Chapter 6: The Poachers Who Don't Value Life

  Malacca took over the pistol, looked at it and found it was a 54. He turned his head and handed it to Liu Yi: "I'll drive to chase them up, you aim at their oil tank!"

  "Everyone, hold on!" With Malacca's roar, a huge push-back feeling suddenly surged forward, and the dust stirred up by the accelerating car flew up instantly.

  Looking from the back of the car, only two strands of yellow smoke were seen pushing the car forward, this guy was driving a broken jeep like an airplane, and the whole body was a bit floating, exceeding the vehicles at the protection station in just one minute.

  At a distance of two hundred meters from the poachers' vehicle, Ma Liuji shouted: "Liu Yi, shoot, shoot its oil tank, shoot its tires, shoot its mother!"

  A string of knocks made Lin Xueyan cover her mouth and laugh.

  "This damn thing is just a Type 54, not a sniper rifle. You want me to hit something over 50 meters away?!" Liu Yi yelled as he stuck his head out of the car window, holding the Type 54 and taking aim: "Faster!"

  "Almost flying!" Malacca shouted as he urged his horse on.

  When he was less than a hundred meters away from the vehicle in front, Liu Yi started shooting. After two gunshots, only two clouds of dust were seen rising from the ground not far away, and it was clear that both shots missed.

  "My god, it's going to be a disaster!" The yellow monkey looked back at the vehicle roaring in anger, from his perspective, he saw that the right side of the car body had left the ground, and if not careful, it would overturn and kill people.

  He saw a hint of disdain at the corner of his mouth, and with his right foot, he stepped on the accelerator to the bottom.

  The horsepower determined the speed of progress. After Huanghouzi exerted force, he actually left the two broken jeeps far behind him.

  "Damn it! This broken car!" Ma Liu Ka slapped the steering wheel in frustration and cursed.

  The Jeep seemed to respond with a loud "peng" sound, followed by a "squeak" sound. The left tire finally refused to crush the mountain rocks on the bumpy road and went on strike in protest.

  Everyone looked at each other and sighed: "Blown a tire!"

  Malacca slowed down the car and stopped, got out to take a look, kicked the tire, walked to the back of the car to find the spare tire, but found that this broken car didn't even have a spare tire. Could only helplessly watch as the Cherokee drove further and further away.

  Everyone on the bus took advantage of this opportunity to get off, and Professor Zhou Tao started vomiting as soon as he got off the bus, throwing up his breakfast completely. This road was flying fast, and it shook him quite a bit.

  At this time, the protective station vehicle also followed up and slowly stopped. The big beard got out of the car and shouted: "Damn it, there's no oil!"

  Everyone made a joint decision, and then let the big beard use the satellite phone to call the relevant personnel of the protection station, told them their current approximate position, and asked the staff to tow Liu Yi's car back. Then they drained the oil from that car and added it to the protection station's vehicle. After that, the group got back in the car and continued to chase forward.

  Fortunately, there were only two people in the protection station vehicle, a big bearded man and a driver. Although six people were a bit crowded, they could still fit in. The big bearded man introduced himself as Zhang Haifeng, who had been at this protection station for ten years. Two days ago, he was on patrol outside when he received a call from his colleague on duty, saying that an evil person had broken into the protection station.

  They rushed back after hearing the news and found that two comrades who had stayed behind were shot in the head and had died. One of the colleagues had written down the license plate number of the perpetrator's vehicle with his blood-stained finger before he died. The people at the protection station searched aimlessly for two days, only to finally discover the trail of the criminal, which led them here.

  Liu Yi asked: "Have you fought with them before? Why do they want revenge on you?"

  The big-bearded man's face was filled with anger, and he shouted: "This group of poachers, I know them. The leader is Ma Shaojun, who claims to be a descendant of Ma Bufang. He gathered a bunch of idle social elements and formed what they call the 'Ma Family Army', a gang of reckless poachers. Our conservation station has exchanged fire with them countless times over the years. I didn't expect that this time they would take advantage of our patrol outside and attack the conservation station. It's my fault for being careless, ah..."

  The black-faced driver who had been silent all along, like a bottle gourd, only heard him say in a low voice: "If you die, you die, but those two didn't die on the battlefield, they were assassinated by someone, died unjustly, and we must avenge them!"

  Everyone who heard this was silent, the atmosphere in the car was a bit oppressive. Even Ma Liujia, who usually talked a lot, was silent, staring out of the window with tears welling up in his eyes. He might have remembered the tragic death of his comrades again, and his comrades had also died at the hands of these people.

  After a while, Professor Zhou Tao broke the silence and asked to the point: "Two years ago I saw Korkwood at your protection station, I don't know how he is now?"

  The big beard suddenly slapped his head and said, "You didn't ask this guy, I almost forgot. This time the protection station was attacked, it seems to have a lot to do with this guy!"

  Liu Yi heard him say that, with a shocked expression, what the hell is going on? It's also too unbelievable, just preparing to find someone and something happens?

