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Chapter 6

Yan Tuo paused for a moment before striding toward the source of the noise.

When he was about ten meters away, a raggedly dressed man jumped up with a long wooden gun in hand and shouted, “Stop! Raise your hands! Surrender your weapons or I’ll shoot!”

Yan Tuo was startled at first.

However, he quickly regained his composure, and within a few seconds, his gaze had taken several turns on the man.

The man had messy, tangled hair and a face covered in grime. He was barefoot with black dirt around his toenails. The “long gun” he was holding was carved from wood, he had a broken plastic toy binoculars hanging around his neck, and a bowl with a handle and strap slung over his shoulder. He also had a stainless steel ladle tucked into his waistband.

This was most likely a fool.

Yan Tuo stopped and raised his hands in surrender.

The fool was very pleased, freeing one hand to pull out the ladle and cover his ears with it. He said, “Dòng yāo dòng yāo, I’m Dòng Guǎi, the forest defense line has spotted the enemy, spotted the enemy!”

After his “report,” the fool began to interrogate Yan Tuo aggressively, “How many of you are there? How many guns? Are you here to cause trouble in Bǎnyá village?”

Yan Tuo thought this man was undoubtedly a fool, but for the sake of caution, he decided to confirm it further.

He gestured toward the quiet village in the distance, “Do you live over there?”

The fool was displeased with his irrelevant response, “Behave yourself! Don’t think you can get any information out of me! We in Bǎnyá have already prepared for the enemy. If you try to attack, it will be your doom!”

Yan Tuo said, “You’re right, I’m leaving now.”

He walked backward a few steps before turning and leaving. The fool kept his “gun” aimed at him until he saw him get into the car, then he sighed in relief and picked up the ladle again to his ear, “Dòng yāo dòng yāo, I’m Dòng Guǎi, the enemy has been driven away, the enemy has been driven away!”

Yan Tuo started the car and, upon reaching the intersection, turned directly toward the village while occasionally checking the rearview mirror: now not only had he broken through the “line of defense,” but he was also heading straight into the heart of the village. He wanted to see how the fool would react.

Soon, a figure appeared in the distance, running after the car. The fool was banging the bowl with the ladle and shouting at the top of his lungs, “Villagers, the enemy is coming! Run away!”

Yan Tuo admired this, thinking that the fool was seriously dedicated to his role.

The car soon arrived at the edge of a single-story house area.

Honestly, many villages in southern Shanxi, especially in the mountains, are quite backward with adobe and stone structures. However, this village was accessible by car and relatively modern: the main roads were paved with cement, and there were mostly single-story houses with a few two or three-story buildings. There were antennas and wires scattered high above, and several idle birds perched around.

However, there were very few people visible. This was a trend: young and middle-aged people left for work, leaving only the elderly and children behind, causing rural areas to “hollow out.”

A woman, who had heard the noise, came out of her house to see what was happening.

The woman was in her fifties, with short ear-length hair, wearing a crimson coat and striped pants, and cloth shoes with square toes. She was holding a handful of melon seeds, eating them in a distinctive style: instead of tossing the empty shells aside like others, she would hold the shell to her eyes and then flick it into the air.

Yan Tuo got out of the car and asked her, pointing ahead, “Auntie, does this road lead to the main road?”

The woman shook her head, “You’re going the wrong way. There’s no road further in; you need to turn back.”

Yan Tuo said, “Oh,” and subtly shifted the topic to the running fool, “What about that person…?”

“Oh, that’s Mǎ Hānzǐ. He’s been like that since he was young, his head’s gone bad.”

As she spoke, Mǎ Hānzǐ had already run up to them, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he began to lament, “Villagers, I’m late!”

It was as if the villagers had already suffered a great loss.

The woman was adept at dealing with Mǎ Hānzǐ: “You’re mistaken. This is the guerrilla team… Captain Mǎ, the enemy is to the west. Go check over there.”

Ma Hānzi straightened up, his heels clicking with a great show of determination, “Yes.”

