love on the turquoise land

Chapter 48

Jiang Baichuan felt as if he were in a daze, his spirit shattered, as he was dragged back into the window and heavily slammed onto the ground.

The noise from below was chaotic, mixed with victorious whistles and mocking laughter. Someone shouted, "Where's the old man? Caught him yet? Bring him down, bring him down!"

The two men responded and simultaneously reached for Jiang Baichuan's collar from behind, shouting "Yo ho" as if herding cattle, dragging him downstairs like an animal. With each step of the stairs, Jiang Baichuan's buttocks bumped and thudded, dull pain radiating up from his tailbone. His vision darkened, his teeth clattered repeatedly, and suddenly his body finally stopped abruptly—it was dragged to its place, and the two men let go.

Jiang Baichuan breathed a sigh of relief and lifted his eyes.

There were many people, blurry and swaying like shadows. The light was dazzling, as if it were a thousand times brighter than usual, forcing Jiang Baichuan to shield his eyes with his hand.

After a while, he let go and finally saw clearly.

Apart from Xing Shen, there were only eight people left, not one less. The other seven had already been ordered to squat with their hands behind their heads, spaced half a meter apart. It was evident that they had all been dragged out of their beds: some wore pajamas, some only underwear, and those who preferred sleeping naked were just that.

In the dead of night, at the coldest hour, everyone's lips were blue, shivering with cold. Some had crooked noses and swollen faces, with bruises around their eyes. It was evident that they had been alert and had resisted before being subdued, but to no avail.

Seeing Jiang Baichuan also being dragged over, these people couldn't help but look at him. Some looked bewildered, with questioning eyes; some realized the situation was dire and turned their heads in despair; and there were those with eyes full of resentment, probably cursing him in their hearts, blaming him for incompetence and poor planning, which led to their own predicament.

Seeing the group of night raiders, Jiang Baichuan somewhat understood why his side was so easily defeated. These people were all tall and robust, but more importantly, they all had guns.

Jiang Baichuan actually had guns too, mostly homemade hunting rifles, and he also had a privately kept pistol. The younger generation only knew that firearms were prohibited in China, but they didn't know that strict gun control laws were only fully implemented in 1996, followed by years of comprehensive confiscation. There were even scenes of people cheerfully riding bicycles to the police stations to hand over their guns.

But in a large forest, there are all kinds of birds. There were always a few stubborn ones who refused to comply with the policy, and Jiang Baichuan was one of them. His consideration was: if others didn't have guns but I did, it would be advantageous in case of trouble. Moreover, in the wilderness, having a few guns for protection was always a good idea.

But the guns in the hands of these people were clearly smuggled through illegal channels. The gun bodies were shiny, with seven or eight of them, and all of them had silencers attached to the muzzle. Faced with these guns, who would dare to confront them head-on? Who would risk their life?

Jiang Baichuan suddenly remembered what Nie Jiuluo had said—"Yan Tuo's father's generation has already become wealthy..." Yes, when Yan was still making a fortune in the mountains, it was a time when the national laws were not yet fully established, and local criminal forces had not been completely eradicated. During the construction of mines, various resources were needed, and those who had connections could easily acquire both legal and illegal goods. Even if only one-tenth of these connections were preserved and maintained, it would still be easy to obtain prohibited items.