"Zhang Hailong, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Put the gun down right now!"
Yang Hua's face changed drastically as he immediately shouted.
He wasn't worried about Liu Tiezhu's safety—he was trying to save Zhang Hailong's life.
Zhang Hailong said, "Brother Hua, people die for wealth, birds die for food."
"If I take him out, we can split a bigger share."
He didn't realize death was already upon him.
He thought that with his gun aimed at Liu Tiezhu's head, everything was settled.
Yang Hua closed his eyes, knowing Zhang Hailong was doomed.
The other four stood there cold-faced, clearly having conspired with Zhang Hailong beforehand.
"Since you helped us get by with food, any last words?"
"As long as they're not too much, I'll grant them."
Zhang Hailong continued, addressing Liu Tiezhu.
"I was going to spare your life, but now I've changed my mind."
Bang, bang, bang...
Almost as soon as Liu Tiezhu finished speaking, gunshots rang out from inside his cotton coat.
His right hand held a Type 54 pistol, smoke billowing from it.
As for Zhang Hailong, who had been so arrogant moments ago, his face was now deathly pale, blood gushing from his mouth.
He looked down at the bullet hole in his chest and fell to the ground with a look of unwillingness, his eyes never closing even in death.
Without hesitation, Liu Tiezhu pulled out a compound crossbow and aimed it at Li Ming and the other four.
"Brother Tiezhu, don't..." Yang Hua quickly tried to stop him.
But it was too late.
The moment these people tried to hog his share, their fate was sealed.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The piercing sound of arrows cut through the air as bamboo bolts struck the four men's necks with deadly precision, spraying blood across the wall.
Yang Hua was utterly terrified, staring at Liu Tiezhu in fear, not daring to move.
If Liu Tiezhu wanted to kill him now, he had no way to fight back.
"They were too greedy; they would've caused trouble sooner or later, so they had to die."
Liu Tiezhu put away the compound crossbow as he spoke.
Seeing this, Yang Hua breathed a silent sigh of relief, knowing he was safe.
"Brother Tiezhu, now that they're all dead,"
"these supplies—you decide how to split them."
As he said this, Yang Hua readily pulled out the over thirty thousand in cash.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Let's stick to the original agreement."
"Their five shares—we each take two, and the remaining one goes to Chen Hailiang."
"I'll take half the grain and meat, and you and Chen Hailiang split the other half. Any problem?"
"No problem."
Yang Hua nodded without a second thought.
Given the situation, even if Liu Tiezhu gave him nothing, he wouldn't dare complain.
Besides, Liu Tiezhu's distribution was fair and just—how could he have any objections?
With the split done, Liu Tiezhu didn't linger. He grabbed the cash, led the horse cart, and headed into the mountains.
Before leaving, he warned Yang Hua to move out of there as soon as possible.
When Zhang Mingtao and his brother returned, they'd go crazy looking for them.
If they didn't slip out of the encirclement, they'd have to return the looted supplies and lose their lives too.
Yang Hua nodded repeatedly. Even without Liu Tiezhu's reminder, he planned to leave this place.
Now that he had guns, money, and meat, it was enough to build his own team.
Four hours later, Liu Tiezhu finally returned to the mountain cave.
It was already past four in the morning, and the noise woke up his uncle and the others.
Liu Tiezhu had been down the mountain for seven days, and they'd been worried sick.
Especially Yang Yulan, whose eyes were brimming with tears when she saw him.
"Don't just stand there—help unload."
His uncle dismissed the crowd watching in the hall, leaving a little space for Liu Tiezhu and his wife.
This time, Liu Tiezhu brought back about a thousand jin of rice and meat, enough to feed the eight family members and nineteen hunting dogs for twenty days.
After everyone worked together to haul it into the cellar, Yang Yulan and her sister-in-law went to the kitchen to cook for the men.
Er Gouzi came over and asked, "Brother Tiezhu, did you take out that bastard Zhang Jingyang this time?"
Big Brother and the others pricked up their ears, hoping for good news from Liu Tiezhu.
"Couldn't do it. That bastard's got a strong force now, and he's teamed up with the horse bandits—I had no way in."
Liu Tiezhu sighed and described the situation around the village.
When they heard that the Zhang brothers had built a camp and allied with the horse bandits, everyone gasped.
The Zhang family openly cooperating with horse bandits meant the higher-ups had completely abandoned this town.
Soon, the Zhangs would dominate everything, monopolize all resources, and the common folk would have nowhere to turn.
Er Gouzi fumed, "Aren't the Zhangs afraid the higher-ups will settle scores with them after the snow disaster?"
Liu Tiezhu said, "They won't settle anything."
"Since the Zhangs are bold enough to act so openly, they've already planned an escape route."
"From what I figure, before the snow disaster ends, the Zhangs will either slaughter everyone in this area or take the looted resources, hide somewhere, and live comfortably for the rest of their lives."
"Damn it!"
Even his uncle couldn't help cursing after hearing Liu Tiezhu's words.
Liu Tieshan warned, "Tiezhu, forget about the Zhangs' future for now."
"Our top priority is to guard against their revenge."
"You've taken so many of their resources—they won't let it slide."
Liu Tiezhu said, "Big Brother, don't worry."
"The mountains are still safe for now, and the Zhangs don't know we're hiding here."
"But on my way back, I thought it over—we still have too few traps set up around here."
"These traps can stop small groups of bandits or horse bandits from charging in."
"If we run into hundreds or more bandits or horse bandits, we'll easily be caught off guard, even in danger."
"So, starting tomorrow, I've decided to expand the trap range."
"Once all the traps are set, we'll venture deeper into the mountains to hunt."
When hunting came up, Er Gouzi was the most excited.
The white-headed eagle was now a juvenile and had been successfully tamed.
Now, all they needed was to cut the stitches on the eagle's eyes to bond it.
Once the eagle bonded, it would follow commands and help with hunting.
With the eagle in the sky and the hunting dogs on the ground, combined with their compound crossbows and rifles, no wild beast would stand a chance.
Speaking of hunting, his uncle remembered the trained white-headed eagle and handed Liu Tiezhu a handmade bamboo whistle.
"By the way, Tiezhu, the white-headed eagle is trained. Now you just need to cut its eye stitches to bond it."
"You should cut them. The first person the eagle sees will become its master."
Liu Tiezhu's face lit up with joy, and he took the whistle without a second thought.
The white-headed eagle was a highly intelligent raptor. With diligent training, it could help him with many things.
Besides hunting, it could be used for sentry duty, and even to kill horse bandits, and so on.