Chapter 1355
: The matter is settled.
On August 15, the construction of the new canal was nearing completion. That afternoon, Li Long saw Halimu, who had just come down from the mountain, at the purchasing station.
Halim went down the mountain to cut grass with other herders. This year, he came down a little earlier than in previous years. This was mainly because several people in the mountains were sick, and some of them were still in the hospital. With fewer people cutting grass, he thought he would come down earlier to cut grass for a longer period of time.
Actually, with harvesters, cutting grass has become easier, but the task of hauling the dried grass back is still quite heavy.
Halim went down the mountain for two reasons: first, to see Li Long, and second, to go home and see his mother and two sons.
After Li Long and his men repaired the road leading to the summer pasture, Halim, who had a car, would come down every now and then, making things much more convenient than before.
Halim came with several pairs of deer antlers and two pieces of jade.
He also knew that Li Long no longer cared about ordinary jade; the jade he picked out was all flawless and of very high quality.
When Li Long offered to pay, Halim scolded him, saying that Li Long had taken his family members for medical checkups without charging them, and that he would be criticized for charging money like this.
Li Long stopped worrying about it.
Halim didn't stay at the purchasing station for long. He told Li Long about the situation in the mountains and then left.
When he left, Li Long packed a bag of watermelon and a bag of cantaloupe in his car. Most of the people coming down the mountain to cut grass were men, and most of them didn't know how to cook; a bowl of milk tea and a naan bread were their meals.
Bring two bags of melons up; at least they'll quench our thirst and provide some vitamins.
That afternoon, Li Long went to Lao Ma Hao and asked Uncle Luo to slaughter two sheep. Then he went to find Zhao Shijie and told him that he planned to go into the mountains the next day to see Halimu and the others, and asked Zhao Shijie if he wanted to go.
"Yes, yes, I definitely have to go!" Zhao Shijie thought Li Long was going to the summer pasture, so he quickly agreed. "I've been thinking about it ever since I came back last time. I was too embarrassed to mention it because I hadn't finished the work. If you hadn't said that you would have made me take you to the mountains once the irrigation canal was finished, I would have made sure to ask you to take me there."
Li Long said, "Okay, I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning, and we'll go for a good drive in the mountains."
After telling Zhao Shijie what had happened, Li Long returned to the old horse stable, and then, with two sheep in tow, Kelangzi went back to the courtyard.
As for the sheepskin, sheep head, sheep hooves, and sheep offal, Uncle Luo and the others will naturally take care of those.
Back in the courtyard, Li Long separated the roe of the two sheep and put them in the freezer to freeze, so that they wouldn't spoil when he took them to the mountains the next morning.
The next morning, after breakfast, Li Long packed the mutton, took his gun, put his usual satchel in the trunk, picked up Zhao Shijie from Team 4, and drove straight into the mountains.
When they arrived at the location of Halimu and his men's winter camp, they heard the sound of tractors and harvesters echoing through the valley.
They just got back yesterday and settled in. This morning, after drinking milk tea and eating naan, they rushed to Halimu to start cutting grass.
There was no one at the winter pasture; everyone was busy at the winter grazing ground. In previous years, there would be at least ten people cutting grass, but Li Long counted, and now there were at most seven or eight.
Although these dozen or so herders were assigned to different production teams, their summer pastures were together and their winter shelters were not far apart, so at least in the summer when they were cutting grass, they still helped each other.
Li Long didn't rush over. After parking the car, he went to the winter hut to take out the pot, found some stones to build a stove, and gathered some dry wood from nearby, intending to cook mutton.
Zhao Shijie was a little surprised and asked, "Aren't we going into the mountains?"
As Li Long gathered firewood to start a fire, he said, "The people on the mountain have already come down to cut grass. Let's just visit them today and not go into the mountain."
Look over there on the pasture, Halim and the others are right there. They'll be coming down soon. I'll set up the stove first, and then we'll have a big pot of mutton.
If you don't find it interesting, there are all kinds of mushrooms and ginseng in the woods nearby, you can take a walk around.
If you're lucky, you might even catch a pheasant or something, but it's best to bring a stick in case a fox or something bites you.
