My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 154 Cutting out the roots
The wind howled through the mountains, making it hard to leave the warm roe deer skin tent, but as the sky grew brighter, one couldn't afford to be lazy.

Even in the Gold Rush Valley, lazy people will never get rich unless they have incredible luck.

The self-disciplined Wu Yang was the first to emerge from the roe deer skin tube. Shivering, he went outside the mine entrance to urinate, then rubbed his hands and returned to the fire. He picked through the half-dead embers with his hands, gathering the still-glowing charcoal pieces together. He then broke off some small twigs and placed them on top, blowing on them until a flame rose from the increasingly thick smoke.

He saw Zhou Jingming and Bai Zhishun poking their heads out of the roe deer skin tube, and he smiled at them: "You guys sleep a little longer, wait until I boil the water and the naan is almost done baking before you get up... I was thinking last night that it might snow, thankfully it didn't, but the wind is too strong, it's really damn cold."

"Tie your clothes and pants up tightly, don't let the wind get in!"

Zhou Jingming offered a suggestion.

He twisted and turned inside the roe deer skin tube, feeling aches and pains in several places, but he still managed to crawl out, turn the tube over, and go outside to warm himself by the fire.

When you sleep curled up inside a roe deer skin tube, the breath you exhale and the heat emanating from your body contain a certain amount of moisture. After sleeping in the roe deer skin tube overnight, it may feel dry to the touch, but it is actually damp. If you don't dry it out before sleeping in it at night, it will still feel cold inside after a long time.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang had already gotten up. Although Bai Zhishun was a little reluctant to get out of bed, he felt embarrassed to stay in, so he got up as well.

Wu Yang carried three water jugs to the river, fetched three jugs of water, removed the straps, opened the lids, and placed them next to the fire that Zhou Jingming had added some large firewood to make it burn brightly.

Bai Zhishun took over the naan baking business and watched Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang practice the Black Dragon Eighteen Hands three times in unison at the mine entrance to warm up their muscles. They hadn't practiced together since they started washing the mine.

Jinwang, curled up in a ball, only raised its head to look at the two of them before burying its head back down beside its hind legs and falling asleep again. The mountain wind blew in gusts, ruffling its thick fur, and the cold it brought made its body shiver involuntarily.

It wasn't until the three of them gathered around the fire to eat naan that Zhou Jingming threw a piece at it. Only then did it get up, stretch out its hind legs, exaggeratedly arch its back, open its mouth wide like a human and yawn, before sniffing at the naan and tearing at it with its paws.

Just as the three were chatting about the weather, wondering if it might snow heavily and whether to continue cleaning the cave or return directly to Haxionggou, some loose rocks and soil slid down from above the mine, making a rustling sound.

The mountain winds are strong, and there is almost no vegetation on the mountain surface. Soil and rocks that have weathered down often slide down, making a swishing sound every now and then.

Over time, many of the mine entrances on the hillside have become blocked by landslides and debris.

It is precisely because of the extremely harsh weathering environment, which far exceeds that of other places, that so much gold-bearing silt is carried into the river by the mountains and rivers, forming gold panning valleys.

Hearing that the sound wasn't loud, the three of them only instinctively glanced back at the small amount of mud that had slid down, without paying much attention to it.

To everyone's surprise, Jinwang suddenly started barking wildly in the direction of the uphill slope, causing the three of them to turn around and look in that direction again, and they were immediately alarmed.

About twenty meters uphill, someone was seen throwing something downhill with all their might.

Snapped……

The items were thrown near the fire.

When the two men saw the smoking object and recognized it as explosives, their hearts skipped a beat.

Zhou Jingming had a good mindset. When Wu Yang was a member of the armed police, he had been exposed to explosives quite a bit. Despite their shock, the two of them were still able to react. Seeing that there were no obstacles on either side, the mine was the best place to hide, so they immediately crawled into the mine.

But when they turned around, Bai Zhishun was stunned.

Zhou Jingming was anxious and wanted to go out to pull it out, but he was also afraid that the explosives would suddenly detonate. He didn't have enough time, so he only managed to shout, "Shunzai... come in quickly!"

Startled by his shout, Bai Zhishun finally reacted and hurriedly rushed into the mine.

However, Bai Zhishun rushed in, but Jin Wang did not run away. For some unknown reason, Jin Wang suddenly lunged at the bundle of three tubes of explosives tied together and started tearing at it with a loud bang.

Seeing this scene, and looking at the flaming rope belching thick smoke and sparks, Zhou Jingming closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "It's over!"

He couldn't bear to watch the scene of Jin Wang being blown to pieces and his flesh flying everywhere.

Who knew, one second... two seconds... three seconds...

Several seconds passed, but Zhou Jingming did not hear an explosion. Instead, Jin Wang's barking continued unabated.

He opened his eyes in disbelief and saw that the bundle of explosives was still on the ground, but the fuse had fallen to the side and burned out.

But he didn't have time to think about that now; all he felt was rage.

Throwing lit explosives at people is tantamount to killing them.

This is a completely ruthless approach.

He and Wu Yang exchanged a glance, and the two of them picked up the hunting rifles that were placed with the roe deer skin tube.

At that moment, another person was dumbfounded: Shen Wei, who was standing on the slope watching the explosion below. He only saw the big dog tearing at the explosives that had been thrown down. He thought the explosives, which were about to explode with a loud bang and shake the earth, only emitted a puff of smoke and then remained silent for a few seconds.

He couldn't understand what was going on. Even from more than twenty meters away, he couldn't see clearly, but he realized that things had failed.

