Gunshots shattered the silence.
It was like a thunderclap.
It instantly woke everyone in the village.
The barking of dogs also started.
Xu Mingli felt a piercing pain in his forearm, as if he had been burned by a red-hot iron.
He couldn't help but cry out in pain, "Ah!"
He stumbled and almost fell to the ground.
But he dared not stop at this moment. If the gunshot rang out, more people would definitely come. He absolutely could not be caught!
Xu Mingli gritted his teeth, pressed his left hand tightly against his wound, and ran forward with all his might. His figure quickly disappeared into the night.
Almost the instant the gunshot rang out, Xu Xinghe grabbed his cotton-padded coat and rushed out.
Political Commissar Wang had other matters to attend to, so he returned to the military headquarters first. However, she stayed in the house next door to keep an eye on things so that she could see if the murderer would come over.
She ran forward quickly, "What happened?"
The soldier looked at his blood-soaked hands and said bitterly, "That guy was definitely the murderer. He tied a rope here beforehand and scattered nails! We didn't see them when we chased after him and tripped over them. Otherwise, we could have definitely caught him!"
Xu Xinghe squatted down, picked up the flashlight from the ground, and took a look.
Sure enough, a section of hemp rope was stretched horizontally across the snow, just reaching the ankles. It was almost invisible unless you looked closely. There were also a few iron nails next to it, with bloodstains on their tips.
The other party knew to make preparations in advance, was worried about being caught, and still ran so fast that they disappeared in the blink of an eye. They must be someone from the village, otherwise they wouldn't be so familiar with the terrain here.
"You just fired a shot?"
The soldier nodded. "Yes, it definitely hit him. I heard him scream, but unfortunately, I couldn't kill him!"
"Good that you hit him!" Xu Xinghe breathed a sigh of relief and immediately helped the wounded soldier back. "You go back and treat your wounds first. I'll take care of things here."
After settling the soldiers in, Xu Xinghe quickly summoned Zhang Cishu and Lian Xiao, and they went to find the village chief without stopping.
The lights in the village chief's house had been on for a long time.
He was hiding behind the door, peering through the crack, his face full of tension.
He was a veteran of the War of Resistance against Japan and was extremely sensitive to gunfire; he could tell something was wrong as soon as he heard it.
Upon seeing Xu Xinghe and the others arrive, they quickly opened the door.
"The murderer came, but he escaped. However, our men shot him, and he's definitely injured." Xu Xinghe didn't beat around the bush and stated his purpose directly. "Village chief, now we need you to go door-to-door with us and see who has an injured person. We must find him today!"
Erlaizi's father died under mysterious circumstances, Jiang Linchuan was falsely accused and suspended from his post, and even the soldiers guarding the coffin were injured by nails.
It's all the murderer's fault!
The village chief knew the seriousness of the matter, so he quickly put on his cotton-padded coat, grabbed a flashlight, and said, "Let's go! The villagers must have been awakened by the gunshots. We can't let the murderer hide in the village!"
Xu Mingli leaned against the wall and knocked on the door with almost his last bit of strength.
The excruciating pain in my forearm felt like needles piercing my bone, and every breath I took aggravated the wound.
The door opened quickly, and he rushed inside, yelling, "Close the door!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Mingli could no longer hold on and slid down the door panel to sit on the ground, panting heavily.
He looked down at his arm. Fortunately, his clothes were thick enough that the bloodstains only soaked through his cotton-padded jacket and did not drip onto the ground.
He kept his left hand tightly covering his face the whole way, afraid of revealing his whereabouts.
When Feng Qiushi saw that he was injured, she was so frightened that she was completely at a loss. "What...what happened? How did you get hurt?"
Could it be the voice from earlier?
That was... a gunshot?
"You've been shot? I...I don't know how to treat gunshot wounds!"
"Shut up!" Xu Mingli growled through gritted teeth, veins throbbing in his temples from the pain. "Now is not the time to panic. Help me up and hide in the cellar. The military will definitely search every house if they know I'm injured! Also, wake up that double and have him move into the main room and pretend to be me! Open the window a crack to let the smell of blood out, but remember, only for a short while, otherwise it will be too cold and people will notice!"
Feng Qiushi was stunned by his roar, quickly wiped away her tears, and reached out to help him up, "Okay, okay, I'll go right now!"
Her hands were trembling, and she stumbled as she helped Xu Mingli walk towards the cellar.
After helping Xu Mingli into the cellar, she closed the cellar door and stumbled to the small hut. She woke up the substitute who had just woken up and pulled him outside. "Get up quickly and come with me to the main house. From now on, you are Shen An. If anyone asks, just say you've been sleeping at home and only woke up after hearing a loud noise. Understand?"
The man nodded and followed her into the main house.
Feng Qiushi quickly ran to the window and pushed it open a crack, just wide enough for a palm to fit through.
A cold wind blew in, dispelling the faint smell of blood in the room.
A moment later, he quickly closed the window again.
Only after doing all this did she dare to approach the window and peek out from behind a corner of the curtain.
All the lights in the village were on.
The beam of the flashlight swayed back and forth in the night.
Footsteps and voices could be faintly heard, like a net slowly closing in on this side.
Her heart was in her throat, and she gripped the curtains tightly until her knuckles turned white.
Please... please don't let anything happen!
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