Zhao Shijie really liked to venture into the woods. He picked up a firewood stick that Li Long had given him and headed into the nearby woods.
Li Long smiled and continued with his work.
A dozen minutes later, Halim arrived with his men, who greeted Li Long with smiles. Halim had already met Li Long yesterday and brought two bags of melons that Li Long had given him.
These people were quite happy. Although times had changed and they had been assigned to different villages, Li Long's arrival made them feel like they had returned to the past.
Someone took over the work from Li Long and started cooking the meat.
Others processed the remaining meat, rubbing it with salt and hanging it to air dry. Although it was cool in the mountains in the mornings and evenings, there were no refrigerators or freezers, and the meat would spoil if it wasn't processed.
These people chattered about what was happening in the mountains. Some had their flocks of sheep attacked by wolves, some had encountered mudslides and hail while herding sheep, and others had found snow lotus and seen some unique natural landscapes.
Or perhaps they spotted a snow leopard while herding sheep, but couldn't shoot it because their guns had been confiscated. Others said they saw herds of wild goats and ibex, but Tarihar, a skilled hunter, was away doing business in the county, so no one bothered these wild animals.
Li Long listened with great interest. Life in the mountains was actually quite interesting, though sometimes it was a way to find joy amidst hardship. He found the stories fascinating because they combined the experiences of several, even a dozen, families, spanning the past six months.
But for each family, the most common tasks each day are getting up early to herd sheep, cooking while herding sheep, and keeping them in pen at night – all rather monotonous and boring.
The herders were used to it and wouldn't tell Li Long those boring stories.
In short, everyone was laughing and joking, and when Zhao Shijie emerged from the woods, he found that there were already many people there. Since he had met Zhao Shijie twice before, many of them recognized him. They greeted Zhao Shijie and joked that he still had two blades of grass stuck to his head.
Zhao Shijie brought over a small bag of mushrooms for Li Long to identify. Li Long looked at them, picked out some he didn't recognize, and told him to put the rest in the car and take them back later.
Because it was a bit rushed today and everyone was busy working, there was no barbecue. Alim took out the naan bread he had prepared yesterday afternoon from the winter hut, and everyone took a piece of meat and bone and placed it on the naan, gnawing on the meat and the naan at the same time.
There were also people cutting watermelons and cantaloupes nearby. This combination of hot and cold fresh food gave Zhao Shijie a unique feeling.
After the meal, Zhao Shijie boldly asked to ride one of the horses they had brought, so someone picked out a steed and brought it over for Zhao Shijie to try.
Zhao Shijie was quite happy after the ride, but then he noticed that everyone else had spread out a leather coat on the grass and were lying down to sleep.
He was a little uncomfortable, so Li Long told him to sleep on the wooden kang (heated brick bed) in the winter quarters. Zhao Shijie went in, took a look around, and came out again, whispering to Li Long that the smell was quite strong.
Li Long smiled and recalled the first time he and Tao Daqiang slept on a wooden kang (heated brick bed) at Halimu's house. The smell was quite strong back then, but they didn't care about that when they were trying to make a living.
Life is getting better now, and I'm starting to pay attention to these things.
Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go, I'll take you to a good place."
He greeted Halim, ignored the sleeping people, and drove Zhao Shijie to his hot spring resort.
The road was overgrown with weeds, but fortunately the off-road vehicle performed very well, and we arrived at our destination quickly.
Upon arriving at the destination, Li Long got out of the car, looked at the gate, and became somewhat angry.
Someone threw a stone at the gate, tried to break the lock but couldn't, and then defecated right there at the gate; one of the turds even looked somewhat fresh.
After getting out of the car, Zhao Shijie asked, "Is this your house?"
Li Long nodded, took the key, opened the door, and led him to the hot spring pool, saying, "There's a hot spring in here, it's perfect for soaking now. There's also a hot spring inside this house. I'll open the door for you, see if you prefer to soak inside or outside?"
"Close the gate later, latch it from the inside, that way even if there are any wild animals nearby, they won't be able to get in."
