My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 233 Brutal
Zhou Jingming wasn't too worried.

Batu led his men to the valley, and the first place they arrived at was the mining site in the pincer-shaped ravine. He didn't immediately start shouting for bloodshed. He knew that although Batu was angry, he hadn't completely lost his mind and was still thinking about the friendship he had built up last year.

Seeing that everyone had gone downstairs, Zhou Jingming called Wu Yang and Old Man Liu, preparing to go and see what would happen.

Since it was impossible to ride a bicycle on the riverbank, they could only walk, which was naturally not as fast as riding a horse. So, the three of them climbed to the top of the grassy hill and looked down at the mining sites downstream.

Along the way, Batu and his group did not engage in any extreme behavior. They simply gathered the people together at each mining site, and after Batu looked them over, he did not make things difficult for them and continued on to the next mining site.

Old Liu chuckled and said, "They talked a lot of tough stuff, but they don't seem that powerful!"

"Sir, you're oversimplifying things!"

Zhou Jingming's expression was somewhat solemn: "You haven't seen how herdsmen drive away gold prospectors. These people, even if there are only a dozen or so, if it were me, I wouldn't want to provoke them either."

I suspect the reason they haven't made any threats yet is that Batu wants to find the two people who murdered Nara first, and doesn't want to make too much of a fuss, lest they escape before the people are even found.

"Just wait and see. Our two mining sites might run into serious trouble."

Wu Yang was somewhat puzzled: "Hasn't Batu already seen everything? He won't cause us any more trouble, will he?"

“Batu won’t cause us any trouble, but others will. We’ll have to see what happens in the valley today.”

In his previous life, Zhou Jingming had seen and heard about several instances of herdsmen driving away gold prospectors. Each incident was quite significant and could alarm the government.

The three of them watched from the mountaintop while Batu and the others rode their horses down to search for the mines one by one. After about an hour, the group rode their horses up the riverbank again, passed through the pincer-shaped ravine, and continued upstream.

Zhou Jingming and the others naturally followed.

After passing several mining sites, Batu still couldn't find the person he was looking for, but he did run into Li Guozhu and others.

He led a large group of people down for breakfast, a group of thirty or forty people.

Upon encountering Batu and his group, Li Guozhu quickly asked them to step aside, only to find that a dozen or so young Kazakh men, carrying guns, had surrounded them.

Zhou Jingming quickly went over: "Brother Li, is everyone here?"

Li Guozhu nodded: "Everyone's here... This is..."

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly.

Li Guozhu naturally knew about Nara's situation. Upon seeing Batu, he realized what was going on. After Zhou Jingming nodded in confirmation, he turned around and called out to everyone, "Everyone, don't move!"

Batu reined in his horse, glanced at the faces of the crowd, and without lingering, continued upstream.

Seeing this, Zhou Jingming breathed a sigh of relief. He was now completely certain that the people at his mine were safe: "Brother Li, take them to eat. Don't rush up here. Just wait at the mine down below."

Li Guozhu nodded and continued leading the group downstream.

Zhao Li followed, saying, "Brother Zhou, I'll go take a look too."

"Just observe, don't get involved!"

"Ok!"

The four continued to follow upstream.

And so they watched as Batu and his men arrived at the mine site. When they encountered their cooperating group, Batu and his men would have the foreman call everyone out of their dugouts and check them one by one. Finally, they would ask how many people were at the mine site and whether anyone had left. This was the cooperation of the cooperating group.

If anyone tried to act tough and refused to cooperate, more than a dozen young Kazakh men would raise their guns, and no one would dare to act tough anymore. They still had to gather everyone together and wait for Batu to check on them.

Anyone who has ever lived here knows that you can't easily provoke these angry herders.

They looked upstream for four or five more mining sites, and finally arrived at Chen Qinglin's mining site.

At that time, they had already started working at the mine, busy digging ore and sending it to the sluice gate by the river.

In fact, this place is not far from the previous mining site. When Batu and the others were at that mining site, they had already seen it. At first, they thought it was the Qingshan team, but after seeing their clothes and confirming that it was not, they did not pay much attention.

However, as Batu and the others approached their mine, Zhou Jingming saw Chen Qinglin and Chen Qingwen carrying hunting rifles and quietly heading into the woods behind the mine.

