"What right do you have to arrest her!"
Li Goudan was the first to react. Putting on a fierce front to hide his fear, he roared, "What law has my mother broken? You're abusing your power!"
Liu Guifang also came to her senses. Her legs went weak, and she tried to sit down on the ground again, ready to throw a tantrum.
"You damned bastards! Soldiers are beating people! There's no justice..."
But before she could settle onto the ground.
Click!
Two soldiers had already darted forward, moving like lightning. They seized her arms on either side, and another took out a pair of cold handcuffs and snapped them straight onto her wrists.
The entire process took less than three seconds.
Liu Guifang's wailing cut off abruptly. She stared blankly at the cold iron rings around her wrists, her mind utterly empty.
They... they're serious?
"What are you doing! Let my mother go!" Li Goudan panicked and started charging forward, fists swinging.
Thud!
A dull impact rang out as a rifle butt struck flesh.
A soldier drove his rifle butt into Li Goudan's chest without mercy. As though struck by a sledgehammer, Li Goudan grunted, staggered several steps backward, and landed on his backside, his face turning white with pain.
Dead silence fell over the scene.
The villagers who had been itching to act were terrified out of their wits by this merciless display. They backed away, their hoes and carrying poles clattering to the ground.
They finally realized that these people were completely different from the county officials who mediated disputes.
These people meant business.
The village Party secretary, Li Laosi, went pale with fright. Trembling, he hurried forward and bowed and scraped before Su Mingfeng. "C-Commander, this is a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! Guifang is just a rural woman who doesn't know any better. Please be generous and don't stoop to her level..."
Su Mingfeng did not even look at him.
His gaze remained fixed on Liu Guifang, who was being held by the soldiers.
"I'll give you one chance."
His voice was not loud, but everyone heard him clearly.
"What else is in your cellar besides sweet potatoes?"
Liu Guifang's heart lurched, and a chill crept up her spine.
H-how does he know about the cellar?
Did those investigators discover something? Impossible. They never even entered the courtyard.
Her mind raced.
No, I absolutely cannot admit it!
If I admit it, I'm dead!
As long as I keep denying it, they won't have any evidence. They won't be able to do anything to me!
At that thought, she steadied herself, stiffened her neck, and shouted, "What could there be in the cellar besides sweet potatoes? Just food! We farmers value food more than our own lives! You officials not only want to steal my child, now you want to steal my food too?"
She began swearing oaths. "If I've told a single lie, may lightning strike me down and may I die a terrible death!"
As she shouted, she tried to stir up the villagers around her. "Everyone, you've all seen it! They're going to break into our homes and steal the food that keeps us alive! If they can rob my family today, they can rob yours tomorrow!"
This time, however, none of the villagers dared join in.
They stared fearfully at those dark gun muzzles, every one of them silent as a cicada in winter.
"Commander, th-this isn't quite in line with procedure, is it?" Village Party Secretary Li Laosi forced himself to try to smooth things over. "Barging into a villager's home without a search warrant won't look good if word gets out..."
Before he could finish, Su Mingzhe, who had been standing behind Su Mingfeng all this time, suddenly stepped forward.
He adjusted his glasses, took a document from his briefcase, and said coldly:
"Under specific emergency circumstances, to safeguard national security and the public interest, the military has the authority to impose temporary controls on designated areas and search suspicious targets.
We suspect this individual of involvement in a major criminal case from many years ago and of possibly concealing lethal weapons. We are now carrying out our duties in accordance with the law. Party Secretary Li, if you continue to obstruct us, you will be charged with obstruction of military duties."
Su Mingzhe did not speak quickly, but every word hammered into Li Laosi's heart like a nail.
What major criminal case? What lethal weapons?
Li Laosi was just a rural official. When had he ever heard of such things? The barrage of legal provisions left him dizzy and bewildered. All he knew was that the gravity of the situation far exceeded anything he had imagined.
He opened his mouth but could not utter a word. Cold sweat suddenly poured down his forehead.
Holding Nuannuan, Su Mingfeng walked up to Liu Guifang, one step at a time.
He looked down at this woman who was still stubbornly resisting. There was no anger in his eyes, only a bottomless coldness.
Nuannuan lay against her uncle's broad shoulder, looking down at the hideous face of that "bad granny." She was no longer afraid at all.
She leaned close to Su Mingfeng's ear and whispered so softly that only the two of them could hear, "Uncle, she's shaking."
"The mice in the rafters said she's lying."
"They saw her bury someone's bones under the pickling crock."
Su Mingfeng's body stiffened for a moment.
He lowered his head and looked into the utterly clear eyes of the child in his arms.
Fine.
Very good.
I gave you a chance, and you wasted it.
Then don't blame me.
He stopped looking at Liu Guifang and turned to order Zhang Li behind him, "Teams Two and Three, move in."
"Target: the cellar in the main house."
"Dig... three feet down!"
At his command, more than a dozen soldiers immediately stepped out of formation and charged toward Liu Guifang's courtyard with their rifles ready, like fierce tigers descending a mountain.
Liu Guifang completely panicked.
She had never expected them to be so decisive, going straight to digging up the cellar without even interrogating her!
"No! You can't go in! That's my home!"
She began struggling wildly, like a maddened female beast, trying to break free of the soldiers' grip.
"Goudan! Goudan! Stop them! Don't let them in!" she screamed at her son, who lay sprawled on the ground.
Spurred on by his mother's cries, Li Goudan scrambled up from the ground and made to charge into the courtyard, his eyes red.
"I'll fight anyone who dares touch my family's things!"
Just then, Nuannuan, who had been sitting quietly in the jeep all this time, suddenly patted Su Mingfeng's shoulder.
"Uncle, put me down."
Su Mingfeng did not know what she wanted to do, but he set her on the ground as she asked.
Once Nuannuan was steady on her feet, she called out in a clear voice.
"Big Kitty, come out."