The bow of the boat suddenly panicked, and Ge Jingtang was so startled that he pushed off with the pole, causing himself to stumble.

"Damn it!" He hurriedly grabbed the gunwale and turned around to see Du Jianshan leading two men to take a shortcut around the front forest and head straight for him on the water.

"Don't come any closer!" he shouted, pulling a worn-out revolver from his pocket and pointing it tremblingly at the shore.

"Put down your gun!" Du Jianshan's voice boomed. "If you fire one shot, I'll fire three shots into your hand!"

"Don't force me! I... I was really forced!" Ge Jingtang's voice rose. "I didn't want to bring that thing myself; it was Lao Chai's order. I had to do it whether I wanted to or not!"

"Who is Lao Chai?" Xu Chongde asked, panting, as he caught up from behind.

“Chai Jiting! He has a trading yard in Yanbian that specializes in buying mountain goods and wild animals!” Ge Jingtang’s legs were trembling as he saw that the surroundings were sealed off. “If you really arrest me, I’ll spill everything!”

"Fine." Du Jianshan sneered, "Get off the boat, bring the sack up, and we'll listen to you shake it slowly."

After hesitating for a moment, Ge Jingtang finally threw the gun into the water and grabbed the rope to reach the shore.

As soon as he got ashore, he knelt down with a thud: "I was the ringleader, but not the mastermind. Shui Pi was the dog that Lao Chai trained! Lao Qi didn't know I was planning to take the sea route. I was the one who put him in charge of watching the back door of the warehouse to receive the goods..."

What's inside the goods?

"Deer tendons, deer antlers, ginseng tails, and two old incense burners were smuggled in from that batch of goods from Beigou Forest Farm... They said they were going to send them to Jilin via a secret route."

Xu Chongde's face darkened upon hearing this. "You've got some nerve, kid. You even dared to mess with the commune's goods collection!"

"It wasn't me... I was—" Ge Jingtang was about to argue again when a low voice suddenly interrupted from the crowd.

"If you're not him, then who are you? Your father?"

Before he finished speaking, an old man in a leather jacket slowly walked out of the woods behind him, wearing gray leggings and carrying a wooden hunting rifle. His face was gloomy.

“Chai…Chai Jiting?!” Xu Chongde exclaimed in astonishment. “Didn’t you go to Dongling a long time ago?”

"We can't go back to Dongling."

Chai Jiting's eyes were icy as he looked up at Du Jianshan. "In the past ten years or so of selling goods in the mountains, there has never been a single mishap. Shuipi is my dog; if he bites the wrong person, I'll accept it. But you, Du Jianshan, if you keep biting me, you should know that one day your stove might be overturned."

"Are you threatening me?" Du Jianshan raised his eyebrows.

“This isn’t a threat, it’s a reminder.” Chai Jiting’s voice was hoarse. “If you really want to report this, I won’t stop you. But you have to remember which route my goods take, which dock my cargo yard is at. If you really want to investigate, half of the people in your town’s supply and marketing cooperative who have accounts with me will be involved.”

Xu Chongde's eye twitched. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Nonsense?" Chai Jiting scoffed, glancing at him. "Old Peng from Dongling, Liang Zaiguo from Beigang, even Huang Wendou from your town, when have they ever not taken my tribute tickets?"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

"By revealing all this, are you planning to walk right into a trap?" Du Jianshan slowly raised his steel fork.

"No." Chai Jiting smiled slightly and took out a small bundle from behind his back. "I'm here to deliver evidence."

"What?"

He opened the bundle, and inside was a yellowed ledger and several pages of oiled paper envelopes.

“Over the years, I’ve been doing underworld business, and I’ve also been in the business of buying lives.” He grinned. “If I’m going to die, I’ll take a few people down with me.”

"So what do you mean now?" Xu Chongde narrowed his eyes.