As he spoke, he went to get his tools, shoveled up the excrement in front of the door, cleaned it up, put the shovel down, and went to the car to get his gun.
Zhao Shijie asked him what he was doing, and Li Long pointed to the area he had just cleaned and said, "That scumbag who did disgusting things hasn't gone far yet, I'm going to deal with him!"
Zhao Shijie wanted to follow, but Li Long refused. He said that the person had been gone for at least twenty or thirty minutes, and that he could catch up if he ran fast. However, in this desolate wilderness, if Zhao Shijie slowed down, he wouldn't be able to catch up, and if he ran fast, Zhao Shijie would fall behind halfway, which would be very dangerous.
Zhao Shijie was relatively obedient to advice and didn't insist on following. After Li Long left with his gun, he closed the gate from the inside, walked around the yard, found no danger, and then went to soak in the hot spring.
After soaking in the hot spring, Zhao Shijie said contentedly, "It's so comfortable! Hehe, Li Long really knows how to enjoy himself! It's just a bit far, otherwise it would be so comfortable to come and soak every week."
Following the clues around him, Li Long quickly determined the direction and chased after them with his gun.
He was still somewhat excited, having not done something like this for two years.
They've banned hunting in the mountains, but I should be fine chasing someone, right?
As we entered the woods and crossed two gullies, the tracks ahead became increasingly clear.
Li Long was basically certain that this guy frequented the mountains and forests, whether hunting or gathering medicinal herbs, he was very familiar with the mountains and forests.
Just by looking at these tracks, you can tell that this guy is quite experienced in traversing mountains and forests. He took paths that had been trodden by animals before, and didn't blindly wander around in the mountains and forests.
After crossing several gullies, Li Long arrived at a remote, rocky mountain.
Apart from the traces of the person I was following, there were only wild animal tracks here; it seemed that no one else had been here.
In the rocky mountains, Li Long discovered a natural stone cave. The cave was blocked by a door made of woven branches, and the door was quite well hidden. If Li Long hadn't looked carefully, it would have been difficult to find.
Li Long stopped about six or seven meters away from the cave. He listened carefully and found that there was no breathing or human movement inside the cave.
As Li Long approached, he realized that the door, woven from tree branches, was still attached to a tree stump on the side, indicating that the people living inside must have left.
I smelled a foul, fishy odor, and looking around, I found a lot of bones scattered nearby.
Judging from the color of the bones, they must have been cooked.
Li Long slowly walked to the cave entrance, untied the door that was bound with vines, opened the breechblock, and went inside.
First, there's a passage that's two or three meters long, and then the space inside becomes quite large. The stone walls show signs of being carved with knives and axes, indicating that the cave wasn't formed naturally. Someone must have lived there before, then it was abandoned, and now this person is occupying it.
The cave is quite large, about 10 square meters, and there is a stove and a chimney that goes up.
There was a stainless steel pot on the stove. Li Long lifted the lid and looked inside. There was half a pot of meat soup and two bones.
There was a pile of collected firewood next to the stove, and a large pile of hides on the left corner of the wall at the entrance of the passage. Li Long looked through them and found deer hides, roe deer hides, and wild goat hides.
Next to the hide were some other things, such as deer antlers, deer penis, and a deer hide with the fur facing down. The hide had been dried and had several pieces of meat that had been smoked and turned slightly black on it.
There was a bed against the wall on the right side of the cave. At the bottom was a thick layer of dry grass, on which were several layers of leather, then several layers of cotton mattresses, and several quilts on the sheets. Li Long was a little surprised.
This bunk looks like it belongs to one person, but there are several quilts there. Were these quilts stolen or bought?
To the right, in the corner of the aisle, were two backpacks, a handbag, and two bags; it was unclear whether they contained rice or flour. Next to them was a plastic jug containing liquid, presumably cooking oil. There were also several bottles and jars, likely condiments.
To Li Long's surprise, there were two and a half bags of something against the wall. Li Long recognized the smell of it all too well; it was fritillaria, dried fritillaria.
These days, if someone who digs for fritillaria gets this many fritillaria bulbs, they'd go down the mountain to exchange them for money long ago.
