My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 66: Driving the tiger and swallowing the wolf
The bearded man and his group of fifteen, or more accurately, the group that faced off against Wu Yang and his nine companions, lost eight men to the ground, half of whom were Wu Yang's doing.

The remaining seven people were terrified by the fact that Peng Yuanchao and his group fought so fiercely and seemed to have a good fighting style. They were chased and scattered, running away to a distance. When they saw that Peng Yuanchao and his group were not chasing them, they gathered together again, but only watched from afar and dared not approach.

Peng Yuanchao and the others also suffered injuries. Apart from Wu Yang and the timid Cao Qidong, they all sustained some kind of injury. Peng Yuanchao, in particular, was hit on the head with a stone while he was grappling with someone.

There were also two men from Yuzhou, one with an iron rod stuck in his arm and the other with a blow to his shoulder, both slumped over and looking pained.

There was also a man from Yuzhou who was knocked to the ground and couldn't get up.

The Luo Yue man clutched his back, wincing in pain, as someone had hit him on the back with a stone.

Sun Chenggui sat on the ground, clutching his thigh. He had been pricked by a shovel and was bleeding, but fortunately the wound wasn't very deep.

In this chaotic fight, Jin Wang wanted to rush forward and bite, but he was forced to run around and couldn't get involved because people were wielding tools and swinging them wildly.

Even after the fight was over, it was still barking fiercely at the people who were hiding far away in the woods.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Zhou Jingming simply stood guard at the entrance of the shack with his double-barreled shotgun, occasionally glancing in the direction of Old Tang and the others, without joining them.

Therefore, when Peng Yuanchao looked at him with eyes full of resentment and suspicion, he knew that Peng Yuanchao wanted to ask him why he didn't fire his gun, why he didn't join the fight, and why he was hiding in the back.

"Let's go check on that brother first, see how badly he's hurt."

Zhou Jingming didn't explain to Peng Yuanchao, but only said one sentence to Wu Yang, then walked over to the bearded man, kicked him, and pressed the muzzle of his double-barreled shotgun against his face: "Stop howling, tell me, what are you thinking?"

This group of people arrived abruptly, without any warning. They went straight for Zhou Jingming and his group, as if they had planned it all along. After meeting, they didn't say a word and started fighting without any hesitation.

The bearded man, his face deathly pale, huddled up, uttering not a sound.

"What, you think I'm afraid to shoot? Since you're here to pan for gold, and judging by your appearance, you're a leader, you should know that in the Gold Rush Valley, it's always been convenient to just throw the bodies into the river, and nobody will say anything!"

Zhou Jingming said in a playful tone, "Whether it's seizing territory or trying to steal gold, the normal approach is to intimidate first, and only take action when that doesn't work. You guys just came up and attacked right away, do you really think we're easy targets?"

We're all men; we should be responsible for our actions. Since we've already lost, we should be prepared to accept defeat.

After he finished speaking, he moved the gun slightly to the side and pulled the trigger.

boom……

The sound of a shotgun rang out near the bearded man's head, sending dirt flying and echoing through the valley.

The shot sent shivers down the spine of the bearded man, snapping his last remaining nerve. He screamed in terror, "Ouch, ouch... Don't shoot! I'll talk, I'll talk..."

Zhou Jingming opened the gun, took out the spent cartridge, and replaced it with a buckshot.

After the bearded man cried out in surprise and then fell silent, he kicked him in the lower back, causing the bearded man to let out another strange cry in pain, his body curling up and turning over: "You fucking want me to ask again, don't you?"

The bearded man's lips trembled as he let out muffled groans, which he tried to suppress but couldn't: "Our group was panning for gold in the main river channel. We found some gold, but after less than half a month, we ran out of gold and had to look for other mines."

The main river channel was almost entirely occupied, mostly by large groups with weapons... A group of people occupied a section of the river or a ditch. They outnumbered us and we couldn't afford to mess with them, so we had to find another river valley.

We've been in this valley for two days. Today we were looking for gold nuggets in the valley. We met a few other people who were also looking for gold nuggets. They said there's a small peninsula here that's a rich mine. If we could take it over, we wouldn't have to worry about gold panning for the next six months.

