PCJ – Chapter 370 Catching Everything in One Net

“Woof! Woof!”

Suddenly, the sound of a dog barking came from a distance.

Zhang Jiaohua was startled. Someone was coming! And it wasn’t just one person.

Luo Changjun and Zhu Kaixun quickly stood up as well.

Although they couldn’t see how many people were approaching, from the way the beams of flashlights were constantly sweeping through the mountain forest, it was clear that there were quite a few of them.

“Could it be that we’ve been discovered?” Luo Changjun asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Impossible! If anyone had appeared near us, there’s no way they could have escaped the watchful eyes of the mountain dogs,” Zhang Jiaohua said confidently. Dozens of mountain dogs were scattered throughout the surrounding woods, and these weren’t ordinary dogs—they were highly alert. Once hidden, they were almost impossible to detect. For ordinary people, it was nearly impossible to escape their eyes and ears.

“Maybe they’re our own people. Jiaohua, you should hide these two guys in the bushes first. We’ll also hide and see who these people are,” Luo Changjun suggested. He found the situation strange. Even if the police from the city had coordinated with the Wuxi Public Security Bureau, they shouldn’t have arrived so quickly. The group of people seemed unusual.

“Could someone have tipped them off?” Zhu Kaixun exchanged a glance with Luo Changjun.

“That’s possible. Jiaohua, no matter what happens later, hide yourself and don’t come out. Leave everything to me and Uncle Zhu,” Luo Changjun ordered, afraid that Zhang Jiaohua might get hurt.

Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t worried. There were at most a dozen people, and his mountain dogs alone were enough to deal with them. However, given that these people were approaching so boldly, they were likely armed.

“Daxiong! Xiao Wu!”

As the group reached the forest, they began shouting.

“Boss, I don’t see anyone.”

“Those two useless bastards must’ve run off somewhere to play. Are the cattle still there?”

“Fortunately, they’re still grazing by the reservoir.”

“Forget about those two idiots. Once this heat blows over, we’ll deal with them later. Those two good-for-nothings can’t even handle such a simple task, yet they still want to follow me!”

Hearing this, Wu Guo’an and Xiong Zhanglin, who had been stuffed into the grass pile, were furious. If they hadn’t been held down and gagged, they would have cursed back.

The so-called “boss” was none other than Huang Yusheng. Xiong Zhanglin and Wu Guo’an now realized their place in his mind.

“Boss, what should we do now?”

Huang Yusheng waved his hand. “Tie the cattle up quickly. We have to move them tonight. I got word that the police from Xintian County know the cattle were brought to Shiqi. They might track us down soon, as someone probably saw the cattle. It’s no longer safe here.”

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a rope from one of Huang Yusheng’s men shot towards him, bizarrely tying him up. Huang Yusheng hadn’t anticipated this strange turn of events. He had a knife on him, but there wasn’t even time to pull it out before he was bound tightly.

“Chen Fugen, what do you think you’re doing?” Huang Yusheng glared at the man.

Chen Fugen was equally stunned, having no idea what had just happened. When Huang Yusheng questioned him, he was still in a daze.

“Boss, it wasn’t me!” Chen Fugen snapped out of it, realizing the rope in his hand had somehow tied up his boss.

“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?!” Huang Yusheng thought Chen Fugen had turned on him, but he failed to notice the strangeness of the situation.

“Chen Fugen, are you trying to betray us?” Huang Yusheng’s loyal brothers immediately pointed their weapons at Chen Fugen.

Chen Fugen wasn’t stupid. Realizing this wasn’t the time for explanations, he pulled out a weapon of his own, aiming it at the others. He wasn’t alone—he had a few men who were willing to back him up.

Luo Changjun and Zhu Kaixun, who had been hesitating about whether to rush out and fight the thieves to protect the cattle, were stunned by the bizarre scene. They quickly realized this was Zhang Jiaohua’s doing.

Whoosh! The ropes that had been tossed aside suddenly flew into the air, moving like snakes and tying up the people who were in a standoff one by one.

As night fell, the forest grew darker, making the ropes even more eerie. The ropes bound the people at the back first, so the thieves had no idea what was happening until it was too late.

By the time both sides realized something was wrong, most of their men had been tied up.

