Qingshan County, Nianzishan Village!
After watching Li Gang and the others run out of the village, Li Yi’s heart was filled with worry.
That’s right—he didn’t go!
Originally, Li Yi had wanted to go with the main group, and not just because catching tomb raiders sounded thrilling.
More importantly, he wanted to see who exactly had dug up the General’s Tomb.
This was the biggest unsolved mystery in Qingshan County from his previous life—one that had never been cracked.
At the same time, it was a shared regret among all the county’s residents.
Everyone said that the exquisite quality of the artifacts unearthed from the General’s Tomb clearly demonstrated the tomb’s high status. If it could be preserved intact, it would be a tremendous boon for the entire Qing Shan County.
Who knows? With this tomb, the government might even build a museum on the original site to preserve it, or the area could become a tourist attraction.
But unfortunately, the General’s Tomb was looted by those damned thieves, and the damage was particularly severe. With no other choice, the provincial government had to dispatch an archaeological team to conduct an emergency excavation.
When the burial chamber was opened and the severely damaged coffin and the state of the chamber were revealed, the experts and professors in charge of the emergency excavation were filled with anger and regret.
Now that he was witnessing the case being solved firsthand, Li Yi was naturally quite excited; if he could catch those tomb raiders with his own hands, that would be even better.
Of course, the intention was good, but the moment he voiced the suggestion, it was met with unanimous opposition from Zhang Ziqiang, Li Gang, Feng Kai, as well as Yongzi, Xiaogouwa, and the others.
As Zhang Ziqiang put it, Li Yi’s safety was far more important than that of those unknown individuals. Even if the capture mission failed and those bastards got away, they couldn’t let him put himself in danger.
Li Gang, Feng Kai, and the others were also unwilling to let him take such a risk. Li Yi was of vital importance to both the county and the village; there could be absolutely no mishaps.
It wasn’t just Li Yi; even his father, Li Shan Kui, had been left behind in the village.
Li Yi felt helpless about this.
Although he had anticipated this—after all, Zhang Ziqiang’s job was to ensure his safety, and there was no way that guy would let him tag along—
Besides, those tomb raiders weren’t armed with mere sticks; if cornered, they would surely fight back with everything they had, and a fierce battle would be inevitable.
And bullets have no eyes; if he were to show up on the battlefield, no one could guarantee he’d come out unscathed.
Even if he weren’t killed, a single stray bullet could leave Zhang Ziqiang and the others facing disciplinary action from their superiors.
Li Gang, Feng Kai, and the others felt the same way. So, to avoid getting everyone into trouble, Li Yi had no choice but to comply with their wishes and stay in the village to wait for news.
At that moment, Li Yi was deeply worried, fearing that something might happen to these men.
It was the Lunar New Year; if anything happened to either the public security officers or the villagers, their families would find it unbearable.
Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, his father’s familiar voice came from behind him: “You’ve been up most of the night. Go back and get some rest. I’ll keep an eye on things here!”
“Dad, I want to wait until everyone comes back!” Li Yi said.
“When I came out just now, the light was on in Xiaoxue’s room. You should go back and check on her so she doesn’t worry!”
Li Shankui added, “Anyway, the manhunt won’t be over anytime soon. There’s no point in you just sitting here waiting. You can come out after Uncle Feng and the others return—it’s not too late then!”
“Alright then. If there’s any movement over on the back mountain, just give me a shout!” Li Yi said.
“Alright!”
After that, Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang got back in the car and drove straight to the new house nearby.
When Li Yi got home, sure enough, he saw that the lights were on inside.
In fact, it wasn’t just his house; the lights were on in the vast majority of homes in the village.
After all, the village militia and reserve members were all young and able-bodied men. Although the women and children at home still had no idea what was going on, a late-night militia assembly was in itself highly unusual.
On top of that, the village had opened its long-dormant armory, and with all the militia members patrolling back and forth through the village, the women at home knew something major had happened.
Although they couldn’t stop the men in their families—nor did they dare to—they could only worry in silence.
Under these circumstances, who could possibly sleep?
……..
The Li Family’s Main House!
Li Yi pushed open the door and saw Jiang Xue sitting on the kang, fully dressed, her face filled with worry.
When she saw Li Yi push the door open, a flicker of excitement crossed her eyes, but the tension on her face eased considerably.
“What on earth is going on out there? It’s such a commotion. I even saw the village militia assembling and being issued guns…”
Before Jiang Xue could finish, Li Yi briefly recounted the events of the night.
After hearing the situation, Jiang Xue looked at Li Yi closely, then said with lingering fear, “That was way too dangerous. You really shouldn’t go running to the back mountain unless you have to!”
Li Yi ruffled her hair and said, “It was just a fluke this time. Nothing like this has ever happened before…”
Just then, his mother and older sister came in from the next room to ask what was going on.
When they learned that bandits had actually appeared on the back mountain, they were all startled.
Their village had experienced something like this decades ago; it was said that bandits had once stormed the village, resulting in many deaths. They never imagined there would still be criminals these days!
“Mom, big sister, don’t worry. Even though these guys have guns, they’re most likely just a bunch of grave robbers. I doubt they’d have the guts to come into the village and kill or burn things down!” Li Yi continued to reassure them.
“Oh, Mother, I’m just afraid they won’t catch them all in the dead of night. If a few of them get away, they might come back to take revenge on our village!” his mother, Zhang Yuehong, said with a worried look on her face.
Li Yi immediately replied, “Mom, our village is on high alert now. The police and militia are already out catching those people. Even if a few slip through the net, they won’t dare come back to the village to take revenge!”
“I hope it really is as you say, otherwise we won’t be able to enjoy the New Year in our village!” his mother said.
Jiang Xue chimed in, “Let’s hope those criminals don’t put up a fight, and that they don’t cause any casualties in the village. Otherwise, this New Year’s celebration will be nothing but a headache!”
Li Yi sighed and said, “Let’s hope so…”
Just as they were speaking, a sudden “thud, thud” sounded from outside.
In the past, Li Yi would have mistaken this sound for firecrackers, but today, it certainly wasn’t firecrackers.
Realizing that a firefight had broken out on the back mountain, Li Yi immediately ran out of the house and climbed the ladder onto the roof.
Since his house was in a remote location, with no other buildings in sight except for a sheep farm and a cattle farm nearby, he could clearly see the back mountain from the roof.
However, the night was so pitch-black that, aside from the occasional gunfire in the distance, he could see nothing else.
Even so, just hearing the rapid gunfire—sounding like firecrackers—was enough to imagine how fierce the fighting was on the back mountain, and this made Li Yi’s heart sink.
He didn’t care one bit about the tomb raiders’ lives. Given the behavior of these scoundrels—robbing tombs at gunpoint and then resisting arrest—they’d surely have been sentenced to hard labor if caught. Being shot dead might actually be a blessing in disguise.
Li Yi’s greatest concern right now was the arrest team. After all, most of them had no experience fighting criminals, and many had never even fired a gun before.
Yet they were now facing a gang of desperate criminals—it would be nearly impossible to avoid casualties!
The gunfire raged on for nearly half an hour before gradually dying down, leaving Li Yi feeling even more tense and anxious.
He didn’t know if the criminals had been captured or killed, whether any had escaped, or if the arrest team had suffered any casualties…
Just as Li Yi was worrying, lights flashed on the hillside behind the village and began moving toward the village—clearly, the arrest team had returned.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately climbed down from the roof, called out to Zhang Ziqiang and Yang Zhiwen, and headed toward the village entrance…
………
PS: There will be another chapter before midnight!