Chapter 153: Three-Way Battle

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But even a rabbit will bite when cornered. It was not that the farmers were incapable of fighting; they simply had not yet been pushed that far.

They had very little awareness of the law. If the work crew dared to make a move, the villagers would certainly raise their sickles in response. Who was afraid of whom? This was Xiaoqiao Village territory, right at their own doorsteps. What was there to fear about a fight?

Datou and his men had not come looking for a fight either. Before leaving, Brother Fa had repeatedly reminded him that the money had already been delivered to the village chief and the arrangements had been made. There would be another fifty thousand yuan for the chief later. Xu Zhenxing should therefore be eager to settle everything properly.

Datou and the others had been waiting on the western side of the village. The moment the villagers dispersed, they would begin work at once, cutting across the village from west to east and connecting the two work lines. That way, the resources used by the two oil wells could be shared, invisibly saving half the expenses—far more than what they had given the village chief.

But after waiting this long, the villagers still showed no sign of leaving. Datou and his men were growing impatient. Several of the brothers had already begun shouting that there was no need to waste words on them. A few swings of their pickaxe handles would scare the villagers away. How tough could a bunch of farmers be? Grab the troublemakers in charge and give them a beating—then see whether they still dared to act cocky.

Meanwhile, on the eastern side, Qinglong and his men had parked three Prado SUVs at the village entrance, blocking the only narrow road leading out.

“Zhang Rui, what is going on? Are you sure your information is correct?”

Qinglong was startled when he saw the large crowd of villagers in the distance. If a fight broke out, their dozen or so men would be hopelessly outnumbered. The villagers could crush them to death.

“It is correct. It is somewhere near this village. But the footage was taken last night. If they moved again today, that would be a different matter.”

Zhang Rui had no other choice now. He could only try his luck. If they still failed to find Jiaojiao this time, they would have to think of another way.

“Fine. Let’s go take a look.”

Qinglong steeled himself and led his men forward. There was nothing to be afraid of. They had all been carefully selected as enforcers; handling two or three ordinary villagers each would be no problem.

Zhang Rui carefully studied Xiaoqiao Village’s terrain as he walked. Before long, he had grasped the layout of the entire village.

Just as Datou was leading his men toward the villagers, he spotted Qinglong and the others through the crowd.

Datou did not even consider the matter of Yang Jiaojiao. He immediately assumed that Xiaoqiao Village had hired a gang to fight them.

“Damn it! Didn’t Brother Fa say everything had been settled?”

Datou’s face darkened. Tightening his grip on the pickaxe handle, he said to the men beside him, “Be careful. Wait for my order.”

They had originally intended only to frighten the villagers and drive them away so they could begin work immediately. They had not expected to run into another group of toughs.

Qinglong, too, was a seasoned gangster who had spent many years in the underworld. He had noticed Datou and his men long ago. Turning to his brothers, he shouted, “Take out your daggers. Get ready to attack.”

Traveling light, every one of Qinglong’s men carried a thirty-centimeter dagger. The blades were razor-sharp, gleaming coldly in the open air.

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For a moment, the villagers caught between the two groups were completely dumbfounded.

The villagers who had been shouting moments earlier all fell silent. Xu Zhenxing, standing on the platform, panicked as well. What was this supposed to be? Did they really need to attack from both sides just to deal with them?

Had Boss Jiang Shunfa not already come here? Had he run out of patience?

Xu Zhenxing stared agitatedly at Wu Qiang below the platform and shouted, “Wu Qiang, this is what happens when you refuse to cooperate! Look, they have sent people here. What are you going to do now?”

The two groups were rapidly closing in, and Wu Qiang was stunned. Was this how the underworld operated? Why had they not even given him time to prepare?

Wu Qiang was well connected in the county because he knew a number of local gangsters. Whenever an organization failed to collect money that was owed, he would send those gangsters over to demand payment. It usually worked the same day.

Wu Qiang hurriedly made a phone call, but before he could say more than a few words, the men had already charged forward.

Through the crowd, Datou saw the daggers in Qinglong’s men’s hands. He immediately grew alarmed and shouted, “Avoid the villagers. Deal with those men first. Be careful—they all have daggers!”

Xue Bing had been itching for a fight. He charged forward first.

Qinglong and his men were no pushovers either. They assumed that the opposing gang had been hired by the enemies of Mayor Yang, and that these men were the ones who had abducted Jiaojiao.

They had to fight with enough ferocity to show them the power of Mayor Yang’s elite guard!

Whoosh!

Both groups accelerated toward one another. The villagers caught in the middle were terrified. Seeing the clubs and daggers raised high, many scrambled toward the platform for shelter, but most had nowhere to escape.

At that moment, the Wu brothers, led by Wu Qiang, rose as one. More than a dozen men shouted, “What are you afraid of? We have more people than they do! Beat the hell out of them! They come causing trouble in our village—let’s make sure they regret it!”

With that, they charged forward, carrying sickles and shovels.

Three or four dozen able-bodied villagers followed behind them, weapons in hand. Their blood was up now. If there was going to be a fight, then they would fight.

Smack!

In an instant, the three groups—from the right, center, and left—crashed into one another. No one bothered with words. They attacked the moment they met.

With matters having reached this point, only strength could settle the issue. They would beat the other side to the ground first and discuss everything else afterward.

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Boom!

The entire passageway became a slaughterhouse. The elderly women and children of the village all fled back into their homes, while several strong, broad-shouldered village women also charged out with hoes in hand.

Xu Zhenxing kept shouting from the platform, trying to break up the fight, but who was going to listen to him? After yelling several times, his throat was already smoking.

One of Qinglong’s men found him unbearably long-winded. He rushed onto the platform and kicked Xu Zhenxing straight off it. Xu crashed into the crowd below.

Standing behind the chaotic battlefield, Zhang Rui folded his arms with a helpless expression. He was deeply worried about Qinglong’s intelligence.

Zhang Rui had not come to fight. Finding Jiaojiao was what mattered.

The village had only a few dozen households, divided among five alleys. Each alley contained two rows of courtyard houses, with four or five families in each row.

Moving as swiftly as a leopard, Zhang Rui searched every household in no time, but found nothing.

Just as he was becoming frantic, he happened to notice a derrick standing on the western side of the village. Several green canvas tents could be seen faintly nearby.

“Let’s take a look.”

Zhang Rui immediately ran over, paying no attention to the people still fighting behind him.

!!!

At that moment, only two men remained stationed in the wilderness among the reeds around the drilling site. One was watching over the equipment, while the other was guarding Yang Jiaojiao, who was tied up inside the tent.

Brother Fa had instructed them that, unless Political Commissar Zhang issued further orders, Yang Jiaojiao was to remain tied up there. Given her temperament, even if Yang Tianhe became sick with worry, it would still count as an accomplishment.

Concealed among the reeds, Zhang Rui observed the terrain and surrounding conditions from a distance. Infiltration was his specialty. He could enter the heart of an enemy position without their knowledge and deliver a fatal blow.

Moving with the wind at his back, Zhang Rui kept his body bent as he advanced diagonally through the reeds. Then, quite by chance, he caught sight of a white object hidden in a haystack.

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