Huang Ziqiang knew Hou Biao was capable, but he didn't expect him to be this capable.
He led his men in pursuit all the way out of Wuzhong and finally intercepted Jiang Deguan's route when they reached the border area between Wu and Yue. He originally wanted to use locust tactics and take advantage of his superior numbers to capture Jiang Deguan in one fell swoop, but as soon as they met, before they even got close to the enemy, he lost three of his brothers, who were the more capable ones.
"Damn it! Why would such a powerful figure work for someone surnamed Chiang?" Huang Ziqiang cursed indignantly.
He decided to avoid a direct confrontation with Hou Biao and ordered his men to follow cautiously, pursuing the retreating enemy, attacking when the enemy is tired, and harassing when the enemy camps. He also ordered them to run away immediately if the enemy counterattacked.
Thus, the locust swarm tactic was transformed into the sparrow swarm tactic.
Huang Ziqiang was a seasoned veteran; he knew that once he squandered all his resources, even the greatest achievements would leave him a lamb to the slaughter. Jiang Deguan was simply too foolish; in his quest for revenge, he gambled everything, and once he failed, he had little chance of recovery. In his view, there were a thousand ways to kill Qingmu, and surely one of them would succeed. A clandestine attack from the shadows always offered a better chance than an open and direct confrontation.
Besides, Qingmu has the Xia Family behind him, and now the Wolf Family has joined in. Even if Jiang Deguan succeeds, he'll have to clean up his mess with half a ton of paper. He's incredibly stupid.
After this day, Huang Ziqiang felt he had gained some understanding of Qingmu. This young man was incredibly lazy and indifferent to everything. If you targeted him personally, he probably wouldn't care what tricks you used. If he ran into you, he might beat you up or kill you with a single finger. But if you ran fast, he wouldn't bother to come looking for you.
But Jiang Deguan shouldn't have touched the bar owner's wife; Huang Ziqiang realized that was Qingmu's Achilles' heel!
Jiang Deqian died a horrible death because he captured this tomboy and had ulterior motives—the most gruesome and shameful death Huang Ziqiang had ever witnessed.
Huang Ziqiang was now absolutely certain that Jiang Deguan was not going to survive.
Anyone who crosses that guy's line will suffer a terrible fate!
When Huang Ziqiang thought of this, he broke out in a cold sweat. Luckily, he hadn't been led astray by Jiang Deqian!
They followed Hou Biao's car from a distance.
Huang Ziqiang was clever; he used his subordinate's phone to call the police, saying that there were drugs hidden in the car. Hou Biao's car was quickly intercepted at the highway toll station, and what followed was the expected high-speed chase between the police and the thief.
Hou Biao's car certainly didn't contain drugs, but it definitely carried firearms and other contraband. He couldn't possibly let the police stop him; he would definitely drive away. With the police chasing him, Hou Biao wouldn't even have time to refuel or eat.
Hou Biao was exhausted. If he were alone, he would have disappeared long ago. Huang Ziqiang and his men would have no chance of catching him, and even if he wanted to fight back, it would be a matter of minutes. But he was with Jiang Deguan, and Huang Ziqiang and the police were hot on his heels. He had no choice but to abandon his car and flee at the border between Wu and Yue, hoping to avoid the police for now.
He quickly tidied up the things in the car, then drove into a large lake and hid in the mountains with Jiang Deguan.
Jiang Deguan was too exhausted to run any further, so he said, " Monkey, don't worry about me, just go on your own. There's a chest of US dollars in the cellar of my old house in the countryside; take as much as you can."
Hou Biao said, "We've come this far, how could I possibly abandon you now?"
Jiang Deguan said, "You can't possibly escape with me in your arms."
Without saying a word, Hou Biao hoisted Jiang Deguan onto his shoulder.
Jiang Deguan weighed at least 150 jin (approximately 75 kg), and with the guns he carried, Hou Biao was carrying over 200 jin (approximately 100 kg), but he didn't seem to be walking very slowly on the mountain road.
After crossing a remote hill, some low houses appeared in the distance, some of which still had lights on, making it look like a village.
Hou Biao was worried that the roads outside the mountains were unsafe, so he dropped Jiang Deguan off and let him hide in a secluded spot on the mountain while he went down to find him food and see if he could get a car.
Jiang Deguan hid there, his mood extremely depressed. He had assets of several hundred million in Shenzhou. Of course, he couldn't compare to the super-rich like the Xia Family, but he was still a wealthy man that everyone envied. Who would have thought that one day, something bad would happen, and he would run away like a weasel with his tail between his legs!
He sometimes felt it was not worth it for his good-for-nothing brother, but his mother's face before she died always appeared in his mind, and her words, "Take good care of your brother," always echoed in his ears.
He often wondered, what would have happened if there hadn't been that flood?
He'll probably get into university, find a stable job after graduation, become a white-collar worker in the city, get married, and have two or three healthy sons according to the current population policy. As for his good-for-nothing younger brother, without an older brother who earns a lot of money, at worst he'll be a small-time hoodlum in our hometown, or maybe he won't even be a hoodlum, just farming and raising silkworms in the countryside.
Sometimes, bad people are made by money!
The younger brother's extravagance and debauchery were, to some extent, a result of his older brother's spoiling. This was one of the reasons why he was determined to avenge his brother; he felt that he bore some responsibility for his brother's death.
When Jiang Deqian died, Jiang Deguan knew he had offended a powerful figure. But at that time, he didn't know this person had such great influence that he could get Li Wei of the Xia Family to personally take action. As for the Hong Family of North America, he didn't even dare to think about it.
If he had known his younger brother would get involved with such a person, he would have risked being scolded by his mother after his death to break Jiang Deqian's legs and save his life.
But it's all in the past, and it can never be undone.
The sky was especially dark in the mountains, and the hooting of the night owls sounded terrifying.
The sound of rustling footsteps approached, but it was unclear whether they came from humans or wild animals. Jiang Deguan huddled in the crevice between the rocks, not daring to breathe.
Two or three people passed by, whispering things like, "Be careful, don't let Hou Biao see you."
Then another group of people came up and stopped at the place where Jiang Deguan was hiding, and started smoking and resting.
He heard Huang Ziqiang's voice. "Don't follow too closely, that guy's got a sharp mind!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a gunshot rang out, startling everyone. The startled animals scattered wildly through the woods.
Huang Ziqiang shouted, "Scatter!"
The figure in the darkness disappeared into the woods and vanished in an instant.
Several more gunshots rang out, and Jiang Deguan heard a muffled groan. Then he heard Huang Ziqiang shout, "Retreat!" The sound of hurried, rustling footsteps followed, indicating that the men had retreated far away.
Hou Biao approached Jiang Deguan and said, "I've found a car, let's go!"
He helped Jiang Deguan up and led him down the mountain path. Gunshots soon rang out behind them, bullets thudding against the tree trunks beside them.
Jiang Deguan suddenly felt a numbness in his left leg, and Ku Tong immediately knelt on the ground, followed by unbearable pain.
"I've been shot," he said.
Hou Biao squatted down, carried Jiang Deguan on his back, and said, "Bear with it, we'll bandage him up when we get to the car."
They entered the woods, groping their way through the darkness, occasionally turning back to fire a shot. The men behind them, clearly intimidated by Hou Biao's marksmanship, did not pursue them closely. The mountain path in the dark was indeed difficult to traverse, and only someone like Hou Biao, who had fought in the jungle, could adapt to it.
Jiang Deguan knew that he had dragged Hou Biao down. Without him, given Hou Biao's skills, no one could capture him unless a large force was mobilized.