Yan Tuo watched him run off into the distance and confirmed that he was indeed a fool. He then thanked the woman and took his leave.

The woman, busy checking messages on her phone, didn’t even respond.

As Yan Tuo opened the car door and half of his body was inside, the woman suddenly called out to him, “Hey, young man, you, you wait a moment.”

What’s going on? Yan Tuo turned back in confusion.

The woman also looked at him and stammered, “Young man, you look strong and capable… can you help… help me move a jar of sauce? The young men in the village aren’t here, and I can’t move it by myself.”

As she finished, she awkwardly forced a smile.

Yan Tuo found the request a bit abrupt, but since she had just given him directions, helping out in return didn’t seem like much.

Inside the house, there was indeed a large jar of sauce, nearly half a person’s height and quite heavy. Not only was the woman unable to move it by herself, but even Yan Tuo found it somewhat strenuous.

As they worked together to move the jar outside, the woman was clumsy throughout the process, needing to stop and start several times. Additionally, Yan Tuo noticed that at least two or three times, the woman was surreptitiously observing him. Once, he deliberately made eye contact, causing her to panic and quickly look away.

Yan Tuo began to have doubts: his appearance and build were decent, and he had been noticed or photographed by young girls before, but moving a jar of sauce wasn’t exactly a glamorous action. It seemed absurd to think that the woman was so distracted by him.

After they finally got the jar to the door, the woman brought a basin of water for Yan Tuo to wash his hands. As he was lathering up, he glanced around nonchalantly, and his anxiety grew even stronger.

Just moments before, the nearby road had been empty, but now three people had appeared.

One was a limping old man in his sixties with white hair, leaning on a crutch. He was about a hundred meters away, trying to light a cigarette with a lighter while standing on the road.

Another was a burly man in his thirties, dressed in a blue work jacket. His head was large, with his hair cutting straight across his collar, making him look neckless. He was sitting by a remnant wall, crunching on cucumbers, with an open jar of sauce beside him. He dipped the cucumber into the sauce for each bite.

Lastly, there was a young man in his twenties with a shaved head. He wasn’t unattractive, but his eyebrows and eyes were scrunched together, giving him a look akin to a clown in traditional Chinese opera. He was now at the side of the car, peering curiously inside.

Yan Tuo shouted toward him.

The young man was startled, his neck shrinking, then stretching forward again with a broad smile: “Oh, brother, your car is really nice.”

Yan Tuo, already wary of the situation, considered the worst possible scenarios:

  1. The so-called fool, Mǎ Hānzǐ, might be faking his stupidity. He could have seen what was in the trunk and reported to the villagers.
  2. The village, Bǎnyá, might be problematic itself, possibly a modern-day version of a black shop that preys on isolated travelers for robbery and murder.

In any case, the best course of action was to leave.

He didn’t bother to say goodbye to the woman, quickly rinsing his hands and heading towards the car.

The woman seemed to want to call him back but didn’t have a suitable excuse.

The young man quickly stepped back to make way, while still eagerly chatting, “Brother, are you here looking for someone?”

“No, just passing through, asking for directions.”

The young man’s smile grew a bit sly: “Our village is in the middle of nowhere. People who come here are usually coming for something specific; there aren’t any passersby.”

What kind of nonsense is that? Yan Tuo ignored him, pulling open the car door and preparing to get in. The young man grabbed the door and held it firmly.

Yan Tuo’s heart sank: this situation was suspicious, and the village and its people were problematic.

He looked at the young man, remaining calm, “What’s the matter?”

The young man, feeling intimidated under Yan Tuo’s gaze, hesitated, releasing the door, and with a smile said, “It’s not like that, brother. I need to get to the main road, could you give me a lift?”

As Yan Tuo was about to refuse, a lazy voice came from the side, “Shānqiáng, stop dreaming. Don’t be so greedy just because the car looks nice.”

It was the big-headed man.

Shānqiáng’s face fell immediately, and he turned to scold the man, “Mind your own business.”