The presence of both skin and fritillaria suggests it wasn't obtained by the individual, as there were no tools for digging fritillaria in the cave.
Li Long began to understand.
I reckon this guy used his advantages to rob a lot of people, otherwise he wouldn't have so much stuff.
Li Long felt under the pillow in his bunk and found a pack of bullets.
He opened the bag and saw that the bullets were standard Type 56 ammunition, so he knew that this guy had a gun, and it was most likely a Type 56 semi-automatic or Type 56 assault rifle.
Dangerous!
Li Long collected the bullets and then searched the bunk, discovering a hunting rifle hidden under the mattress against the wall.
There was a small bag of shotgun bullets in the backpack, which Li Long also took.
He left the cave untouched and re-tied the door.
After looking around, Li Long quickly realized that the person was heading southeast. He hesitated for a moment, then picked up his gun and crept over.
As he walked forward, Li Long checked his gun, chambered a round, and released the safety, determined not to let the man go.
The main problem is that this guy is disgusting. He couldn't even get into his own hot spring resort, so he just defecated and urinated at the gate to vent his anger. If I hadn't come later, he might have somehow managed to sneak in.
This person cannot be left in the mountains.
Li Long acted very cautiously, trying his best not to make any loud noises.
Following the person's trail for another 10 minutes or so, we crossed two gullies and arrived at a place with sparse trees and some grass. It was a large mountain gully, with a large grassy area on the south slope and a slightly steeper slope on the north side, covered with many shrubs.
Li Long had just reached the top of the north hillside. He hid behind the bushes and carefully observed the area.
On the yellowing grass to the south, seven or eight red deer were scattered around grazing. They were spread over a large area. The male red deer in the lead was a bit cautious, looking around and seemed somewhat agitated, shaking its head and waving its hooves from time to time.
The mother deer and her fawns grazed leisurely, seemingly oblivious to the dangers. Two of the fawns even ventured into the nearby woods, perhaps finding the grass there to be tastier.
Li Long guessed that the person was probably planning to ambush the herd of deer, and that person should be nearby.
So he observed carefully, slowly searching for that person's figure.
The red deer on the opposite hillside suddenly panicked. The male red deer stopped grazing, raised its head and cried out, and took the lead in running eastward. Its companions quickly followed and even accelerated past it.
Li Long was somewhat surprised that the person who was hiding hadn't fired a shot.
Moreover, he was well hidden, and Li Long did not find him.
Li Long then probed forward from the mark beneath his feet, slowly observing its direction, and determined that the other party was under a clump of bushes.
Why didn't he shoot?
Li Long was somewhat surprised and puzzled. He slowly adjusted his position until he could see the person under the bush.
Li Long watched as the other man lay on the ground, aiming his gun towards the southwest. Could there be some prey over there that was more valuable than those deer?
Li Long looked in that direction and saw that it was a sparse forest.
He was also crouching down, so he couldn't see what was over there for a while, or maybe it was just the angle and something was blocking his view.
But right now, this guy is the most important.
The other party was aiming southwest, and Li Long's position was in his blind spot, so Li Long, who was holding a gun, wasn't too worried. While looking at the woods, he also aimed at the person under the bushes. Li Long planned to get close, subdue the person, and then take him away.
Li Long suddenly stopped. In the bushes to his right was a grouse lying there. The grouse saw Li Long and shrank back, clearly terrified.
Just as Li Long was about to move to a different spot to avoid the grouse making any noise, the creature clucked and emerged from the bushes, disappearing into the nearby grass.
This is going to cause quite a stir!
The guy lying down heard the grouse's call, and turned around with his gun. Although Li Long was in a hurry to dodge, there was nowhere to hide nearby, so the guy saw him.
This guy is ruthless. He didn't even say a word when he saw Li Long. He just picked up his semi-automatic rifle and pulled the trigger!
Li Long only caught a glimpse of the other man's gaze and knew he had no good intentions. He dodged the bullets fired at him and then returned fire!
"Boom!"
"boom!"
The other side fired two shots, and Li Long returned fire. Then he heard the other side scream, drop the gun, and roll around clutching his arm.
