1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

With a wave of his hand, he led three young men to rush forward, reaching out to tightly hug the waists and arms of the two bearded men from behind.

Caught in a pincer movement, the four bearded men were completely blocked, with no way to retreat.

The second-in-command caught his breath and stared at the kettle on the table.

Chen Gaoshan was too lazy to listen to his nonsense. What rule these days says that you have to answer questions from villains?

That's pure nonsense.

He didn't reply, but raised his hand to beckon the young man beside him and rushed forward.

These four bearded men had been on a run since escaping from the mountain stronghold, and their legs were so weak they were limping and had no strength left.

Needless to say, the remaining few people were a group of teenagers who rushed forward and pressed them down with all their might.

The four severely wounded bearded men were crushed to death, and Chen Gaoshan and his men rushed over and snatched the guns from their hands.

There was no room for struggle.

Within two minutes, ropes were wrapped around their arms and legs, and the four men were bound hand and foot and forced to kneel in the middle of the yard.

The courtyard was in complete chaos.

Zhu Mantang was hiding behind the kitchen door frame, with half of his body sticking out, his eyes fixed on the four people in the yard.

He was so panicked he felt like he was going to explode, and his back was covered in cold sweat.

These four are living disasters!

If those bastards start spewing nonsense and reveal all the things he did—helping the bearded man act as a go-between, acting as his spy, and leading them to keep an eye on the big shots in the village—he'll not only lose his reputation, he'll lose his life!

Zhu Mantang gritted his teeth and made a firm decision.

You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub! We have to go all out!

He clenched his fist, mustered all his strength, and smashed a cannon into his own face!

With a bang.

Tears streamed down her face instantly, and her cheek immediately swelled up.

Without wasting any time, he grinned widely, yelled, and rushed out of the kitchen, putting on a superb performance.

"Uncle Long Hair, Gao Shan! Gentlemen, young and old! You've finally arrived!"

He pointed to the four beards tied up on the ground and cried his heart out.

"These dogs are acting like idiots. They come into my house demanding food, and when I don't give them any, they hit me! Look at the mess they made on my face!"

Upon hearing the bastard's nonsense, the second-in-command on the ground was so enraged that the veins on his neck bulged, and he exploded on the spot.

"You're talking nonsense! You're completely distorting the truth!"

Zhu Mantang became even more anxious when he heard that he was about to recant his testimony.

We absolutely must not let him speak!

They must be killed; their deaths will prevent them from providing any evidence!

With lightning speed, he pulled out the Mauser pistol he had hidden behind his back, his finger gripping the trigger. He raised the gun and aimed it at the bearded man on the ground, ready to shoot him and silence him.

The second-in-command, who was standing nearby, reacted quickly and rushed up from behind to hug Zhu Mantang tightly around the waist, holding his arms firmly.

"Master Zhu! Don't be impulsive! Don't fire!"

Chen Gaoshan stepped forward immediately, his movements swift and precise. With a single click, he disarmed Zhu Mantang and tossed the gun to someone nearby.

The moment the gun slipped from his hand, Zhu Mantang's heart skipped a beat, and he felt a chill run through him.

This is terrible! Utterly terrible!

The color drained from his face instantly, but he still had to keep up the act.

He deliberately struggled and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Why are you stopping me! Let me kill these bastards! None of these bearded men are any good! They just said they were going to smash all the kilns of the big families in Nangou Village today! Keeping them alive is just asking for trouble!"

The second-in-command on the ground was also a tough guy, never willing to admit defeat.

He held his head high, his face open and honest.

"I'll take responsibility for my actions! I've been defeated by you all today, I admit it! Kill me or torture me, just do it quickly! My head is right here, stop dawdling and listening to his nonsense!"

The man next to him, who had been silent the whole time, with a long, thin head and nicknamed "Big Horned Gourd," panicked completely.

He was about to be framed and die; if he didn't speak up, he would die in vain!

He immediately became furious, shouting his innocence at the top of his lungs as he looked at Zhu Mantang.

"You're still protecting him, Second-in-Command!"

"Zhu Mantang, you bastard! You've told a lie in every single one of your lies, not a single word of truth!"

"We didn't force you at all! You practically begged to come and become our spy! Telling us which family in the village is rich, which family has the most grain stored, and which family has the deepest fortune!"

