Behind Zhang Donglin were six members of the Zhang family army.
He was confident that the seven of them would be more than enough to surround and kill Liu Tiezhu and his companion.
As long as he killed Liu Tiezhu, he would receive a reward of five thousand yuan.
Five thousand yuan was an astronomical sum to him, enough to cover several years of living expenses.
Beyond the monetary reward, killing Liu Tiezhu would also earn him a promotion to squad leader.
His monthly military pay would increase from sixty yuan to one hundred yuan.
At that moment, Zhang Donglin was incredibly excited, as if he could see banknotes waving at him.
Over ten minutes later, Zhang Donglin spotted Liu Tiezhu and his companion from a distance.
Seeing that both men were empty-handed, he immediately felt pleased.
He quickly raised his horsewhip and lashed the horse's rump hard, urging it to gallop faster.
Hearing the horse's neighing, Liu Tiezhu's expression changed, and he swiftly called out to Er Gouzi.
"Er Gou, we're being watched. Hurry into the woods ahead."
Er Gouzi turned his head at the words, saw the horses charging toward them, and cursed as he quickly followed Liu Tiezhu into the forest.
No sooner had the two entered the woods than Zhang Donglin and his seven men surrounded them.
Looking at the eucalyptus grove, which was only about a thousand square meters, a cold smirk spread across his face.
"Liu Tiezhu, Liu Er Gou, don't bother struggling."
"Come out with your hands up, and I'll leave you whole corpses."
"Otherwise, if I come in after you, things won't end so nicely."
Hearing Zhang Donglin's words, a cold smile curled at the corner of Liu Tiezhu's mouth.
These idiots really thought he was a pushover.
"Get the hell out of here, you bastard. If you've got the guts, come on in."
Er Gouzi replied coldly, not giving Zhang Donglin an ounce of face.
Zhang Donglin's face turned green with rage as he cursed, "Damn it, I was going to leave you whole bodies."
"Since you don't know when to quit, don't blame me for desecrating your corpses."
As he finished speaking, Zhang Donglin immediately signaled for everyone to close in on Liu Tiezhu and his companion.
The eucalyptus grove had no undergrowth or obstacles to block the view.
Zhang Donglin and his men hadn't gone far before they spotted Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi.
"Fire, kill them—"
Before Zhang Donglin could finish his sentence, his eyes filled with terror, and he quickly jumped off his horse.
Almost at the same moment, a bamboo arrow flew past his face, embedding itself in a eucalyptus tree. The bark that burst off made his scalp tingle.
Liu Tiezhu silently regretted that Zhang Donglin, that bastard, had reacted so quickly.
The others weren't as lucky as Zhang Donglin.
Just as they were lowering their rifles from their shoulders, bamboo arrows shot toward them.
Thud... thud...
A dense volley of bamboo arrows flew in, some piercing their necks, others striking their hearts.
Within just a few minutes, all six men Zhang Donglin had brought were lying dead under the arrows.
Seeing this, Zhang Donglin was utterly stunned.
He had thought Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi were easy targets, but they turned out to be ruthless killers.
"Don't kill me, big brother, please don't kill me."
When he saw Er Gouzi and Liu Tiezhu closing in, Zhang Donglin's legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy.
Er Gouzi kicked Zhang Donglin over: "Damn it, where's your tough talk now?"
"Weren't you just saying you'd desecrate my corpse? I'm standing right here—go ahead and try."
"Big brother, I was just joking, you—"
Slap...
Liu Tiezhu slapped Zhang Donglin across the face, then pulled out a pistol and aimed it at his head.
"Stop wasting my time. Who sent you here?"
"Why do you want to kill us?"
"You'd better come clean, or I'll blow your brains out right now."
Seeing the Type 54 pistol, Zhang Donglin's soul nearly fled his body.
Even Zhang Jingyang couldn't get his hands on one of those.
At that moment, he dared not hide anything and spilled everything in a rush.
