Chapter 802: The Robbers in the Mountains Are Very Arrogant

When Li Long and Sun Jia Qiang were eating, he asked a question:

"Xiao Sun, how many days have you been staying here?"

"Let me calculate," Sun Jia Qiang swallowed the food in his mouth, then thought for a moment and said, "It must be... four days. I entered the mountains at noon four days ago, and as soon as I entered, I headed straight here, thinking maybe you had already opened the door. If you had, I would have come straight to you.

It turned out it wasn't open, so I could only stay in the shed... it's still alright, better than a winter shelter."

"Were there no wolves at night?" Li Long asked again. "There are quite a few wild beasts around here, it's quite dangerous."

The straight-line distance from Hot Spring Valley to here was no more than three kilometers; if a brown bear could run there, it would likely be able to run here too.

And when Li Long lived here before, there were quite a few wolves at night.

"There were, I heard wolves howling. Not only wolf howls, but in the middle of the night, a group of wild boars ran past with a rumble, and toward dawn, they ran back with a rumble and entered the mountains."

"Then what did you do? Wolves are cunning and fierce; aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid, but I also have a way to deal with them." Sun Jia Qiang pointed to the front of the shed with his chopsticks and said:

"Before going to sleep at night, I just light a pile of fire there. Wood burns slowly, so it can warm my body on one hand and scare those wild beasts on the other. To tell the truth, wolves, wild boars, and such don't come near when they see fire. I haven't been staying in the mountains for these two years for nothing!"

After he said this, Li Long knew. He looked at the front of the shed and smiled:

"Did you sweep away the pile of ashes after dawn? I didn't notice it when I came over. Now if you don't look carefully, you can't see the marks on it either."

"Yeah. I thought that leaving a pile of ashes there wouldn't look good after all..." Sun Jia Qiang smiled and said, "After all, this is your house. I've already taken advantage of you by borrowing it to stay here; if I make it messy, that wouldn't do."

Alright, all in all, judging by his actions, this person was reliable.

Even if this was all just to show Li Long, it was still judging by actions rather than intentions; at least the person had this intention.

"By the way, you said a group of wild boars ran past at night; where did they run to?" Li Long thought of another matter.

"Over there." Sun Jia Qiang stuffed a piece of naan into his mouth and pointed to the west. "The wild boars rushed out from the forest in the southeast, in a group, there must have been twenty or thirty of them, big and small, running over there, probably looking for food, and then ran back into the forest when dawn was approaching."

"Did they run past this morning?"

"Yeah, they run past every day. These wild boars seem to have made it a habit. The biggest one must be two or three hundred kilograms, with very long tusks exposed—I didn't dare to come out of the shed. Fortunately, this isn't upwind, so they didn't notice me."

Sun Jia Qiang's thought was that those wild boars looked very fierce; if a group really rushed over, he wouldn't be able to resist at all.

At that time, let alone himself, even this wooden shed would probably be dismantled by the wild boars.

This wooden house might be more stable, no problem.

He thought too much.

Li Long wondered if it was necessary for him to come over earlier and then ambush the wild boars to hunt one first.

After all, his older brother's side and his own side both needed meat supplements—since he had squeezed the price of the carrying baskets, he should at least enrich their food.

There were many things in the mountains; supplementing more had its benefits.

Li Long decided that was settled.

After eating, Li Long took Sun Jia Qiang to look at the supplies and explained which supplies could be exchanged for how much fritillaria.

Last year Sun Jia Qiang had worked with Li Long, so he remembered roughly; now it was just to reinforce it.

This year Li Long had raised the exchange price a little. He planned to come over every two days to deliver a batch of supplies, and at the same time take back the fritillaria Sun Jia Qiang had exchanged, and also see if he could run into Hearing Bolati.

After all, a large part of the reason he earned so much money last year was because Hearing Bolati was there. As a forest ranger, the fritillaria Hearing Bolati confiscated from the people he caught digging it basically all flowed to Li Long here.

Li Long still owed him money.

"Keep this knife and carry it on yourself. If those people come to exchange fritillaria, you also have to be careful, especially if two or three come together; be careful not to let them rob you. If you really run into tough characters, then saving your life is the priority, understand? If things are robbed, they are just external objects; life is the most important!"

Li Long reminded Sun Jia Qiang of the precautions. You couldn't show weakness when opening a shop, but if you ran into those who didn't care about their lives, you couldn't sacrifice yourself either. He planned to cultivate Sun Jia Qiang, not have him risk his life.

