Liu Tiezhu patted Er Gouzi on the back and said, "Gouzi, go ahead and throw up. This is the first lesson of survival. You need to get used to it quickly; this kind of thing will happen often."
Er Gouzi's reaction was completely normal. In his past life, when he killed someone for the first time, he had also thrown up all over the ground.
Er Gouzi vomited for a good while before returning to normal. He pointed at the bodies on the ground and asked, "Brother Tiezhu, what do we do with these people?"
"Let them be food for the beasts. We need to hurry and load the wild boar meat and head back," Liu Tiezhu said.
The two quickly moved the wild boar meat onto the mule cart, then drove the mule away swiftly.
He had never heard of the Tian Gang Stronghold before and needed to find out more. From the thick calluses on the men's hands, it was clear they weren't ordinary bandits.
After returning home and unloading the wild boar meat, Liu Tiezhu asked his uncle, "Uncle, do you know about Tian Gang Stronghold?"
Tian Gang Stronghold? His uncle was taken aback. "I've heard your grandfather mention it. It's a bandit lair. The stronghold is deep in Tianyang Mountain, and the bandits there have martial arts skills, engaging in murder and robbery. Because these bandits were ruthless, they were wiped out by our Party in the 1950s. Why are you asking about this?"
"Nothing, just curious, asking casually." Liu Tiezhu kept a straight face, but inside he was shocked. It existed since the 1950s, was wiped out by our Party, yet still survived to this day—this showed the strength of this force was considerable. Besides, this bandit lair had been passed down for decades and must have some resources, like real guns and cannons. Under current policies, bandits dared to come out of the mountains. This also reflected that these bandits were nearly out of supplies. It seemed staying at home wasn't safe either. Once all these bandits came out, the entire village might face devastation. What exactly was happening in the mountains that even bandits with real guns and cannons couldn't hunt prey and had to risk their lives coming out?
"Brother Tiezhu, what did my dad say?" Er Gouzi came over and asked.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Tian Gang Stronghold is a bandit lair that's been around for decades. I reckon this lair has some resources and quite a few people. Now that these bandits are starting to come out, the village won't be safe in the future."
Er Gouzi was shocked. "What do we do then? We killed their people; they definitely won't let us off."
He understood what Liu Tiezhu meant by "resources"—the weapons the bandits had.
"Don't worry about that. Those men are all dead; no one knows we killed them. What I'm worried about now is that these bandits will soon come into the village in groups. Then the whole village might face devastation," Liu Tiezhu said.
Er Gouzi urged, "So should we move out of the village?"
"Nowhere is safe to move to. I need to think this through carefully." Liu Tiezhu was also troubled. Once all the bandits came out, the entire area would be unsafe. The good news was that he knew about the bandits in advance and could find a way to avoid this disaster. The bad news was how to avoid the bandits—a very tricky problem.
Er Gouzi thought for a moment and said, "Brother Tiezhu, if the bandits come out, I think we can hide in the mountains. Right now, nowhere is safer than the mountains."
"The mountains can avoid the bandits, but what about the wild beasts lurking there? I need to think this over carefully," Liu Tiezhu said.
While the two were discussing how to avoid the bandits, dozens of bandits from Tian Gang Stronghold gathered together, planning a raid.
"Zhang Zhigang took some men out to scout the way; why hasn't he come back yet? That bastard, did he go into the village on his own to kidnap women? I told him to be back before dark, and he treats my words like wind?" The leader, Guo Hongshan, glared coldly at the third-in-command, Chen Tianxiong, demanding an answer.
Zhang Zhigang was Chen Tianxiong's man, and since he had disobeyed orders, Chen Tianxiong needed to provide a reasonable explanation.
Chen Tianxiong's face changed, and he quickly explained, "Big brother, Zhang Zhigang that bastard probably wouldn't go into the village. He's a bit lecherous, but he knows the gravity of the situation. If he hasn't come back by now, could something have happened?"
Hearing this explanation, Guo Hongshan flew into a rage. "Damn it, what could happen? Zhang Zhigang is a trained fighter; he took five men out to scout the mountain. What could go wrong?"
"Brother Shan, don't get worked up. Third brother is just suspecting something happened to Zhang Zhigang. Whether something happened or not, we can send two more men out to find out. You know the current policies; they have zero tolerance for our line of work. Maybe those six were unlucky and really ran into trouble." Seeing the tension, the second-in-command, Ma Zhenhao, stepped in to mediate.
Hearing this, Guo Hongshan's expression softened a bit, and he turned to two burly men nearby. "Wang Lipeng, Zhang Shiguo, go to the Jiaoling Mountain area tomorrow morning to gather information. Remember, you must disguise yourselves as villagers from the area. If anyone reveals their identity, don't blame me for being ruthless. We're sneaking out of the mountains this time; we absolutely can't bring trouble." Guo Hongshan gave the orders sternly.
The next day, Liu Tiezhu got up early. Last night, Er Gouzi's comment that the mountains were safer than anywhere else had sparked an idea in him. After breakfast, he took his hunting dog and gear, along with Er Gouzi, and headed into the mountains with the mule cart.
To move into the mountains, they first needed to find a safe, hidden spot. Second, the place had to be easy to defend and hard to attack, to prevent wild beast attacks. But finding such a place deep in the mountains wasn't easy.
"Brother Tiezhu, are we going deep into the mountains to hunt?" Er Gouzi's voice was excited. The deep mountains were full of mystery, and he had always wanted to explore them.
"Hunting is one thing, but we have a more important task," Liu Tiezhu said.
Er Gouzi looked puzzled. "What task? Gathering herbs?"
"Finding a safe place to clear out later, to hide from the bandits." Liu Tiezhu didn't hide it anymore and directly stated his goal.
Hearing this, Er Gouzi's eyes lit up. "Brother Tiezhu, if we're looking for a safe place, let's head straight south into the mountains. When I was little, I heard my grandfather say that deep in the southern mountains, there are many natural caves. During World War II, our Party used those caves to ambush the invading Japanese."
"Gouzi, are you sure your grandfather said that?" Liu Tiezhu asked excitedly.
"Of course I'm sure," Er Gouzi said.
"Then let's head south, deep into the mountains." Liu Tiezhu urged the mule to speed up.
After walking two kilometers, Liu Tiezhu quickly stopped the mule, his expression changing. On a small path not far to their right, two horses galloped past, kicking up clouds of dust.
"Brother Tiezhu, what's going on?" Er Gouzi asked, confused.
Liu Tiezhu pointed at the departing horses. "Those two horses came from the direction of the mountains."
"So what..." Er Gouzi stopped mid-sentence, his face turning pale. "No, from the mountains—they're bandits..."