Chapter 71: Frantic Sprint in the Ancient Alley

  The door of the inner house was slightly ajar, revealing a small gap about the width of a finger. The two of us stuck to the doorway, carefully observing the situation inside the house.

  A robust man with his back to us blocked my view, making it difficult for me to see the situation in the house, and I could only barely hear a sound.

  I narrowed my eyes and vaguely saw that the person was holding an iron rod as thick as my forearm, which scared me so much that I quickly pulled Marx to one side.

  "What's going on? Are you sure your uncle is inside? Why does it look like a gang fight?" I whispered to Ma Si Zhe.

  "That stick is just for intimidation, collecting rent? There are always a few households that don't cooperate. I've held it before, but never used it. My uncle is a businessman, not a gangster. No need to make a big deal out of it."

  As soon as Ma Si's voice fell, a sudden sound of smashing wine bottles came from the house. Ma Si and I hurried over to take a look.

  All that could be seen was a person standing in the corner of the house, holding an empty beer bottle with two bloody gashes on his face, trembling and staring at everyone in the room in terror.

  A sturdy man who was originally standing at the door with an iron rod in his hand came forward, but just lifted his foot and stopped. It seemed that he had been restrained by someone.

  "A low voice replied."

  The person in the corner had a terrified expression, shaking his head frantically 'I don't know, I really don't know' as if driven mad, and saliva began to flow down from the corner of his mouth.

  The man holding the iron bar grabbed the other man's hair and dragged him from the corner of the wall to the center of the room, stepping heavily on his hand with his foot. The beer bottle fell to the ground at once.

  That cold voice came again 'I'll give you one more chance, where is he?'

  This time I saw the face of that person sitting there, the one who sat on a chair with an indifferent expression looking at the people below, it was Marx's uncle, Ma Siyue.

  People on the ground were trembling and staggering, with wounds on their faces stained with mud from the ground, and their faces covered in blood.

  "I really don't know," he said with difficulty.

  Ma Siye leaned back and gently closed his eyes. Based on my usual experience of watching movies, the person on the ground was probably in a precarious situation.

  As expected, the muscular man holding an iron rod seemed to have received a command, and with a loud shout, he swung his weapon high into the air and brought it down towards the head of the person on the ground.

  With a thud, the room fell silent, and the begging voice disappeared. I was frightened, covering my mouth, and didn't even dare to look at the miserable state of the person on the ground. A life, was taken as easily as swatting a fly.

  His uncle looked at the lifeless body on the ground with an expression that didn't change in the slightest. I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine, this had exceeded my previous understanding and impression of his uncle. His uncle was not one to smile or laugh, but he was still polite to people. Although Ma Si Zhe had told me about what happened between them in the tomb before, neither Ma Si Zhe nor I thought of it as anything more than a necessary choice for survival.

  Set aside national righteousness for the time being, although tomb raiding is not a good thing, at least it doesn't harm human life. I didn't expect his uncle to be so ruthless. Later I found out that it wasn't his uncle who was ruthless, but rather I had thought things were too simple.

  Plotting wealth and harming life, plotting wealth and harming life. The ancestors often see things very clearly.

  Didn't you say your uncle has a good temper?

  I turned my head to look at Ma Si Zhe, he stared blankly at the situation in the house, not saying a word, without even blinking his eyes.

  This expression is hard for me to describe. Very helpless, very awkward.

  I seem to have heard the sound of faith falling from the sky, coming from Marx's eyes.

  Ma Si Zhe was quiet for a while, then suddenly became excited and got up from the ground to push the door open. I quickly jumped up from the ground, hugged Ma Si Zhe's neck and pulled him back.

  Ma Si Zhe also didn't know where the strength came from, like an ox. I didn't dare make a sound and could only hold on to him tightly. Ma Si Zhe struggled and kicked his foot, which happened to kick the door.

  I quickly dragged him out and ran, the strong man in the house rushed out the next second and chased after us.

  "What's wrong with you?" Ma Si Zhe was still struggling free from me.

  "Do you think if you ask your uncle, he will tell you the truth? Follow him, follow him!" I said in a huff.

  Ma Si Zhe suddenly seemed to reflect and accelerated into a fierce run.

