The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1697 The Suspect Appears and Encounters Wang Haitao

Chapter 1697 The Suspect Appears and Encounters Wang Haitao

When Wang Meilan asked Liu Tiezui to help her inquire about marriage with the Ma family, their standard of living had already improved.

But by the time the Zhao and Ma families sat down together to exchange gifts, the Zhao family had become the richest family in Yong'an.

When the Zhao family held their wedding banquet, they became the richest family in the country again.

The villager couldn't help but gossip about the Ma family's three-step leap forward in one year, saying that the Ma family was lucky to have become in-laws with the Zhao family. They said that the Zhao family had arranged a marriage between their children when they were just starting out; otherwise, Zhao Jun would definitely have found someone better than Ma Ling.

Needless to say, in their eyes, Li Tongyun was far superior to Ma Ling.

Besides, some busybodies said that the Forestry Bureau Director surnamed Chu valued Zhao Jun so much that if Zhao Jun hadn't gotten engaged so early, he would have definitely married his daughter to Zhao Jun.

The Ma family had heard these rumors before, but they understood perfectly well that it stemmed from envy and resentment among the villagers, so none of them took it to heart. In any case, no one dared to say anything to the Ma family's face, and as for the gossip behind their backs, no one could control that.

Ma Ling is a gentle but strong-willed and reasonable person. Zhao Jun explained things to her and expressed his loyalty. In addition, their married life has been so sweet that Ma Ling has long since forgotten about the rumors.

Unexpectedly, today, someone dared to bring up this matter in front of Ma Ling, and the person in question was her younger brother!

In an instant, Ma Ling's eyes reddened!

“Child, how can you think like that?” Luckily, Wang Meilan was there. She grabbed Ma Yang and said, “Let me tell you, when two people are together, it’s all about fate. Just like your sister and brother-in-law, my uncle was saying yesterday that if he ever runs into your parents, he should thank them profusely for raising such a wonderful daughter for our family!”

Wang Meilan's words were completely different from what Ma Yang had said. But there was no other way; Wang Meilan had to make a statement and appease her daughter-in-law first.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Ma Ling's expression immediately improved, but her eyes were filled with resentment as she looked at Ma Yang.

"This kid!" Zhao Jun appeared at this moment. He strode up behind Ma Yang, grabbed him by the back of the collar, shoved him aside, and said, "Why are you up the mountain instead of studying properly? Go home right now!"

Ma Yang glanced at Zhao Jun and walked away dejectedly.

"Ling'er, don't listen to his nonsense." Zhao Jun chased Ma Yang away and came over to comfort Ma Ling in a low voice, "You stay at home with Mom, I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay." With the support of her mother-in-law and husband, Ma Ling quickly adjusted her mood and replied, "Be careful when you go up the mountain."

"Okay." Zhao Jun smiled at Ma Ling, then said to Wang Meilan, "Mom, we're leaving now."

"Hey," Wang Meilan said, "Be careful and drive slowly."

Zhao Jun responded and gestured for everyone to get into the car.

The Zhao family gang always mobilizes a large force when they hunt. Today, six men and eleven dogs went out in two cars, heading straight for the outskirts of the village.

The jeep was in front, followed by the Jiefang truck, as they left Yong'an and entered the mountain area, heading straight for the second section.

The so-called "Old Second Section" refers to the second work section from earlier years, which has now been converted into a light-transmitting seedling cultivation base for forest management.

Every day, a dedicated Mosga shuttle bus transports employees between the forest farm and this seedling base.

According to Song Fu'an, Zhang Jimin was injured in the North Seventh Workshop. After being injured, he was taken to the nearby seedling nursery by his coworkers.

Seeing the severity of his injuries, the seedling nursery used a Moska to transport him to the forest farm.

The forest farm clinic is now under Lin Xue's management, but when Lin Xue saw the injury, she realized she couldn't treat it at all, so she quickly had someone send Zhang Jimin to the forestry hospital.

But before going to the forestry hospital, Zhang Jimin's family members need to come.

The forest farm called Yongli Village and asked Zhang Jimin's wife to pack her things and settle the children at home, and that the forest farm would send a car to pick her up later.

Zhang Jimin's wife was not a woman of principle. As soon as she heard that Zhang Jimin was injured and needed to go to a hospital in the city, she started wailing and howling in the village.

Her howl spread the word, and Song Fu'an, who was off work that day, rushed to Zhao Jun's house.

Because Zhao Jun had instructed that if the forest rangers encountered any traces left by animals such as bears, lynxes, tigers, or Amur leopards during their patrols, they should immediately report to him.

Song Fu'an said that the two forest rangers working with Zhang Jimin would return to their posts by taking the Mosga from the seedling base after having lunch at the forest farm.