In movies and TV shows, it's rare for someone to be shot and still grit their teeth and fight back; this person is clearly not one of them.
Li Long was not smug. He stood up with his gun in hand, and seeing that the other man's gun was no longer beside him, he slowly walked over there.
Just then, a deafening roar came from the direction the man had been aiming at in the woods. Li Long looked up and saw a huge yellow shadow carrying a small deer in its mouth, rushing southeast. In just two or three leaps, it had already reached the top of the opposite slope.
The yellow shadow turned its head and glanced in Li Long's direction before leaping down and disappearing. Li Long only had time to see the enormous shadow, or rather, the enormous tiger, one of whose ears was missing. It must be the giant Northern Xinjiang tiger he had shot down before!
Li Long then realized that the guy had been aiming at a tiger, not a deer!
Could it be considered that I accidentally saved One-Ear's life?
These thoughts flashed through his mind. Li Long walked up to the man with his gun, kicked the semi-automatic rifle away, and upon closer inspection, he realized that his shot had hit the man's shoulder, where blood was now gushing out.
It wasn't the kind of spray that hit, so it probably didn't hit a major artery, but judging from the person's pained expression, which turned into a ferocious and distorted look, it's likely that a bone was broken.
This person must have been out of the public eye for a long time. Although he had shaved, it wasn't neat. His hair was very long and hadn't been cut in ages.
Li Long's situation is understandable, since manual razors can be carried around, but few people carry hair clippers and scissors with them.
There was also a shoulder bag next to the man, which was bulging with bullets, Li Long guessed.
Upon seeing Li Long approach, the man's eyes flashed with hatred, which he quickly concealed, pleading in a hoarse voice, "Please help me, bandage my wounds, I'm dying!"
I thought you were an animal, so I accidentally fired the gun. Please don't misunderstand!
Believe your ghost!
When the man turned around, Li Long clearly saw that he had spotted him and fired a shot, so it couldn't be a misunderstanding; this man wanted him dead!
Ignoring his pleas for mercy and his rolling on the ground, Li Long took the gun and the bullets from his satchel. He rummaged through the bag and found a roll of rope inside.
Just right.
Li Long tied the man's arms with a rope, binding them behind his back. Then he broke off a tree branch to use as a stick, pointed towards the man's cave, and said, "Go forward, or I'll kill you!"
The blood from the wound had stained half of his body red, but Li Long did not bandage him, letting the blood flow out.
The man walked a little slower, so Li Long went up and hit him with his stick, asking as he walked, "How long have you been in the mountains? How many people have you killed?"
"Hiss...hiss..." The man hissed in pain as he touched his wound while moving, but dared not refuse to answer Li Long's question: "No, no, how could I dare to kill someone...hiss, please, could you help me bandage my wound? I'm feeling a little dizzy..."
Li Long didn't really want him to die, but he hated him for being ruthless and not telling the truth.
"Tell me the truth, and I'll bandage your wound. Otherwise, you'll bleed to death, and I won't ask any more questions."
The man tried to argue, but before he could even stop, Li Long slapped him hard on the back with a stick. The blow was quite forceful, causing the man to stumble. Li Long then tugged on the rope to steady him.
The man was furious, but fearing he would bleed to death, he had to admit: "I killed one, a fritillary bulb digger. I actually just wanted some food from him, but he wouldn't give it to me. So, when I was trying to get the food, I accidentally..."
Li Longcai didn't believe he had only killed one person. He pushed him forward and asked, "Anyone else? You'd better tell me the truth, or you'll be walking to your death!"
This person couldn't give a detailed account, but in the past two or three months, he had killed three people in the mountains. One of them was his hunting partner, who was the owner of the hunting rifle.
The other two were a fritillary bulb digger and a mushroom picker.
This person was very cautious. He would ask questions beforehand before killing anyone, knowing that these people were not locals but outsiders who came to the mountains to seek wealth, before daring to make his move.
Li Long then asked about the burial sites of the three people. The man said that one of them was buried, while the other two were left to rot in the wilderness, probably eaten by wild animals long ago.
However, Li Long still asked where the body was disposed of; this was something he couldn't take lightly.
