Zhang Shuya did not answer Wang Shuai, but instead pointed at Big Eyes and said to Wang Shuai and Sun Nian
"This man says there were two of them; another one went back to deliver a message."
Hearing this, Wang Shuai and Sun Nian lost their composure. This meant that they had been watched from the very beginning!
As they spoke, the three of them and the horse arrived at the camp, and the others who were hiding in various spots emerged from their respective hiding places.
The moment everyone saw Big Eyes, they almost all froze. Some subconsciously blurted out
"Holy shit, what the hell is that thing?"
However, once they got a clear look at Big Eyes' bizarre appearance, they all shut up. Mainly because talking about a person like that was truly a bit tasteless.
Wang An ignored the issue of Big Eyes' appearance and asked him directly
"Buddy, why are you following us? What are you thinking? Why don't you tell us?"
After Wang An finished speaking, Zhang Shuya immediately added
"Xiao An, he says he has an accomplice who has already run back to report."
Wang An nodded upon hearing this, but his gaze continued to linger on Big Eyes.
By now, Wang An had basically confirmed his previous suspicion: Big Eyes and his group were likely the ones who kept the hawks.
However, whether they were in league with the people in the pit remained to be verified.
Hearing this, Big Eyes glanced at Wang An, then glanced at the short-tailed fox crouching beside him. When he saw the short-tailed fox, the expression on his face changed noticeably.
Specifically, his protruding, massive eyeballs visibly narrowed into slits, becoming smaller!
The others didn't care about Big Eyes' odd reaction, because while foxes were common, people who kept them were very rare.
And people who kept a fox and brought it along with them were even rarer.
Even the group found the short-tailed fox's behavior incredible, let alone an outsider like Big Eyes.
Big Eyes' eyes kept darting toward the short-tailed fox. With an expression that suggested Wang An was asking a question he already knew the answer to, he said
"Brother, look at how you're putting this. Don't you know what you've done? Don't tell me those gold nuggets in that mine pit weren't taken by you."
Now it was verified. Big Eyes and his group were indeed in league with the people in the pit.
Hearing this, Wang An immediately felt a sense of "well, fuck my life." Naturally, the expressions of the others were also somewhat awkward.
Although they had obtained those gold nuggets through their own strength, and one of the owners of the nuggets—the very Big Eyes before them—had become their prisoner.
But it had to be admitted that the actions of Wang An and the others were, in fact, theft and robbery.
To put it bluntly, it was literal murder and looting!
And yet, they had been caught red-handed and questioned by the victim. Didn't that feel a bit embarrassing?
Fortunately, the group's skin was either thick enough or had long since vanished, so they only felt slightly uneasy.
Wang An's heart fluttered a bit, but his expression remained unchanged as he said
"So you want to rob them back? Is that the idea?"
Big Eyes kept his eyes on the fox, but his face wore a look of obvious justification as he said
"Of course. If something was stolen from your house, wouldn't you look for it?"
It had to be said that Big Eyes' logic was actually flawless; it was just that his tone was far too damn blunt.
Following that, Wang An continued to question him, and Big Eyes answered everything he knew without reservation. He was remarkably honest, hiding nothing at all.
From Big Eyes' mouth, the group learned several things.
Big Eyes' boss was named Ma Zhengshan, but this "Ma" surname was not a traditional Han Chinese surname. It was a simplified version of the "Majia" clan from the Eight Great Manchu Surnames, taking only the character "Ma."
Of course, that wasn't the most important part. The most important thing was that the gold mine did not belong to Ma Zhengshan; the true mine owner was someone else.
To put it bluntly, Ma Zhengshan was also just an employee, though he had organized his own gang.
Every time they obtained gold, Ma Zhengshan's group could only keep five percent; the remaining ninety-five percent had to be handed over.
Among the people Wang An and the others had killed, several were men belonging to the mine owner.
Speaking of this, Big Eyes said those few were just unlucky. Because the mine owner worried that his own men and Ma Zhengshan's men would collude to embezzle gold, the owner's men were rotated every month. Sometimes they were swapped two or three times in a single month.
Of course, they weren't replaced in batches, but one or two at a time; no one knew who would be swapped out.
Most importantly, these people never repeated, and they didn't know each other.
This resulted in no one daring to embezzle the gold—not even Ma Zhengshan. If they wanted some gold, they could only pan for a little bit themselves outside the mine pit.
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but let out a "holy shit" of exclamation.
It had to be said that this mine owner's brain was definitely not like a normal person's; he was far too damn calculating.
As expected, every time the mine owner sent people to collect the gold, they would drive everyone out of the mine pit. Then, they would spend two, three, or even four or five days completely extracting the gold from that small lake.
It must be mentioned that every time the mine owner sent people to collect the gold, one or two, or maybe two or three people, would be blown to death...
Hearing this, everyone was completely stunned. One by one, they were left speechless and dazed!
Just what kind of person was this mine owner? What the hell kind of brain did he have?
This was simply... simply not something a human being should do!
The reason Ma Zhengshan, Big Eyes, and the others weren't in the mine pit this time was that they had gone to escort the mine owner's men out of the mountains, while simultaneously bringing the owner's new appointees and several laborers into the mountains.
When Wang An asked Big Eyes why he was so cooperative and calm after being captured, Big Eyes' words left the group in silence.
Because Big Eyes said his wife had disappeared. He suspected it was the work of Ma Zhengshan or the mine owner, but he had no evidence and no opportunity to kill Ma Zhengshan. As for the mine owner, he had never even met him.
Big Eyes also mentioned that his wife was exceptionally beautiful, even more beautiful than Sun Nian and Zhang Shuya...
The reason the group fell silent was simply because they didn't know how to respond to that.
Mainly, if they put themselves in someone else's shoes—not Big Eyes' shoes, but his wife's shoes.
Regardless of who it was, facing two massive eyeballs every day that looked like peeled eggs... what kind of mood would Big Eyes' wife be in every day???
After the silence, Wang An asked Big Eyes how many people they had, as well as their weapons and equipment.
After Big Eyes explained, Wang An and the others finally felt somewhat relaxed.
Because the opponent's current strength was truly mediocre; nearly more than half of their force had already been wiped out by Wang An and his group.
(End of Chapter)