The man finished chewing a piece of cucumber, ignoring Shānqiáng, and looked at Yan Tuo with a sideways glance, “Leaving already? You’ve asked for directions; don’t you think you should pay a consultation fee?”

Indeed, he had encountered some local ruffians.

Yan Tuo, not wanting to escalate the situation, asked, “How much?”

The man clapped his hands and stood up slowly, walking to Yan Tuo and making a “three” gesture with his hand: “Three hundred bucks, but it has to be in cash.”

These days, although electronic payments were widespread, Yan Tuo still carried a few hundred bucks for emergencies. Three hundred wasn’t exorbitant in the realm of extortion.

He reached into his wallet.

At that moment, the man suddenly lunged at Yan Tuo, shouting, “Stop pretending, get him!”

Yan Tuo had anticipated the man’s move and instinctively stepped back, but at the same time, Shānqiáng grabbed him from behind, locking his arms around Yan Tuo’s waist.

With one man pushing from the front and the other holding from the back, Yan Tuo was sandwiched in the middle, like a filling in a sandwich. The three of them lost their balance and fell to the ground.

Yan Tuo cursed inwardly. As he fell, he threw a punch, hitting the big-headed man’s head to one side. Just as he was about to get up, his waist tightened again, being held down by Shānqiáng, who wasn’t fighting but clinging desperately from behind, refusing to let go.

The weight of over a hundred kilograms pressing on his back was unbearable. Yan Tuo cursed silently as the big-headed man lunged at him again.

The three of them were immediately entangled in a chaotic brawl.

An old saying goes, “Two fists are no match for four hands.” Despite Yan Tuo’s agility, he could only make things difficult for the two men, like being entangled in vines, unable to escape. In his desperation, he glanced up and saw someone else joining the fight.

It was the limping old man, looking fierce and hobbling over with his crutch raised high, ready to strike.

In a flash, Yan Tuo had an idea. He used all his strength to roll over, flipping Shānqiáng on top, and the old man’s crutch came down directly on Shānqiáng’s neck.

Shānqiáng cried out in pain and released his hold, rolling aside. Yan Tuo took advantage of the moment to knock down the big-headed man and rushed into the driver’s seat.

Before he could settle, he felt a sharp pain in his neck as the old man plunged a needle into him.

Yan Tuo didn’t have time to examine it closely. He slammed the car door, pinching the old man’s arm, causing him to stumble back with a cry of pain.

Seizing the opportunity, Yan Tuo started the car, which had initially been facing into the village. He drove forward with a burst of speed, making a sharp turn after a few meters, and finally sped out of the village.

Shānqiáng and the old man were injured and hadn’t recovered yet. The big-headed man was getting up and seemed to want to intercept the car but retreated in fear as the car approached. The woman, however, was surprisingly resourceful, running at the car with a long bench, trying to block it.

This was an attempt to stop the car with a bench, a futile effort. Yan Tuo’s eyes darkened as he floored the accelerator, charging straight at her.

The woman initially thought she could force him to stop, but seeing the car coming within two or three meters without slowing down, she was horrified and hurriedly retreated. The car screeched past her, and she, along with the bench, tumbled away.

The car sped away, kicking up a cloud of dust. Mǎ Hānzǐ, who was patrolling with his gun, saw the car leave from a distance and was puzzled. He stopped and stared, shouting, “Guerrilla team, aren’t you staying for a meal before leaving?”


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An Owl Rising From The Green Soil

An Owl Rising From The Green Soil

Love On The Turquoise Land (Drama)
Score 8.0
Status: Ongoing Type: , Author: , Artist: Released: 2020 Native Language: Chinese
Over two thousand years ago on a deep night, Xu Fu* set sail to the eastern seas in a treasure ship to search for immortality, but few people knew that at the same time, a group of black-turban soldiers secretly entered the vast and dense Nanbao forest… A millennium later, the dark legend continues to slowly grow in the shadows. Xú Fú: Qin dynasty court necromancer and was tasked by Qin Shi Huang to look for the elixir of life between 219 BC and 210 BC. He never returned after departing on his second mission in 210 BC.

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