They also said that you were the first people to arrive in this valley, that you had been there for over a month, and that you had a lot of gold.

We searched and searched, but couldn't find any good gold deposits. We heard it was a rich mine, so we discussed it and decided to seize some territory... In this valley, it's all about who's toughest and who gets to talk. Everyone's thinking about getting some gold and making a fortune..."

Zhou Jingming asked again, "Among those people, was there a short guy?" The bearded man paused for a moment, then said, "How did you know? Yes... it was one of them."

"What else did they say?"

"They also said that you guys are a mixed bunch and don't get along, so don't be afraid... In the past two years of gold mining, we've had our territory taken away a lot, and we've also taken away other people's territory. I know that we don't have many more people than you, and just scare us won't work. We can't wear you down slowly."

The best way to scatter people is to start strong and decisively; momentum is crucial… I didn't expect you to be so ruthless, even with guns, when you were outnumbered. If I had known you had guns, I wouldn't have dared to come.”

As he said this, he looked at Peng Yuanchao and then at Wu Yang, clearly showing a deep-seated fear of the two men.

Among the group, two people were the most ruthless.

Zhou Jingming snorted coldly: "I've never seen anyone as stupid as you. They're also looking for Jin Miao? If such a good thing really existed, would it be your turn?"

The bearded man's lips trembled as he said, "I thought so too. When I asked them, they said they were outnumbered, only five people, and couldn't beat them!"

Zhou Jingming recalled that when Lao Tang went out in the afternoon, there were only five people; most of them stayed at the camp. It turned out that he had this idea: "Using one tiger to devour another, he's pulling this trick on me!"

Needless to say, Lao Tang's move was to sit back and watch the tigers fight, making it much easier for him to come and take advantage of the situation. At the same time, it was also a test.

Wu Yang walked over to the Yuzhou man who was lying on the ground and squatted down. He first turned him over, checked his breathing, and then looked at his head. The back of his head was covered in blood and flesh. He had been hit hard and knocked to the ground. He was still breathing, but he was unconscious.

He helped the man from Yuzhou up and shook him a few times: "Wake up... wake up..."

The man from Yuzhou slowly opened his eyes, grimaced, touched the back of his head, looked at the blood on his hands, and exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

He shook his head and looked at the people who had retreated into the woods, as if he remembered who had hit him. He glanced around and saw a pickaxe lying nearby. He picked it up and was about to pounce on it when Wu Yang stopped him: "Don't go!"

Then he turned to Zhou Jingming and said, "Brother Zhou, he should be fine!"

Zhou Jingming nodded: "Brother, go and get those medicines, and quickly treat them."

"it is good!"

Wu Yang responded and quickly returned to the dugout. He took the package that Peng Yuanchao had bought from the clinic and used it to bandage and stop the bleeding of several injured people.

Seeing Cao Qidong standing by without offering any help, Zhou Jingming frowned and said, "What the hell are you standing there for? Help! Everyone else went up, but you were just cowering in the back. Don't think I didn't see you. You're so cunning."

After being reprimanded by Zhou Jingming, Cao Qidong paused for a moment, looked at Zhou Jingming, his lips twitched a few times, but he ultimately did not speak and chose to help Wu Yang apply medicine and bandage the wounded.

Zhou Jingming took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to the bearded man: "Tell me, how should we handle this? Or rather, how should we compensate him?"

All the fighting in the valley, in the end, was for gold.

The bearded man stammered for a long time, but now that he was subdued, he had no choice but to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "I'll compensate you with gold... all the gold I've panned for these days, I'll give it all to you!"

Zhou Jingming then asked, "Anything else?"

The bearded man thought for a moment and said, "I promise I'll never bother you again, I won't dare!"

"I can tell you're a seasoned gold prospector, just trying to make a living. I won't make things difficult for you this time... Take out your gold, all the gold you have on you!"

　Chapter 3 is here, please read on!

　　Thank you to readers Hei A Niu Ge and ljx73 for the generous donations!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)