Chapter 97: He Yuzhu Descends the Mountain

He Daqing saw that Li Shifu was being a bit unappreciative, so he immediately darkened his face: "Lao Li, get your position straight! I didn't pay attention to you before, not because I was afraid of you, but because I wanted to see just how far you people could stir up trouble, so I could deal with you all at once!"

Li Shifu was startled by the murderous look in He Daqing's eyes, and cold sweat broke out on his back. He hurriedly forced a smile: "Director He, look at you, why get so worked up over a joke? Just pretend I didn't say anything, alright?"

He Daqing sneered, "Don't try to smooth things over with me. If you can work honestly from now on, we'll have no trouble. If you keep playing petty tricks and stirring up trouble, don't blame me for not showing you any respect!"

Li Shifu dared not say another word and scurried back to the kitchen with his neck tucked in.

The morning mist in the small mountain village had not yet dispersed, and the horizon was just beginning to turn a fish-belly white.

He Yuzhu got up early and stretched his limbs, feeling that his body was much lighter. Although the wounds on his body had not fully healed, they no longer affected his movement.

He stuffed one hundred Big Ocean coins under the bedding, put on his pack, and took Wang Jiazhi out the door on tiptoe.

Outside the courtyard, Shanwa was already waiting there with his bow and arrows; naturally, this was something they had arranged in advance.

Shanwa still had a thick hemp rope tied around his waist; he handed the other end to Wang Jiazhi and urged, "Sister Jiazhi, hold on tight, the mountain road is slippery."

The three of them walked one after another, stepping on the mountain road covered in thin ice, slowly climbing up the mountain.

Shanwa had grown up in the mountains and was used to walking on such paths, so he didn't think anything of it; Wang Jiazhi could only grip the rope tightly, climbing until she was panting; although He Yuzhu had not fully recovered, his physical strength had returned quite a bit, and he gritted his teeth to follow behind, not falling too far behind.

After climbing for more than an hour, the three of them finally crossed the mountain ridge and saw the outline of the town in the distance.

He Yuzhu stopped and said to Shanwa, "Shanwa, go back! Sorry for the trouble these past few days!"

Shanwa nodded and said, "Brother Zhuzi, don't be so polite! I still need to buy some salt and grain in town. Since the shops aren't open yet, I'll see you off for a bit longer."

He Yuzhu took a large bag of bullets for the Box Cannon out of his bag and handed it to Shanwa: "I don't have anything good to give you, take these bullets; you'll be able to use them for hunting later."

Shanwa's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took them and tucked them into his bosom, grinning from ear to ear: "Thanks, Brother Zhuzi!"

The three of them walked down the small hillside, and just as they were about to enter the town, He Yuzhu's footsteps suddenly stopped. Outside a large courtyard not far from the street entrance, two military vehicles were parked—one was a Jeep, and the other was a truck.

Not long after, more than twenty people rushed out of the courtyard. They were quickly forming up, their movements uniform; one look and it was clear they were well-trained soldiers.

He Yuzhu's heart sank: "No good! These people must be heading for the small mountain village!"

Shanwa also saw that something was wrong, his voice slightly nervous: "Brother Zhuzi, are they... are they heading for our village?"

He Yuzhu nodded, "Shanwa, don't be afraid. Before I leave, I will definitely take care of them."

"Brother Zhuzi, you're alone, can you handle more than 20 people?" Shanwa was a bit worried.

He Yuzhu pointed to a small dirt mound at the foot of the mountain and said, "Shanwa, do me a favor. Hide at that corner on the mountain path. When the enemy reaches a point one hundred paces away from you, fire your gun to attract their attention. I will be on the hillside on the other side, using the machine gun to hit them from behind."

As he spoke, He Yuzhu pulled a Type 11 Light Machine Gun out of his backpack.

Shanwa was instantly stunned—he never expected that He Yuzhu had hidden such a big thing in his backpack!

Seeing this machine gun, his hanging heart immediately settled down. He had previously thought that He Yuzhu was asking him to attract fire because he wanted to run away himself.

"I'll go with Shanwa!" Wang Jiazhi also guessed what Shanwa was thinking and was afraid he would get the wrong idea.

He Yuzhu shook his head: "No, you aren't fast enough. By the time you run to that spot, the enemy will already be up the mountain.

You hide behind that rock over there." He pointed to a large rock not far away.

Wang Jiazhi gripped his sleeve tightly, her eyes full of worry: "Zhuzi, your wounds haven't healed yet, can you really do it?"

"Don't worry, this small group of people can't stump me. Besides, I have this big guy!" He Yuzhu patted the machine gun and comforted her.

Shanwa no longer hesitated and ran toward the mountain as fast as a leopard.

He Yuzhu immediately took action. He was extremely fast and disappeared onto the hillside on the other side in no time.

He found a concealed position, lay down, and set up the machine gun.

It wasn't long before the enemy reached He Yuzhu's optimal firing zone.

A leading officer shouted loudly: "Hurry up! Don't waste time, we must reach the village before noon!"

Their team charged up the small mountain in formation, leaving their backs exposed to He Yuzhu.

A "Bang!" of a gunshot broke the morning silence.

The bullet grazed the officer's ear and hit a rock nearby.

The soldiers instantly stopped in their tracks and raised their guns to look around.

But before they could find the person who fired, a burst of dense machine gun fire—"Da-da-da-da..."—rang out from behind them!

After one magazine was emptied, He Yuzhu didn't have time to change it, so he used his Box Cannon to continue firing.

The sound of gunfire from Shanwa's side also rang out.

The team was caught in a crossfire and immediately fell into chaos, fleeing in all directions. In just a moment, a large number of them had fallen.

Taking advantage of his high ground, He Yuzhu threw a few Hand Grenades at them.

"Boom, boom, boom!" After a few loud explosions, there was almost no one alive left at the bottom of the valley.

He Yuzhu quickly ran down the hillside, and Shanwa also ran down from the mountain, shouting excitedly: "Brother Zhuzi! I killed three people just now!"

He Yuzhu smiled, his tone serious: "Shanwa, don't be happy too soon. Check the corpses one by one and finish them off! If you let one go, your family will be in danger, you know?"

Shanwa immediately put away his smile and nodded earnestly: "I understand!"

After finishing off the soldiers, He Yuzhu took one hundred Big Ocean coins out of his bosom and handed them to Shanwa: "Your home isn't safe anymore. After you go back, move quickly and don't stay in the village for the time being."

"I know, I'll tell my grandmother as soon as I get back!" Shanwa took the Big Ocean coins and gripped them tightly in his hand.

"Then we'll see each other again, take care of yourself." He Yuzhu waved at him and turned to walk toward the low wall.

Wang Jiazhi was hiding behind the low wall and couldn't see what was happening outside; her heart was in her throat.

Seeing He Yuzhu's figure running back, she finally let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly went to meet him.

Shanwa watched the backs of He Yuzhu and Wang Jiazhi as they walked away and muttered to himself: "Brother Zhuzi is truly amazing! I need to practice my marksmanship too!"

But he also realized the severity of the situation, quickly rummaged through the corpses for some valuables to tuck into his bosom, and turned to run toward the village.

He Yuzhu walked quickly to the truck, collected all the supplies in the truck bed into his space, and moved several barrels of gasoline into the trunk of the Jeep. He said to Wang Jiazhi: "Get in the car quickly, let's go."

Wang Jiazhi hurriedly pulled open the car door and sat in the passenger seat.

The Jeep started up and soon drove away from the town, heading in the direction of Si Jiu Cheng.