Chapter 87: Preparing To Rescue
Quite a few animals gathered by Dacuo Lake under the setting sun, where carnivores and herbivores could be seen drinking water together. Perhaps this was their tacit understanding.
Unfortunately, this beautiful tranquility was destroyed by the roar of car engines.
Hearing the rumbling engine noise, whether drinking or not, all the animals looked toward the cars, then scattered like frightened birds and beasts, running away in a panic.
Scarface got out of the car, completely unconcerned with the animals’ reaction.
Although these goods were valuable, compared to the target of this trip, they were somewhat insignificant.
“What time is it?”
Facing the orange-red sunset, Scarface leaned against the hood, took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to the Long Hair Man, and lit one for himself.
“Seven o’clock sharp, Boss.”
The Long Hair Man responded to Scarface with a very respectful expression, taking the cigarette with both hands.
“Notify the buddies, tell them I give them another twenty minutes. If no one shows up by then, they won’t need to see tomorrow’s sun!
This is big business, I don’t want any accidents!”
Scarface said slowly.
Even though his words were extremely bloody and ruthless, his calm expression didn’t change a bit.
Clearly, Scarface was also a ruthless character who had seen plenty of bloodshed!
“Yes.”
Hearing his own Boss’s words, the Long Hair Man felt a chill at his own plans, and his expression became even more respectful.
Seeing the Boss urging them, the buddies floored the accelerator.
Anyway, this place was vast open plains, so the poachers could go full speed without worrying about car accidents.
Moreover, with their arrogant attitude, they probably wouldn’t hesitate even on the highway, driving however they pleased.
Racing along the way, the wild animal groups startled by the convoy were countless.
“Boss, they’re here.”
Seeing cars gathering from all directions, the Long Hair Man walked up to Scarface and said softly, afraid his voice would disturb the Boss enjoying the scenery.
“Got it, call them over. I’ll assign tasks.”
“Okay.”
Hearing the order, the Long Hair Man turned and left.
Soon, quite a few figures gathered in front of Scarface.
Some had cheap cigarettes dangling from their mouths, some squatted on the ground pulling up grass, and others even cracked dirty jokes with their companions nearby, drawing constant laughter and cursing.
This was a loose alliance; the buddies under Scarface didn’t have much reverence for him in their hearts.
But this didn’t affect Scarface; he was just using these people mutually.
Sometimes, when encountering large herds, he needed manpower and had to use these guys.
And he wasn’t afraid of them double-crossing him, because unlike him as a lone wolf, these buddies all had families.
Double-crossing would require them to pay a huge price; everyone in the poaching circle knew he was vengeful and ruthless!
Besides, he controlled all the overseas sales channels, so even if they double-crossed him, they couldn’t sell at high prices.
So Scarface didn’t care if these people respected him; as long as they made him money, a little insolence was tolerable.
“You’ve been making money with me for no one or two days, and I’ve never shortchanged you all.
I called everyone here today to tell you there’s big work again. Whether you earn your kids’ tuition or the money to build houses and marry wives depends on how hard you work this time!”
With his back to the sunset, Scarface stood on the hood painting a bright future for the buddies.
In reality, he took the lion’s share; after this job, he planned to quit.
Recent activities had been too frequent, drawing the attention of Huaxia police, and after this operation, the prey in the Nature Reserve would be mostly wiped out, with little left to squeeze.
He had earned enough money and could retire to enjoy life.
He had bought a farm in America, complete with a small mountain; when bored, he could go hunting for fun.
Hearing there was big work, the poachers all sank into the beautiful life Scarface described.
In their fantasies, some built houses and married wives, others earned enough tuition for their kids and paid off family debts.
The only one still clear-headed was the Long Hair Man; he had lost count of how many times he’d seen Scarface pull this pie-in-the-sky routine.
Painting it for foreigners abroad, then back home for the buddies, treating everyone like fools.
‘You don’t know, but there’s a foreigner offering top dollar for your goods. If I get my hands on your supply, then…’
Thinking this, the Long Hair Man’s eyes were full of green dollar signs—that was money? That was a beautiful life!
“No more words, you’re here to make money for yourselves, not me.
Next, do as I say, and I guarantee you’ll make money!”
“Good!”
The poachers were usually lax, but this “good” was shouted so neatly and loudly, as if rehearsed.
Seeing the tools fired up by his bluffing, Scarface knew it was time to assign tasks.
Everyone followed Scarface’s instructions to set up the trap; this Tibetan Antelope herd was huge, at least three or four hundred, a big business.
Around eight o’clock, the Tibetan Antelope herd appeared right on time near Dacuo Lake.
Scarface had observed them for over a month, only deciding to do this job once he had their traces down pat.
Seeing the huge Tibetan Antelope herd, the poachers’ breathing quickened; each one was a bundle of money!
“Everyone, don’t rush, act on my command.”
Scarface noticed the buddies’ off state and quickly reminded them.
Their inexperienced look filled him with contempt, but he also feared they’d ruin his big plan, so he warned them to be careful.
As the Tibetan Antelopes gradually approached the trap, everyone instinctively held their breath, afraid to startle the prey.
“Bang!”
A sudden gunshot made the Tibetan Antelopes coming to drink pause for two seconds; in that gap, the poachers looked toward the source.
At that moment, both the Tibetan Antelopes and poachers seemed paused.
Then, the paused Tibetan Antelopes snapped awake, demonstrating “still as a virgin, swift as a hare”—hundreds vanished in minutes.
“Damn it, which one of you suicidal idiots didn’t secure your gun!”
Scarface was murderous now; this cost him hundreds of thousands in vain.
How could he not be angry? Not exploding on the spot was already good.