"A five-thousand-yuan bounty. That bastard Zhang Jingyang sure knows how to spend." Er Gouzi cursed.
"Big brother, the bounty was set by Zhang Jingyang. Can you spare me, let me—"
Bang...
Liu Tiezhu pulled the trigger without a single extra word.
Since these people had come to kill him, they should be prepared to die.
After stripping the dead of their belongings, the two continued on their way.
Over ten minutes later, another group arrived at the eucalyptus grove.
Leading them was Liu Yusheng, followed by over a dozen young men, all armed with rifles.
"Looks like we're too late." Liu Yusheng examined the bodies and said coldly.
Zhang Jingyang's five-thousand-yuan bounty wasn't restricted to anyone.
Whoever brought in Liu Tiezhu's head would get the cash immediately.
Now that he had a strong force, he wasn't about to miss out on this deal.
"Brother Liu, I gave you the info. Don't you owe me the money?" Liu Yiming said from behind.
He wasn't just offering this deal to Zhang Donglin alone.
Besides Liu Yusheng, he had also tipped off the bandits' new informant.
"Give you money? Screw that."
"You like money so much? I'll burn a few billion for you later."
Liu Yusheng turned around, pressing his rifle muzzle against Liu Yiming's forehead.
"Liu Yusheng, I'll fuck your mother, fuck your ancestors—"
Knowing he was done for, Liu Yiming decided to go all out.
But before he could finish, a bullet blew his head off.
"Brother Yusheng, what do we do now? Chase after them?" Liu Guoliang asked.
"Those two bastards are on guard now. If we chase them, we might tip them off." Liu Yusheng said.
Liu Zhengxiong added, "But we can't just let five thousand yuan slip away like that."
Liu Yusheng replied, "Don't worry, that five thousand isn't going anywhere."
"We'll play the long game and catch Liu Tiezhu's whole family."
"Zhang Jingyang announced that whoever takes down Liu Tiezhu's entire family gets a reward of twenty thousand yuan."
At these words, everyone's eyes lit up.
They were barely scraping by as it was.
If they could get twenty thousand yuan, life would be smooth sailing from then on.
"Brother Yusheng, whatever you say, we'll follow your lead." Liu Zhengxiong said.
The others nodded in agreement, waiting for Liu Yusheng to lay out the plan.
"The two of them are definitely heading into the city. We don't need to do anything except lie in ambush on the small roads leading out of town."
"Remember, our goal is to track them. No one acts on their own or starts a fight with those two bastards."
"Once we find out where they're staying, we'll catch them like turtles in a jar."
Back in the city, Liu Tiezhu and his companion had no idea that a plot was quietly unfolding against them.
After buying a large quantity of needed medicine, they rushed back to Liu Family Village without delay.
The white-headed eagle's injury grew more dangerous with every passing second.
But even though they were in a hurry, they didn't slack off on counter-surveillance.
To avoid being spotted again, they took a detour out of the city, adding several hundred meters to their route before finally taking a small path back to the bamboo grove where their horses were tied in Liu Family Village.
Mounting their horses, they galloped straight toward the mountains.
Despite their careful movements, they couldn't escape the eyes lying in wait on every small road out of the city.
Almost as soon as they mounted their horses, at the entrance of Liu Family Village, ten fine horses charged wildly.
Their direction was also toward the mountains.
Liu Yusheng whipped his horse's rump furiously.
"Don't hold back on the horses—whip them hard."
"We have to get everything ready before Liu Tiezhu reaches the mountains."
No one dared to slack off, and they lashed their horses repeatedly.
About thirty minutes later, Liu Yusheng and his men arrived at the foot of the mountain, found a dense thicket, tied up their horses, and hid together.
They had barely settled in when they saw two horses in the distance racing toward them.
This sight made Liu Yusheng burst into laughter.
"They're coming. Everyone stay hidden."
"Once we find out where they're holed up, that twenty thousand yuan is ours."