My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 192 came at just the right time.

That shot was precise, hitting the third brother's left arm directly.

It was a single bomb that blew his left arm into a bloody mess, breaking the bone.

Almost instinctively, he screamed, threw down his Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, covered his left arm with his right hand, and looked in terror toward the direction from which the gunshot came.

In the woods to the side, the old man he had seen earlier in the upstream valley, who had been slowly walking along the woods, was now pointing a gun at him, a pipe dangling from his mouth.

He was only about ten meters away.

Ten meters or so...

He had no idea when the old man had gotten so close without being discovered.

The third brother had reason to believe that, given that shot just now, the old man could have easily blown his head off at any time if he wanted to.

He didn't dare linger for even a moment, turned around and disappeared into the woods, only thinking about escaping this place as quickly as possible. He didn't even dare to pick up the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.

Upon hearing the gunshot, Zhou Jingming peeked out of the tent and glanced at the opposite forest. Seeing that it was Old Liu, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Wu Yang and Zhao Li had already reached the bridge when they heard the noise. They quickly turned around and ran back to the mine. They soon saw Old Man Liu coming down the mountain.

Not long after, Zhang Debao and his large group emerged from the mountain hollow above the river valley and charged menacingly toward the mine.

Seeing this, everyone knew what was going on.

At the mine, everyone gathered together with their tools.

Since it was their first time visiting the Gold Rush Valley mining site, they had not yet experienced the dangers of the gold panning field, and they seemed a little nervous and scared. Only by huddling together could they find a sense of security.

And those who had previously sworn they could handle guns and joined the mine protection team with guns were actually panicked.

Zhou Jingming noticed their reactions and knew that he had to take the lead in this kind of thing. After it happened once, the situation should improve.

Of course, he wasn't alone. Wu Yang and Zhao Li had already returned. Li Guohua, who always protected Zhou Jingming, didn't carry a gun but picked up a pickaxe and followed beside Zhou Jingming. Bai Zhishun was also there, naturally.

The group was led by five men, followed by the others with guns, and brought up the rear by those carrying tools.

Zhang Debao led his men, charging fiercely all the way. When he finally saw Zhou Jingming and his group clearly, he was stunned for a moment.

He found Zhou Jingming unharmed and looked at the opposite hillside. He couldn't find any trace of Lao San, but he saw the old man he had seen before standing on the hillside, looking at them. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly realized that the gunshots earlier did not seem to be from a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.

Zhang Debao suddenly realized something.

Looking at Zhou Jingming and his group, who were already waiting at the mine, they showed no signs of being relaxed. They were clearly well-prepared. Moreover, in the rush, he seemed to see that Zhou Jingming and his group had more weapons than they did.

This is so awkward!
But the group he led charged fiercely, and several of them overtook him, all wanting to be the first to make a contribution, thinking that after occupying the mining site, they could divide the gold equally over the next month.

He called out twice, but only managed to stop a few people around him and behind him. Those who ran ahead seemed not to have heard him.

As the foreman, Zhang Debao had done his fair share of seizing mining sites, so he was well aware of the dangers involved. If he could scare the other party away, there wouldn't be any problem.

But if they encounter a tough opponent, the ones charging ahead are the ones who die the fastest.

With someone charging ahead in battle, he's naturally happy to stay in the back and hide.

But Zhou Jingming and his gang, since they have ambitions to do so many things in this valley, are not so easily scared off. What should we do?
At that moment, he felt a strong urge to back down, but then he thought about the team he had painstakingly built up, most of whom had been working together to make money since last year, and some of them were even brothers who had drunk blood wine and prayed to Guan Yu. He couldn't just watch them go to their deaths.

If they were to fight, the team would definitely fall apart, and all the hard work of last year's gold rush season would be wasted. It would be difficult to rebuild a team that is somewhat accustomed to such fierce battles.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have no choice but to bite the bullet and see if he could get a chance to ease the situation, while also hoping to break up Zhou Jingming and his group.

Those who rushed to the front weren't stupid either. When they noticed that Zhou Jingming and the others weren't too panicked, and that more than ten of them even raised their guns, they quickly stopped.

Nobody wants to walk into the line of fire at a time like this.

For a moment, neither moving forward nor backward seemed right. All he could do was look at Zhou Jingming and his group, and then turn back to look at Zhang Debao, who was lagging behind.

The two sides stood facing each other, about forty or fifty meters apart.

Zhou Jingming really wanted to shoot and kill the leaders, but he considered that his group of new recruits had never experienced a big battle. If they were really pushed too far, the other side would just fire wildly, and his men would easily suffer losses.

He didn't want any casualties among his men; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun when they returned.

The key point is that Zhang Debao, whom he most wanted to kill, was left at the very end, so he temporarily gave up the idea of ​​directly taking drastic measures.

He was waiting for Zhang Debao to make his move.

However, Zhang Debao wasn't stupid. When he caught up with the people in front of him, he didn't immediately squeeze to the front; instead, he remained huddled in the crowd.

"What do you mean?"

Zhou Jingming spoke loudly: "Are you trying to seize our mining site? The leader, come out and speak."

"Guys, this isn't about robbing mining spots. We're being forced into this situation. Your team wants to monopolize the entire valley. Isn't that a bit too domineering?"

Zhang Debao wanted to step forward, and had already taken two steps, but when he saw the weapons in Zhou Jingming and his group's hands, he quickly stopped: "More and more people will come to the valley. This is such a large area, and you can't handle it all. You're asking for several kilograms of gold right off the bat. This is going to anger everyone."

