Chapter 496: Old Brothers

The underground pipes were low, cold, and smelly.

Although they weren't as filthy and dirty as the city's underground utility lines, the Jianyuan pipes weren't exactly prepared for people to walk through either.

Most of the pipes allowed for walking while bent over, but there were always sections that required crawling. Occasionally, when they reached a wider area, everyone couldn't help but stand for a while to relieve the discomfort in their shoulders, necks, and waists.

The most miserable was Jiang Yuan. His disadvantage of being tall and long-legged was fully displayed. Many times, where others could stand straight, Jiang Yuan couldn't. Staying there felt like sleeping on the middle bunk of a train sleeper.

Dazhuang walked the most comfortably; its size was quite suitable for the pipes, but the surrounding odors still made Dazhuang very uncomfortable.

The pipes intersected from time to time, and every time they reached such a point, Dazhuang needed to sniff.

Mu Zhiyang held the exploration light in the back, constantly turning it on to illuminate, letting Jiang Yuan judge whether there were any residual footprints and whether the residual footprints matched the characteristics of Yuan Yushan's party.

To be honest, carrying the exploration light wasn't strictly necessary at this point, but Mu Zhiyang insisted on holding it while crawling down.

For Jiang Yuan, the exploration light had a large range, and the light source was uniform and stable, naturally allowing for a more comprehensive view of the footprints.

Therefore, he quickly memorized all the footprint characteristics of Yuan Yushan's party.

In this way, even if they reached a fork in the road and occasionally couldn't find Yuan Yushan's footprints, he could try to look for the footprints of others.

The main pressure of judgment was actually concentrated at the forks in the road. When entering a fork, it was best if one could make an accurate judgment. If not, one needed to confirm the presence of Yuan Yushan and the others' footprints as quickly as possible on the following stretch of road. If it were the latter, it would obviously be more anxious, as everyone was afraid of turning the wrong way or taking the wrong path.

After all, everyone's trust in Jiang Yuan still outweighed their trust in the dog, so even with Dazhuang sniffing in front, everyone still hoped to get Jiang Yuan's secondary confirmation.

There were a few times when both Dazhuang and Jiang Yuan couldn't make an immediate judgment, but fortunately, after a few more attempts, they found the right position.

The pipes went from simple to complex, then back to simple, gradually becoming uniform.

In the end, several people walked along a pipe for a long time, and finally, they actually entered an air-raid shelter.

The air-raid shelter could accommodate hundreds of people. Walking out, there were tunnels connecting to other air-raid shelters.

Mu Zhiyang and the others all took their firearms into their hands. They hadn't needed guns inside the pipes, and fortunately, they hadn't been blocked inside. But after coming out to the air-raid shelter, the sense of security from holding a gun increased greatly.

After a gentle slope of over a hundred meters, a steel door was pushed open, and Mu Zhiyang couldn't help but let out a soft "Oh."

"There's a small factory here." Mu Zhiyang held his gun and small round shield, forming a search formation with two other SWAT team members, and automatically moved forward a stretch.

Jiang Yuan only came up at this time, took a long breath, and looked out. Sure enough, it was a dilapidated factory that was no longer in use or inhabited.

"It's a former Third-Line factory." Li Li led Dazhuang over and identified it: "It should be one of the old small factories."

"I heard that some of the Jianyuan gang members, those who followed Yuan Jiansheng, started out from Third-Line factories." Following behind was Shen Yaowei, who had recently read the case files very deeply and had done specialized research on some of the Jianyuan gang members.

Jiang Yuan nodded: "Counting from that time, these people should be about ready to retire."

"They probably wanted to do legitimate business at the beginning." Li Li said.

Shen Yaowei smiled: "With their income and assets back then, even if their legitimate business went bankrupt, what remained was still much more than what ordinary people had. The most miserable were the workers left in the Third-Line factories; those who hadn't retired had no income, and those who had retired didn't have much income either..."

"Woof."

Dazhuang barked and looked back at Shen Yaowei. Its dog eyes seemed to be saying: You talk too much, are you going to do your job or not? The criminal suspect is still running ahead, and you've started chatting here? And you're rambling on with such pity? Have you forgotten what you're here for? Don't you know who you are?

Shen Yaowei felt a bit guilty being looked at by the dog's eyes and smiled: "This dog is quite spiritual."

"Keep looking for people. When this case is done, I'll make you some good dog food." Jiang Yuan pondered, thinking that when he had a day off, he would directly open a 405-minute 'Plus 1' dog food skill and slap some LV6 dog food on Dazhuang's face. He wondered what expression it would have.

"Woof!"

Dazhuang barked again, feeling as if it had understood. The dog's spirit seemed to have increased by 1.

"This way." Li Li felt the tension on the leash and hurriedly called out.

Everyone immediately followed.

After Yuan Yushan's party ran out, they made even less effort to hide. Basically, it was a straight shot, heading toward an old building in the factory.

"Call Director Liu and Branch Chief Yu." Jiang Yuan and the others got a little closer, and he stopped directly.

At this time, the police officers Jiang Yuan had with him, plus Dazhuang, totaled 8.

If 8 people were catching a murderer or something, it would be more than enough, not to mention that Mu Zhiyang and the others had brought three guns in total.

