Chapter 49: The Vital Energy Rushes Directly into the Water to Search

  Zhu Shijun rushed to the edge of the pond, quickly took off his short sleeves and trousers, crumpled them into a ball, and stepped on the water grass at the edge of the shore to slip into the pool. He stood in the water and searched around for a suitable hiding spot, finally stopping his gaze on a large locust tree closest to the Laojun Temple direction. This large locust tree was as thick as three people hugging it, and it was unclear whether it grew from the shore or rooted in the water. The branches of the locust tree were lush and dense, stretching diagonally towards the center of the water, with the lowest layer of branches extending out to form a hollow on the water surface. Unless standing in the muddy area on the opposite side of the locust tree, it was impossible to discover that this place was suitable for hiding.

  Zhu Shijun cut a long section of reeds in the water and quickly arrived at the bottom of the big locust tree, squatting down and sinking, leaving only his head exposed. He crumpled up the clothes and shoes in his hand and pressed them heavily into the mud on the side wall of the pool, as if he was wearing clothes to sink, it is very likely that even a slight movement at the bottom of the water would cause air bubbles to pass through the clothes and emerge. He had to be cautious, this time unlike the usual gang fight, looking at the opponent's formation, it is highly possible that they will go all out, seeking to take lives.

  As soon as Zhu Shijun hid his body, he heard a familiar voice coming from the shore: "Squad leader, it was these three who beat Tian Shao into the hospital. Hmm, why is one missing? Quick, where's that little scoundrel?" The speaker was furious and out of breath, clearly hating Zhu Shijun to the bone for his triple kick that had knocked Jiang Chaotian unconscious. Now that he couldn't find the main culprit, he was extremely angry.

  Zhu Shijun recognized the sound as the toad skin, and he slowly descended into the water with a reed pipe in his mouth until his head was submerged. The place where Zhu Shijun sank was near the shore, but it was also nearly two meters deep. He stretched out his hand to grab the roots of a large Chinese scholar tree that had grown into the water, so as not to float up, and remained still like this. On the surface, there were no ripples, just a peaceful silence.

  "Wen Hong, you'd better shut up. I'm the one who agreed to let you protect Tian Shao, and now look what's happened! Not only will I be punished, but even the team leader might not be able to escape. What kind of thing have you done? You're the squad leader of the guard squad, and you can't even take down three or four kids. You're a complete waste, a thorough waste! If this gets out, our entire 12th team will lose face because of you."

  The tall young man wearing a military uniform was pointing at Wen Hong's nose and scolding him loudly. He was Si Yu, the squad leader of the guard squad in the 12th team's headquarters.

  Si Yu had become a squad leader at just 23 years old, and he was the squad leader of the guard squad in the team headquarters, which made him even more powerful than a regular company commander. The reason for his rapid promotion was that he had connections with the higher-ups - his aunt was the nanny of the Jiang family.

  Si Yu had risen to power by relying on Jiang Chao Tian, and also managed to get on good terms with the team leader of the 12th team, Qiu Zhi Guo. As a result, the entire 12th team had almost become Jiang Chao Tian's personal guard squad. Every time Jiang Chao Tian went out, Qiu Zhi Guo would arrange for soldiers from the guard squad to provide close protection.

  This time, when Jiang Chao Tian was knocked unconscious by Zhu Shi Jun, the news caused Qiu Zhi Guo to almost faint as well. He slapped Wen Hong and another soldier in the guard squad on the ears, then ordered Si Yu to lead the entire guard squad to capture the bad guys who had hurt Tian Shao.

  This was his last hope of redeeming himself.

  Qiu Zhiguo was furious, and Si Yong was like a mad tiger. How could he still have the face to ask his aunt to speak for him later? If things went wrong, his aunt would also be dismissed by others. With Qiu Zhiguo's order, Si Yong led more than 30 soldiers, armed with guns and ammunition, rushing towards Laojun Temple.

