Chapter 46

“Comrades, who are you looking for?”

Meng Xunzhou nodded politely, “Excuse me, is Captain Chen here?”

Zhang Qingmei shook her head, “Captain Chen took people up the mountain to catch the bad guys. They haven’t come back yet.”

Meng Xunzhou exchanged glances with Xu Qiang, understanding who Chen Hui was going to catch. He asked, “Do you know which direction they went up the mountain?”

Although Meng Xunzhou and Xu Qiang were wearing military uniforms, Zhang Qingmei didn’t understand what they were doing, so she didn’t answer immediately and asked, “What do you need to see Captain Chen for?”

“My name is Xu Qiang, and I’m Xu Li’s brother. I heard from Xu Li that Captain Chen went to catch those two strong men. We’re going to take a look too, maybe we can lend a hand.” Xu Qiang chimed in.

Zhang Qingmei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, so you’re Comrade Xu’s brother. Captain Chen went up the mountain that way.”

Then, she added with a worried expression, “But they went up the mountain before it got dark this afternoon. They haven’t come back yet. I wonder if something happened.”

“How many people went?”

“Four.”

Four people chasing two, and they went into the mountains.

It was difficult even when it was still light, let alone at night.

Moreover, there were wild boars in the mountains.

Meng Xunzhou made a decision. He briefly spoke to Zhang Qingmei and then went up the mountain with Xu Qiang along the route she had indicated.

They walked into the mountains. They didn’t go far before they heard sounds and saw firelight.

The two stopped and hid their figures.

When the group got closer, Meng Xunzhou could hear their conversation.

“Those two are really too cunning. How can we catch them?”

“We have to go to work tomorrow. Let’s go back to rest.”

“I wonder if Captain and Zhihua can handle it. Will they be alright?”

“They probably just don’t want to give up and want to look for them again. If they can’t find them, they’ll naturally come back. I say, those two must have run away long ago. It’s so late, running deep into the mountains, isn’t that looking for death?”

“You’re right.”

“…”

When the two educated youths walked past them, Meng Xunzhou deliberately made some noise.

The two educated youths were startled and raised the long sticks in their hands to their chests, back-to-back, in a defensive posture.

Meng Xunzhou walked out from behind the tree, “Comrades, we’re looking for Captain Chen. Could you please point us in the right direction?”

It was pitch black, so to avoid any misunderstanding, Xu Qiang also came out and said, “I’m Xu Li’s brother. We heard about what happened today. Could you please help us find the way?”

One of the educated youths lowered the long stick in his hand but didn’t mean to point the way. Instead, he persuaded, “Why don’t you stay at the educated youth’s point and wait for them? It’s very dangerous in the mountains after dark. Captain and the others should be back soon.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The other educated youth chimed in.

Meng Xunzhou thought for a moment and asked, “You said you heard us talking. Do you know if there are any other ways down the mountain nearby?”

The older educated youth who had persuaded Meng Xunzhou and Xu Qiang to wait at the educated youth’s point slapped his forehead and said, “I almost forgot. There is indeed another way down the mountain. It’s about half an hour’s walk from here, but you have to go around the mountain.”

“Then please help us show the way. What if we happen to block those two on the other side?” Meng Xunzhou’s expression was calm, but he was secretly delighted.

The two older educated youths had already exhausted their energy chasing after the two strong men in the mountains. Even if they wanted to reach the other exit quickly, they were physically unable to.

If it weren’t for their lack of energy, Chen Hui wouldn’t have let them go down the mountain earlier.

After walking for about ten minutes, Meng Xunzhou couldn’t help but ask, “How much further is it to the place you mentioned?”

At this time, the older educated youth was also a little embarrassed to say that they couldn’t walk anymore. He could only say with a stiff face, “Keep going forward, and you’ll see a small river. Cross the river, and then follow the mountain path for another ten minutes, and you’ll be there.”

“How about this, Xu Qiang and I will go ahead, and you two will follow behind. If you encounter those two, don’t rush to confront them head-on. Just try to hold them back.”

This was the best explanation Meng Xunzhou could think of at the moment, so as not to hurt the self-esteem of the two older educated youths.

The two older educated youths looked at each other and nodded, “That’s good. Then we’ll leave it to you.”

The four of them understood each other.

Meng Xunzhou and Xu Qiang ran forward quickly. When they were close to the small river mentioned by the older educated youth, Meng Xunzhou raised his hand, and Xu Qiang stopped and squatted down, using the surrounding bushes to conceal their figures.

Meng Xunzhou had already hidden on the other side.

As they hid, two figures appeared on the other side of the river.

In the darkness, the moonlight reflected on the surface of the river, revealing their tall and sturdy figures and rough behavior.

They were clearly not educated youths.

Their identities were self-evident.

In the darkness, Meng Xunzhou silently made a series of hand gestures to Xu Qiang.

Xu Qiang nodded, turned around quietly, bypassed the two strong men’s line of sight, and walked away to the other side.

A few minutes later, the two strong men waded across the river.

“Damn it, those educated youths were so persistent. They chased us for so long.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have listened to that old woman. We almost got caught, and I even got injured by the leader of those educated youths.”

“Hmph, she made us suffer so much. We’re going to get back the other half of the money from her, and we’re also going to make her pay for our medical expenses.”

“What if she doesn’t give it to us?”

“Doesn’t give it to us? Then we’ll make her bleed!”

The shorter strong man finished speaking and waved the dagger in his hand.

The blade reflected a bright light in the moonlight.

Just then, Meng Xunzhou charged out of the bushes like a leopard.

He held a short knife about the length of his forearm.

As he quickly approached the two strong men, he slashed at the shorter strong man’s wrist, fast, fierce, and accurate.

“Clang”, the strong man’s dagger fell to the ground and hit a Shi Tou by the river, making a crisp sound.

The taller strong man reacted and instinctively pulled the shorter strong man over, avoiding Meng Xunzhou’s next attack.

The wind of the fist brushed past the shorter strong man’s nose, making him break out in a cold sweat.

The two strong men retreated repeatedly, their feet stepping into the river again.

“Second Brother, is this… a man or a ghost?”

“I don’t know. Are you badly injured?”

The strong man known as “Second Brother” only realized the pain in his wrist at this time.

He frowned, covering his wound. He could feel the warm blood continuously flowing from the wound.

“Boss, let’s just run. I… I’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“Boss” vigilantly stared at Meng Xunzhou, wary of him attacking again. He made a decision and growled, “Let’s go!”

As he spoke, “Boss” suddenly pushed the strong man who had been injured by Meng Xunzhou across the river.

Seeing them running away, Meng Xunzhou wouldn’t let them go easily. He spun the short knife in his hand, changed his angle, and charged at “Boss”.

The other strong man was only focused on running to the other side of the river and didn’t notice the fight over here.