20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 644: Second Ma
Haichao Mountain is as heavy as a cow. The edge of the dense forest is already sloped, with tangled vegetation and many potholes, making it extremely difficult to drag.

Fortunately, he was not completely unable to move. Zhao Guoyan dragged him a few steps, and he gritted his teeth and climbed up. He held Zhao Guoyan's shoulder with one hand, leaned on the hunting rifle with the other, and struggled forward into the woods.

The two men dived into the dense forest, and the grass leaves rustled wherever they passed. The shouting of the pursuers behind them was like a call to action, and it was getting very urgent.

Although there is moonlight in the distant sky, the treetops are dark and enveloping, making the forest seem deep and gloomy.

Zhao Guoyan looked back and searched for a suitable place to hide. He also kept asking, "Where did you hit?"

"It's okay, I didn't hit you..."

Hai Chaoshan was gasping for breath, and his condition spoke for itself.

He fell down just now not because he was shot, but because he was exhausted. Maybe it was because of exhaustion that he fell down that he managed to avoid the bullet. Who knows?

Zhao Guoyan didn't say anything, he himself was not that strong.

I ran for my life, but by this time I couldn't even sweat. I just felt cold all over, my throat was tight, and my mouth was sticky and bitter.

Unfortunately, time waits for no one, and the shouts of the pursuers followed closely.

Zhao Guoyan growled, "Hurry up!", then he set up the Haichao Mountain and stumbled into the depths of the forest.

The rebel team was not reckless. When they reached the entrance of the dense forest, they suddenly stopped. They saw that the forest was pitch black and they would be blind if they rushed in rashly. They gradually became suspicious and thought that although they had the advantage in numbers, the enemy had seized the initiative and used the terrain in the forest, so they might counterattack. So they lingered there for a while.

The short-legged strong man ran slowly and was the last one to catch up. He asked as soon as he saw him, "Go in and search. What are you waiting for?"

Someone suggested, "Captain, this forest is too dark. Why don't we go in when it's daylight?"

"Do you have a flashlight?"

"No."

"Have you brought kerosene?"

"Did not bring."

"Where's the wine?"

"I drank it all last night."

"Then why are you wasting your words!" the short-legged strong man cursed, "Can't you light a tree branch as a light? If you had that much time, the person would have disappeared long ago. Let's go in and search!"

Everyone took a deep breath, put their rifles on their shoulders, raised their guns, stood in a row, waded through the weeds and bushes, and slowly approached the dense forest.

The short-legged strong man followed behind, shouting from time to time, ordering: "Don't stand in a fucking line, you're making targets for others? Stand in groups of three, staggered, keep an eye on each other's blind spots, the formation should have depth, you guys are all stupid, have you practiced in vain?"

After hearing this, everyone gradually changed their formation.

If you say they have methods, they seem scattered and unreliable; if you say they have no methods, they can always keep a distance from each other that is neither too far nor too close.

This is probably the quality of the rebels, after all, they are only half-baked.

Deep in the dense forest, Zhao Guoyan and Haichaoshan did not dare to delay.

The two men walked for the time it took them to smoke a pack of cigarettes. Not only were their legs weak from exhaustion, but their shoulders and necks were also scratched by the branches, leaving bloody scratches on them. They looked extremely miserable.

Zhao Guoyan stopped and looked up at the sky, but he only saw a mottled dark blue with black leaves. After looking for a while, he gradually felt dizzy.

If he stopped, he could still take a break and continue on his way later; but as soon as Haichaoshan stopped, he immediately fell down and could not stand up again.

Zhao Guoyan looked around and found no suitable place to hide, so he had to squat down and said, "Hold on a little longer, and find another place to rest!"

Hai Chaoshan shook his head, unable to even lift his hands. After panting for a long while, he said, "I can't walk anymore. I really can't walk anymore..." Then he laughed and said to himself, "I can't refuse to accept my old age. I really can't..."

Zhao Guoyan didn't listen at all. He squatted down, staring at the direction he came from. The noise of the pursuers was gradually approaching.

He pushed Haichaoshan and said hurriedly, "It's too late, let's go."

Haichaoshan leaned against the tree trunk and was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he forced himself to cheer up and picked up the rifle. However, he did not stand up. Instead, he said, "Forget it. You go first. I will stay and cover you. They may not be able to find me."

Zhao Guoyan was startled. He turned around and looked at the deep woods. He felt a little dizzy and said bitterly, "Where should I go?"

Haichaoshan panted heavily, pointed in a direction with his chin, and said, "Go straight ahead toward that old pine tree. When you go down the slope, you will find the place where I shot a rabbit last time. We built a fire there, so you will be able to see it when you get there. However, when we came here, we faced north. If we go down this way, we will face southwest. Don't turn..."