“Boss, the gunshot doesn’t seem to be from our side.”
The Long Hair Man said cautiously.
Scarface was furious now, on the edge of erupting; one wrong move and he’d be dead, so the Long Hair Man had to be careful.
He was even ready to flip sides early.
These buddies weren’t Scarface’s confidants; they’d follow whoever paid.
This was one of the reasons the Long Hair Man dared to take on Scarface.
“I saw it!”
Scarface’s eyes blazed with killing intent as he stood up, looking toward the gunshot—three cars appeared there.
Seeing the cars, Scarface relaxed; three cars meant no more than ten people, fifteen max with overloading.
He had forty or fifty, four or five times their number, everyone armed—who feared who!
“Brothers, the duck in our mouths flew away—what do we do?”
Scarface began rallying the tools.
The poachers exchanged glances, hesitating.
Poaching animals was fine, but killing people—few had done it.
“Think carefully: if you don’t act, what will people on the road think? That we’re all softies?
Since we chose this line, I live by one rule: if you’re not ruthless, you can’t stand firm!
If there’s no reaction today, others will rob your goods tomorrow—see what you do then!”
Seeing no movement from the tools, Scarface poured oil on the fire.
Thinking it over, the crowd saw Scarface had a point; they didn’t want their hard-earned hides stolen.
Of course, some stayed clear-headed, unswayed by Scarface’s pep talk, but swept up by companions, they involuntarily charged the three cars.
The yak Patrol Team was positioned high up, seeing Scarface’s gang clearly.
Seeing the Tibetan Antelope herd about to enter the poaching gang’s trap, Suo Nan Da fired in urgency to scare them off.
Beside him, Ba Duojie could only give a wry smile; he knew big trouble was coming, the deadly kind.
But it was an emergency—if good brother Suo Nan Da hadn’t fired, the Tibetan Antelopes would have been doomed today.
“Everyone, prepare to fight the poaching gang. Suo Nan Da, get in the car and use the satellite phone to report to the police, and request aid from the Armed Police Border Station.”
Ba Duojie ordered Suo Nan Da; with battle imminent, as a veteran soldier he immediately took command of the Patrol Team.
Suo Nan Da, whose impulsive shot drew the poaching gang, saw the menacing criminals charging and panicked, standing dazed, inexperienced in such matters.
Hearing his good brother’s instructions, Suo Nan Da snapped awake, rushing to the car to call the Armed Police Border Station on the satellite phone.
From nervousness, he even misdialed several times.
“Don’t be nervous, Suo Nan Da…”
Suo Nan Da reassured himself and finally connected the call.
Outside the car, Ba Duojie directed the Patrol Team to form a simple defensive position with the three cars.
This could enclose them, preventing poachers from sneaking behind for attacks.
Things had come this far; escape was impossible, only resist and counterattack.
Survival depended on holding until Armed Police and public security reinforcements arrived.
“Everyone, don’t rush, fire on my command.”
Ba Duojie and his team were high up, advantaged for attack or defense; otherwise, he had no confidence in getting everyone back safely.
The team members nervously watched the poachers closing in.
Ba Duojie held a 56-style semi-automatic rifle, issuing the order when he could see the poachers’ ferocious faces.
“Fire!”
At the same time, Scarface on the poacher side gave the fire order; clearly, Scarface was no pushover.
Instantly, gunshots erupted near Dacuo Lake, scaring off a few drinking animals.
Both sides traded fire, several rounds.
The poachers took the losses, but the Patrol Team struggled too—the poachers’ marksmanship was far better.
Without Ba Duojie suppressing them, they couldn’t have lasted rounds.
“MD, get out of the way! Watch me blow them up!”
Scarface pulled a hand grenade from his backpack, pulled the pin, and threw it at the convoy.
“Hit the dirt!”
Ba Duojie saw a dark lump flying through the sky and paled in terror.
As a veteran soldier, he knew exactly what it was.
A poacher using that was cheating!
Chang Ning had no car, only his legs, and recent wild vegetable and earthworm soup had sapped his stamina badly.
Since catching that rabbit in a trap, he hadn’t encountered any edible wild animals—bad luck.
“Hmm? Gunshots? Poachers again?”
Chang Ning grew wary; the shots suggested quite a few people.
He wasn’t in top shape, a newbie who hadn’t killed, unsure if he could take them rushing over.
“But ignoring it doesn’t sit right.”
Finally, Chang Ning decided to check; the gunfire was odd, like two sides clashing.
Simple hunting wouldn’t have such frequent shots.
“Boom~”
The hand grenade blew open the car door, pitting the outer side, some areas charred black.
Ba Duojie felt lucky; if the poachers were closer, that grenade would’ve sent them all skyward.
“Everyone, hold on a bit longer, reinforcements are coming soon!”
Ba Duojie encouraged the team.
Neither side was regular armed forces; ammo was limited.
The battle between poachers and Patrol Team was bound to be low-intensity, possibly ending in melee.
In melee, poachers’ numbers would dominate, endangering the Patrol Team.
Chang Ning sped up deliberately, now stealthily near the gunfire.
He observed both sides, seeking clues to identify the poachers.
Helping the wrong side would be disastrous.
“From shooting skill, the defensive side is clearly inferior.
Without that man in camouflage uniform suppressing, the defense would’ve broken quickly.”
From Chang Ning’s observation, the man in camouflage uniform’s firing posture, rhythm, and combat awareness showed military training.
It gave Chang Ning a familiar feeling, like they were the same kind.
The attackers were also a rabble.
Like the defense, one bore training traces, but not Huaxia military style.
“No doubt, the attackers are the poaching gang.”
Identifying friend from foe, Chang Ning decided to help.
