Chapter 40: Encountering Robbers on the Road
Driver Xiao Li drove the car attentively, heading south along the wide and straight Zhuque Avenue.
The trees on both sides of the street are tall poplars, and their leaves rustle in the wind.
Bicycles are the main force on the road, with their bells jingling. Occasionally, a bus dragging black smoke or a green-painted Jiefang truck passes by.
There are state-owned department stores and grocery stores on the roadside, with queues of neither too long nor too short in front of the doors.
People in blue-gray-green work clothes or military uniforms were walking hurriedly. On the gray brick wall, a huge red slogan was painted: Long live the construction of socialism.
The further south the car drove, the more the bustling scene of the city faded, the buildings on both sides of the road became lower and sparser, farmland began to increase, and the wheat fields became lush.
"Comrade Shen, we are leaving the city now. The road ahead is not easy to walk on, it's all mountain roads, please hold the child well."
Xiao Li reminded through the rearview mirror, his tone sharp as a soldier.
"Okay, Comrade Li, thank you for your hard work."
Shen Lingning responded, holding Fubao more firmly.
She seemed calm as she looked at the dirt road stretching ahead and the rolling hills in the distance, but she was calculating rapidly in her mind.
Mr. Zhao's protection was an unexpected surprise, but once I arrived in Qinnan, especially at the Songtaogou base, I had to rely on myself in the end.
Zhou Weiguo's whereabouts, Shen Yuchuan's resettlement, how to gain a foothold in an unfamiliar environment... every single one of them needs to be handled with caution.
The road conditions were particularly bad at this time. The road all the way to Qinnan Zixing County was full of rugged mountain roads.
After an 8-9 hour drive, and after stopping twice on the road to buy food and borrow water from fellow villagers, the car finally drove into Zixing County in a dusty state.
It was already three or four o'clock in the afternoon. After Shen Lingning and his companions had a short rest in Zixing County, the jeep plunged back into the embrace of the vast Qinling Mountains.
The mountain road became increasingly rugged and narrow. On one side was a cliff as sharp as a knife or an axe, with exposed gray-brown rocks. On the other side was a bottomless, misty mountain stream. Only the sound of rushing water could be heard coming from below.
The wheels pressed on the road mixed with gravel and mud, causing the car to shake even more violently, and the car body made a teeth-grinding metal friction sound from time to time.
Xiao Li stared intently at the road ahead, with beads of sweat oozing from his forehead.
This mountain road called "Eagle's Beak" is the most dangerous section leading to the base. It has sharp turns and steep slopes, and the road conditions are extremely poor. Even experienced drivers are nervous.
Shen Lingning held Fubao in his arms, his body swaying with the car's movement, his eyes scanning the window vigilantly.
The dead branches and strange rocks jutting out from the cliff cast fierce shadows under the gloomy sky.
The mountain wind blew through the canyon, making a strange whistling sound. Fubao seemed a little uneasy. He buried his little head in his mother's neck and held her collar tightly with his little hands.
"Mother……"
Fu Bao's voice was filled with a subtle tension: "There's something bad up there...behind the rock...my heart is beating so fast...so fierce...like...like that bad guy on the platform when he's angry..."
Shen Lingning's heart suddenly shuddered!
Fubao's vague feeling reappeared, and its direction was clearer than outside Chang'an City - it was malicious, and it was directed at them!
She remained calm, gently patted Fubao's back, and whispered to him, "Don't be afraid, Fubao, we're almost there."
At the same time, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle, and he quickly looked in the direction that Fubao was sensing.
——Above a sharp bend in the front left of the car, which is almost a right angle and blocked by a huge rock.
Several weathered boulders protruded from the roadbed like ferocious animal fangs.
Before coming, Mr. Zhao also told her that the road might not be safe. People in this era don’t have enough to eat, and some people will wander around and rob people on the road. She didn’t expect that she would really encounter them.
Or somewhere so close to the camp?
"Comrade Li,"
Shen Lingning's voice was low, but it pierced the engine noise with remarkable clarity and composure. "That sharp bend ahead is called Eagle's Beak, right? I see those rocks on top are a bit loose. This road is so bumpy, don't let them get shaken off."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Li subconsciously glanced in the direction she indicated, and his heart tightened.
Those hanging rocks do look dangerous.
"Yes, Comrade Shen, this section of the road is dangerous. Please sit tight. I will try to go slowly..."
He agreed, but he didn't dare to really let go of the accelerator. On such a steep slope, if he drove too slowly, the car would easily slip out of control.
Just before the car was about to enter the curve, the view was completely blocked by the rocks!
“Boom—!”
A dull thud exploded overhead! It wasn't the sound of a rock falling, but more like... a heavy object being pushed?
Three or four men with their faces covered and wearing tattered cotton jackets suddenly appeared on the cliff above the bend. They were pushing a huge, mud-covered oil barrel together!
The oil barrel crashed down the steep hillside with the force of thunder!
The target was directly aimed at the front of the jeep that had just appeared below! If it hit, the car would be destroyed and everyone on board would die!
"careful!"
Xiao Li's eyes were bloodshot, he turned the steering wheel wildly and slammed on the brakes!
The harsh sound of tires rubbing against each other screamed in the valley!
The jeep swerved and drifted violently on the narrow mountain road, with the rear end barely scraping the edge of a deep ravine, barely avoiding the fatal blow from the oil barrel!
“Bang!!!!”
The huge oil drum, filled with mud and gravel, slammed heavily onto the road surface more than a meter in front of the jeep, making a deafening noise. The drum was deeply embedded in the mud, and the splashed mud hit the windshield and the body of the car like raindrops.
The car body shook violently and almost turned over. Shen Lingning fell to one side while holding Fubao!
"Damn it! Smash them! Grab your weapons! Surround them!"
An angry roar came from the cliff, with a thick local accent.
When the three masked gangsters saw that the oil barrel did not hit the target, they immediately pulled out the hatchets and thick wooden sticks on their waists, and slid down the steep slope quickly using their hands and feet.
With a fierce look in his eyes, he pounced on the jeep which had temporarily lost speed due to sudden braking and skidding, with its front end facing diagonally towards the mountain wall!
The other stayed up there to keep watch.
"Comrade Shen! Get down! Lock the car doors!"
Xiao Li reacted very quickly, shouted loudly, and quickly reached for his waist with one hand - there was a pistol there!
But the other side has more people, moves faster, and is too close!
A critical moment!
The moment the oil barrel fell, Shen Lingning hugged Fubao tightly and lowered his body.
At this moment, she looked through the muddy windshield at the three thugs rushing towards her with ferocious eyes as cold as a pool of ice.
Fight hard?
Xiao Li might be able to knock down one or two, but the other party has a knife, and she and Fubao are in great danger in the chaos!
We must outsmart them!
In a flash, her eyes swept across the oil drum embedded in the road, and then quickly swept across the back of the jeep.
——There were several empty gasoline barrels and some logistical sundries tied with ropes. They were what Xiao Li was asked to bring back when he came to the base in Zixing County!
"Comrade Li! In the back of the truck! Untie the rope and empty the oil drum!"
Shen Lingning's voice was decisive, without any panic, and carried a strange power to stabilize people's hearts.
Although Xiao Li didn't understand why, his military duty and his subconscious trust in Shen Lingning made him not hesitate!
He held a gun in one hand to guard against the oncoming gangsters, and leaned out of the car window like lightning.
The other hand was as fast as the wind, and with a few "swishes" he untied the thick hemp rope that fixed the oil barrel!
Just as the three gangsters were about to rush to the car door, brandishing their weapons...
"Push it down!"
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