  Sai Yong grabbed Lei Xiao Tian's collar and sneered, "Don't play tricks on me, you'll end up suffering. Usually, those who try to trick me will regret it. Now, where is that little brat hiding?"

  "Lei Xiaotian raised his head and said: 'He ate too many peaches and had a stomachache, so he went home first.'"

  Sai Yong's face sank: "Go home? Good, wait a bit and I'll search it out with you." After finishing speaking, Sai Yong turned around to order the soldiers lined up in three rows: "Search for me! Take each squad as a unit, take Lao Jun Temple as the center, within five miles of radius, don't let go of any grass or tree, including those old men's residences."

  "Yes!"

  A row of warriors dispersed in all directions, leaving only a few people holding guns to resist Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian, waiting in place.

  Ten minutes later, the class leaders of each class returned to report that all the young people nearby had been searched out and asked Wen Hong and Zhang Qiu (another warrior guarding Jiang Chao Tian) to identify them, but they did not find the person they were looking for. However, two bicycles were found, and after investigation, it was found that three people rode one each when they came, possibly because the guy really had something to do with it before he left.

  Sai Yong's sharp eyes stared intently at Kang Tong and Lei Xiao Tian, as if trying to pierce through their hearts. He didn't believe that the other guy had escaped, and he rubbed his hands together, holding three pale green gourds, seemingly trying to discern something from them. Unfortunately, the gourds were not like corpses, and it was impossible to tell the time from their temperature and color.

  Si Yong stepped onto the mountain slope, his eyes wandering around, and suddenly stopped at the pond where Zhu Shijun was hiding. Si Yong rushed towards the pond in big strides and stopped beside a large pagoda tree. This large pagoda tree was closest to Lao Jun Temple, and the land nearby had long been trampled flat by women washing clothes, making it an ideal spot for observation. Of course, Si Yong didn't know that the person he was searching for was right under his feet at this moment.

  "Come out!" Si Yong shouted at the water's surface. "We've all seen you."

  The big locust tree beside Sī Yǒng was exactly where Zhū Shì Jūn was hiding. When Sī Yǒng rushed towards the pond, Kāng Tóng and Léi Xiǎo Tiān's faces changed drastically, thinking he had discovered Kāng Tóng. From their previous conversation, they referred to Zhū Shì Jūn as the main culprit, so if he was caught by them, he would definitely be severely punished. Now that Sī Yǒng had spoken out, it turned out to be a false alarm, fortunately no one noticed their expressions earlier, otherwise it would have been self-incriminating.

  When Si Yong shouted the first half of the sentence on the shore, Zhu Shijun's heart was chilled to the bone, and he cursed inwardly: "You're too cunning, aren't you? You can even find me hiding like this." Just as Zhu Shijun was about to give up, crawl out, Si Yong shouted the second half of the sentence. Suddenly, Zhu Shijun's mind calmed down, thinking: "Go ahead and blow it, my grandfather is right under your feet, you can see that, I might as well just pull out the reed stem and drown myself."

  The water surface did not ripple at all, Si Yong was puzzled in his heart, had he really left? He still didn't believe it: "Third Squad Leader, assault rifle."

  Three leaders looked at each other, and handed over the 64-style silent assault rifle hanging from their necks. Si Yong took it and shouted towards the lake: "I'll count to three, if you don't come out after three counts, I'll shoot!" After finishing speaking, Si Yong turned his head and swept a glance at Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian, seeing that they were calm and composed, he also felt a bit anxious. But now, he had no choice but to take action. Si Yong counted to three, then raised the assault rifle and fired a burst of shots towards the pond, firing until the last bullet was spent and the trigger clicked "click click" before stopping.

  As soon as Si Yong said he was going to fire, Kang Tong and Lei Xiao Tian on the shore, and Zhu Shijun underwater, were overjoyed. Standing here, if they could hit him, it would be a miracle. Let's get ready for battle, just in time, we haven't seen the power of a submachine gun yet. Zhu Shijun underwater was so angry that he wished he could help Si Yong jump from one to three directly.

