"Fucking hell."
Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi both cursed simultaneously and sprinted toward home.
They ran dozens of meters in one breath and only relaxed when they saw the courtyard gate tightly shut.
"Second Uncle, Big Brother, we're back."
Liu Tiezhu knocked on the door and shouted loudly.
The door opened quickly, revealing Second Uncle's pale, aged face.
"Dad, what happened? Whose house did those gunshots come from?"
Once the gate was closed, Er Gouzi couldn't help asking.
"Liu Jingshun's place. Probably got robbed," Second Uncle said.
"Then we don't need to bother. That bastard Liu Jingshun is no good; he deserves it," Er Gouzi said.
A few days ago, Liu Jingshun had even followed Liu Changhai to cause trouble.
For a neighbor like that, Er Gouzi wished he'd been robbed.
Big Brother didn't rest either. He came out and asked, "Zhu, is Uncle Dahai okay?"
Liu Tiezhu said, "Nothing serious. He took a bullet in his right leg."
"I already took the bullet out for him. He should be able to walk in about a month."
"Should we send some meat over?" Liu Tieshan said.
"No need. Uncle Dahai's family should have plenty of meat stored."
"Just now, Aunt Zhang even offered me ten jin of meat."
"I didn't take the meat; he gave me over ten jin of dried radish instead."
Hearing this, Liu Tieshan felt relieved.
"Alright, it's late. Everyone get some rest," Second Uncle said.
They each returned to their rooms, but no one slept soundly.
The next day, news spread that Liu Dahai's and Liu Jingshun's families had been robbed.
The village was in a panic; no one dared to go out easily.
Some people started raising their courtyard walls, while others reinforced their gates.
Liu Tiezhu slept until noon.
After lunch, he took Er Gouzi to find Yang Hua.
Yang Hua was at home, having prepared a lavish table of food and drink to welcome them.
Once the three sat down, Yang Hua handed a cloth bag to Liu Tiezhu.
"Brother Zhu, I got you the steel pellets and gunpowder, but not much."
Liu Tiezhu took it and saw that the steel pellets in the bag were barely enough for five uses, but that was sufficient for him.
"Thanks, these pellets and gunpowder are enough."
Yang Hua waved his hand: "Don't mention it. Let's drink."
After a few cups of wine, Yang Hua asked about last night's robbery in Liu Family Village.
"You know about that too?" Er Gouzi said.
Yang Hua nodded and said, "I went to Liu Gang's place this morning, and that kid told me."
"I'm sure the ones who robbed your village are those bastards from West Village, led by a guy named Ma Guohua."
Liu Tiezhu was startled and asked, "How do you know it's Ma Guohua?"
Yang Hua said, "The day before yesterday, that scumbag was drinking with Yang Kai and said he was going to hit your village."
"Yang Kai told me about it, but I didn't take it seriously."
"This morning, Liu Gang told me two families in your village got robbed, and then I knew that bastard was serious."
Liu Tiezhu said, "Are you familiar with Ma Guohua?"
"Not really. We've crossed paths before when I was messing around."
"Brother Zhu, did Ma Guohua offend you?" Yang Hua asked back.
"No, not at all. If you're familiar with him, you could put in a word and tell him to leave my family alone."
Hearing this, Yang Hua immediately puffed out his chest in assurance.
"That's a small matter. We're all out here making a living; he'll give me that much face."
"I'll head to West Village later and bring it up with him."
An hour later, they were full of food and drink.
Liu Tiezhu saw it was about time and left with Er Gouzi.
"Brother Zhu, do you think Yang Hua will actually talk to Ma Guohua about our family?" Er Gouzi asked.
Liu Tiezhu said, "He probably will. I hope Ma Guohua knows his place, or we won't be polite either."
"Also, don't mention Ma Guohua's matter when we get back."
At this moment, Liu Tiezhu knew he had to be ruthless.
His family was his soft spot. If anyone crossed that line, he wouldn't hesitate to kill.
Second Uncle, busy in the yard, breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw Liu Tiezhu return with ammunition.
Having the shotgun in hand made him feel more secure.
Liu Tiezhu handed the ammunition to Second Uncle and said, "Second Uncle, Gouzi and I are going to Jiaoling Mountain. You and Big Brother don't need to come."
"In this environment, we can't have the house without a man to guard it."
Second Uncle took the ammunition and said, "Alright, you and Gouzi be careful."
"If you can bag some game, do it. If not, come back early."
"We're not short on meat now. Don't take risks, got it?"
Liu Tiezhu nodded, went to the dog shed, and let all the hunting dogs out.
Er Gouzi checked the equipment thoroughly, making sure everything was fine before loading it onto the mule cart.
Before they left, Big Brother brought over over ten jin of dried meat and handed it to Liu Tiezhu for emergencies.
"Be careful and come back early."
Yang Yulan stood at the door, gazing at him with affection.
"Go back inside. I'll be back before dark."
Liu Tiezhu waved, called the hunting dogs onto the cart, and headed toward Jiaoling Mountain.
Jiaoling Mountain was five kilometers southwest of Liu Family Village.
Starting in the 1970s, policies encouraged forest protection, so Jiaoling Mountain was planted full of pine trees.
At the foot of Jiaoling Mountain was a stretch of loess highlands.
Due to a lack of water, no one was willing to cultivate or plant crops on this soil.
Over time, this loess highland became barren, overgrown with all kinds of weeds and brush.
An hour later, they arrived at the foot of the mountain.
After tying up the mule, all the hunting dogs quickly jumped off the cart and charged into the thick undergrowth.
Woof, woof, woof...
Over ten minutes later, from the dense weeds came the signal of the hunting dogs.
Before Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi could react, a large swath of weeds and brush was already flattened, followed by the sound of pig squeals echoing through the thicket.
"Gouzi, this is definitely a big one. Switch to the steel fork."
Liu Tiezhu shouted and charged ahead first.
Er Gouzi reacted quickly, closely following Liu Tiezhu's steps.
After days of training, their speed had improved several times over.
In just a few minutes, they sprinted hundreds of meters through the dense undergrowth and arrived at the spot where the wild boar was screaming.
What came into view was an adult wild boar, estimated to weigh over three hundred jin.
Three heavy-duty hunting dogs had their jaws locked onto its neck.
Two other heavy-duty dogs had bitten into the boar's hind legs.
The rest of the dogs surrounded the boar, constantly biting in.
By now, the hunting dogs weighed thirty-five jin each and had astonishing strength.
Even though the wild boar struggled wildly, it couldn't get back on its feet.
Liu Tiezhu rushed over and slashed the boar's neck with his knife.
Er Gouzi straddled the boar, pressing it down hard to prevent it from kicking the dogs.
The wild boar struggled for two minutes before finally stretching out its four legs.
Liu Tiezhu drove the dogs away and let them continue searching.
Soon, the lead dog, Big Sweet Potato, signaled again.
"That many?"
Hearing the dogs' signals, both Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi showed looks of disbelief.
The dogs' signals grew closer, heading in their direction.
"Gouzi, grab the steel fork!"
Liu Tiezhu's expression changed. As he told Er Gouzi, he also picked up his steel fork.
Just then, the weeds were smashed apart by a massive black shadow, charging straight at them.