We came here to discuss with you the possibility of you being less domineering and asking you to give up a mining site so that we can all have food to eat.

In Gold Rush Valley, there are always some people who don't see their own limitations, thinking that leading a group of people means they can rule the land. I think you'd better think twice. I've seen your group; most of them are newbies who've just arrived in Gold Rush Valley. Are you planning to send them to their deaths?

Things have already reached the point where they're just short of going to fight, so there's obviously no point in putting on any more empty talk or sentimentality.

The animosity between the two groups was already established the moment they met.

Zhang Debao clearly understood this as well, knowing that things would be difficult to resolve peacefully today, and his words were full of threats and provocations.

Zhou Jingming laughed: "You're just a coward hiding in the back, trying to use your people as shields? If you've got the guts, stand up and speak, and see if I don't beat you up."

Furthermore, I don't know where you get the courage to talk to me like that. If you want men, I have more than you; if you want guns, I have just as many as you.

That's right, most of the people I brought were novices who had never panned for gold before, but you're wrong about one thing: if you dare to come panning for gold, there are no cowards among you.

Furthermore, Gold Rush Valley is never a place for reason. I'm just being domineering, so what can you do about it?

Zhang Debao, who do you think you are to talk to me like that?

"You wanted to seize the mining site? Then come on, act like a man, don't cower. If you don't give me a satisfactory explanation for what happened today, I know where your hometown is in Hedong. You can run away, but you can't hide."

Zhang Debao was stunned when he heard this. He didn't know how Zhou Jingming knew his name, let alone where his hometown was.

Just then, Old Liu returned to the mine, stepped forward, and handed the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle he had picked up to Zhou Jingming: "There was one sneaking around in the woods across the way, aiming at the mine. I've already taken care of him."

When Zhou Jingming saw the gun, he immediately knew what was going on, and a chill ran down his spine.

Staying in the tent is the right thing to do.

If Old Liu hadn't dealt with that guy, he might have been the one who died the moment he peeked out of the tent.

That was very dangerous.

He asked casually, "Did you kill him?"

Old Liu shook his head: "I hit his left arm and sent him away."

Zhou Jingming didn't say much, but handed his Eagle Rabbit brand hunting rifle to Li Guohua, who was carrying a pickaxe, while he carried the Five and a Six half himself.

With that thing gone from the other side, Zhou Jingming truly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I have something else to tell you: the guy you planted in the woods across the street to snipe us has been taken care of!"

His words caused a commotion among Zhang Debao and his group.

It's likely that in their minds, this gun was a trump card they valued highly. Now that it's in the hands of their opponent, their advantage has been greatly reduced, and they're all becoming increasingly uncertain.

Just then, the sound of a tractor sputtering came from the hillside behind.

Zhou Jingming glanced back and frowned slightly. The distance was quite far, and the trees provided some cover, so he couldn't tell who the people were. However, he could see that three tractors had come down, and a large group of people had filled the trailers to the brim. There were quite a few of them.

Someone comes at this time...

Zhou Jingming whispered to Wu Yang, "Brother, go and see who these people are."

Wu Yang nodded and immediately grabbed his hunting rifle and ran towards the poplar grove.

Zhang Debao was also looking at the mountains and forests diagonally opposite the mine, looking very pleased: "Don't panic, everyone. Let's see who these people are first. There are quite a few of them. If it's another group, they can unite with just a few words. When there are many of them, their many guns won't be effective. Let's see what they do then."

Wu Yang emerged from the poplar grove not long after, and as he ran back to the group, he whispered a few words to Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming grinned: "You've come at just the right time."

He wasn't in a hurry to deal with Zhang Debao and his gang; he just waited quietly.

Before long, another forty or so people came out of the poplar grove. They first looked at the two groups of people confronting each other at the mine before heading towards the mine.

Seeing that Zhou Jingming and many others were looking at the group without greeting them, Zhang Debao wasn't sure if they were the same people. But that didn't stop him from calling out to them to test the waters: "Guys, you're here to pan for gold in the valley too, right? Don't waste your time. All the good mining spots in the valley have already been taken by these guys. Going there won't do you any good. If you want to pan for gold in this valley, you'll have to take care of them first."

Those people didn't stop, continuing to approach Zhou Jingming and his group at the mine.

It was Li Guozhu, Peng Yuanchao, and others who arrived, having traveled for quite some time by tractor.

Seeing Zhou Jingming exchanging pleasantries with the leader, Zhang Debao's face darkened.

The enemy suddenly had nearly a hundred people, twice their number, and they had more guns. There was no chance to even put up a fight!
Zhou Jingming looked at Zhang Debao and the others again, raised his gun to his face, and walked towards them: "If you don't want to die, behave yourselves and throw away the guns you're holding."

Those carrying guns were naturally the focus of attention, and given their superior numbers, they dared not make a move.

At this point, knowing that the situation is irreversible and that we are at an absolute disadvantage, who would dare to act recklessly?

Ultimately, only a few are in charge, and not many dare to truly risk their lives. For every one who throws away his weapon, there's another.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Zhang Debao suddenly turned around, pushed aside the people blocking his way, and ran into the valley.

He knew very well that if this was suppressed, he would definitely suffer the consequences and probably would never have another chance to turn things around.

(End of this chapter)