So, Zhao Jun drove straight to the seedling base to find the two forest rangers and asked them to take him to the place where Zhang Jimin was injured.

……

After driving for about forty minutes into the mountain area, the car went through a sharp right-angle bend and then saw two jeeps coming from the opposite direction.

Zhao Jun, who was driving, honked the horn twice, firstly to warn the two cars on the opposite side, and secondly to remind his own Jiefang truck that had not yet turned the corner.

After Zhao Jun honked his horn, the second car on the opposite side honked three times in a row. Zhao Jun quickly slowed down, and then saw the second jeep on the opposite side slowly come to a stop.

Immediately afterwards, the car on the opposite side also stopped.

Zhao Jun pulled over and stopped his car. Then he saw two familiar faces get out of the second jeep across the street.

One was Sun Xueshan, the deputy director of the county's public security bureau, and the other was Chen Weiyi, the director of the local police station.

At that moment, people began to get off the first jeep. Zhao Jun recognized two of the people in the jeep; they were police officers from the local police station. However, he did not recognize the two people who got off in the back seat.

"Team Leader Zhao," Chen Weiyi greeted Zhao Jun, asking, "What are you all doing here?"

“We have a forest ranger who was bitten by tiger cubs in Beiqidaban. I’m going to check on him.” After saying that, Zhao Jun asked Chen Weiyi, “Chief Chen, what’s going on here?”

"Team Leader Zhao," Chen Weiyi said, stepping aside to let the two strangers pass, and said to Zhao Jun, "These two are Captain Liu and Brother Xiao Su from the provincial capital."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun quickly stepped forward and shook hands with the two men. They introduced themselves to each other; the one who was around forty years old was named Liu Guodong, and the one in his early twenties was Liu Guodong's apprentice, named Su Shaohua.

At this moment, Chen Weiyi said to Liu Guodong, "Captain Liu, it was Team Leader Zhao who first suspected Hu the Cripple."

Liu Guodong looked at Zhao Jun, who at this moment also understood the meaning behind Chen Weiyi's words and hurriedly asked, "Director Chen, did you come down from the North Third Squad?"

“Yes!” Chen Weiyi said, “You sent someone to bring us here yesterday. Captain Liu arrived last night. He’s an expert from the provincial capital. We took the 54 train this morning and arrived at Qingshilazi. We just came here again to take a look.”

"Chief Chen," Zhao Jun asked tentatively, "may I ask what the progress is on this case?"

"Progress..." Chen Weiyi looked troubled and said, "Hu the Cripple's shack has been cleaned up very neatly, as if he doesn't plan to come back after leaving."

"Is he still not home?" Zhao Jun asked again. Chen Weiyi nodded and said, "No, he hasn't gone home. I told their security chief that if Hu the Cripple goes back, he should definitely keep him there and then call the police station to tell us. But so far, we haven't heard anything."

"Team Leader Zhao." At this moment, the so-called expert from the provincial capital suddenly spoke up and asked Zhao Jun, "You suspect Hu the Cripple because you feel that the number of hides he sold is incorrect? Unrealistic?"

“Yes!” Zhao Jun nodded, then added, “Also, he and that… that dead Wang Jiusheng’s second son, they’re connected.”

Liu Guodong didn't say anything, just nodded. At this moment, Chen Weiyi said to Zhao Jun, "Team Leader Zhao, we've visited and investigated. Hu the Cripple's family is actually quite well-off. But Wang Jiusheng's family, his son has epilepsy, and it's quite severe. They've spent a lot of money on treatment over the years."

Hearing Liu Guodong's words, Zhao Jun couldn't help but frown. The "sheep-like wind" that Chen Weiyi mentioned was epilepsy.

Like Wei Tie's wife in Zhao Jun's village, who has spent a lot of money over the years because of epilepsy. Wei Tie earns two or three thousand yuan a year hunting weasels, which isn't even enough to cover his wife's medical expenses. How much can Wang Haitao, a carpenter, earn, let alone?

Moreover, Zhao Jun knew that this disease was more troublesome for men than women. In many cases, it affected a man's fertility.

"That's Wang Haitao..." Zhao Jun asked about the carpenter Wang, "He hasn't come back yet?"

"No." Chen Weiyi shook his head and said, "This morning, Director Yan called us from the village and said that Wang Jiusheng hasn't left yet; he's still parked outside their village."

Wang Jiusheng has not been buried since his second son did not return.

At this moment, Liu Guodong suddenly spoke up and said to Zhao Jun, "Team Leader Zhao, all the mountain products from this forest area and the surrounding villages have been sold to your family, right?"

