Chapter 937: I'll Kill Anyone Who Dares Come

Wang An remembered that during these two years of his previous life, whether in the county seat of DJ County or in the various hamlets below, it was common for "broken people"—the desperate dregs of society—to team up in the dead of night to break into homes to rob money and goods, or even steal large livestock.

Yes, they stole large livestock too; mules, horses, cows, sheep, and pigs were all targets for those wretched scoundrels.

To be perfectly honest, those lowlifes really had a feeling of acting with complete impunity.

Without exception, those robbed were the wealthy families; even those whose lives were merely a bit more affluent would become targets for those wretched scoundrels.

As for blocking roads to shake people down or simply hiding in a spot to launch a sneak attack, those were even more common.

There was no helping it; that was just how it was before the great "cleanup" campaigns—it was like that everywhere.

It wasn't until the top and bottom of society underwent a thorough cleanup that such incidents were eradicated for many consecutive years.

Therefore, during this period, the importance of a gun was fully realized.

Families with guns were slightly less likely to be robbed, as even those wretched scoundrels were afraid to die.

If someone didn't care and just fired a shot—even if they used a homemade sand-gun—it would still be a fucking serious matter.

Although Wang Yi's temperament wasn't as beastly or domineering as Wang An's, Wang Yi was no coward. Seeing Wang An hand over the gun, Wang Yi took it with a face full of joy.

It had to be said that while men come in all sizes, there is likely no man who dislikes a gun.

After taking the gun, Wang Yi began tinkering with it while asking Wang An

"Big brother, don't worry. As long as those bad guys dare come to our house, I'll use the gun to shoot them dead. By the way, big brother, if I really shoot someone dead, do I have to pay with my own life?"

Hearing this, Wang An casually flicked Wang Yi's forehead and said crossly

"I said you should fire if you have to, but do you have to aim for their heads and chests? Our main goal is to intimidate them, do you understand? If things get heated, just shoot them in the thigh or the arm, wouldn't that work? Why do you have to kill them?"

Although Wang An could find a way to handle it if someone were actually killed, he had to admit that such a thing would be incredibly troublesome.

The main point was that killing someone in the deep mountains was a completely different matter from killing someone in a hamlet.

Just as Wang An finished speaking, he heard Liu Guilan say to Wang Yi

"Exactly. How old are you? Your killing intent is already this heavy. I'm telling you, Xiao Yi, that gun is kept in your room just in case. You cannot tinker with it blindly when there's nothing going on."

By the end, Liu Guilan's tone had risen, sounding almost like a reprimand.

However, Wang Yi was different from Wang An; he was still very obedient. So, as soon as Liu Guilan finished, Wang Yi immediately agreed

"Yes, Mother, don't worry. I definitely won't tinker with it normally."

It had to be said that people living in the mountains were just that fierce; no one in the family, including Wang An, felt there was anything wrong with handing a gun to a fourteen-year-old child.

At this moment, Wang Dazhu, who was smoking nearby, suddenly spoke up

"We really have to be on guard against bandits. I heard that a while back at Old Zhao's place in Yangshu Hamlet, in the middle of the night, people blocked their door and 'bore' away a large and a small cow."

"Bore away" normally meant "robbed," but in this context, it wasn't exactly the same as "robbed."

Because "blocking the door to bore people" was a specific method of robbery.

Simply put, after a gang entered the courtyard, they would station people at the windows and doors to prevent the owners from coming out of the house, while others led the large livestock away.

Once the people leading the livestock were far away, the gang would scatter and flee while erasing their tracks.

The reason for erasing tracks was that many mountain folk would "pinch the tracks" of their own livestock—meaning they memorized the specific hoofprints of their animals.

Wang An nodded and said

"Yes, we do have to be careful. But our house has a gun and all those dogs; I reckon ordinary people wouldn't dare come."

Wang An believed that with so many dogs and every person in the house having a gun, even if bandits really came, it shouldn't be a big problem.

In this day and age, before bandits broke into a home to rob it, they would scout the location in advance to understand the situation. Once they learned that Wang An's family were hunters, even if they knew the family had money and herds of livestock, most people would abandon the idea of robbing them.

Still, nothing was ever certain; precautions had to be taken.

After Wang An finished, he heard Mu Xueqing say in a very flat tone

"What if they come? Whoever dares come, we'll just fight them to death."

As soon as Mu Xueqing finished, Wang Dazhu and his wife, Wang Yi, and Wang An—all four of them—looked toward Mu Xueqing, and the atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

It had to be said that although Mu Xueqing was beautiful, her personality was absolutely the fierce, authentic style of a Northeast big woman.

Just as the whole family didn't know what to say, Wang An rubbed his nose and said

"Yeah, wife, you're right."

As he spoke, Wang An picked up the small wooden box, saying with curiosity

"Right, we haven't seen what's inside this thing yet. Let's see what's in here, and then we'll eat."

With that, under the gaze of the entire family, Wang An opened the heavy little wooden box.

Upon opening the box, there was a piece of cloth inside, but the cloth had been soaked in water and turned a blackened color, with many black and white hairs growing on it. At a glance, it didn't even look as pleasant as the rags in Wang An's house.

Wang An looked at the ragged cloth with a face full of bewilderment and subconsciously withdrew his outstretched hand.

Mainly because this cloth was too fucking disgusting!

Looking left and right, Wang An said to Wang Yi

"Xiao Yi, get me a pair of chopsticks."

Wang Yi agreed and ran to the back room to bring out a pair of chopsticks.

For some reason, Wang An suddenly felt that the object wrapped in the cloth might not be gold or silver.

After Wang An used the chopsticks to peel back the cloth, the object inside finally revealed its appearance.

Seeing this object, Wang An's eyes instantly narrowed, and he couldn't help but frown.

Mainly because Wang An recognized this kind of thing. To be precise, Wang An had seen something similar in his previous life, but it had been at an auction.

While Wang An was wondering how this thing ended up here, Mu Xueqing, sitting next to him, couldn't help but say

"Xiao An, this... this should be an imperial seal, right?"

Wang An nodded and said

"Yes, it's an imperial seal. I just don't know if this thing is real or fake."

(End of Chapter)