Seeing that he had nothing more to say, Li Long stopped, tore open the man's clothes, and hastily bandaged the wound.
Basically, they just put a wad of cloth on the wound, then tore the clothes apart and tied them into a rope to tie the area tightly.
With that cloth covering it, as long as the movements aren't too vigorous, the bleeding will gradually stop.
The bullet was probably stuck inside his body, and Li Long didn't intend to remove it.
Such scum deserves to suffer more.
They escorted the man to the cave, where he realized he had messed up and his escape route had been cut off.
Li Long then asked the man his name, and he said it was Wei Shuanghua.
Li Long didn't touch anything in the cave. Carrying two guns on his back, he led the man towards the hot spring resort.
The path in the middle was not easy to walk, and Wei Shuanghua even fell twice, causing his wounds to bleed again. Li Long ignored him and just urged him to keep moving forward.
Wei Shuanghua was in good physical condition. Perhaps he had been eating too much meat lately and had lost a lot of blood, so his face was a bit pale, but he still managed to walk to the hot spring resort.
Zhao Shijie, who had already finished taking a bath and was pacing back and forth in the yard, immediately stopped when he heard the commotion outside.
Li Long called out, "Old Zhao, it's me!"
Zhao Shijie quickly opened the door and was stunned when he came out.
Li Long explained, "This guy was the one who took a dump here. He was just about to hunt a tiger when I happened to run into him. He fired two shots at me, but missed. Instead, I retaliated and got injured."
He didn't mention Wei Shuanghua's murder, afraid of frightening Zhao Shijie.
When Zhao Shijie heard from Li Long that this guy had actually shot someone, his disgust flared up again, and he said, "He deserved it! By the way, what are you planning to do?"
"Take him to the forestry police station; this is their responsibility." Li Long found an old piece of clothing in the car and used it to partially cover Wei Shuanghua's upper body.
Wei Shuangjie was quite grateful, but he didn't know that Li Long was worried that his blood would soil the car.
To prevent the guy from escaping, Li Long tied his feet up, then laid out a sack in the back seat, stuffed the guy inside, locked the gate of the hot spring resort, and had Zhao Shijie sit in the passenger seat while he drove down the mountain.
The mountain road was uneven, and the car swayed. Wei Shuangjie groaned from time to time because of the pain from his wound. Even Zhao Shijie felt a little sorry for him, but Li Long was unmoved and drove all the way to the mountain pass, arriving at the forestry police station's outpost.
There was only one forestry police officer on duty at the post; everyone else had gone to patrol the mountains.
When the car pulled up to the door, the person had already come out, carrying a submachine gun and looking quite alert.
However, upon seeing that it was Li Long, he smiled and felt relieved, as they were old acquaintances.
Li Long got out of the car, greeted the policeman surnamed Wang, opened the car door, and pulled Wei Shuangjie out of the back seat.
When Xiao Wang saw Wei Shuanghua covered in blood, he was startled, but when he saw that her hands and legs were tied, he knew something was wrong.
Li Long untied the ropes binding Wei Shuanghua's legs, dragged him into the garrison, and then told Xiao Wang what had happened and what he had interrogated Wei Shuanghua about.
Upon hearing Li Long say that Wei Shuanghua had killed three people in the mountains, Xiao Wang's eyes widened in surprise and delight. This was a major case! A major case delivered right to his doorstep!
While screaming in agony, Wei Shuanghua denied Li Long's words, saying that he hadn't killed anyone and that Li Long had forced him to say it.
Xiao Wang didn't believe this, but he was already mostly convinced when Li Long handed him the semi-automatic rifle.
They'd encountered bad people in the mountains before, and Li Long's account was so detailed; this kind of thing wasn't something easily made up on the spot.
Moreover, the locations where bodies were buried and disposed of are easily traceable and cannot be easily denied.
Xiao Wang quickly took a statement, had Li Long read it, and after signing it, he immediately called his superior.
He can't handle such a big case by himself. The person in charge of the garrison has gone into the mountains to patrol the forest and will definitely not be back for a while, so we can only ask our superiors for someone.