But there were as many as 12 drug trafficking gang members around Yuan Yushan.

Even if Yuan Yushan's combat value was 0, 12 people fighting 8 people, and the former's weapons were likely stronger—approaching like this certainly wouldn't work.

Especially when their side was approaching a building that might have gunmen from an open, flat area, they might end up as live targets.

Jiang Yuan would rather wait a bit. Having searched to this point, Yuan Yushan's advantage was almost gone. There was no need to chase too tightly now; a team of 13 people wanting to break through the blockade was almost impossible.

The facts were indeed so.

Although Yuan Yushan reacted quickly and was very decisive after making a decision, the government forces chasing thieves were always at an advantage.

It wasn't that she did anything wrong that led to her being caught.

The reality was that as long as she did one thing wrong, she could be caught, and unless she showed extraordinary ability, she wouldn't be able to escape.

Yuan Yushan looked around, 12 pairs of eyes staring straight at her.

"Let's rest for a while first." Yuan Yushan said softly: "The police probably don't know we're here. They're just doing routine blockades and patrols. If it really doesn't work, we'll cross Jiming Mountain, or just kill our way out. I bet the few people they have deployed won't be able to stop us."

Jiming Mountain was the largest mountain nearby. Not only was the mountain area large, but the complexity inside was also high. Besides the difficulty and danger of crossing wild mountains, crossing Jiming Mountain was a plan that wouldn't go wrong.

Opening the entrance of the passage here was also one of Yuan Jiansheng's plans.

Since they were already on the run, even if they had money on them, they still needed supplies and manpower. Running away was still more reliable on two feet.

Of course, there were still vehicles stored here, but the police blockade made the easy roads dangerous.

After a short rest, Yuan Yushan led the team to set off again.

This time, they hadn't walked long before an experienced brother approached and said: "General Yuan, I'd like to make a suggestion."

"Please speak." Yuan Yushan's attitude at this time was very humble.

The old brother said: "Our team is too large. If you don't want to force your way out, I suggest splitting up. Splitting into several teams might give us a better chance of running out."

Yuan Yushan pondered without speaking. Of course, she knew there were too many people, but bringing more people out also had its benefits. For example, they could now go down the mountain to charge the checkpoint and then scatter to flee for their lives.

However, Yuan Yushan really didn't want to flee for her life.

Besides, with more people, Yuan Yushan's personal safety could be better guaranteed.

The old brothers of her father Yuan Jiansheng were all uncles and brothers who had watched Yuan Yushan grow up. In most cases, Yuan Yushan trusted them, but on the run, Yuan Yushan still had the funds Yuan Jiansheng left her for a comeback. Would the uncles and brothers reveal their drug trafficker side?

"Let's consider this problem later." Yuan Yushan still wanted to keep a few more options. Regarding the next actions, subsequent goals, and the surrounding situation, she hadn't thought it through clearly yet.

Furthermore, Yuan Yushan hoped to delay making a decision with her older brother Yuan Yuming. In other words, if she arranged for her brother's subordinates to act according to her requirements and go on a rampage in advance, Yuan Yuming could at least draw away most of the attention.

Just as Yuan Yushan was thinking this, a low voice reached her ears:

"The police are here."

Yuan Yushan and the others all stood up, and someone immediately looked toward the direction of the foot of the mountain.

"Here, coming from the south side of the road." The gang member on lookout duty had a low voice, still relatively calm.

Yuan Yushan, who had been calm, suddenly frowned.

How could the police come from there?

She hurriedly looked over and saw a tall figure from afar.

"Jiang Yuan!" Yuan Yushan's teeth were almost ground to pieces. The last time she arranged for a muck truck to hit Jiang Yuan but failed to kill him was Yuan Yushan's biggest regret.

Yuan Yushan even wanted to slap herself—why didn't she learn her lesson!

If the first time, because of her father's mistress's warehouse cremation case, sending someone to stab Jiang Yuan's tires could be considered an accident, then this time, sending a muck truck to hit Jiang Yuan could be considered Yuan Yushan's careful planning.

What Yuan Yushan didn't expect was that Jiang Yuan was completely unharmed!

Looking back now, Yuan Yushan felt she really should have arranged for a few gunmen to follow the muck truck, and if they didn't succeed in hitting him, they could just rush up and finish him off with gunfire.

Yuan Yushan was, of course, just thinking about it. At that time, the situation didn't allow for such intense thoughts. However, in the current situation, it seemed any intense thought could be executed.

"Wait for them to get closer, then shoot them to death." Yuan Yushan didn't understand tactics or anything. After saying this, she looked to the side and said: "Uncle Mu, Jiang Yuan understands footprint tracking; he's the tallest one. Please take the team down and make sure to kill him and that police dog."

"Good. Brothers, let's count our guns." Uncle Mu didn't think it was very difficult. He pulled a P90 submachine gun from behind his back and, while checking it, turned his head and said: "General Yuan, once we start shooting, the police at the foot of the mountain will hear it too. You all should move forward now."

Yuan Yushan also appeared a bit nervous. She gave an "En" and said: "We'll meet at Supply Point 2."

"We don't necessarily have to meet. You should go according to your own situation." Uncle Mu said this, called out, and took 7 people away. 8 against 8, he still had confidence. ===== CHAPTER 497 =====