  The people behind were chasing after me relentlessly, and the street that came out of the hair salon was crowded. Before long, I couldn't see Ma Si's figure anywhere, and I didn't know where he had been squeezed to. The people behind were about to catch up with me, and I suddenly flashed into a store.

  The store was filled with some ethnic-style decorations, which looked very atmospheric. I didn't have time to look and rushed inside. The boss stopped me suddenly.

  The boss is a middle-aged man in his forties with a bit of baldness.

  "What are you doing? You're supposed to look at goods outside, why are you running inside?"

  As soon as I heard the accent, I felt a strong sense of closeness. 'Boss, are you from Northeast China?'

  The boss was asked by me and scratched his head 'what's wrong?'

  I took a glance outside, afraid he would rush in at any moment.

  "Hey, I'm also from Northeast China!" I grabbed the boss's hand. "Fellow countryman, I've got a deal for you."

  The boss heard that I was a Northeasterner and his expression eased up a lot, asking me what had happened.

  I thought about it and didn't know how to say 'Anyway, there's someone who wants to kill me, the reason is hard to explain, can you lend me a place to hide for a while?'

  The boss asked me mysteriously, 'What's going on? Did you sleep with someone else's wife?'

  I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth to get it over with.

  "Hmm" I reckon my face is more wrinkled now than when I'm constipated.

  The boss said with a sigh, "It's not that I'm saying you're the one, but why did you come all this way to lose face? You've disgraced the people of Northeast China."

  "I was wrong, I'm guilty. But boss, you have to save me"

  The boss sighed and said, "Alright, go in and hide for now. I'll cover for you."

  "Thank you boss, thank you." I said as I made my way inside.

  It seems that the boss usually lives here, and all household appliances are available in the back of the store. I found a vat in the corner, but I don't know what it's used for. When I opened the lid, there was a musty smell inside. I covered the lid again and thought about finding another place to hide.

  At this time, there were sounds coming from outside.

  "Has someone just come in?" It was him who came looking for me.

  "I haven't had any business all morning, no one has come in. What are you doing here?"

  Shut up

  It's quiet outside now, it seems the boss has been threatened. I didn't care about anything else, hurriedly lifted the lid and crawled in, holding my breath.

  The footsteps were getting closer and closer. I could control my voice but couldn't control my heartbeat, which was pounding like a drum.

  I clearly heard the footsteps approaching in front of me, and the sound of shoes scraping against the ground made my scalp tingle. After a brief pause, he didn't lift the lid on top of the jar, but instead walked forward.

  Just as I was about to let out a sigh of relief, my phone rang.

  He rushed two steps in front of me and carefully picked up the lid of the jar.

  Sticking my head out is death, and shrinking it back in is also death. Dying in this jar is too suffocating. I jumped up and pushed the lid towards his face, he was knocked over by me. I quickly jumped out of the jar and ran out as fast as I could.

  The people behind him picked up an iron rod and chased after him.

  I was running with great difficulty in the crowd, turning left and right. But the person behind me was much faster than me, thanks to the iron rod stained with blood in his hand and that ferocious face.

  When I came in, I didn't think this alley was so long. I've been running for so long and still haven't reached the end. Now I have to hurry up and run onto the main road, just stop a car at random. If I'm lucky, maybe I won't even see a police officer.

  The crowd in front of me was surging, and I couldn't see the end. I turned my head to see that man about to catch up with me, so I dodged to the side and ran into a small alley.

  There were few people in the alley, and I didn't have time to see how far he was from me, just keeping my head down and running desperately.

  I ran to the end, my legs were exhausted, like being tied with lead, and I couldn't lift them up. I looked back and saw no one, guessing that I had shaken him off. I took out my phone and looked at it, only to find that it was a call from Ma Si Zhe just now.

  This phone call almost got me killed. What if his uncle's order was to beat anyone caught, regardless of who it was? I would have been done for. He might know Ma Siqi, but he doesn't know me.

  I leaned against the wall and rubbed my legs, thinking of giving Ma Si Zhe a call. As soon as I lowered my head, I suddenly saw a shadow on top of my head. I slowly turned around, but before I could see the person's face clearly, an iron rod swung over, my head spun around, and it heavily smashed onto the ground.

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