When the forestry police station heard about such a big matter, they said they would send someone over immediately and asked Xiao Wang to keep Li Long behind, as their people would personally handle the matter.
Li Long wasn't in a hurry and just stayed there for a look around.
Fearing something might happen to Wei Shuanghua, Xiao Wang re-bandaged him and applied some medicine after hanging up the phone.
He didn't have the skill to remove the bullet either, but after applying the medicine, the bleeding was basically stopped completely. He also used a first-aid kit, which was at least better than the tattered clothes Li Long was wearing.
Because Wei Shuanghua was tied up and injured, there was no concern about him escaping. Xiao Wang then showed Li Long around the outpost, mainly because the items in the warehouse were quite eye-catching.
Zhao Shijie remained seated in the SUV, leaning back in the passenger seat and falling asleep.
There were many hides, medicinal herbs, sheep horns, deer antlers, and the like inside.
The regulations in northern and southern Xinjiang are quite strict. Apart from stones and jade, almost everything else in the mountains and deserts belongs to the state and cannot be cut and sold at will. It's unlike some places where private gold mining is allowed; even that is illegal and falls under the jurisdiction of the forestry police station.
Xiao Wang said that these were confiscated during forest patrols, and some were found during inspections of vehicles entering and leaving the mountain pass.
Li Long looked at several 20-year-old ibex horns. These things aren't particularly rare now, but if they were made into specimens and hung at home in a few years, they would definitely attract attention.
About 40 minutes later, they heard the sound of a car outside. Li Long and Xiao Wang came out and saw a jeep and a sidecar motorcycle coming from the north and stopping next to the outpost.
Five or six policemen got off the bus and quickly walked up to Xiao Wang and Li Long.
Xiao Wang hurriedly introduced, "Chief Liang, this is Comrade Li Long. Comrade Li Long, this is Chief Liang of our police station."
The two shook hands, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then got down to business.
Li Long repeated what he had told Xiao Wang, saying that police officers had already gone in to question Wei Shuanghua.
Director Liang praised Li Long highly, saying he was brave, responsible, and resourceful—truly a model of both wisdom and courage.
Li Long was so flattered that he became a little embarrassed.
So later, Director Liang reminded Li Long not to face such murder suspects alone in the future, and that it would be best to call the police immediately after learning the situation. Li Long readily agreed and said he would definitely learn from the experience.
After Director Liang learned the details of Wei Shuanghua's murder, he asked about the tiger.
He was clearly still concerned about the tiger in the mountains. Li Long only said that he vaguely felt it was a tiger, but he couldn't be sure.
He suggested that Director Liang should ask Wei Shuanghua, since the other party had initially planned to ambush that big guy.
Director Liang said with emotion, "I had vaguely heard that there were tigers in the mountains before, but there were many rumors. When we went to inquire about those who actually saw them, we found that they only saw blurry shadows."
I don't know if this time it's for real or not.
Li Long just smiled and didn't confirm.
He was wondering if Director Liang would ask him to take them to Wei Shuanghua's cave, but to his surprise, after asking about the situation, Director Liang sent them back.
I just said that I will definitely have to visit him again soon, and that I should tell Li Long not to run around.
When Li Long got into the car, Zhao Shijie was still asleep, so he gently started the car and drove back.
Zhao Shijie woke up and asked groggily, "Is the handover complete?"
"It's over," Li Long said. "The handover is done today, but they might still need to contact me later."
Zhao Shijie asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why?"
Wei Shuanghua isn't in the car now, so I can say whatever I want: "Because that person was a murderer. He killed three people in the mountains recently, and after the forestry police station finishes taking his statement, they'll definitely have to go into the mountains to search for him."
"If they find them, that'll be fine; if they don't, I might have to take them there."
"Murderer? Killed three people?" Zhao Shijie was shocked. Although he was angry with Wei Shuanghua and shot Li Long, it was only a momentary outburst of anger.
They didn't associate Wei Shuanghua with the murderer, after all, Li Long was still alive.
But hearing from Li Long that this guy killed three people made a difference.