"You even instigated us to pretend to smash your own kiln! You're just afraid we'll expose you, and now you want to kill us? Didn't you tell us what you did? Second-in-command, I know you're Silver Wing, but that bastard isn't someone to be trifled with. Why are you covering for him? Today we're just going to smash Old Zhu's kiln. It has nothing to do with anyone else. You're spouting your bullshit. You're a bastard dog who deserves to die a horrible death."

With a deafening crash, Big Horn Melon spilled the beans.

Zhu Mantang was so anxious that his calves twisted like ropes and he was covered in sweat.

He was still being held tightly by Erganzi from behind, unable to move. His eyes turned red with anxiety. Using Erganzi's buttocks as a fulcrum, he twisted his waist and lifted his whole body into the air to kick Dajiaogua.

In a panic, he lost all sense of direction, kicking several times but missing every time; he was just thrashing about aimlessly.

He was filled with remorse.

If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have just sprinkled rat poison into the pot when they came last night and that would have been the end of it.

If the poison had killed him, all the mess would have been solved, and none of this filth would have happened!

He yelled at the top of his lungs and waved his hands repeatedly at Wang Changfa, Chen Laonian, and Gao Shan in the crowd.

"Uncle Long Hair! Please don't believe these bearded men's nonsense! These bastards are capable of all sorts of despicable things! They're just trying to frame me! I have absolutely nothing to do with this."

He struggled desperately, the veins in his neck bulging high.

"Erganzi, let go of me right now! Let me go over there and fuck these bastards to death! Let's see if they dare to open their mouths and spew filth and bite people again!"

Wang Changfa stood at the front of the crowd, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. Seeing that he had gone mad, he raised his hand and slapped Zhu Mantang across the face.

The slap made Zhu Mantang's head tilt to the side, calming him down considerably.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Gaoshan took a step forward.

"Who was it that stayed up all night last night, wandering around the village aimlessly? Leading two people, pointing things out from house to house. And who was it that hung a red cloth strip at their front door to mark their house?"

"If the bearded man could find his way to your house and hide there, what else could it be but a signal you left? We have witnesses and physical evidence; we can still find that piece of red cloth!"

In a moment of anger, Zhu Mantang rushed to defend himself and blurted out his explanation.

"You're talking nonsense! When I went out last night, there wasn't a soul in the village! Nobody saw me at all!"

As soon as he finished speaking...

The next second, everyone, young and old, realized what was happening.

Good guy!

Isn't this just admitting guilt?

Nobody saw you? Nobody saw you wandering around in the middle of the night!

Everyone had been holding it in all day; if it weren't for Uncle Long Hair telling them to bear with it, they would have already done it.

They stared wide-eyed, seething with hatred, wishing they could skin Zhu Mantang alive.

Zhu Mantang was exhausted at this point and clung to Erganzi. Without Erganzi holding him, he would probably have collapsed on the ground.

He quickly realized what was going on. "I... I went out to town to drink in the middle of the night and came back late. Uncle Long Hair, Uncle Long Hair, don't you know what kind of person I am? I'm as brave as a pinhole. It was that bastard Chen Gaoshan who deliberately tricked me into telling him the truth."

Wang Changfa had his hands behind his back.

"The witnesses are all here. Zhu Mantang, if you're a man, don't act like a woman."

Zhu Mantang's biggest regret now is that he's been so damn hungry in this life. He has a whole granary full of food, and he's so reluctant to eat anything of it, but now it's all going to be gone.

She cried so hard.

"You still have the nerve to cry? Where were you before?"

Seeing that the crowd was about to rush forward and attack, Wang Changfa quickly reached out to stop them.

"Stay calm, everyone!"

He glanced at the four beards tied to the ground.

"Keep a close eye on these four and find out where the rest of Black Tiger Mountain went. Don't let any of them escape and come back to take revenge on our village."

There's absolutely no need to use any severe torture to scare them.

Big Gourd was terrified and confessed everything without hesitation.

They confessed honestly that Black Tiger Mountain stronghold had been completely razed to the ground by Eighth Master Gray, the chief was dead, and most of the brothers were killed or wounded. The four of them were the only survivors, and they had nowhere else to go but to hide in Nangou Village.

After listening, Wang Changfa nodded.

After tonight's events, everyone in the village has come to know Chen Gaoshan anew.

I used to think he was just an ordinary young man, but now I've really seen something new.

His marksmanship is excellent; he takes down enemies with a single shot. He can easily blow a man's beard and arm; he's incredibly strong.

Remain calm and decisive in the face of adversity.

Everyone in Nangou Village knows that no one should mess with Chen Gaoshan; that kid is really daring to shoot people.

,,,