After listening in a daze, Zhao Guoyan grabbed Hai Chaoshan's wrist without saying a word, then tilted his shoulders, stretched his neck to Hai Chaoshan's armpits, tightened his legs, pushed the ground with his feet, and actually lifted up the 50-year-old strong man:

"Let's go together. I can't leave you here alone."

Hai Chaoshan was stunned. He was not moved by the words, but was amazed that Zhao Guoyan still had such brute force at this moment.

Good boy, you are really brave and strong.

The old hunter couldn't help but show a bit more approval in his eyes, but at the same time he also felt more emotional, that time is fierce and good times are gone.

Hai Chaoshan stopped being pretentious. After hearing this, he leaned against Zhao Guoyan and tried to move forward a few steps.

However, the pursuers behind him seemed to be catching up.

The two were a little panicked. If they continued walking like this, they would not be able to get far. Now they had to find a suitable hiding place as soon as possible.

Just as I was thinking about it, I looked up and saw two extremely thick birch trees.

These two birch trees are probably a thousand years old, and it takes at least two people to hug their trunks.

Moreover, the bases of the two trees were close together, like slingshots buried deep underground. They seemed to have the same roots and origin. It was hard to tell whether they were one tree or two. The closer to the roots, the thicker they were. Many rhizomes were exposed and entangled with each other, and they were covered with parasitic grass, which was extremely lush, as if it was a world of its own.

"Where are the people? There was clearly some movement just now. Did you see it?"

"I don't have any here, how is Erma doing?"

The sound of the pursuers is getting closer...

Zhao Guoyan had no choice and did not dare to say anything. He just exchanged glances with Hai Chaoshan and then moved towards the two birch trees.

Birch wood is hard and bullets cannot easily penetrate it, let alone a thousand-year-old tree, so it is naturally an excellent shelter.

The two men approached and planned to go around behind the birch tree, relying on the two crossed trunks to hold up their guns and stand guard, ready to fire back if the situation warranted. However, just as they passed two old trees, they suddenly felt empty under their feet. Before they could even shout, they fell down immediately.

"Shua-"

Zhao Guoyan suddenly lost his balance and his body leaned backwards. He felt as if the sky was collapsing and the earth was falling. A series of crisp sounds were heard all around him.

When he came to his senses, he found that half of his body was buried in the soil. When he took a closer look, he found that it was not soil, but fallen leaves that had been dried and rotted by the wind. They had accumulated for who knows how many years. They fell apart at the touch. And there were not only birch leaves. When he touched under his butt, he felt a layer of pointy pine needles.

Only then did I suddenly realize that where I am now is definitely not created by God.

I turned around and saw that there was a steep slope behind the two birch trees, which was hollowed out by some wild animal for the winter. The two birch trees were still growing, but the nest had probably been abandoned for many years. After being eroded by rain and snow, it was no longer very regular. It was more like a pit than a hole. A person fell into it, half-bent his legs, half-lying, with fallen leaves covering his chest and his head just hidden under the tree roots. If it weren't for the critical situation, he could have fallen asleep now.

"Did you hear anything?"

"Is there any movement? Stop making so much noise and scaring people!"

"Bullshit, I heard it so clearly, it was right over there...it seemed to be over there too."

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. I'm going to go over and take a look. You two stay behind to cover me and help me keep an eye on the woods on both sides..."

In the darkness, footsteps were approaching slowly and carefully.

Zhao Guoyan and Hai Chaoshan looked at each other and stopped moving. They just silently raised their guns to their chests, with the muzzles facing the sky, and stared closely at the movements around the birch tree with their eyelids rolled up.

"Er Ma, can you please hurry up? What's wrong? Are you scared?"

"Cui Jimao, help your father keep an eye on both sides. If something goes wrong with me, your mother will become a widow."

The cursing was right above their heads. Zhao Guoyan and Hai Chaoshan lay quietly, holding their breath, like two corpses.

Gradually, a figure appeared faintly approaching.

The man walked very slowly, so when he passed two birch trees, he slipped only slightly and immediately steadied himself.

The crackling sound of falling leaves alerted his companions. Not far away, a voice came at the same time: "Hey, what's going on?"

"It's okay, it's okay, I just slipped accidentally just now."

The man responded as he bent his knees and walked down the steep slope.

There were also a lot of fallen leaves where he was, but there were no pits, so the leaves only barely covered his calves. When he walked, it felt like he was wading.

"Erma, what's wrong? Have you seen anyone?" the companion asked again.

The man held the gun and said impatiently, "Don't bother me anymore. I'm looking for it right now. Why are you in such a hurry?"