"I understand." Sun Jia Qiang nodded seriously. This boss was worth following; at least he wasn't the kind who loved money more than life. His choice was right.

After Li Long settled things here, he drove the jeep toward Xiaobaiyang Valley. He thought his older brother and the others should be coming over today; even if they didn't, it would be good for him to go over and check the situation. After all, it was an old base, and the winter shelters were ready-made; he shouldn't let others occupy them.

When Li Long arrived at Xiaobaiyang Valley, he happened to run into Li Jianguo and the others arguing with someone else.

Over there were three tractors and a dozen people, holding sickles, machetes, and such.

Over there were seven people, one holding a hunting rifle, and the rest were holding sticks, knives, and such.

When Li Long's jeep arrived, the Fourth Team people led by Li Jianguo and Xie Yun Dong were reasoning with the opposite side, but the opposite side clearly didn't intend to reason.

Although they were few in number, with that hunting rifle, they were fearless.

"We occupied this place first. Don't tell me you were here last year; so what if you were here? Is this forest yours? Is this mountain valley yours? Everything has a first-come, first-served basis. Since we have already occupied it, this place is ours now. You all leave! Otherwise, my sand-shot bullets don't have eyes!"

The one holding the hunting rifle didn't speak, but the tall, sturdy man on the side spoke up. He seemed to be the leader of these people; when he spoke, the others nodded.

"Who are you trying to scare?" Xu Fei Hu said loudly from the side: "There are only two bullets in that broken gun of yours; how many people can you hit? There are so many of us; why don't you try shooting? If you dare to shoot, we can smash you all to pieces!"

"Then why don't you try the first shot?" The one holding the gun sneered and turned the muzzle toward Xu Fei Hu.

Xu Fei Hu subconsciously took two steps back, and the seven people over there burst into laughter.

Xu Fei Hu was furious and impulsively wanted to rush forward, but was pulled back by Xu Haijun.

The two sides were deadlocked.

The terrain of Xiaobaiyang Valley was relatively flat, the winter shelters were ready-made, and there were many small trenches nearby. Eight out of ten of these small trenches probably had fritillaria, so for these people digging fritillaria, it was a very good location.

Of course, for Li Jianguo and the others, it was also a good location. Xiaobaiyang Valley itself had many trees that could be used to cut willow branches, so weaving carrying baskets here would save a lot of trouble.

Just as they were deadlocked, Li Long's jeep arrived.

Seeing the jeep, the other side panicked a little. They weren't stupid; those who could drive a jeep over probably weren't small officials, and their coming here to dig fritillaria was itself an illegal act—three years ago when the forest team was established, private digging of fritillaria had already been banned.

Otherwise, what would Li Jianguo and the others be weaving carrying baskets for? Wouldn't digging fritillaria be more profitable?

After seeing the jeep, the confidence of those weaving carrying baskets suddenly surged.

Actually, it was just that living conditions had improved in the last two years, everyone had enough to eat and drink, and could drink a little wine from time to time, so they had lost the bloodiness they had when they were poor.

At this time, there were many things to consider, and they always felt that since they already had such a good life, there was no need to act like a hero again; they weren't reckless kids without any capital.

If this had happened a few years ago, let alone you holding a sand-shot gun, even if the opposite side had one each, they wouldn't be afraid.

Just go up—most of those sand-shot guns used lead pellets, and if they couldn't kill you in one shot, the sickles on this side could cripple the other side.

Of course, having many people but not being of one mind was also one thing; three tractors, three people brought them over, who should they listen to?

Li Jianguo didn't want to cause trouble—mainly because this matter was weaving carrying baskets for his younger brother Li Long. With so many people coming over, if one or two were missing when they went back, how could he explain it to the team?

There were too many concerns.

However, when Li Long arrived, the momentum of the people in the team changed instantly, and those who had been hesitant just now suddenly had a backbone.

No matter who drove these three tractors, they were all working for Li Long, and Li Long wasn't a person who feared trouble; he was responsible, so they knew that since Li Long had come, there would definitely be a way to solve it.

"Hey, Xiao Long is here!"

"It's good that he's here; he'll definitely be able to handle these few people!"

"They have a gun..." someone also worried.

"You probably don't know, right? When has Xiao Long ever not carried a gun when entering the mountains? Just wait and see!"

