Chapter 492

Gao Haisheng, who had already lost his footing and fallen, rolling into a ball, was shot in the body, and the piercing pain made his cries grow ever more intense.

At that moment, he rolled down like a round ball, and Xiang Donglai and Old Master Wang almost simultaneously lunged at the shot Gao Haisheng with their utmost speed.

Both of them clearly understood that if they did not quickly grab that wailing, rolling ball, after rolling another hundred or so meters there would be a cliff, and at its base lay only stones; falling would mean almost no chance of survival.

At this moment, Su Yang also saw the scene. Everything had happened too suddenly; even though he reacted, there was a ditch ahead of his position, making a direct pursuit unlikely.

He could only run down as fast as he could in the direction he was facing, knowing that unless they grew wings to fly down, they had no hope of catching the person tumbling below.

The only option now was to hope that something like a dense thicket below could stop him; otherwise there was no hope.

Even though this matter had little direct relation to him, the shooter was not him, and the person rolling down had brought it on himself, yet if a life were to be lost, he also bore an inescapable responsibility; at this moment he broke out in a cold sweat.

As he sprinted downhill, he heard a crackling from the thicket ahead; obviously, as Gao Haisheng rolled down, he had broken many branches.

Just as he was about to roll over the cliff, the trunk of a large tree blocked him outright.

He heard only a dull thud, then Gao Haisheng let out another cry before falling silent; evidently he had lost consciousness.

In that brief moment, Old Master Wang and Xiang Donglai arrived almost one after the other beside Gao Haisheng.

Seeing Xiang Donglai, Old Master Wang staggered on his feet and asked, "Was that shot yours just now? Why didn't you watch where you were aiming? If you had killed someone, whose fault would it be? You're an old hand at mountain patrols—how could you make such a rookie mistake?"

"Enough of this—we don't have time for that now. See where he's hurt, bandage him quickly, then get him down the mountain for treatment." After seeing that it was Old Master Wang, Xiang Donglai's face remained grim, but his tone softened.

Don't scare the old man into fainting.

Old Master Wang was already trembling; at the instant he saw his own shot hit the rolling man, he hadn't thought of much else—just to grab the person and stop him from rolling further, otherwise it would truly be certain death.

"I—I don't know either—I just saw a wild rabbit and fired; I never imagined he would roll down at the very moment I shot. He—he's a township official—what—what are we to do?"

"Old Wang, don't be afraid; we can talk about jail later. Right now we need to get him down the mountain—Director Su is here too."

"Remember this: the hunting party up the mountain was just you and me, with no Director Su involved. If something happens, we can still speak up for you; otherwise you'll face not only a fine but also imprisonment."

Even at this point, Xiang Donglai's mind was still on how to help Su Yang evade blame and how to take responsibility himself.

He also knew that Old Master Wang, a man who had never seen the world, might not actually fear jail, but threatening to fine him would truly frighten him.

After all, these days peasants merely scrape by for food and clothing; a little laziness and they can't even manage that. Old Master Wang's whole family pins its hopes on his meager salary as a forest ranger here and the occasional game he bags in the hills.

At this moment Su Yang also arrived, took one look at Gao Haisheng, didn't think further, and said directly, "Let's get him down the mountain; forget everything else—saving his life comes first."

"I'll call the county hospital right now; we'll rush him toward the county, and whenever we meet an ambulance we'll load him aboard—if we just wait for the ambulance to come, we might lose time."

Then he turned to Old Master Wang and said, "Don't panic, sir; this probably isn't a serious crime—well… sigh, I'm not sure what to say about this right now."

"Anyway, don't get too worked up. After coming down the mountain, just do what you need to do; don't be afraid—at most the police station will have you give a statement."

As they hurried down the mountain at top speed, they saw Bai Yutang rushing up anxiously, and they collided head‑on.

Seeing them carrying a person down, Bai Yutang's face went white as he asked, "What's wrong? What happened? I just heard someone screaming."

Su Yang gave Bai Yutang a deep look and said, "Old Bai, didn't you just say you wanted to go up the mountain with us? If you had come along, you might have seen it. There's no time to explain now—we must rush him to the hospital for treatment."

Bai Yutang's heart gave a jolt; he had originally been thinking of giving Su Yang a hard time—whether by a rock, a bullet, or a fright that made him slip and roll down—but he never expected the one shot to be Gao Haisheng! This made the situation serious.

He knew Gao Haisheng very well; if he didn't give him some benefit this time, Gao Haisheng would easily spill the whole story. Moreover he could see that Su Yang had already guessed something—if the truth really came out, he wouldn't be able to stomach it and would have to go into hiding.

Of course, this was also an opportunity for him. Why? Because Su Yang had taken a gun up the mountain, and then a shooting incident occurred.

Although firearms aren't yet totally banned, injuring someone in the mountains is a major matter. As the person overseeing all work in Xiushui Township, Su Yang will certainly have to bear responsibility—enough to make him drink a pot, whether publicly or privately. The precondition is that he must quickly settle the aftermath.

Watching Su Yang and Xiang Donglai carry the wounded, unconscious Gao Haisheng off for rescue, he hastily grabbed Old Master Wang to the side and asked, "What's going on? What exactly happened up the mountain just now? Who fired the shot?"

"How careless can you be—you actually hit someone. If he had died, you'd have to take responsibility; put bluntly, you'd have to pay with your life."