Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Ma Dali and his two companions completely failed to grasp this principle. They chased after him while shouting, and soon they were out of breath.

Seven or eight minutes later, Zhao Lei's figure had almost completely disappeared. They could only see the branches swaying occasionally in the woods a few dozen meters away, and they could only judge the direction Zhao Lei had fled by these movements.

Ma Dali wasn't paying attention and stepped on a pile of dead leaves, making a cracking sound as the dead wood broke beneath his feet.

With a thud, he fell directly into a mud pit.

Holy crap!

Dried cowpea, who was standing nearby, immediately saw this scene and wanted to continue chasing after Zhao Lei.

Ma Dali hurriedly shouted, "Dried cowpeas, damn it, pull me out of this hole! This is too deep!"

Dried cowpeas, sweating profusely, cried out, "Brother, if we don't chase after them now, we really won't be able to catch up!"

"It's alright, Qiangzi is still chasing ahead."

Seeing that they had fallen far behind and it would be difficult to catch up even if they chased, Ganjiangdou could only sigh and reach out to pull Ma Dali out of the mud pit.

The two climbed out of the mud pit, panting heavily, and completely gave up on continuing their pursuit of Zhao Lei.

Dried cowpea sighed, "Hey, brother, Zhao Lei is like a rabbit! How can he run so fast?"

Ma Dali gazed at the empty mountains and forests in the distance, feeling utterly helpless.

"Damn it, I didn't expect Zhao Lei to be so fast. What do we do now?"

"Big brother."

"What else can we do? He went to Hongyan Town, which is my hometown. Let's go straight to the town; maybe we'll have a chance to intercept him. Let's catch him and finish him off, no need to worry about anything else."

At this moment, Ma Dali was furious after being tricked by Zhao Lei, and he couldn't care less about long-term plans.

Firstly, he wanted to take revenge on Zhao Lei, and secondly, he couldn't stay in this mountain forest for long. If he could succeed, he would take Zhao Lei's child and flee to another province. This was his only plan at the moment.

The two could only quicken their pace and hurry towards Hongyan Town.

After walking for seven or eight minutes, we bumped into Qiangzi by the side of the mountain road.

Qiangzi braced himself on his knees with both hands, bent over, and gasped for breath.

"Qiangzi, why did you stop chasing?"

Qiangzi pointed ahead, his face full of exhaustion: "Brother, I really can't run anymore. Zhao Lei is as slippery in the woods as a fish swimming in water; I couldn't see him for long."

Ma Dali knew in his heart that Qiangzi was telling the truth.

Although they outnumbered each other, they were no match for the experienced hunter Zhao Lei in the deep mountains and dense forests.

In less than half an hour, they were completely left behind.

This trip was truly a complete disaster!

Filled with regret, Ma Dali sighed, "I should have just chopped him up earlier, otherwise I would have caused all this trouble."

Qiangzi said with a hint of reproach, "Yeah, big brother, why did you hesitate just now? You've always been decisive in your actions."

Ma Dali felt a deep bitterness in his heart.

He was reluctant to carry out the killings before because Hongyan Town was his hometown.

Even when a man commits many bad deeds outside, he still secretly hopes to leave himself a way out, thinking that he will have the opportunity to return to his hometown in the future.

That moment of hesitation gave Zhao Lei an opportunity, and now he deeply regrets it.

Now, Hongyan Town is no longer a safe place to stay. The child they had taken in has been rescued, and together with his younger brother Ma Laosan, they are all facing a deadly disaster. The situation is deteriorating rapidly.

Ma Dali was in a state of confusion. He turned to Qiangzi and said, "Are there any more cigarettes? Give me one."

Qiangzi felt aggrieved whenever he thought of that bag of Daqianmen cigarettes. If he hadn't been tempted by the taste, Zhao Lei wouldn't have had a chance to cause trouble.

He shook his head: "No, that's all. What do we do now, brother?"

Ma Dali had no sure solution either, and let out a long sigh.

"Go to the town first, but be careful. If this kid has already reported to the authorities in town, we won't go into the town. We'll take the dirt road to bypass Hongyan Town and go to another market town before continuing our escape."

Dried cowpea asked, "Then, brother, what about your younger brother?"

Thinking of his troublemaking younger brother, Ma Dali's anger surged to the top of his head, and he cursed loudly: "Damn it, it's all because of this bastard! I don't have time to deal with him now."

We're like clay bodhisattvas crossing a river, barely able to save ourselves. Let's try our luck in town first, see if we can salvage our losses. If all else fails, we'll have to leave for distant lands.

Qiangzi complained, "Brother, what kind of business did we come back to do? It took so long and we've gotten ourselves into so much trouble."

Dried cowpea chimed in, "Exactly! We didn't make any money, but we got ourselves into a mess."

Ma Dali impatiently shouted, "Stop talking! It's no use saying anything now. Let's hurry on our way. Maybe he hasn't had time to report to the authorities yet, and we still have a chance to get the child back."

The group had no choice but to follow Ma Dali's instructions and head towards Hongyan Town.

An hour later, Zhao Lei escaped the Qingfeng Mountains, asked passersby for directions, and made his way to Hongyan Town.

At the entrance to the town, he ran into Qin Dajun and his brothers, as well as Qin Bowen and Qin Dashan.

Zhao Lei breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw them.

The group had been waiting outside Hongyan Town for a long time. When they saw Zhao Lei holding the child in his arms, they quickly came to greet him.

Qin Bowen spoke first: "Brother-in-law, you found Little Stone? Where did you find it?"

Qin Dashan immediately noticed that Zhao Lei was covered in wounds, his hair was full of twigs and dead leaves, and the child in his arms was still asleep. He then guessed that the journey had been extremely dangerous.

Zhao Lei said, "It's so good to see you all. I was being chased by Ma Dali and two others in the woods, and it took me a lot of effort to escape."

Qin Dajun quickly instructed Liu Erwa, who was standing nearby, to fetch water.

Zhao Lei gulped down several mouthfuls of water to regain his strength, and carefully handed the child to Qin Dashan.

Qin Dashan checked the child's breathing and found it to be steady, but the child was still asleep. He was filled with worry.

Qin Dashan asked, "Lei Zi, how's the child? What's the situation?"

Zhao Lei took a breath and replied, "The child was probably drugged and has been sleeping. Take the child to the clinic for a checkup immediately. Also, those three are right behind us; I reckon they won't let this go. Let's set a trap right here in Hongyan Town and catch them like turtles in a jar."

Afterwards, Zhao Lei briefly explained the plan to his brother-in-law and the others.

Zhao Lei walked alone on the street, rehearsing his story with the neighbors beforehand, concealing Qin Dajun and Qin Bowen's group, and making Ma Dali and the others mistakenly believe that Zhao Lei had just run into the town alone and that there was still a chance to snatch the child.

Officer Li Mingjie from Qingfeng Town received a major report and rushed to Hongyan Town.

He originally came with Qin Bowen and the others, but because the case involved cross-township operations, he needed to register at the Hongyan Town Police Station first and coordinate with his colleagues. He quickly learned about Zhao Lei's plan.

As expected, Ma Dali and his companions inquired along the way and learned that Zhao Lei had only run into town with the child in his arms, which made them slightly less wary.

With their backs against the wall, the group planned to ambush Zhao Lei in town, snatch the child, and run away immediately.

But as soon as they stepped into Hongyan Town, they were discovered by spies arranged by Li Zhian.

Not long after, Ma Dali, Qiangzi, and Gan Jiangdou were all arrested. Ma Laosan, because of his involvement in the planning of the whole operation, was also implicated and arrested, falling into the clutches of the law.