The combined firepower of two Type 56 semi-automatics and two Type 56 assault rifles was still quite terrifying.
Wang An and his three companions fired only a single volley, and the ten people kneeling on the ground kowtowing didn't even have time to react before they all went to report to the Buddha; their heads hadn't even been lifted yet.
The most fucked up part was that they didn't know who had shot them, nor did they know why they were being killed.
Overall, these people died in an utterly pathetic manner.
Unfortunately, this was the cruelty of the deep mountains: there was no need for a reason, and there were no rules. As long as you could survive, all the benefits belonged to you.
After the volley, seeing that the ten people were dead, Wang Li laughed heartily and said
"Hahaha, everything these people robbed is ours now!"
Mu Xueli also said with a face full of joy
"This feeling of firing stealthily is way more satisfying, hahahaha..."
Wang An didn't laugh, nor did he acknowledge what the two of them said. Instead, he immediately called out to the three of them
"Alright, stop chatting. Hurry up and follow me."
With that, Wang An dove headfirst into the brush without hesitation.
Although Wang Li, Mu Xueli, and Huang Zhong didn't know what was happening or why Wang An was doing this, the three of them had always listened to him.
So, as Wang An dove into the brush, the three of them followed suit without hesitation.
Less than three seconds after the four of them had entered the brush, gunfire rang out again. Judging by the sound, two guns were firing simultaneously.
However, it was obvious that the shooters this time were not Wang An's group.
The bullets were flying exactly where the four of them had just been standing. To put it bluntly, the shooters were aiming to kill Wang An and his companions.
This also indicated that besides the ten people killed by the river, there were others present.
It could have been a third party, but it was more likely the two missing people Wang An had been thinking about.
After all, the opposition had twelve horses, yet only ten people had appeared so far.
It wasn't until the four of them jumped into a small ditch carved out by rainwater that Mu Xueli patted her chest and said, still shaken
"Holy fucking shit, that was way too goddamn scary! Luckily your reactions were fast, Brother-in-law, otherwise we would've been killed by that burst of bullets!"
Wang Li also said with wide eyes
"Yeah! I was just about to go out like a fucking idiot. Oh my god, if I'd gone out, I would've been turned into a hornet's nest. Fuck, thank god Fourth Brother told us to run."
Once they had caught their breath, Mu Xueli asked Wang An curiously
"Brother-in-law, how did you know someone was going to shoot us? And then you just made us run."
After Mu Xueli asked, Wang Li and Huang Zhong also looked at Wang An with curious expressions. Wang An's decisive action of running without explanation felt incredible to them.
Crucially, it was exactly that decisiveness that had saved the four of them from the danger of being hit.
Wang An maintained a very calm facade, lightly pointing his finger at the empty air and saying
"Is that even a question? I told you before, they had twelve horses with saddles, so there should be twelve people. Didn't you notice? Only ten came out just now. Where are the other two? Can you guarantee those two were killed by someone else? You guys really don't think things through at all."
To be honest, Wang An's heart was pounding wildly; the feeling of lingering fear had completely surged over him.
There was no helping it—who isn't afraid of bullets? They were all flesh and blood; even a grazing shot would be unbearable.
The reason Wang An ran wasn't as simple as he claimed; that was only one aspect.
On the other hand, it was actually just Wang An's instinct to flee.
Mainly, Wang An simply didn't believe that this gold mine would be handed over to the four of them so easily.
Thus, Wang An habitually wanted to be cautious, wait it out, or rather, avoid the enemy's sharp edge.
Of course, there was one final reason: in a gunfight in the deep mountains and forests, as the old saying goes, one must "fire a shot and change positions."
Before Mu Xueli and Wang Li could ask further, Wang An stood up and said
"Old rules. Xueli and Old Five, you two are a team; circle around to the upstream. Xiao Zhong and I will be a team and go downstream. Once you're there, find a spot with a good line of sight where you can clearly see the gold mine and hide. We'll do the same. Whenever we see someone appear, we'll stealthily shoot them dead."
Pausing for a moment, Wang An added
"Right, although there should only be two of them, you two must remember: be careful, then be careful again. Be cautious, then be cautious again. Your lives are important. And as soon as you fire, you must change positions immediately. Never stay in one place after shooting. Alright, let's go."
After walking a few steps, Wang An suddenly remembered something and turned to Mu Xueli and Wang Li
"You two, put some straw hats on your heads in a bit, just like the old-timers did during the guerrilla war. It'll hide you better. Also, if you need to pee, do it now; I reckon this won't be over for a while."
Mu Xueli and Wang Li were stunned for a moment, but they quickly nodded and agreed
"Got it, Fourth Brother."
"Yeah, understood, Brother-in-law."
The "straw hats" Wang An mentioned weren't actual hats, but circles woven from twigs and weeds—also called grass rings or twig rings. Almost every child in the countryside knew how to weave them, usually wearing them on their heads in the summer to block the sun.
Wang An nodded and led Xiao Zhong to circle downstream, while Mu Xueli and Wang Li nodded to each other and circled upstream.
Although taking this detour wasted a lot of time, it was necessary for safety—primarily to avoid leaving a trail and to prevent the enemy from getting the first shot.
About ten minutes later, Wang An and Huang Zhong, each wearing a straw hat, stealthily peeked their eyes out from under a tree stump.
Immediately following, two rifles wrapped in thin twigs were carefully propped up there.
At another spot slightly further upstream, Mu Xueli and Wang Li also poked their heads out wearing straw hats, though their guns were wrapped in wild grass.
This was because their guns were poking out from a thicket of grass.
It must be said that whether it was Wang An and Huang Zhong or Mu Xueli and Wang Li, the straw hats they wove were actually quite good. The concealment was excellent; crouching in the brush like that, it was impossible to tell those were human heads.