However, he felt he still had a chance. His high vantage point was advantageous, and he had explosives and a gun. Zhou Jingming and his men had hidden in the mine, and he could shoot them as soon as they peeked out.

So he immediately picked up another bundle of explosives, took out a match to light it, but no matter how hard he tried to shield himself from the wind and struck several matches, the wind blew them out as soon as they lit, unlike the first time.

There was probably a lot of anxiety involved.

He cursed under his breath, only to see the big dog bark at him a few times before charging uphill.

He panicked and quickly took the hunting rifle off his back, firing a shot at the big dog. The shot was ineffective; it didn't harm the dog at all. Instead, because he fired hastily, he couldn't steady the gun, and the recoil made his collarbone ache.

In addition, the slope beneath his feet was steep and covered with loose gravel and mud that made it easy to slide. He immediately slipped and fell on his bottom, then slid down the slope involuntarily.

He quickly rolled over and lay prone, holding the hunting rifle in one hand and digging into the mud and sand with the other like a rake, barely managing to steady himself.

When he stood up and looked down, he saw that Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang had already crawled out of the mine, both of their guns pointed at him.

He was startled and sprinted to the side.

However, at this point, there was no way he could escape.

Zhou Jingming pulled the trigger, but in a flash, he didn't shoot him in the head; instead, he aimed for his legs.

Shen Wei fell to the ground and tumbled down the hillside. The gun in his hand flew out as he fell, and he didn't even have time to pick up the bundle of explosives.

At the same time, Jin Wang chased after him frantically.

As soon as he regained his footing, Jin Wang rushed in front of him and started biting his legs and feet. He screamed in pain, but he was powerless to escape.

At that moment, Zhou Jingming and his two companions saw four people emerge from the poplar grove on the riverbank in the distance and run downstream.

It goes without saying that the four people were with Shen Wei and were all there for Zhou Jingming and his group.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang exchanged a glance. Zhou Jingming first ran to Shen Wei's side and fired another shot at Shen Wei's other leg. Then he loaded two single bullets into his gun and ordered Bai Zhishun, "Shunzi, keep an eye on him!"

Bai Zhi nodded hurriedly, gripping his hunting rifle tightly, and stood guard beside Shen Wei, watching Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang chase after those people like leopards.

Whatever the reason, this group is extremely malicious, and to prevent future troubles, they must be eliminated completely.

Zhou Jingming didn't want to run into them in the Gold Rush Valley later and be tricked for no reason. Who knew what their relationship was or who the mastermind was?

Seeing Zhou Jingming chase after him, Jin Wang also abandoned Shen Wei and followed.

The two of them were extremely fast.

Zhou Jingming, in particular, has been practicing the Black Dragon Eighteen Hands with Wu Yang and undergoing various training sessions during this period, which has greatly improved his physical fitness. His current level is a height he never reached in his previous life.

The two of them raced all the way to the riverbank and chased each other for two or three hundred meters, which had already closed the distance considerably.

At a distance of fifty or sixty meters, Zhou Jingming suddenly stopped, raised his gun to his face, compared it briefly, and immediately fired a shot, causing one person to fall to the ground.

Wu Yang also raised his gun, but realizing he wasn't very confident, he put it down and continued chasing along the riverbank.

After firing his first shot, Zhou Jingming continued his pursuit downstream. He was confident the man wouldn't survive because he had aimed for the head.

These people could only run downstream along the riverbank, because at least there were some trees to provide cover and the terrain was relatively flat. If they ran uphill, there would be many loose rocks, especially on the gravelly slopes, where it was slippery and difficult to step on, making it definitely not a good place to escape.

However, running along the riverbank would also be very advantageous for Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang.

Jinwang quickly overtook the two men, catching up and chasing after them while barking wildly.

They quickly reached the other person's back.

The man was terrified. Hearing Jin Wang approaching, he glanced at him hastily and fired a shot behind him haphazardly. He didn't hit Jin Wang, but instead tripped over the pebbles under his feet and fell to the ground. Before he could get up, Jin Wang pounced on him and reached down for his calf, biting and tearing at it with all his might.

He screamed and sat up, raising his gun to shoot Jin Wang. Wu Yang was less than thirty meters away from him. He stopped and raised his gun as Jin Wang fell.

As he rolled over and sat up, raising his gun, Wu Yang decisively fired a shot, accurately bringing him down.

The remaining two, seeing how fierce Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang were, panicked and ran for their lives. Seeing that they couldn't escape, one turned and ran up the hillside, while the other rushed into the icy river without a care and plunged in.

At this moment, Zhou Jingming had caught up with Wu Yang. The people being chased were not far apart to begin with, and now the distance between them was only forty or fifty meters.

He saw Wu Yang fire another shot at the man whose calf Jin Wang had bitten, and continue chasing down the riverbank. He, on the other hand, raised his gun and aimed at the man on the slope. After firing a shot, the man fell to the ground and rolled down the hillside.

Not long after, another gunshot rang out from downstream.

From a distance, the person struggling to swim to the other side of the river was dealt with by Wu Yang and drifted downstream with the river.

Zhou Jingming, holding his gun, carefully approached the man on the hillside and discovered that his shot had hit him squarely in the back, exploding a bloody hole in the spine; the man was already dead.

If Shen Wei were here, he would see that this was the guy in his team who went hunting in the mountains. He hadn't even fired a shot while being chased by Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang, and was only focused on running for his life. He would probably think that his hunting skills were just average and that he was just bragging.

In just seven or eight minutes, all four were dealt with.

When Wu Yang returned, he was somewhat regretful: "Damn it, he was washed away by the water. It would have been a pity if he had any gold on him."

He was still thinking about touching the corpse.

(End of this chapter)