Qi Yun nodded and casually asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhuzi, since there are many wild animals in this Wild Wolf Gully, would anyone come here to poach?"

Da Zhuzi frowned, nodded slightly, and said, "It's hard to say. There are quite a few valuable things in Wild Wolf Gully, especially those rare species. Inevitably, there will be poachers taking risks."

"But usually, we don't often run into poachers in the mountains. They generally don't dare to be too blatant."

After hearing this, Qi Yun secretly smiled bitterly in his heart, meaning Old Zhao just had bad luck?

Da Zhuzi glanced down for a moment, confirmed a direction, and continued to move forward.

The group carefully walked along the edge of the gully, with the snow underfoot a bit soft, and occasionally small stones rolled to the bottom of the ravine.

After more than half an hour of walking, there was no path ahead, so everyone had to descend into the gully using a few tree vines.

Upon entering the gully, Qi Yun realized what it meant to be impassable.

The tall weeds, almost as tall as their waists, were like riverbed silt, making every step a struggle.

"Bang!"

At this moment, a gunshot suddenly echoed through the silent mountain forest!

The group immediately tensed up, and Chen Wei reflexively dashed to Qi Yun, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him to the ground.

The others quickly followed suit, hiding their bodies deep within the weeds.

Da Zhuzi gripped his hunting rifle tightly, lowering his voice, "Poachers!"

In this season, only poachers would fire a gun in the mountains.

Huzi and Cao Yufei both looked grave. Having never experienced such a situation, alarm bells rang in their hearts.

Chen Wei remained calm and unflustered. He pointed to a patch of forest in the east and said, "The gunshot came from over there."

"You all stay here, don't move. I'll sneak over to check things out."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yun nodded, saving himself from having to make an excuse.

He patted Chen Wei on the shoulder and warned, "Be careful, Brother Wei. If there's a chance, capture them. If not, retreat and wait until we can call the police to handle it."

Chen Wei nodded silently, taking a folding knife from his back, ready to move forward.

"Brother, I'll go with you!" Da Zhuzi whispered beside him.

Chen Wei shook his head slightly at him, "No need, you guys stay here."

Seeing this, Da Zhuzi wanted to say more, but Qi Yun patted him on the shoulder, advising, "Brother Zhuzi, let Brother Wei go alone. We might just hold him back if we go."

Upon hearing this, Da Zhuzi opened his mouth but eventually said nothing more.

Chen Wei crouched low, stepping lightly to the side like a stealthy leopard, not making a sound.

On the other side, three middle-aged poachers gathered together, staring at a colorful wild chicken on the ground.

One of them, a big bearded man, rubbed his hands and grinned, "This wild chicken looks fat, let's roast it for a good meal tonight."

The man next to him, wearing an army cap, kicked the bearded guy and said harshly, "I've told you eight hundred times, don't randomly shoot. Why the hell did you shoot for one wild chicken?"

"It was your reckless shooting yesterday that brought that old man over, still haven't learned?"

The bearded man laughed awkwardly and reluctantly said, "We've been wandering in the mountains for two days now and haven't seen a trace of a bear. I just thought I'd shoot a chicken to satisfy my craving..."

The man in the army cap frowned, a look of impatience in his eyes. He cursed under his breath, "With a mind like yours, if it weren't for the fact that you are somewhat useful, I'd have fed you to the wolves by now."

"We'll look for one more day tomorrow. Regardless of whether we find the bear paws or not, we need to retreat. That old man's absence for so long might cause a stir, and I don't want to be caught by the Chinese police."

At this time, another tall, thin man spoke up, "Boss, if we don't get the bear paws, how do we explain it to Old Eight Jin when we get back?"

The man in the army cap spat on the ground, "Do I, who survives on this trade, need to explain to anyone?"

"And besides, didn't we find a piece of ginseng on that old man yesterday? He can use that to cross, right?"

"..."

The tall, thin man said nothing more after hearing this.

Before they knew it, the sky gradually darkened.

The three poachers wandered around the forest a bit more and finally arrived at a wooden shed on the mountainside.

The bearded man put down his hunting rifle, eagerly grabbed the wild chicken, and prepared to pluck it.

The man in the army cap saw this and kicked him on the butt again, cursing, "Go away and do it somewhere else. It reeks."

The bearded man turned, with a sheepish smile, carrying the wild chicken to the side of the wooden shed, muttering, "Alright, alright, I'll do it further away." Saying this, he walked to the back of the shed.

The man in the army cap lay down on the ground covered with branches, took a sip from the flask at his waist, and muttered to himself, "Those damn guys really know how to enjoy. To eat bear paws, they make me come to China to poach."

The tall, thin man sorted the tools next to him and dared not respond to these complaints since those people's statuses were too high for someone at his level to dare comment on.

"Boss, that old man was left starving in the cave for a day. Should we feed him something so he doesn't starve to death?"

The man in the army cap frowned, took another sip of alcohol, and said, "It's not you starving to death, so why bother?"

"And who knows if the old man might recognize our accents. Just to be safe, take care of him when we leave tomorrow."

The tall, thin man paused upon hearing this but eventually nodded in agreement, "Yes."

The man in the army cap continued instructing, "Once you're done, toss him down into Wild Wolf Gully. In a couple of days, he'll be nothing but bones."

"Understood," replied the tall, thin man.

Only then did the man in the army cap nod in satisfaction, taking another sip from the flask. Then he cursed, "Cui Lao Er, are you going to take all day to kill a chicken?"

This time, though, no one answered no matter how long he waited.

The man in the army cap grew angry and shouted again, "Cui Lao Er, are you deaf?"

Yet it remained silent behind the shed.

The man in the army cap's face sank, and a hint of wariness appeared in his eyes. He whispered to the tall, thin man, "Something's not right, go check it out."

The tall, thin man's brow twitched. He wanted to refuse but was intimidated by the other man's dominance. So he reluctantly grabbed the hunting rifle and cautiously headed to the back of the shed.

Two minutes passed, and now even the tall, thin man was gone without a trace, making no noise at all.

By this point, the man in the army cap couldn't sit still any longer. He jumped up from the ground and quickly grabbed the hunting rifle beside him.

He widened his eyes, warily scanning the surroundings, but in the pitch-black night, only the calls of a few doves could be heard.

The man in the army cap crouched low, slowly inching toward the back of the shed, taking each step with extreme caution, eyes fixed ahead, ears perked up.

This dark, oppressive environment gave rise to slivers of fear in his heart.

"Who's there? Come out!" He shouted, disguising his fear with bravado, his voice trembling slightly.

At that moment, the spruce tree behind him suddenly rustled, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

Before the man in the army cap could turn around, a chilly sensation abruptly touched his neck.

Just as the man in the army cap was about to turn, a cold voice spoke in his ear, "You'd better stay still."

It turned out Chen Wei had somehow appeared behind him, with a knife pressing closely against his neck.

"Who... who are you?" The man in the army cap tried to speak calmly, but his voice trembled uncontrollably.

Chen Wei ignored his question, raising his right hand and striking the man in the army cap's neck hard.

The next second, the man's body went limp, and he fell straight into the snow.

...

More than half an hour later, Qi Yun and his group also arrived at the mountainside. Except for him, everyone else seemed startled by the scene before them.

"These... these three guys are poachers?" Huzi stammered a bit, pointing to the three people tied up on the ground.

Chen Wei nodded, then used his foot to push aside the hunting rifles nearby.

Da Zhuzi stared blankly at Chen Wei, surprised by his skills, managing to effortlessly handle three armed men?

ps: I'm back in Xinjiang, updates will resume tomorrow.

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