Chapter 349 - 235: Burning the Bastards (Part 2)

Chapter 349: Chapter 235: Burning the Bastards (Part 2)

"Is... is the PLA here?"

"Not the PLA. We’re the militia from Dragon King Pond, and there are public security comrades with us. You’re saved!"

As soon as he said that, the warehouse erupted into chaos. People surged out in a rush, some carrying children, others supporting the elderly. When they saw the firelight outside and the corpses on the ground, they began to both cry and laugh. It was complete pandemonium.

A white-haired old man leaning on a cane walked out, and the crowd quickly parted to make way for him. This was the village’s Elder Master, surnamed Teng, the most senior person in Phoenix Village. He grabbed Zhao Wendong’s hand, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

"Comrade, you’ve saved the lives of everyone in our entire village!"

"Sir, please don’t get too excited just yet. First, have everyone go back to their houses and warm up. Anyone who’s injured should be treated immediately. Is the production team leader here? Are the team committee members around?"

Soon, a few members of the team committee stepped forward and began organizing the villagers for an orderly evacuation. The scene was chaotic, and with the bodies on the ground, it wasn’t a suitable place for children. On the militia’s side, someone had been unlucky enough to get his arm wounded by a ricochet. It was Uncle Wang’s second son, Wang Erli.

"Erli, how is it?"

Zhao Wendong asked with concern, looking at Wang Erli’s arm, which was streaming with fresh blood.

"I’m fine, Captain. Just got unlucky and took a hit. It’s just a flesh wound."

Wang Erli nodded nonchalantly, and Zhao Wendong was immediately relieved.

After the scene was secured and the villagers were settled, the men went to check on the murdered villager.

"That’s Teng Fugen. After those people arrived, they singled him out. Then they locked the rest of us up. We just heard Fugen keep saying he didn’t know anything, but they kept beating him. Then, we don’t know what happened, but they just opened fire!"

The production team leader sighed after he finished speaking. Beside him, Elder Master Teng glanced at Teng Fugen, then at Zhao Wendong and his men, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"What a shame," Zhao Wendong sighed as well.

"Thank you! Thank you for avenging Fugen!"

The committee member finished speaking and glared at the corpses that had been tossed aside, his eyes filled with disgust.

"Does Teng Fugen have any family?"

"Yes, that’s her over there. Three children and his wife."

The production team leader said, pointing to a woman in the distance who was sitting on the ground, sobbing her heart out while being comforted by a group of other women.

Zhao Wendong thought for a moment, then waved his brother over. "Big Brother, go strip these guys bare. On second thought, Second Sister-in-law is still here, so leave them their underwear. Then, take some of the things they had on them and give it to Teng Fugen’s family. Help them out a little."

Zhao Wenjun nodded. "Alright, I know what you mean."

A short while later, Zhao Wenjun returned, holding a piece of cowhide paper.

"The clothes, gear, and weapons have all been collected. I found this among their things."

Zhao Wendong unfolded it in the firelight and saw crooked lines and some markings drawn on it. It looked like a map, but only half of one. Moreover, the thing looked very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"What is that thing?" Li Dawei asked, leaning in for a look.

"Just some scribbles. I can’t make it out. Looks like some kind of map."

After speaking, Zhao Wendong stuffed the cowhide paper into an inner pocket of his greatcoat for safekeeping. He had already remembered: this thing looked very similar to the map from the bottle he had found while foraging on the beach. ’Could the two maps really be two halves of a whole?’

Seeing Zhao Wendong turn to other tasks, Li Dawei didn’t give it much thought and got busy as well. They needed to arrange for people to retrieve the supplies and the wolf carcasses, and also to set up a night watch, as they weren’t sure if those nine men were the only ones. The people of Phoenix Village were incredibly enthusiastic and cooperative. After all, Zhao Wendong and his men were their saviors. If they hadn’t appeared out of nowhere like soldiers from heaven, who knows what the consequences would have been.

When the villagers saw the retrieved Wolf Pack, they were even more ecstatic. It turned out their village had also been attacked by wolves before. Now, Zhao Wendong and his men had helped them eliminate a menace. Although the village was dirt-poor, they still did everything they could to clear out several houses and light the heated brick beds, arranging for Zhao Wendong and all his men to have a warm place to sleep.

The burning house didn’t collapse until the middle of the night. Zhao Wendong had asked about it; it was a production team building, not a private residence.

The next morning, Zhao Wendong and his men didn’t leave. After such a major incident, they couldn’t just walk away; they definitely had to report the matter clearly first. Besides, Phoenix Village, where they were, was already in the neighboring Feng County. It would take at least a full day and night to walk back. It was better to wait for people from the county to handle things here and then go back with them. They could ask the county to send a large truck to pick them up.

Zhao Wendong arranged for Zhao Ergou and two other militiamen to go with the Phoenix Village production team leader to the Commune to report the incident. At the same time, they were to notify their own county to send a large truck to pick them up. With that settled, Zhao Wendong and his men simply camped in the village to rest.

When the Commune secretary for Phoenix Village heard that armed men had broken into the village the previous night to steal grain, killing someone and burning down a house, he nearly died of fright on the spot. He hurriedly called the leaders of Feng County to report it and also helped Zhao Ergou’s group notify Zhao Wendong’s county.

After Zhao Ergou left, Zhao Wendong led his men to help clean up around the village. The burned-down house was now just a blackened ruin. The few charred bodies had also been dragged out and placed in one spot, covered with a worn-out mat.

The villagers of Phoenix Village began bringing out basins and dustpans, pooling their grain bit by bit to feed his men. But Zhao Wendong saw that the villagers themselves were sallow and emaciated, their faces pale from malnutrition, and many of their children were even beginning to show signs of edema. He quickly called over Zhao Lao Nian.