Chapter 838
Attacking the Heart
Xiao Wu shook his head and said naturally, "They didn't say anything, just told us to rest and recover, and that they were just passing by while they were at the hospital on business!"
No wonder my older brother and the others haven't come down the mountain yet; something must have happened!
Do I need to be discharged? Or are there other arrangements?
Old Ji's mind raced, and after a moment's pause, he nodded: "Yes! Discharge them first!"
Anyway, the surgery is over now, and I got some injections and medication from the hospital. I can save some money by staying at a place to recuperate!
I'll arrange for someone to bring you food! Let's hide for a while, and once things calm down, we'll make other plans!
The fourth and fifth brothers knew that Lao Ji was a friend of the gang leader, so they had no doubts about his arrangements.
The reason why the team members would lay low after the leader got into trouble is understandable. After all, hunting teams are relatively united, and their fates can be described as one of shared glory and shared loss.
Xiao Wu and Lao Si exchanged a glance, and almost without hesitation, they reached a consensus.
"Uncle Ji, shall we proceed with the discharge now? Did you arrange a carriage or something for this trip? My fourth brother is still too scared to get out of bed!" Xiao Wu asked.
Old Ji replied, "The carriage is downstairs! Just go to the counter to complete the formalities and go down. It will take at most two hours to get home!"
"I've arranged for someone to deliver the injections and medicine later, and the village doctor can give Xiao Si an IV drip—that'll be just as good!"
"Okay, thank you! I'll pack my things right away!"
……
After a brief conversation, Xiao Wu busied herself organizing the few belongings she had for her hospital stay, as well as the fruit and stewed meat that Yue Feng had brought. Then she borrowed a wheelchair to process her discharge.
Before it got dark, the discharge procedures were completed. Old Ji, bundled up tightly, led the two brothers onto the carriage and headed towards their residence in the village.
At this moment, Xiaowen called to report the news, and Xiaohui, who had been waiting, set off from their lodgings with two young children to the hospital gate, waiting for their target to appear.
……
The camera then cuts back to Lao Ji.
Throughout the journey, Lao Ji remained completely silent, driving the carriage home at a leisurely pace.
He knew perfectly well that Xiao Si and Xiao Wu were unaware of the details of Lei Laohu's murder, but he still dared not gamble.
Just as Wu Keji had planned, with the testimonies of these two brothers as evidence, a crucial chain of evidence could be formed, and then Lao Ji and Qiao Muzhou, the three masterminds, would all be implicated!
Having already resolved to silence those two laborers forever, seeing the fruit and other gifts Yue Feng had given him in the hospital room only strengthened Lao Ji's resolve.
Whenever Yue Feng visits the wounded, bringing money and gifts to build rapport, he's almost always thinking of something, but it's just not the right time yet, so he hasn't spoken up.
Seeing how grateful the two brothers were when they mentioned Yue Feng's name, Yue Feng asked them to be his witnesses, so there's definitely no problem.
The closer he got to his home, the colder Old Ji felt. When the carriage arrived at his doorstep, Old Ji made up his mind.
"We're here! Are you freezing? Come inside and warm up!"
Old Ji got off the carriage, then opened the door and busied himself with preparations.
The two men carried the luggage into the house, and then helped the wounded man into the room in the yard, where he was quickly settled.
"Xiao Wu, the carriage seems to be having some minor problems. Come and help me straighten it!" Old Ji called out from the doorway into the house.
Xiao Wu, without suspecting anything, strode out.
"Uncle Ji, where should we help you? The carriage is going quite safely on the road!" Xiao Wu asked curiously as he approached Old Ji.
"It's right next to the wheel, but it's getting dark, so I can't see very well!" Old Ji put his right hand behind his back and quietly grabbed the hand axe at his waist.
Xiao Wu had no idea what was going on when he felt a tap on his shoulder and instinctively turned around.
The next second, he was hit squarely on the forehead with a hammer, his skull caved in, and he collapsed limply to the ground.
Old Ji's gaze was fixed. He reached out and gently helped Xiao Wu to the back seat of the carriage, covering his injured forehead with Xiao Wu's dog-skin hat.
After doing all that, Old Ji carried the bloodstained hand axe into the house and did the same thing to the fourth brother, who was unable to move.
Soon, he dragged the fourth brother's body out of the house.
The other person had a bloody hole in their head, and the whole thing happened silently, as if they had killed an ordinary hen or goose, not two people.
Both bodies were dragged onto the cart. Old Ji wiped the blood off his hands and then moved all the hunting party's luggage out of the outer room.
If you want to silence them, you have to go all out. Lei Laohu's hunting team isn't local, and the house they're staying in is quite remote. As long as the traces are cleaned up, no one will know where these outsiders went after a few days.
