!"

Responding to Duojie was the ruthless strafing of rifles. At the same time, their men were also retreating in an orderly manner, even letting those skinning the animals act as shields.

"Watch your aim!" Duojie shouted loudly, fearing that the mountain patrol team members would kill those skinning the animals.

Skinning for poachers is certainly hateful, but in the final analysis, it's still caused by poverty. If everyone could live a decent life, then those still skinning would be courting death.

"College student! College student! Kill them!" Zha Cuo believed in shooting and shouted at Wang Yan.

Wang Yan was aiming his gun at this moment; he didn't shoot easily. Because killing people is useless; the important thing is to catch them and then get money.

So it wasn't until someone on the opposite side got into the driver's seat that Wang Yan fired.

Just like last time, he just wanted to wound the person in the driver's seat, increasing the difficulty of starting the car and running away. Once a person is injured and loses the ability to act, it takes a lot of effort to pull them out.

However, it wasn't always so satisfactory. There was still one truck because the front of the car wasn't facing Wang Yan's direction, and someone ran up from the other side's passenger seat to start the car.

"The car is full of skins; we can't let them run away, chase them!" As Wang Yan spoke, he emptied the magazine, wounded a few more poachers, and then pressed bullets into the magazine one by one.

"Forget it!" Duojie blocked him, not wanting Wang Yan to take risks.

"I have a plan, I'm shooting with a gun." Wang Yan waved his hand, "Sangba, you drive, we'll go around."

"Good."

Sangba looked at Duojie, then got into the car without hesitation and took Wang Yan to pursue.

"Stay away, they are all crazy!"

A bullet shattered the rear window, and Wang Yan instructed Sangba, who was driving.

Sangba cursed a few times in his native language: "Their firepower is too fierce! We applied for weapons, but they gave us broken guns! College student, can you aim in the car?"

At this time, Wang Yan was aiming, intending to help Duojie and the others relieve some pressure. Although the mountain patrol team now had the advantage in numbers, they were still suppressed in firepower by the poaching gang.

This was also something that couldn't be helped. The gap in weapons and ammunition between the two sides was too large; the others had AKs going "rat-tat-tat," while this side had to calculate carefully with every single shot to save ammunition.

"I don't know. How many times have I shot a gun? Let's try shooting a few times first."

As he spoke, Wang Yan pulled the trigger and hit a poacher's leg, and then missed a few shots. At this time, they also left this battlefield and gradually caught up with the fleeing truck.

The truck was heavy, and this was the plateau, so there were certain limitations on power. It was still not as agile as an off-road vehicle, even if the truck had driven out a while in advance, and Sangba had taken a big detour to avoid bullets, the truck still couldn't escape.

One person in the cabin held an AK with one hand on the window and strafed. Wang Yan fired three shots, and on the third shot, he hit the person's gun-wielding hand from behind.

Immediately after, he saw the truck turn sharply, as the person was distracted by the injured hand, affecting the driving on the other side.

This broken truck looked like it had no power steering, and driving it was genuinely hard work.

Finally, the truck bumped, went up a small slope, and then stalled.

Wang Yan and Sangba cooperated, opened the car door, and dragged the screaming person down.

"Run, why aren't you running anymore?" Sangba kicked the person.

This person was wearing a hat and had his head wrapped in black cloth. Wang Yan lifted his hat and saw that it was another acquaintance from the distant past.

It was Li Yongqiang, who didn't appear many times in the drama before he was killed off, acting as a front-man for the mastermind behind the scenes.

"Alright, Sangba, two kicks are enough. Let's hurry back and see Duojie and the others; this bunch of bastards has weapons that are too good."

Wang Yan waved his hand, stuffed the person into the off-road vehicle with Sangba, didn't bother with the truck loaded with many skins, and turned back to the battlefield directly.

At this time, the gunfire was already sparse, just between surrendering and waiting a while to surrender.