  "Long shot, red, definitely hit, good shooting..." Wen Hong's flattery was cut off as several dead fish floated to the surface.

  They didn't catch the main culprit, and Si Yong was furious in his heart. At this moment, Wen Hong's flattery seemed more like sarcasm. Si Yong raised his hand and slapped him with a loud slap, causing Wen Hong to spin around in a circle.

  Si Yong returned the empty submachine gun to San Zhang, and said to Kang Tong and Lei Xiao Tian: "Very good, consider him clever, however, you can run away from the monk, but you can't run away from the temple. First, let's take care of you two, and then we'll see where he lives. Don't blame me for being ruthless, blame your bad luck for provoking someone you shouldn't have provoked. When you get to the bottom, don't blame me." After that, Si Yong gave a signal to the soldiers who were watching Kang Tong and Lei Xiao Tian, and said: "Take them away."

  A few soldiers used the butt of their guns to heavily hit the two men on the head, knocking them unconscious. This was a plan that Si Yong had thought of earlier, first to vent his anger before doing anything else. Si Yong led a row of soldiers in dragging the two men away like dead dogs.

  Later, Zhu Shijun heard the sound of cars roaring in the water and guessed that they had left. But he was cautious by nature and decided to stay in the water for a while longer, just in case it was a trick.

  Sai Yong had swept through with a submachine gun, and was just short of using hand grenades. He was already dead-hearted and couldn't be more dead-hearted, so where would he still have the mind to trick him? Zhu Shijun waited for about ten minutes again, seeing that there was still no movement outside, before daring to emerge from the water's surface. By now it was already past six o'clock, fortunately in summer, the nights are short and the sky wasn't completely dark yet. Zhu Shijun climbed ashore, not bothering with his wet clothes and shoes, took them off, swished them around in the water a few times to wash away the mud and sand, then put them back on again.

  Zhu Shijun had to race against time, he heard clearly the murderous words of Si Yong, who was determined to take the lives of Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian. He didn't care about his soaked body, and rushed towards the old temple, where Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian had left their bicycles. As expected, Si Yong's group wouldn't have taken the bicycles with them in the military vehicle. Sure enough, Zhu Shijun found the two bicycles, panting heavily, he mounted one of them and rode desperately towards the Xue family home.

  ………….

  Xue Xiang floored it, and the three-wheeled engine let out a series of wheezing gasps. He had heard Zhu Shijun's account of the whole incident and already knew how serious things were; if they weren't careful, Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian would be in danger of losing their lives. Fortunately, it hadn't been two hours since the incident, so even if those people were using torture, they probably wouldn't start until after dinner. At this moment, every second counted, and there was no time to worry about damaging the motorcycle.

  The speeding motorcycle blew the wind that pulled Xue Xiang's hair straight, and at this moment, he felt as if there was a fierce fire burning in his heart, burning him to the point of explosion. Originally, today's matter with Liu Ying'er had already dealt him a heavy blow. If Kang Tong or Lei Xiaotian were to meet with an accident, no matter who it was, Xue Xiang had made up his mind to make them wish they were dead.

  Dongcheng District Public Security Bureau is about thirty miles away from Xue's home. Xue stepped on the gas and arrived in just fifteen minutes. When he arrived, the main gate of the Public Security Bureau was closed, but he didn't bother to knock. He revved up his motorcycle and crashed through the five-meter-wide metal gate, which swung heavily against the wall. The duty officer, Old Wang, was startled and rushed forward, ready to shout, but saw Xue's scowling face as he got off his motorcycle. Old Wang knew Xue well; this young man was close to the bureau chief (military representative), so he didn't dare to be rude to him. Although Xue usually treated him kindly, offering him cigarette packs from time to time, today he looked troubled and didn't even crack a smile. Old Wang smiled and greeted Xue before returning to his post.