  "These poachers, apart from shooting and killing two of our team members, also took away the box that Kekemu had left at the protection station! The protection station had seized some antelope skins which were in plain sight but they didn't take them. It's clear that their goal this time was that box."

  Professor Zhou Tao asked inexplicably: "Didn't Keke Mu return home after he was injured that time?"

  "Went back once, and then followed me to the protection station, willing to become a volunteer for protecting Tibetan antelopes, turned out to be a good comrade!"

  "You said the poachers took away his box, what was inside the box?" Liu Yi vaguely felt that there must be something very important in the box.

  "There's nothing important, just that a few days ago, Keke Mu heard about the incident at home and rushed back, leaving behind his personal belongings!"

  After listening to Zhang Haifeng's words, Liu Yi and his party all fell into deep thought. They all had a feeling in their hearts that Ma Jiajun and his gang should have the same purpose as them, searching for the place where Liu Yi's father had been.

  Liu Yi had already made up his mind that Ma Jiajun's gang of poachers and the people who robbed his store and knocked out Wang Dachuan were all part of the same force.

  Things are getting more and more confusing, they are all shocked in their hearts.

  ……

  The black-faced driver drove the car very fast, but unfortunately, due to the vehicle running out of oil, they delayed for a while. The poachers' car had already gone far away. Looking ahead, only a black dot was left. But they didn't give up and kept chasing after them with effort.

  After about half an hour, the poachers' figures came into view in the distance. To their surprise, they were squatting near the car, smoking. When Liu Yi and his group approached, they got back in the car and continued to speed away. It was as if they were teasing Liu Yi's group, sometimes speeding up and sometimes slowing down, occasionally even making disdainful gestures towards them by sticking out their heads from the car window.

  It wasn't long before the sky gradually darkened, and the terrain changed. Towering mountain ranges rose up on both sides, and the land slowly turned into sandy soil. In the distance ahead, a massive canyon loomed before everyone's eyes. The entrance to the canyon, under the bloody sunset glow of dusk, was like a devil's blood basin, trying to stop all living things from entering inside.

  The poachers' vehicle drove into the valley without stopping, getting faster and faster until it was hidden from view by the vegetation.

  "Stop it! Don't chase them anymore, this group of people actually ran into the Death Valley without knowing their lives! What a bunch of desperados!"

  "Could this Death Valley be the main base of the Ma family army?"

  "It's possible!" The big bearded man nodded and said: "We can't chase after them anymore, entering the Death Valley is a nine-to-one chance of survival, the probability of returning alive is small!"

  "Heavens! They've entered Death Valley, those reckless poachers!" Lin Xueyan cried out.

  As for the reputation of Death Valley, she knew a lot about it. She told Liu Yi and others: "This Death Valley is actually that Prong Horn Gorge. The valley is full of birdsong and fragrance, with many wild animals, looking like paradise, but in reality, it's hell. Herdsmen and explorers who enter the gorge all mysteriously disappear, almost no one comes out, and are called by locals as the Gate of Hell, Devil's Valley, etc.! Once when I interviewed nearby herdsmen, they told me that every night, the valley would transmit ghostly wailing sounds. They said those were the wronged spirits crying out to find their way home. Listening to it made my whole body get goosebumps!"

  Liu Yi listened to her words, smiled slightly, and stretched his head out of the car window to look into the valley. He saw a long river running through the valley, under the crimson sun, faintly reflecting a crimson glow. In his eyes, this river seemed to have turned into a sea of blood, endless at a glance.

  In fact, the name of this river is Nalengger River, and Death Valley originates from its source.

  Everyone got off the bus, made some temporary adjustments, and simply ate the dry rations that Da Hu Zi and others had brought, replenishing their energy. Liu Yi, who hadn't eaten all day, thought the rice balls were delicious and chewed them with big mouthfuls.

  Da Hu Zi and Men Hu Lu were discussing whether to set up camp here and wait for the poachers to come out and give them a head-on blow, or to return home.

  Liu Yi interjected and asked: "Since Kerkwood has been in your protection station for two years, you should know where he lives, right?"

  "Hey, what's going on with you guys looking for Keke Mu? Has he become a hot potato or something? Poachers are fighting over his box, and now even you're asking about him!"

  Liu Yi was hesitating whether to tell him the reason for finding Kekemu, when Professor Zhou Tao said: "Two years ago, when I was studying ancient Qiang culture, I passed by your protection station and had a chance encounter with Kekemu. He told me an important legend that is related to my research project, so we need to find him to learn more about it!"

  Big Beard listened to the professor and suddenly felt a sense of reverence, solemnly saying: "I admire you scholars the most, for investigating something, coming and going in the wind and rain. Four years ago, a geological expert didn't listen to my advice and entered the Valley of Death, never to come out again. What a pity, it makes people clench their fists and sigh..."

  "Then do you know where Korkwood lives?" Professor Zhou interrupted hastily.

  "You've really asked the right person!" said the big-bearded man with a mysterious smile.