When Li Long got out of the car, he saw the situation. He didn't say much, took the gun bag containing the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle from the back seat, took out the rifle, threw the gun bag onto the car seat, and while walking forward, opened the safety, pulled the bolt, and pushed a bullet into the chamber.

Sand-shot gun?

In front of a Type 56, it was just a little brother!

"What do you want to do?" Li Long walked to the front carrying the rifle and scolded those few people loudly, "You few are digging fritillaria, right? Doing sneaky things, and you've developed the personality of a landlord? Put down the gun!"

The one holding the sand-shot gun looked at his boss and hesitated for a moment.

"What are you doing?" The big guy who was the leader saw it; Li Long didn't look like a leader, but rather like he was in the same group as those driving the tractors.

He also discovered from the gazes the others looked at Li Long with—these people definitely knew Li Long—they were together!

This young man didn't look like a leader. As for how he got the jeep, that was hard to say—but now, his momentum couldn't be weak.

It hadn't been easy to knead these seven people from three different places together in the first place. If he really let these people force them back, although he could still be the boss, his prestige would definitely be gone.

So this big guy didn't retreat, reached out and took the sand-shot gun from the person next to him, raised it, and prepared to aim at Li Long... He wasn't afraid!

"Bang!" Li Long raised his hand and fired a shot at his feet!

"What am I doing? I'm a forest ranger!" Li Long said loudly, "I now suspect you are illegally digging fritillaria; all of you throw away the things in your hands, otherwise my bullets don't have eyes!"

That big guy was startled by Li Long's shot; he hurriedly took a few steps back, but couldn't bear to throw away the gun in his hand. He knew very well that if he threw away the gun, he and his few people would probably only be able to be captured without a fight.

"You say you're a forest ranger, bring evidence!" The big guy said, bracing himself, "Don't think you can scare us just because you're holding a gun. Let me tell you, we weren't scared growing up; how many bullets can you have in that gun..."

"Ten rounds, just fired one, there are nine left. My marksmanship is still okay within ten meters." Li Long stood in a standoff with the other side carrying the rifle, not afraid at all, "You see whether your sand-shot gun is faster or my rifle is faster... put down the gun! I'll count to three; if you don't put it down, then don't blame me for being impolite!"

After finishing, Li Long aimed at the big guy's chest; he really dared to shoot.

Not only because these people occupied Li Jianguo and the others' winter shelter, but more importantly, these people dared to threaten people in the mountains, which showed they already had the intention to group together to do bad things.

If they ran into someone alone like Sun Jia Qiang, these people would definitely rob them.

Li Long would absolutely not let such a situation occur.

That big guy hesitated, and the hand holding the gun was shaking.

"Three, two, one!"

Li Long counted down three numbers, and seeing that the big guy was still holding the gun, he didn't hesitate at all and fired a shot at his lower leg with a "Bang"!

"Ah!" The big guy threw away the gun, fell to the ground, hugged his lower leg, and wailed there.

The others immediately threw away the things in their hands and squatted down with their heads in their hands.

This young man actually really dared to shoot!

"You, go bandage him, don't let him die from blood loss!" Li Long pointed to the one who had just held the sand-shot gun, "You come over, tell me about your recent situation, you've robbed quite a few people, right?"

"No... no..."

How would the person pointed at by Li Long's gun dare to say it? If they really said their group had robbed others, what would happen if they were beaten?

"You'd better confess honestly; there are quite a few people here. If you don't say it, someone else will," Li Long said coldly, "Then just wait to be dealt with!"

"I'll say it, I'll say it... I came here to stay the day before the day before yesterday. In these three days, I robbed five people in total. The fritillaria and other things robbed are all in the winter shelter... and there's a woman..."

Damn!

Li Long didn't expect these people to be so frantic!

He turned his head to look, and Xu Haijun reacted the fastest, taking Xu Dejun and rushing toward the winter shelter, saying as he walked:

"I'm going to save the person!"

"Good." Li Long responded and continued the interrogation.

The seven people were originally three groups, a two-two-three configuration, kneaded together by the big guy. The sand-shot gun was the big guy's lackey's, and by this time it had been held in Li Jianguo's hands. He checked the gun, and there were two slug bullets inside.

"These guys really aren't afraid of causing loss of life!" Li Jianguo sighed. The caliber of a slug bullet was much larger than a Type 56, and if one was shot in the body at such a close distance, it was guaranteed to be over.