“That’s right!” Zhao Jun nodded and said, “We don’t haggle. We buy at the same price that the supply and marketing cooperatives and big stores down the mountain charge. So most people in the neighborhood sell to us, otherwise they would have to go down the mountain, which is quite a hassle.”

"Have any people come to sell big hides these past two days?" Liu Guodong asked again. Zhao Jun nodded and said, "There was one yesterday, but the person came to sell it normally. They're Laoshan Gouzi."

“Then we need to investigate as well,” Liu Guodong said. “Because if it really was Wang Haitao and Hu the Cripple who committed the crime, then the old man surnamed Xu in the shack in Qingshi Lazi must have ended up in the hands of those two. And those two wouldn’t sell the mink furs directly to your house; they would definitely find someone else to help them sell them.”

"Ah, I understand, Captain Liu." Zhao Jun responded first, then said to Chen Weiyi, "Director Chen, if you're not in a hurry, just wait for me to go home and check the accounts, then I'll call you. If you're in a hurry, just call my house and ask my mom."

As soon as Zhao Jun finished speaking, Liu Guodong looked at him in surprise and asked, "Team Leader Zhao, do you have a phone at home?"

These days, having a telephone at home means you're not an ordinary person. Even Chu Anmin's family doesn't have a telephone, let alone others.

"Ah, hehe, it's a special case." Zhao Jun explained with a smile, "There's a Xishan Village here, which was merged into the township from Mangliu Village. After the New Year, the land was distributed and the household registration was completed. There's nothing in the village, so the village office was temporarily set up at our house, and the telephone was also transferred to our place."

"Ah..." Upon hearing this, Liu Guodong felt that the statement was not quite reasonable, but it was not his business. He had only asked out of curiosity.

At this moment, Liu Guodong looked at Chen Weiyi and said, "Chief Chen, let's go back to the police station now and call Team Leader Zhao's house when we get back."

It's clear they're really at a loss. But thinking about it, it makes sense; finding people or clues in these mountains is incredibly difficult, like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Separated from the investigators, Zhao Jun and Xie Chen continued driving. Fifteen minutes later, just as they were about to reach the seedling base, they saw a Moska van coming down the mountain.

It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early.

Zhao Jun drove over to pick them up, and the two men obediently got into Zhao Jun's jeep as soon as they saw their team leader arrive.

Then, the two men gave Zhao Jun directions, with the jeep leading the Jiefang truck towards Beiqidaban.

The Beiqida Forest Block is an old forest block, a mountain area that was logged five or six years ago. There is a large stone pond area on top, which is a habitat for lynx, red deer, brown bears, tigers, and leopards.

Below that are secondary forests, where roe deer like to eat tree tips, which attracts lynxes to come down and hunt.

Moreover, as temperatures rise this season, the red deer begin to descend into the forest, gradually searching for and eating the bark of small poplar trees.

Just as they were driving in that direction, Zhang Yuanmin suddenly remembered something and asked a forest ranger from Yongli Village, "Hey? Brother, isn't Zhang Jimin from Patrol 54? Why is he all the way north again?"

Zhang Yuanmin is right. It was Zhang Jimin who discovered the death of Wang Jiusheng in Forest Class 54 the day before yesterday. And now, just a few days later, he's been transferred to patrol the forest in the Seven Northern Forest Classes.

If no explanation could be given, Zhang Yuanmin suggested that they first investigate this Zhang Jimin.

"Oh dear!" The forest ranger, named Qin Futian, sighed softly upon hearing this and chuckled, "This man is really unlucky."

"What happened?" Zhang Yuanmin asked curiously. Qin Futian laughed and said, "He wasn't originally on the 54 side. Then he told our Captain Song that whenever he went to the 54 side, he would remember how Wang Jiusheng died. He said he was scared and insisted on switching places with Xiao Zhai from our class."

Hearing Qin Futian say this, Zhang Yuanmin laughed and said, "After changing locations, we got attacked?"

As soon as Zhang Yuanmin finished speaking, Zhao Jinhui, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and asked another forest ranger, "Brother, what did that guy make the lynx do?"

"Wow, that's pretty impressive." Another forest ranger, Wang Debao, shook his head and said, "He even blew off the nose."

"Huh?" Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin, and Zhao Jinhui were all startled by Wang Debao's words. Then they heard Wang Debao continue, "The three of us patrol the forest when we're on duty. Around nine o'clock, we were all sweating a bit. I said we'd all worked up a sweat, so let's take a break and have a smoke. Zhang Jimin, being the lazybones he is, said he was going to pee behind a tree, and we ignored him. Then, he didn't do anything. Hearing the deer squeak, he didn't call out to us and just quietly went over there."

He went over and saw a lynx poaching a deer. He took a stick and banged on a tree. Startled, the lynx climbed up the tree, so he went over to pull the deer away. Then the lynx got angry, pounced on him, and scratched him.