This was the first time he had been so close to a murderer. Even though Wei Shuanghua didn't have much ability at the time and was injured, he still felt a bit scared when he thought about it now.
He had found himself sitting in the same car as a murderer!
While still feeling lingering fear, he couldn't help but ask, "Li Long, weren't you scared when you knew he was a murderer?"
As Li Long drove, he said, "What's there to be afraid of? By the time I found out he had committed murder, he was already a weakling. If he had dared to cause trouble, I would have crushed him with one hand."
Zhao Shijie couldn't help but admire Li Long's boldness and courage. Then, thinking about himself, he realized that if he knew the other person was a murderer, he would definitely be afraid.
It's still dangerous in the mountains!
Zhao Shijie thought it best to come here less often in the future, because who knows what dangers might be lurking inside?
Li Long drove to the county and asked Zhao Shijie if there was anything he needed to buy. Zhao Shijie shook his head and said to hurry back to the team.
At that moment, Zhao Shijie felt that it was safer to stay in the team. The old people at Lao Ma's ship were all kind and friendly, and the young men who worked there were all honest and kind—they were all good people.
Li Long then escorted Zhao Shijie to the cooperative's courtyard, put down the mushrooms he had picked, and left.
Li Long didn't tell Zhao Shijie about the tigers in the mountains.
After returning home, Li Long tidied up the car properly, throwing away the blood-stained burlap sack. Fortunately, there wasn't anything messy on the back seat. After opening the car door to let it air out for a while, the smell dissipated.
Gu Xiaoxia wasn't home. After Li Long finished tidying up the car, she came back with Sister Yang and Han Fang and explained to Li Long that she had gone to visit the cannery.
When Han Fang first started her vacation, she and Li Long were still a little unfamiliar with each other. But recently, she's been staying at home and they've gradually become acquainted. She excitedly said that she hadn't been to the factory for quite some time and was surprised to find that the cannery was now so large and produced so many different kinds of canned goods.
Li Long could see that Han Fang's expression as she looked at her mother was one of admiration and pride.
After breakfast on the second day, Li Long went to the purchasing station. As expected, in the morning, people from the Forestry Bureau came to investigate the situation.
Chief Liang was mindful of his image, so he came in plain clothes and didn't drive the police car from the police station. The middlemen thought he was a businessman.
After meeting Director Liang, Li Long led him to the reception room at the back, poured tea, and cut up some watermelon. Li Long then told Liang Shuangcheng to go about his business.
Director Liang then said to Li Long, "Yesterday afternoon we went to investigate the place you and Wei Shuanghua mentioned, and we didn't return until dark."
We've preliminarily confirmed that what you said is correct. Although Wei Shuanghua tried to deny it, we did manage to dig up a body at the location you described. The other two locations are quite far away, so we only checked them this morning.
Faced with the facts, Wei Shuanghua confessed, and what you said was pretty much the same. However, we can't be completely certain that he only killed these three people; we'll need to investigate further in the next couple of days.
The main reason we're here is to express our gratitude for your contributions. The case isn't closed yet, but we'll definitely report your contributions to our superiors once it is. After all, you were once part of our system, and we can't let our own people down.”
Li Long hurriedly smiled modestly and said, "I'm just lucky to be here. As long as I can contribute to the case and bring the bad guys to justice, I'll be content."
Director Liang expressed his admiration for Li Long's noble character, and Li Long also praised Director Liang and his team for their swift handling of the case. After exchanging pleasantries, Director Liang took his leave, saying he had other matters to attend to.
Li Long was relieved. Once the body was dug out, Wei Shuanghua's fate would be confirmed.
If he knew that it was because he took a dump at the entrance of Li Long's hot spring resort that Li Long chased after him and that's how he got caught, he would regret it to death.
Li Long thought about how strange it was to encounter that tiger again, and how he had unintentionally saved it once.
It's just that it'll probably be hard to meet again next time.
P.S.: Includes a photo of the middle school. The middle school later became a primary school, but then, due to declining student numbers—only 13 students out of 17 teachers—it closed down. The original primary school was also contracted out after the middle school became a primary school, and eventually turned into a sheep pen… (End of Chapter)