Xu Haijun and the others saved the woman who was tied up in the winter shelter. This was a woman in her thirties, a bit thin, with ropes tied on her hands, and the towel in her mouth had just been taken out by Xu Haijun.

The woman didn't cry; looking at the big guy who had just been bandaged, her eyes were full of hatred.

"Go pick out your things." Li Long pointed to the winter shelter; these people had put the things they robbed in one winter shelter.

The woman struggled to stand up, swayed over, found her bag in the winter shelter, and a fertilizer bag containing two or three kilograms of fritillaria.

After finding these two things, the woman found a stick to lean on and asked Li Long:

"What are you all?"

"I'm a forest ranger."

A look of panic appeared on the woman's face; clearly, she knew what forest rangers did, and this could also be considered illegal for her.

"You go." Li Long saw her worry and said, "There are many wild beasts in the mountains, and quite a few bad people too; be careful yourself."

The woman took out a steamed bun from her bundle, took a bite, leaned on the stick, and walked forward. When she walked to the few people squatting there, she suddenly raised the stick and knocked one of them hard a few times, then left in a hurry, leaving only that guy hugging his head and screaming.

This woman was ruthless enough.

"Alright, take out their things and put them on my jeep," Li Long said, "In a while, we have to send these people to the forest team." If they were just ordinary fritillaria diggers, Li Long couldn't be bothered to care.

But these people had already started robbing things and people, which was a big deal and had to be handed over to Hearing Bolati and the others.

Xu Haijun and the others responded and searched out the bedding, robbed fritillaria, bundles, and other things from several winter shelters.

Li Long glanced at it; the fritillaria here alone was more than two bags.

Although it was fresh fritillaria, just this amount must be nearly a hundred kilograms—these people, they robbed ruthlessly enough.

"Alright, alright, the matter is solved. Everyone hurry up and clean your winter shelters; Old Huang is preparing to cook here," Xie Yun Dong shouted, "Haijun, you few help Xiao Long watch these people, don't let these bad seeds run away."

Xu Haijun took a sickle and responded, and Li Jianguo handed the double-barreled sand-shot gun to him:

"Haijun, take this; whoever dares to move around, hit him."

"Alright, Old Uncle Li." Although Xu Haijun dared to discuss things with Li Long as peers, he didn't dare to call Li Jianguo brother, otherwise, he would be scolded by his father.

Li Long looked carefully; among the things these people robbed, there were no antiques or such. It seemed they hadn't run into good things in the mountains either, just specifically digging fritillaria.

Just as he was thinking about whether to use a tractor to take the people away, the sound of horse hooves came from the mouth of the trench.

When Li Long turned to look, he found it was Hearing Bolati and two others riding horses, three people riding horses and trotting over here.

After seeing Li Long, Hearing Bolati, who was carrying a gun, breathed a sigh of relief, came over, shook hands with Li Long with a smile, and after greeting him, asked:

"What happened to these people?"

"These, they were brought by me, they are here to weave carrying baskets." Li Long gestured with his hand at his older brother and the others, then pointed to the big guy who was beaten and injured over there, and the other six people, saying: "These six are fritillaria diggers who entered the mountains and also robbed others' things, and even tied up a woman; that woman was just released by us."

"What? Even robbed people?" Hearing Bolati was also startled. They were forest rangers, and they had some law enforcement power when facing people digging fritillaria, but the most they ran into were fritillaria diggers; where would they run into people holding guns and robbing?

This could be considered a major case!

"That's the gun confiscated from their hands," Li Long said, "These are their things."

Xu Haijun took the sand-shot gun over a bit reluctantly.

This was a major case, and Li Long handed over all those fritillaria.

This thing, it was better not to get involved.

Hearing Bolati looked at his two companions, then said:

"Li Long, thank you. If it weren't for you, this matter might have caused loss of life... we'll take the people and things."

When Hearing Bolati was packing things, the sand-shot gun was also carried on his back, those odds and ends of bundles were placed on the horses, and among the seven people, the big guy whose leg was injured was carried and placed on a horse.

Hearing Bolati specifically left out a bag of fritillaria without packing it, and Li Long didn't say anything.

PS: Thanks again to book friend 20240530944441 from QQ for the tip, thanks to book friend Tianqing Yunjie for the tip. The monthly tickets have already reached a hundred, thanks everyone! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 803 =====