It seemed like an ordinary event, but leaving at this time made even Zhou Jingming, who was watching from afar, begin to suspect that Nara's death might be related to them. Just as he was thinking this, Batu and the others who were walking ahead also noticed. With a shout from Batu, the group of people rode their horses at full speed and followed them into the forest.

This time, the commotion was significant; there were gunshots.

Upon hearing this voice, Zhou Jingming realized that Batu must have found someone.

After waiting for a while, Batu and the others rode out on horses. On his and another person's horses, there were ropes tied to the saddles. At the other end of the ropes were Chen Qinglin and Chen Qingwen, whose hands were tied. They were dragged down from the forest, screaming in agony.

Zhou Jingming didn't approach them, but instead called out to Wu Yang and the others, watching from a distance.

Then they saw Batu and his men drag the two men to the mining site and, without any hesitation, open fire on the gold prospectors who had gathered around, not knowing what was going on.

Gunfire erupted in the valley in an instant.

Four or five people immediately fell to the ground.

The gold prospectors were stunned, but they all knew that their lives were more important at this moment. Some of them started to rush into the river and swim to the other side, some ran upstream, and others went into the woods.

The dozen or so herders didn't give chase. Instead, they jumped off their horses, overturned the trough into the river, crawled into their dugouts, and set them on fire.

This tactic is actually no different from that of the Qingshan team.

Before long, Chen Qinglin's mining site was in complete chaos.

People started shouting, "Get out of the valley, people from the mouth!" and then continued rushing upstream towards the mining site.

Chen Qinglin and Chen Qingwen were carried by horses, bumping and rolling around on the pebbles of the riverbank.

At first, it could still scream and struggle, but soon it became quiet.

They were dragged along the riverbank, carried upstream, their fate unknown.

Old Liu, who had previously thought Batu and his men weren't fierce, was astonished upon seeing this scene: "Are they planning to fight their way up?"

Zhou Jingming nodded: "That should be true. Don't underestimate them. They are both herdsmen and hunters. Hunting in their spare time is always an extra source of income for them. Their marksmanship is excellent, and their inherent fighting spirit is unmatched by ordinary people!"

As they were talking, Batu and his group arrived at another mining site above. The people there were driven away, and their chutes and dugouts were destroyed. Some people protested and shouted a few words before being shot down. Looking at Chen Qinglin and Chen Qingwen, who were tied to their saddles and dragged around, covered in blood, no one dared to say anything and just kept their distance.

Looking at their ferocious appearance, Wu Yang asked Zhou Jingming, "How can Batu be so sure those two are the murderers? Could it have been a case of mistaken identity?"

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "I don't know. I only know that whether it was an accidental killing or not isn't that important to them. But I estimate that it's quite possible that it was them, otherwise they wouldn't have rushed into the woods when they saw Batu and the others arrive. Wouldn't that be like trying to hide something obvious?"

Zhao Li, watching the commotion above, said, "It must be them."

At this moment, Zhou Jingming was thinking more about whether his rebirth had affected the people around him, and whether things had changed because of him.

Just like Chen Qinglin, who was still alive and well five years later in his previous life and had become a successful businessman, but now he has died young.

If Batu hadn't gone to buy sheep and discovered Nara's body, he most likely wouldn't have found Nara, or he might have found her only to find that she had been eaten by jackals.

Batu would probably only think that Nara was attacked and killed by jackals, and would not think that she was murdered.

After all, herders roam the land year-round, and in these deep mountains and forests, it is not uncommon for them to lose manpower due to encounters with wild animals.

He didn't know if Chen Qinglin and his cousins ​​had done this in their past lives, but his fate in this life was sealed.

Zhou Jingming didn't continue watching Batu and the others cause trouble. He simply called Wu Yang and the others and returned to the pincer-shaped mountain pass.

On that day, he did not make everyone work, but only told them to stay obediently at the mine site and not to go anywhere.

Then, upon seeing Batu and the others, he dragged the two mangled corpses up and down the river valley several times, destroying all the dugouts and gold panning facilities, driving away everyone at the mining sites, and wreaking havoc on this 3,000-meter stretch of gold panning river until evening before finally riding away.

But Zhou Jingming's troubles have only just begun.

After a night of preparation, the next morning, hundreds of people from both upstream and downstream of the valley gathered at the mining site in the pincer-shaped ravine.

(End of this chapter)