As he spoke, he took a few more steps forward, extremely carefully.

Erma - Zhao Guoyan silently remembered this name.

The forest was too dark, and the man only felt his eyes were sore and swollen, almost bleeding, but he could not see anything unusual around him.

At this time, a companion not far away said again: "My dear, I am not rushing you, but there are worms in the grass nests on this mountain. I advise you to be careful and don't get bitten."

"Ah?" The man hurriedly climbed up the steep slope and shook his feet desperately, "Did you see a snake just now?"

"I didn't see it!" The companion smiled maliciously, "I just wanted to remind you kindly."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the short-legged strong man in the distance yelling, "Shut up, damn it! I asked you to search for someone, not to chat. Are you afraid that others don't know where you are, or what?"

When they heard the captain cursing, the three men dared not say a word and continued searching. However, Erma did not dare to jump down the steep slope again and could only lean against a tree and look around.

Zhao Guoyan lost the direction of the person coming for a moment and his nerves immediately tensed up.

Fortunately, not long after, the footsteps gradually sounded again, and seemed to be getting farther away.

The two did not dare to relax and still held their breath. After a long time, seeing that there was no other movement, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he had been holding his breath for too long, as soon as he relaxed his breath, his chest immediately rose and fell violently, shaking the dead leaves and making slight sounds.

Zhao Guoyan listened for a while, then turned his head slightly and looked at Hai Chaoshan. When he was about to speak, a ghostly voice called out from above his head.

The voice was neither a smile nor a laugh, without any guttural sound, only a breathy sound, but it said faintly: "Brother, so you are here?"

The noise was not loud, but it was like thunder in a clear sky.

Zhao Guoyan's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up. Just as he was about to raise his gun, he heard the man say anxiously:

"Don't shoot, there are people all behind me, do you want to live?"

These words were unbelievable. For a moment, Zhao Guoyan and Hai Chaoshan even mistakenly thought that the people coming were Sun Xiangyang, Yang Lazi and the other two. But after listening to their voices, they did not look like them.

Immediately afterwards, I saw a round shadow suddenly appear at the intersection of two birch trees above my head. It turned out to be a bald head.

Zhao Guoyan was lying in a pit under the tree. He hurriedly raised his Ma brand pistol and aimed at the intruder's head in a strange posture.

The rustling sound immediately attracted the inquiries of the rebel team, and it turned out that they had not gone far.

"Erma, what's going on?"

The bald man turned around and hurriedly used his rifle to stir the dead leaves at the bottom of the steep slope, causing a rustling sound. He pretended to be confused and shouted back, "Captain, no, I've been squatting here for a long time, and my legs are almost numb."

"Shut up and stay there quietly. What are you talking about?" A short-legged strong man was scolding from a distance. "One of them was shot. He can't run too far. He must be nearby. Stop talking and keep your eyes on your position."

Unexpectedly, the rebel team also chose these two birch trees and used them as ambush points.

What was even more unexpected was that the team member who was waiting here was actually a traitor.

Erma turned his head and asked in a very small voice: "Hey, brother, are you soldiers?"

Zhao Guoyan didn't dare to speak, nor did he dare to act rashly, and he didn't understand what this person meant.

"How about this, I ask you a question and you answer it. If it's a yes, knock on the tree trunk once, if it's a no, knock twice. Don't be too loud, I can feel it." Erma continued to ask, "You guys..." He turned his head nervously, "Are you here to hunt down Captain Wu?"

Zhao Guoyan tapped the tree trunk three times with the muzzle of the gun.

Erma was confused and said dissatisfiedly: "No, why don't you follow the routine? What does three times mean?"

After saying this, he seemed to sense that Zhao Guoyan and Hai Chaoshan were a little confused, so he whispered to comfort them: "Don't worry, they won't stay here until dawn. They will have to leave soon. They have important things to do. Now is not the time to talk. How about this, you wait for me here, and I will come over in the second half of the night, how about that?"

Zhao Guoyan wasn't sure how to answer.

Erma was a little anxious, and suddenly said: "Brother, I'm on this pirate ship and can't get off. It's not too late to turn from evil to good now, can you save my life?"

Zhao Guoyan weighed the relationship between Jiang Lianheng and Zhang Xiaokun, and also weighed the weight of his words in front of Jiang Lianheng. Finally, he secretly knocked on the tree trunk and gave an affirmative answer.

Erma was overjoyed and nodded in agreement: "Okay, okay, don't worry, I will find a way to find you in the second half of the night, wait for me here, definitely wait for me."

After saying this, he lowered his body and made a gesture to keep quiet.

"Shh—stop talking and don't move."

(End of this chapter)