As Wang Yan returned and shot one of the poachers who was shooting the most fiercely, this encounter on the plateau ended.

Just like last time, Duojie and the others slowly approached from the side until they took the poachers' weapons, searched them, and then tied them all up.

Seven corpses were lined up on the ground, four of which were killed by Wang Yan, and three were skinners killed by someone unknown.

Duojie sighed: "People die for wealth, birds die for food. Do you think they are worth it?"

Wang Yan stood beside him smoking: "There must be more than two hundred skins in the truck that ran away earlier, most of which are dried skins. They encountered us; otherwise, who wouldn't be eating and drinking well once they got out? Duojie, why are you becoming sentimental?"

Duojie stared at Wang Yan for a few seconds, then looked at the corpses on the ground: "We have been in the mountains for so long and haven't killed many people. You've entered the mountains twice and have already killed eleven people..."

"That's why poaching is rampant. Now people are starting to die in Bolamula, and the danger has greatly increased. Those who aren't brave enough should think carefully. Of course, it's also possible that because the supply has decreased, the price of skins has soared, causing more people to flock to it; that's also hard to say."

Wang Yan patted Duojie's shoulder, "This group of people looks richer than the previous group; maybe we can get hundreds of thousands, and the company's accounts will be balanced."

Duojie shook his head and didn't say anything.

He is always like this; when everyone is happy, he is worried.

At this time, He Qingyuan brought over a person who was shrinking his head and tail.

"Duojie, college student, you guys look at who this is."

Hearing the sound, the two turned their heads. He Qingyuan pried open the hand the person was using to cover his face, and saw Bai Ji's face that looked like he was about to die.

Duojie shook his head, opened his mouth to say something, and finally sighed.

"Oh my, isn't this Bai Ji? What a coincidence, meeting here." Wang Yan smiled and went over to put his arm around his shoulder, "Just right, last time I saw you were quite curious about what it's like to kill someone and how it's handled. Come, see that gasoline drum? Go, pour gasoline on them."

Bai Ji hunched over, trembling. He wanted to show a smile on his face, but couldn't, and finally only pulled out a curve that looked like he was about to cry.

"Yan... Brother Yan, don't scare me. I didn't hunt sheep; I just followed to skin them to earn some money. Uncle Duojie, I couldn't stop them from hunting sheep even if I didn't come..."

Bai Ji's voice was filled with tears; he was truly scared out of his wits.

Seven corpses were lying on the ground, covered in blood, and one even had a bullet in his face, with several staring with eyes wide open in death. Where had Bai Ji ever seen such a battle? Wang Yan was still grabbing his collar and pushing him forward to scare him.

"Alright, Wang Yan, stop scaring him."

Duojie waved his hand, which could be considered saving Bai Ji, "Bai Ji, you don't need to be afraid, take a good rest, and we will leave the mountains tomorrow. However, your mother will definitely be told about your affairs. I am also friends with your mother and cannot watch you go astray."

Bai Ji nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Uncle Duojie, it's all because I didn't live up to expectations. Please don't pull strings for me; handle me however you should handle me, don't let others gossip about you."

"That sounds a bit more like it." Duojie patted his shoulder heavily.

Everyone began to pour gasoline on the corpses, and with a fire thrown over, they burned fiercely, and a strange smell began to spread nearby.

They didn't watch the cremation on the spot because it was only noon and the time was still early. At the same time, there were other injured people among the poachers and skinners who needed to be treated, and both sides didn't have many supplies left, so the mountain patrol team didn't stay and left early.

A line of six vehicles drove out in a mighty force.

The place that was lively just a moment ago was left with only corpses of Tibetan antelopes on the ground and seven charred human corpses that were beyond recognition. The blood on the ground could no longer be distinguished as human blood or Tibetan antelope blood.

I don't know when, but a few vultures in the sky began to circle, gradually increasing in number. Behind the mountain, a pack of wild wolves appeared again.

This seems to be a feast of nature.

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