Such incidents of people going missing while hunting in the mountains happen every year, and the villagers living in the mountains are used to it.
Old Ji's plan was indeed quite good, but destroying the evidence wouldn't be so easy.
We had just loaded all the luggage onto the cart and hadn't even locked the door when several strangers suddenly darted out from the shadows.
Click, click, click!
A series of camera shutter sounds, accompanied by the blinding light of the flash, dazzled Lao Ji.
In an instant, Lao Ji felt his scalp tingle and thought to himself, "It's over!"
After a moment of stunned silence, Old Ji reached down and touched the small hand axe on his lower back again.
Before he could even draw his weapon, an old gun reeking of gun oil was pressed against his head.
"Don't move, or you'll die!"
For a moment, Lao Ji stood frozen in place.
"What have these brothers gotten their money from? Why are they staring at me?" Old Ji asked, trying to appear calm.
"What's the matter? You'll find out when the time comes! If you know what's good for you, don't cause any trouble, and let's all keep our dignity. If you don't, then don't blame us brothers!" Xiao Hui said in a low voice.
"Okay, I'll cooperate! What do you want?"
Seeing that the other party was somewhat cooperative, Xiao Hui ordered his men, "Move the corpses and luggage from the carriage to the yard! Tie them up and go home!"
The men who came to help were all skilled elites. Immediately, someone stepped forward and quickly tied Lao Ji up, gagged him, blindfolded him, and carried him directly onto the cart that was still stained with blood.
After doing all this, Xiao Hui's men locked the courtyard gate, and then, under the cover of night, used a horse-drawn carriage to take Lao Ji out of the village and headed straight for their lodging.
Two hours later, Lao Ji was taken to where Xiao Hui and the others were hiding and thrown into a bare room with little furniture or bedding, only a heated kang bed.
The room was warm with a fire burning inside, but Old Ji was very uneasy.
The murder was discovered, and photographic evidence was taken. It's obvious that he's being watched.
When did they start targeting them?
Old Ji prided himself on his strong counter-surveillance awareness, always covering himself up tightly when entering and leaving the hospital.
It was definitely impossible before he appeared at the hospital; the only possibility is that he was being watched when he was being discharged.
In an instant, Lao Ji thought of the apples and canned food on the bedside table of Xiao Wu's hospital bed, and cold sweat broke out all over him!
It was Yue Feng, it must have been one of Yue Feng's men!
He appeared to have no reaction after returning from the mountain, but that was just an act.
He's been holding back his self-reproach!
Having figured all this out, Lao Ji had no choice but to start thinking about his options!
Why did Yue Feng arrange for someone to tail him and then tie him up?
If it were just about revenge, it wouldn't seem like such a big deal. Just hand the photo over to Uncle Hat, and you'd be finished! Murdering two people is a capital offense, no question about it!
Since the other party hasn't done that, they must have a bigger scheme!
Having been in society for so long, Lao Ji quickly figured this out.
What's the motive? Money? Yue Feng's team has many businesses and is not short of money.
Then the only option left is revenge!
In comparison, the most likely scenario is that he's plotting against his own elder brother, Qiao Muzhou!
Qiao Muzhou's two sons both work in coal mines. The elder son is the second-in-command, and the younger son is a middle-level manager. Both have considerable social influence.
If we act rashly, it will be quite difficult to sentence Master Qiao to death unless we have solid evidence.
Thinking of this, Lao Ji sighed. Yue Feng's request was most likely to be to eliminate the root of the problem!
After lying on the heated kang for an unknown amount of time, the courtyard gate opened, and a person pushed the door open and pulled the cotton cloth out of Old Ji's mouth!
"Who? Are you kidnapping me for money or something?" Old Ji asked, trying to appear calm.
An elderly man with a loud voice said slowly, "Old Ji! His full name is Ji Hongxiu, born in 1935. He is the eldest of four siblings!"
He was a veteran who served six years in the military. After retiring, he settled in his hometown and made a living by farming.
The second younger brother, Ji Hongjie, is the head of the dispatching room at Yuejin Coal Mine.
The third sister, Ji Hongjuan, married into the neighboring Majiabaozi village. Her husband's family were carpenters, and they had two daughters and a son.
The fourth brother, Ji Hongtao, was imprisoned for fighting and injuring someone with a gun. He is currently serving his sentence and has a year and a half left before his release!
Your first wife lives at her parents' home year-round taking care of the children, and your eldest daughter graduated from vocational school and works at a supply and marketing cooperative in the city.
My second son is in high school and has good grades!
Furthermore, you have a lover in the village, Widow Liu! She had an illegitimate son who is ten years old this year, named Ji Changsheng, nicknamed Jinbao!
The visitor spoke very calmly, recounting Lao Ji's family background, relatives, and all other information word by word.
Old Ji grew increasingly terrified as he listened.
