Chapter 331: Dead or Alive
As the cold water splashed over them, the bare-bottomed people leaped up from the kang beds with a "shloop," their speed truly impressive.
A few of them leaped so violently that their heads slammed straight into the ceiling of the dugout.
A series of "thud thud thud" sounds echoed from the ceiling, followed by clumps of earth raining down in a cascade.
Dugouts, by nature, had no walls, so their frames were usually very low; the height from the ground to the ceiling was only about two meters.
The distance from the top of the kang to the ceiling was less than one and a half meters.
Under normal circumstances, once a person got onto the kang, they had to lie down, sit, squat, sprawl, or kneel.
If they wanted to stand, they had to bow their heads and bend their waists; standing straight up was absolutely impossible.
Furthermore, the ceiling of a dugout used the same materials as a rural earthen house.
At the bottom were the purlins (tree trunks), above the purlins were wattle screens, and above the screens was mud.
Once mud dries, it becomes clods of earth, and since the wattle screens were naturally flimsy, they would warp over time. The clods would turn back into loose soil, and with the slightest vibration, the dirt would pour down like rain.
Regardless, everyone was now wide awake, but immediately, panicked questions and various curses erupted.
"What happened? Is the house leaking?"
"Holy shit, why is the rain so heavy?"
"Fuck, who the hell wants to die? Splashing water all over me!"
The sound of a man beating and shouting at a woman rang out.
"Slap! Slap! You fucking bitch, don't you know to go outside to piss? Why are you spraying it on me?"
"I didn't!"
"Then are you fucking flooding? Why is there so much water flowing?"
It had to be said that these people didn't view the women here as human beings at all; they cursed with every breath and struck with every hand.
After a chaotic bout of arguing, the boss shouted
"All of you, get your fucking clothes on quickly and go find that person!"
As soon as the boss finished speaking, everyone looked at each other.
The order was vague; they had no idea who they were supposed to be looking for.
At that moment, one of the uninjured men spoke up: "The boss is talking about that new woman. That woman ran away. You all know what her identity is; if we don't find her, we're all fucking finished."
Only then did everyone realize what was happening, and they began to dress rapidly.
Once all the men had stepped down and put on their shoes, the boss glanced at the eleven women who were still bare-bottomed.
It was evident from the boss's expression that he felt a sense of regret and pity.
The reason for this expression was that the boss's thoughts were different from everyone else's.
The others were going to find the woman, but the boss was not, because the boss was planning to make a run for it.
In this era, kidnapping a few women wasn't a big deal; even if you didn't treat them as humans and viewed them merely as livestock or tools, nothing would happen.
But daring to kidnap a Public Security officer was a different story. Unless you ran far enough that they couldn't catch you, once you were caught, death was certain.
The nature of the crime was different. A Public Security officer represented the face and dignity of China. If you pinned the face and dignity of China to the ground, what did you think you were doing?
Once everyone was ready, the boss, carrying a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle on his back and clutching a worn-out burlap sack, led the way outside.
Whenever the boss went anywhere, he always carried a burlap sack, because he had said more than once
Opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared; if you want to catch women, you must always have a burlap sack ready.
Because of this, no one questioned why the boss was carrying a sack now, nor did they find it abnormal.
Everyone followed behind him, walking toward the exit of the forbidden zone, not a single person left behind.
When they reached the perimeter circle of the forbidden zone, the boss turned around and said
"All of us scatter. You must find that woman, dead or alive."
This statement was even more explicit; it meant that whoever found Zhang Shuya must kill her immediately without hesitation.
After speaking, the boss turned and left. However, he didn't head toward JY County, but toward the Xing'an Commune.
The others scattered in different directions, covering basically every angle.
However, it was obvious they all had their own hidden agendas, because the footprints were so clear that anyone who wasn't blind could see them.
Yet, everyone automatically ignored the footprints left by Zhang Shuya!
Soon, there wasn't a single man left within the isolation circle of the forbidden zone.
Meanwhile, the group of bare-bottomed women in the dugout continued to light their crude tobacco pipes and smoke.
Clearly, aside from their interest in smoking tobacco balls, they were completely indifferent to everything else.
At the same time, with the coordinated efforts of Wang An and the other two—cutting meat, skewering it, and grilling it—Zhang Shuya finally stopped stuffing meat into her mouth.
Wang An estimated that, excluding what Zhang Shuya had eaten previously, since the three of them had put down their chopsticks to cut meat, he had already sliced over five pounds of pork belly.
To be fair, Zhang Shuya hadn't eaten every single piece; she had left three skewers that weren't fully cooked.
And those three skewers alone weighed nearly half a pound.
After Zhang Shuya stopped eating meat, she turned and picked up the wooden bowl Wang An had been using. She scooped a bowl of meat broth with a wooden spoon and gulped it down "glug glug glug."
Wang An felt that Zhang Shuya wasn't quite full yet and was using the broth to fill the gaps.
Only after finishing the soup did Zhang Shuya look up; this time, she seemed truly full.
It had to be said that when Zhang Shuya ate meat, she was incredibly focused; she didn't even lift her head, her entire mind devoted to eating.
When Zhang Shuya saw the three of them with their facial muscles twitching, she suddenly became embarrassed and said somewhat awkwardly
"Thank you all so much. I haven't had a full meal in days. Those of us who practice martial arts eat quite a bit. I'm truly sorry; once we get out, I will definitely repay you."
Although her words came a bit late, it was clear that they were sincere.
As for Wang An and the other two, they didn't particularly care about the "repayment" Zhang Shuya mentioned.
She was just a Public Security officer; what use could she be to mountain hunters or ordinary peasants?
One could say they rarely had opportunities to interact, and besides, regardless of the matter, if it involved Public Security, it was usually nothing good.
Thus, the three of them were stunned for a moment, but none of them picked up on her offer.
Wang An simply asked with a smile, "Officer Zhang, are you full?"
Zhang Shuya nodded and smiled, "Yes, I'm full. Thank you."
Hearing that she was full, Wang An said quite naturally
"As long as you're full. Now it's your turn to sit here, cut the meat, and grill it. The three of us haven't eaten much yet."
After saying this, Wang An stood up and vacated the meat-cutting spot.
Perhaps no one had ever ordered her around before, so Zhang Shuya was momentarily dazed upon hearing this.
Mu Xueli and Wang Li also looked at Wang An in disbelief, seemingly astonished that their brother-in-law (Fourth Brother) dared to command a Public Security comrade like that.
However, Wang An didn't care if she was Public Security or not; when it was time to work, she had to work.
After sitting back down, Wang An noticed Zhang Shuya hadn't moved, so he urged her
"Hey, Officer Zhang, what are you daydreaming about? Get to it!"
Zhang Shuya snapped back to her senses, hurriedly agreed, and stood up to grill the meat.
A while later, as Wang An ate the meat grilled by Zhang Shuya, he suddenly found that this woman had become much more pleasing to the eye.
She was a grown adult; how could she get by without working?