"Fuck your ancestors! Relief grain—this son of a bitch dared to skim off it."
Er Gouzi cursed loudly and slammed the butt of his rifle down a few more times.
"Boss, stop hitting me! It was my brother-in-law who skimmed the grain, not me."
Liu Yangshan, covered in blood, knelt on the ground, wailing and begging for mercy.
Liu Tiezhu grabbed the enraged Er Gouzi, signaling him to move the stuff out first.
Once Er Gouzi had hauled the goods out, Liu Tiezhu laid into Liu Yangshan with another round of beating.
A few minutes later, several gunshots rang out from the room.
The neighbors, who had been sleeping groggily, were all jolted awake, but no one dared to open their doors.
The sound of gunfire meant the bandits had entered the village again; coming out would be suicide.
Liu Tiezhu called out to Er Gouzi, and they carried the meat away quickly.
"Tiezhu, didn't you say we wouldn't fire the guns?"
"Did you kill that bastard Liu Yangshan?"
Once they got home, Er Gouzi couldn't help asking.
"The shots were fired into the air, not at Liu Yangshan."
"We need to make some noise for the neighbors in the village to hear," Liu Tiezhu said.
"What do you mean? Firing into the air for the neighbors to hear?"
"Boss, bullets aren't easy to come by—we can't waste them like this."
Er Gouzi was full of questions.
He racked his brain but couldn't figure out why Liu Tiezhu fired those shots into the sky.
Just then, Uncle hurried over and asked, "What's going on? Didn't you say you wouldn't fire?"
Hearing the gunshots earlier had scared them all.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Uncle, it wasn't me who fired—it was the bandits."
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
"Ban... bandits..."
Uncle paused, seeming to catch on, and asked, "Anyone hurt?"
"Hurt, but not by bullets," Liu Tiezhu replied.
Hearing that, Uncle breathed a sigh of relief.
"What do you mean, Dad? Explain it," Er Gouzi said, still confused.
He couldn't grasp their exchange or understand why Liu Tiezhu fired those shots.
"If you were a bandit, would you only rob one house when entering a village?"
"Does that behavior seem reasonable to you?" Uncle said.
Er Gouzi shook his head: "Of course not. If you're going into a village, you'd rob several houses."
"But what does that have to do with firing the gun?"
Uncle said, "Once the gunshots ring out, everyone in the village wakes up."
"The bandits would worry about someone fetching the militia and wouldn't dare keep looting—doesn't that make sense?"
Er Gouzi thought it over for a moment, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
Now he understood Liu Tiezhu's purpose in firing the shots.
The gunfire was meant to make their raid on Liu Yangshan's family seem more plausible.
At the same time, at Liu Shan's house in Liu Family Village.
"That was a rifle shot. Didn't they say they wouldn't enter the village?"
"What's with the sound?"
"At a critical time like this, it can't mess up our big plans."
Liu Shan looked at his son with a terrified expression, his eyes full of inquiry.
Liu Gang said, "Dad, I don't know what's going on either."
"Earlier at the village entrance, Chen Tianxiong, the third chief of Tiangang Stronghold, said they wouldn't come out of the mountains for half a month."
He had now become an informant for Tiangang Stronghold and had their support.
Chen Tianxiong had promised him that as long as he helped Tiangang Stronghold by investigating who killed his men, they would secretly back him to become the most powerful force in the area.
Since they had just reached an agreement, Chen Tianxiong shouldn't be lying to him.
"Could it be some bastard in the village offended Tiangang Stronghold and made them fire?" Liu Shan said.
Liu Gang said, "That's possible. If they offended Tiangang Stronghold, they deserve it for not watching their step."
"Those people deserve to die—it's got nothing to do with us."
"The most important thing now is to find out who killed Tiangang Stronghold's men that night."
Liu Shan nodded: "You're right, son."
"Didn't the third chief say that if you find out who killed Tiangang Stronghold's men, he'd teach you martial arts and give you gold bars?"
"But if we cooperate with Tiangang Stronghold, will the militia let us off?"
At that, Liu Shan started to get scared.
Colluding with bandits was a serious matter.
Liu Gang said, "Dad, what are you afraid of? Who knows how long this snow will last?"
"Everyone's looking out for themselves now—who cares about this desolate mountain area?"
"You saw it today—so many people died in several villages, and all the higher-ups did was send Zhang Jingyang down for a show."
"That proves they don't give a damn about the villagers' lives around here."
"Besides, we're secretly working with Tiangang Stronghold—no one else knows."
Liu Shan thought it over carefully and felt Liu Gang's analysis made sense.
"If the snow disaster lasts another month, the higher-ups will probably abandon this place entirely. That's our family's chance to rise."
"We have to cling tight to Tiangang Stronghold's coattails."
"With their support, our family can get through this snow disaster unscathed."
"Don't worry, Dad—I won't let you down."
"But the third chief gave us ten days. We have to find out who killed Tiangang Stronghold's men within that time."
"If we exceed the deadline, they'll switch to someone else."
"Dad, based on your analysis, who's most likely to have killed Tiangang Stronghold's men?"
Hearing this, a vicious glint flashed in Liu Shan's eyes.
"I don't know who's most likely to have killed them."
"But if we can use this chance to get rid of the people in our way, that's not a bad option."
"Let's just say it was Liu Tiezhu's family who did it. Have Tiangang Stronghold come down quietly and kill them all."
"That bastard Liu Tiezhu beat you before, right? This is the perfect chance to get back at him."
"Besides, that bastard has some martial arts background—saying he killed Tiangang Stronghold's men is plausible."
Liu Gang was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh.
"Dad, you've got a sharp mind."
"Tomorrow, I'll sneak to Tiangang Stronghold and tell the third chief this news."
"That bastard Liu Tiezhu thinks he's so tough, doesn't he?"
"When a few rifles are aimed at his head, let's see if he's still so cocky."
Liu Shan thought for a moment and waved his hand: "Gangzi, not tomorrow."
"Think about it—we just settled terms with the third chief tonight."
"If you tell him the next day that you've found out who killed Tiangang Stronghold's men, wouldn't he think you're using him to settle a score?"
"So we need to wait a few days."
"Then you go to Tiangang Stronghold—that'll be more reasonable."
"Keep your cool, and don't mess this up."
"Killing Liu Tiezhu's family—we can wait a few days for that."
Liu Gang nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "Dad, you've really got a sharp mind."
"This time, I'll kill Liu Tiezhu, his brothers, and Gouzi and his father."
"As for Huang Xiumei and Yang Yulan, we'll tie them up and keep them for fun, hahaha..."