“Something’s not right! Someone’s messing with us!” Chen Fugen shouted.

“Isn’t that you, Chen Fugen? Don’t think you can ambush us and take down the boss. If you betray us, I’ll kill you!” Huang Yusheng’s cousin, Huang Jingwang, pulled out a gun and aimed it at Chen Fugen.

“No, no, no! Huang Jingwang, it really wasn’t me!” Chen Fugen, terrified, pleaded for his life.

But Huang Jingwang, consumed by rage, didn’t listen and fired.

Bang!

The sharp gunshot pierced the night’s silence, stunning everyone.

He actually fired!

Huang Yusheng was stunned too. “Jingwang, you idiot, why did you shoot?!”

“You!” Chen Fugen pointed at Huang Jingwang before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

As the group stood in shock, the ropes darted through the trees, tying everyone up.

Coincidentally, there were fifteen people, and exactly four ropes. With Chen Fugen dead, one rope was saved. The remaining fourteen people were tied up, one per rope. Huang Jingwang’s gun was knocked from his hand, and he was also bound tightly.

“What on earth is going on?” Huang Yusheng, now lying helpless on the ground with his legs bound, shouted in despair. His remaining men were all tied up as well, except for Chen Fugen, who had been shot.

“There’s a ghost!” Chen Dengyou, the youngest of the group, lay unlucky next to Chen Fugen and could see his wide, lifeless eyes through the flashlight’s beam.

“Is Heaven punishing me?” Huang Yusheng yelled.

“You wish! Heaven wouldn’t even bother with you!” Zhang Jiaohua stepped out from the bushes.

“You—you—you’re human or ghost?” Huang Yusheng stammered in terror.

“A ghost! A ghost!” Chen Dengyou, already trembling, freaked out even more after hearing Huang Yusheng.

“Fat Monkey, go give him a slap! How dare he call me a ghost!” Zhang Jiaohua was displeased.

Fat Monkey eagerly ran over and slapped Huang Yusheng across the face. Huang Yusheng tried to dodge, but tied up like a dumpling, he couldn’t escape. Fat Monkey, enjoying himself, slapped Chen Dengyou several times too.

Luo Changjun and Zhu Kaixun finally came out. Luo Changjun quickly found the gun and searched the group, finding more weapons. There were three handguns in total—one on Huang Yusheng, one on Chen Fugen, and one on Huang Jingwang. Each person also had a sharp knife.

“We were just saying we needed to protect Jiaohua, but it turns out Jiaohua was the one protecting us!” Zhu Kaixun said with a sigh of relief. Seeing the three guns, he broke out in a cold sweat—it had been a dangerous situation!

“Yeah, Jiaohua has been my lucky star again!” Luo Changjun wiped the sweat from his forehead. He wasn’t tired—just terrified.

“Uncle Luo, can I play with the gun?” What kid isn’t fascinated by guns? Every child had watched movies like Little Soldier Zhang Ga a dozen times.

“This isn’t a toy. Kids can’t just play with it,” Luo Changjun shook his head.

“Why not? Here, Uncle Zhu will let you play with one,” Zhu Kaixun unloaded the bullets from the gun, checked it thoroughly, and then handed the empty gun to Zhang Jiaohua. He even showed him how to use it.

“Jiaohua, you’re still too young to shoot, but when you’re older, I’ll take you to the police shooting range in Zijiang City. You can shoot as much as you want,” Zhu Kaixun said with a smile.

“Alright, it’s a deal!” Zhang Jiaohua was excitedly playing with the gun, pretending to aim and shoot.

Looking at the tied-up cattle thieves, Luo Changjun was at a loss. “What do we do with so many thieves?”

“We’ll have to wait until morning. The city police should come by then,” Zhu Kaixun suggested.

“That’s easy! Let’s tie them to the backs of the cattle and drive the cattle back to Xintian County,” Zhang Jiaohua suggested.

“How are we going to herd so many cattle? What if one falls and gets hurt?” Luo Changjun frowned.

“Waiting here isn’t a good idea either. If the villagers come looking, it could get troublesome. Rural people are known to protect their own, and if they try to take these men, we’ll be in trouble,” Zhu Kaixun said with some concern.