A dozen minutes later, the bamboo grove returned to calm. Zhang Daqiang’s men were all wiped out, leaving only him lying on the ground, writhing in agony. When he saw Liu Tiezhu and Liu Ergou approaching, his face instantly turned deathly pale. “Brother, let’s talk this out. I don’t want to die.” Hearing this, Liu Tiezhu and the others couldn’t help but chuckle. “You don’t want to die? Then tell us why you came to the bamboo grove.” As he spoke, Yang Hua aimed at Zhang Daqiang’s thigh and fired a shot. Having worked with Liu Tiezhu so many times, he’d picked up the trick of interrogation. That shot was a warning to Zhang Daqiang not to lie. “Don’t shoot! I’ll talk.” Zhang Daqiang clutched his thigh tightly, tears streaming from the pain. “We came into the bamboo grove to capture Liu Ergou.” A few minutes later, Zhang Daqiang spilled everything—the Zhang family’s bounty and how they knew Liu Ergou was in the bamboo grove. It turned out that when Liu Ergou had secretly returned to the grove last time, Liu Sihai spotted him and went to inform them. Ergouzi broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this. If Zhang Daqiang hadn’t been greedy, wanting to pocket the bounty for himself by reporting to the Zhang family, their entire team might have been annihilated. “Zhou Qingmin, Chen Qingnan, go take care of Liu Sihai.” After assigning the two men, Yang Hua’s gaze returned to Zhang Daqiang. “Where’s your stronghold? How many men and supplies do you have?” One good turn deserves another—Zhang Daqiang wanted to capture Liu Ergou. In return, Yang Hua planned to use this chance to wipe out one of the Zhang family’s strongholds. Zhang Daqiang didn’t dare hide anything and revealed the stronghold’s location and exact number of men. But as for supplies, his rank was too low to know. After getting the information he wanted, Yang Hua didn’t hesitate and shot Zhang Daqiang in the head. With Zhang Daqiang dealt with, Yang Hua turned to Liu Tiezhu. “Brother Tiezhu, can we pull it off?” The Zhang family’s stronghold had over two hundred men and held a favorable position. With just over a hundred of their own, even if they could take the stronghold, the cost would be steep. Yang Hua couldn’t decide on his own and left it to Liu Tiezhu. Liu Tiezhu didn’t even think twice before nodding. “We’ll do it. We have to.” “Meat delivered to our mouths—there’s no reason to let it go.” He hadn’t come to the bamboo grove just to test the team’s strength; he’d brought a gift. The eight heavy machine guns seized from the Zhang family army last night were buried in a field less than three kilometers away. With eight heavy machine guns backing them up and knowing the stronghold’s position, taking a mere two-hundred-man stronghold was a piece of cake. Yang Hua reminded him, “Brother Tiezhu, the stronghold is hard to attack and easy to defend.” “Taking it might cost us dearly.” Liu Tiezhu said, “It’s hard to attack because we don’t have heavy weapons.” “If we had eight heavy machine guns, could you take that stronghold?” At this, Yang Hua’s eyes lit up. “Brother Tiezhu, even with just two heavy machine guns, I could make those bastards regret it,” Yang Hua said excitedly. Eight heavy machine guns lined up in a row—what kind of firepower would that be? Even a stronghold of five or six hundred men, he could level it. Liu Tiezhu didn’t waste words and immediately told them where the machine guns were buried, sending Yang Hua to have men fetch them with horses. An hour later, everyone regrouped, with eight heavy machine guns and over seven hundred rounds of ammunition in place. “Move out! Let’s go kick their asses!” Yang Hua waved his hand, and over a hundred men pulled the equipment, marching in force toward the Zhang family stronghold. The Zhang family stronghold was set up in Liujia Village, using the late Liu Yusheng’s home as headquarters, with over a dozen small teams stationed around it. These teams, in groups of ten, took turns patrolling. Lately, the fighting between the Zhang and Li families had died down, and the patrols had let their guard down. After Liu Tiezhu led the hundred-plus men there, they didn’t launch an attack right away. They needed to lure everyone out of the stronghold to minimize casualties and wipe out the Zhang family army in one go. They already knew the village’s layout from Zhang Daqiang. Now, they just had to figure out how to draw them out. Liu Tiezhu surveyed the village entrance, then had Yang Hua and Ergouzi each take ten men to draw fire from the left and right flanks. The center would be the ambush point—once the stronghold’s men entered the kill zone, they’d open up with heavy fire. After finalizing the plan, Ergouzi and Yang Hua moved out immediately. The two teams rode their horses, stopping about thirty meters from the stronghold, and loudly cursed the Zhang family’s ancestors for eighteen generations. The stronghold’s commander was Zhang Jiakang. Hearing his ancestors insulted, the hot-tempered Zhang Jiakang couldn’t take it and ordered everyone to open fire. But Ergouzi and Yang Hua were ready—the moment the stronghold’s men raised their guns, they turned their horses and fled. The distance was too great; the bullets couldn’t reach them. A few minutes later, they turned back and resumed cursing at the stronghold. A barrage of foul language drove Zhang Jiakang over the edge. “Damn it! Those bastards! When I catch them, I’ll skin them alive!” Furious, Zhang Jiakang rallied his men. At this point, he didn’t care if it was a trap. His only thought was to catch those cursing his ancestors and beat the crap out of them. Soon, two hundred men were assembled. “When those bastards turn back again, charge out immediately.” “Remember, you can fire, but don’t hit anything vital.” “I want them alive so I can skin them!” Zhang Jiakang gritted his teeth, waved his hand, and the two hundred men quickly hid on both sides of the village entrance, waiting for Liu Tiezhu and the others to come back and curse. After a few minutes, Ergouzi and Yang Hua turned back again. “Zhang family ancestors, I’ll…” Stopping at a safe distance, the twenty-odd men started cursing. “Charge out! Capture them alive!” Zhang Jiakang, face dark with rage, roared in fury. Instantly, over two hundred men rushed out. They ran and fired as they went. “The fish have taken the bait.” Ergouzi and Yang Hua exchanged glances, both grinning. The two teams quickly turned and galloped toward the ambush point. Minutes later, the Zhang family force entered the kill zone. Ergouzi and Yang Hua swiftly led their men to peel off to the left and right. The pursuing Zhang soldiers, confused, didn’t think twice and kept charging. “Open fire!” Liu Tiezhu shouted, firing first and dropping the lead man. Rat-a-tat-tat… The eight heavy machine guns lined up, mowing down the charging Zhang soldiers. Flesh and blood flew everywhere—it was like a scene from hell. The survivors, terrified, wet themselves. They screamed and scrambled back toward the stronghold. But they couldn’t outrun the bullets. The moment they turned, bullets tore through their bodies, leaving a bloody mess.