"My God!" Zhao Jinhui exclaimed in shock, "How could the nose have dried up like that?"

"It was caught by claws." Zhao Jun chimed in, "Those things have really sharp claws. They can easily tear open our old sheepskin coats from winter."

"Even our kitten isn't this strange," Zhao Jinhui thought, recalling the lynx in the Zhao family that liked to be tickled and would roll over onto its back when it felt good.

"What else did our little cat say?" Zhao Jun couldn't help but smile as he thought of his furry, incredibly cute little lynx.

After driving for seven or eight minutes, they arrived at the place where the three forest rangers had rested earlier. Since they were about to venture into the forest, Zhao Jun pulled the jeep over to the side of the road, as did Jie Chen behind him.

Everyone got out of the car, guns on their backs, and released the dogs. Today, Zhao Jun had selected his best soldiers and brought eleven hunting dogs. Five Dragons, Three Flower, plus Black Tiger, Two Black, and Black Girl, had all fought Siberian tigers.

After unloading the hunting dogs from the vehicle, they were allowed to roam and urinate freely around them. Once their excitement subsided, Zhao Jun instructed Li Baoyu and Xie Chen to bring out ropes, and everyone worked together to tie up the dogs.

Two years ago, when Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu, and Xu Changlin went up the mountain to hunt lynxes, Xu Changlin said that when using dogs to surround the lynxes, the dog pack must not be scattered. Otherwise, even the strongest dog pack will be killed and scattered by the lynxes.

Even though the Zhao family's dog gang has grown to this extent, none of these dogs, taken individually, can still go toe-to-toe with a lynx. Therefore, they cannot be let loose or allowed to roam freely.

But with six people from the Zhao family gang plus two forest rangers, eight people trying to lead eleven dogs was truly difficult.

Relying on his prestige, Zhao Jun forcefully dragged Bai Long and Er Hei along. Li Baoyu, with his bare hands, pulled Xiao Hua and Hei Niu along.

The other six people each led a dog, while Black Tiger was left to roam freely. This arrangement was not because Black Tiger could take on a lynx alone, but because it was slippery.

Since being kicked in the stomach and having its leg broken by a deer, Black Tiger has never been injured again. Even a lynx couldn't possibly harm Black Tiger.

And so, the group, with their dogs on their leashes, walked into the woods.

At this moment, Wang Debao said that the place ahead was where Zhang Jimin had discovered the lynx hunting the deer. When the lynx injured Zhang Jimin, Zhang Jimin howled. Wang Debao quickly took the No. 16 gun and fired a shot into the air. The gunshot scared the lynx away, leaving the deer there.

Wang Debao and Qin Futian were so busy dealing with Zhang Jimin that they didn't pay attention to the deer. They were thinking of figuring out how to get rid of it when they got back. But unexpectedly, Team Leader Zhao arrived.

Suddenly, the black tiger roared twice and then leaped out.

"Tiger!" Zhao Jun called out hurriedly, but Black Tiger disappeared without turning his head.

"Brother, you can't call it back." Seeing this, Li Baoyu laughed and said, "It's smelling the meat."

"Hmm..." Zhao Jun was about to nod when he heard two barks from ahead.

"Awooo! Awooo!" The cries were neither hurried nor intense. Zhao Jun immediately knew that the black tiger had not encountered prey, but rather a human.

Black Tiger may be greedy, but it's very sensible and won't bite anyone. However, Zhao Jun, fearing the man might become afraid of the dog again, shouted, "Who's there?"

Zhao Jun called out, but received no response. At this moment, the hunting dogs responded to Black Tiger, grabbing their ropes and pulling him forward.

Zhao Jun pulled along the 120-pound White Dragon and the 110-pound Blackie, and the two dogs darted forward, with Zhao Jun jogging to keep up.

After walking about ten meters, Zhao Jun saw a man raise his leg to kick Black Tiger and shout, "Go up there!"

He raised his foot, and Black Tiger dodged. As soon as Black Tiger dodged, the man tried to leave. But seeing that the man was about to leave, Black Tiger circled around in front of him, and the man, blocked by Black Tiger, continued to raise his foot.

Seeing this, Zhao Jun called out, "Tiger!"

Upon hearing Zhao Jun's shout, Black Tiger turned and charged towards him. At that moment, the man turned around, revealing an unfamiliar face.

At this moment, Qin Futian, who had been dragged over by Huang Long, exclaimed, "Holy crap! Wang Haitao, when did you get back?!"

"Wang Haitao?" Upon hearing this name, Zhao Jun immediately sprang to his senses!

Isn't Wang Haitao the carpenter Wang ten years later, who is also Wang Jiusheng's second son?

(End of this chapter)