Those who initially had some psychological defenses collapsed instantly after hearing how much the other party knew about their family and relatives.
"You...what do you want to do?"
"Heh, what do I want to do? You're a smart man, you should know what I want to do!"
"You want to take down my elder brother, Qiao Muzhou, to get revenge?"
Old Ji directly stated his previous speculations.
"Haha, you really are a smart person! I originally thought I'd have to use a lot of words to communicate with you!"
"What do you want me to do that will make you let me go? I'm just a gofer, not the mastermind! Give me a chance, and I'll definitely cherish it!" Old Ji continued to press.
"I want you to help me put on a show! If it works out, I can let you go, but the price is that you have to be wanted and go into hiding, never to come back!"
Upon hearing that he would be leaving for distant lands and never returning after the deed was done, Old Ji, seeing a glimmer of hope, breathed a sigh of relief: "Alright, I promise you! Whatever you need me to do, I'll agree!"
"Heh, you agreed so readily without even hearing my request?"
"The person I'm dealing with is your elder brother, whom you've followed for half your life! Your reaction is making me a little worried!" the old man said meaningfully.
Old Ji said without any psychological pressure, "Qiao San'er is indeed my elder brother, but that was before!"
Since this incident, he has chilled the hearts of us brothers!
To help him get revenge, I spent several days climbing mountains and enduring ice and snow. After failing, I went to find him, but he didn't even give me a little money to cover my living expenses while I was out in the limelight!
"If I had known, I should have listened to Lao Zou and not gotten involved in this mess!"
"Old Zou? Master Zou? Zou Guangwen?" the old man asked again.
Old Ji nodded: "That's right! Old Zou is our hunting team's advisor. This matter was discussed with my elder brother!"
We've talked privately, and he felt that the boss was a bit cold-blooded, so he reminded me to be careful.
But I still thought about our past relationship and helped him get it done! I didn't expect Xiao Yue to be so capable; he messed up..."
After listening for a moment, the old man pondered and continued to ask, "Who was responsible for contacting the white Russian assassins from the border? Who was the contact person?"
Did you steal the three bodies that were beaten to death?
Where is the body of the white Russian now? Was it destroyed? Or is it hidden?
"I really didn't know about contacting the assassin. It was Qiao San'er's eldest son, Qiao Wentao, who made the contact. They secretly control a smuggling line and have been in contact with poacher organizations in Russia!"
I hid the Russian's body in a hollow of a poplar tree!
This thing is extremely sensitive; it's crucial evidence of their collusion with overseas poachers, so I kept it safe and didn't destroy it.
Upon hearing this, the old man was slightly taken aback. It turned out that the other party was secretly engaged in smuggling operations, which was an unexpected bonus.
In addition, the body of the white Russian is still there, which is more reassuring, at least there is concrete evidence.
"Alright, I'll send someone to verify what you've said! Just stay here for now! I'll come back to you when the time is right!"
The old man didn't give him any more information. After gagling the other person again, he got up, pushed open the door, and left.
In an instant, all that remained of Lao Ji's senses in the room was boundless darkness.
After interrogating Lao Ji, Wu Keji returned to Yue Feng's new house.
Yue Feng was already waiting at home, and when he saw Wu Keji return, he immediately came over.
"Uncle, how's Old Ji doing? Did he spit it out?"
Wu Keji nodded: "The situation is slightly better than we expected! Old Ji spit it out very easily! In addition, I got two pieces of information from Old Ji that we didn't have before!"
"what's the message?"
"Qiao Muzhou's two sons are also secretly involved in smuggling with Russians overseas!"
In addition, he did not destroy the bodies of the three white Russian assassins that were stolen, but hid them in a hollow of a poplar tree!
With these two new cards in hand, the original plan needs to be adjusted!
Yue Feng nodded after listening: "Hmm? What do you plan to do?"
Wu Keji didn't rush to answer. Instead, he frowned slightly and paused for two seconds before slowly saying, "The Qiao family's roots lie in his two sons. If their smuggling is confirmed, it wouldn't be difficult to get Uncle Hat to force them to confess, as long as there is evidence."
Arrest them all, sentence them if they deserve it, and execute them if they deserve it!
With the main suspects arrested, only women and children remain. Once the stolen goods and money are confiscated, the Qiao family will likely collapse without financial support!
The easiest way is to gather all the evidence and proceed officially!
Yue Feng nodded after listening.
I hesitated about this option before because there was no evidence of any crime against the other party's two sons. Arresting the father alone wouldn't be enough to eliminate the root of the problem and prevent future troubles.
Now that we know the other party is involved in smuggling crimes, if Brother Chen can get the information straight, it seems like taking them all down in one fell swoop is a viable option.
"That's the easiest way, but what about the more difficult way?" Yue Feng asked again. (End of Chapter)