Chapter 901: A Courtyard in Shambles

The reason Zhang Shuya agreed to let Wang An and Wang Li open fire was that, at this time, the militia were an important force for maintaining public security in various regions.

Under certain special circumstances, militia members bore no responsibility for injuring people while firing.

Of course, as time passed, the role of the militia gradually diminished, primarily because the inconsistent quality of the personnel was a significant flaw.

However, in recent years, the militia were still genuinely quite important.

After Zhang Shuya finished speaking, Wang An and Wang Li nodded simultaneously. As long as Zhang Shuya permitted it, it was not a problem for the two of them to open fire in public.

But to be honest, no one wanted to shoot someone for no reason.

Immediately following this, Zhang Shuya called over two "hat-brothers" of company commander rank, briefly explained the situation to them, and then said to Sun Nian

"Xiao Nian, you will be fully responsible for this mission. Set off."

Given Zhang Shuya's current rank, she truly could no longer appear at the scene. More importantly, as the number one person in the Public Security Bureau, the amount of business she had to handle daily was genuinely not a small amount.

However, the fact that she could dispatch Sun Nian personally was enough to show how much importance she placed on this matter.

Of course, this was also because Wang An had come to find her. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, matters occurring in Xing'an Township should have been handled by the dispatched personnel of Xing'an Township and would never have reached Zhang Shuya.

Hearing this, Sun Nian nodded in agreement, and the group filed out toward the exit.

It must be said that for a unit as large as the County Public Security Bureau, their strength was genuinely quite impressive.

Not only did they have jeeps, but they also had a Jiefang truck.

Wang An's trio still rode the sidecar motorcycle, while Sun Nian led the rest of the group in the Jiefang.

Wang An did a rough count; including Sun Nian and the driver, a total of 13 hat-brothers had been deployed.

Twelve hat-brothers and one hat-sister going to deal with a gang of loan sharks—this formation could be described as quite substantial. He wondered if those people would be able to withstand it.

Once everyone was ready, Sun Nian rolled down the car window and shouted to Wang An's side

"You lead the way in front, and we'll follow behind."

Wang An replied

"Aye, alright, Sister Nian."

After speaking, Wang An said to Wang Li

"Let's go check Xiuyu's house first to see what's going on and if those people are still there."

Wang Li nodded, shifted gears, and twisted the throttle, sending the sidecar motorcycle speeding forward.

Without any delays along the way, in less than half an hour, the two vehicles stopped at the entrance of Li Xiuyu's home.

As soon as she got out of the car, Li Xiuyu tried to run toward the house, but the moment she moved, Wang An barked angrily

"Get back here! What's the point of rushing now? Is it really going to make a difference in this short time?"

It wasn't that Wang An was cold-blooded; it was primarily that they didn't know the situation inside the house yet. If Li Xiuyu rushed in recklessly, she might be exposed to unnecessary danger.

Hearing this, Li Xiuyu stopped in her tracks. She looked at Wang An with teary eyes and then gazed toward the house.

Li Xiuyu's reaction was entirely understandable. Knowing that she didn't know the current state of her mother, as a daughter, she was naturally extremely anxious and worried.

After getting out of the vehicles, everyone looked at Li Xiuyu's courtyard and couldn't help but frown deeply.

A perfectly good courtyard looked as if a herd of wild boars had trampled through it; it was a complete and utter mess.

It looked more like an ancient home after it had been raided by the government, with all sorts of unwanted junk scattered randomly all over the yard.

Tattered quilts, straw mats, smashed pots and bowls, and various farm tools with broken handles... and so on. In short, the entire yard was filled with trash.

Most importantly, one look at these things revealed they were intentionally destroyed, and the destruction had happened recently.

Subconsciously, Wang An asked Li Xiuyu

"Your house... was all this done by those people?"

At this moment, Li Xiuyu didn't seem to care about these things, her gaze remaining fixed on the doorway of the house.

Thus, upon hearing Wang An's question, Li Xiuyu merely glanced at the junk in the yard and nodded

"They did this yesterday. They said our family hid the valuables and they wanted to search thoroughly."

Hearing this, Wang An sucked in his teeth and nodded, while the fire of anger in his heart couldn't help but rise.

The scene before them was enough to prove that those loan sharks were no longer just after the money; they were clearly intent on destroying Li Xiuyu's family.

After all, regardless of the circumstances, the creditors only had hope of getting their money if the debtors were alive.

If the people were dead, where the hell would they get the money from?

Yet their current behavior was clearly leaving no way out for Li Xiuyu's family.

After observing and waiting for a long time and seeing that no one came out of the house, Sun Nian finally gave the order

"Everyone, search!"

As Sun Nian's voice fell, the group of hat-brothers dashed toward every corner of the courtyard.

Standing at the main gate and looking at the wreckage of the yard, Sun Nian's beautiful little face twisted with anger. She said indignantly

"These animals are truly lawless."

Wang An's expression was already grim. Hearing this, he nodded

"Damn right. These animals are too fucking ruthless; it's almost like the Japanese soldiers entering a village, damn it."

Soon, the few hat-brothers who had run into the house came back out. One of them said to Sun Nian

"Captain Sun, we've searched the whole house. No one is here."

Sun Nian nodded without speaking.

Li Xiuyu's courtyard wasn't particularly large by local standards, roughly three or four mu in size. Aside from the livestock shed and haystacks, there wasn't much to search.

Consequently, the other hat-brothers returned from their respective areas and reported to Sun Nian that there was "no one."

Just then, the villagers of Su Family Village, hearing the sound of the cars, all crowded toward Li Xiuyu's house.

That was how it was in the countryside at that time; as long as a motor vehicle appeared in the village, a large crowd would quickly gather nearby.

A middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties shouted to Li Xiuyu

"Xiuyu! There's no one at your house right now. Your eldest brother, sister-in-law, your mother, and your nephew are all at your second brother's house."

Li Xiuyu replied with a voice full of tears

"Aye, I know, Third Aunt."

Sun Nian quickly asked Li Xiuyu

"Where is your second brother's house?"

Li Xiuyu pointed toward the northwest of the village and said

"Over there. I'll lead you there."