Chapter 405 - 403: Captured

"Rat-a-tat-tat... Rat-a-tat-tat..."

The two armed security guards didn’t waste any words and directly fired a few shots.

Hearing the gunshots, Kong Lin and Brother Qiao felt their legs go weak inexplicably, and after stumbling a bit, they both fell to the ground without running far.

Seeing the two looking like scared mice, the armed security guards couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

However, while mocking them, the two guards quickly moved forward, pressing the gun barrels to Brother Qiao and Kong Lin’s foreheads.

"Please... please don’t shoot! I... I’m willing to go back with you!"

"We can talk this out, please don’t shoot!"

With guns pointed at their foreheads, Kong Lin and Brother Qiao turned ashen-faced, shaking like leaves in the wind, and their voices trembled as they spoke.

Though the two armed security guards couldn’t understand the language of Dragon Country, looking at their trembling and fearful manner, they could guess what they meant.

"Hahaha!"

After laughing out loud for a while, the two discussed among themselves.

Soon after, one of them turned and left, seemingly to alert the larger troop led by Sha Wang.

One armed guard holding a gun, guarding two people; if there was a chance, it might be possible to escape.

But at this moment, Brother Qiao and Kong Lin were so scared their legs had gone numb, unable to stand, let alone thinking of escape.

A faint sense of regret welled up in their hearts.

If they had known it would be like this, they might as well have acted together with Tie Shanshan and the others.

Even carrying the burden of the injured Zhang Shuai was better than being caught by this group of armed guards in the compound.

In their minds, they could already imagine, once taken back to the compound, they’d likely have to endure all kinds of torture.

Thinking about this, their bodies trembled even more intensely.

It wasn’t long before the armed guard who had left returned.

And Sha Wang, who was nearby searching for signs of Tie Shanshan and the others, immediately brought his men upon hearing the report.

Seeing these hundreds of armed security guards, with ill intentions, Brother Qiao and Kong Lin nearly wet their pants in fear.

"You run well!"

"Made us unable to sleep, and we chased you for three days and nights!"

Sha Wang walked slowly to stand before Brother Qiao and Kong Lin, looking down at them, speaking in a rough accent of Dragon Country language.

"I... I’m sorry..."

Brother Qiao forced a smile more like a grimace at these words.

"Ha!"

Sha Wang pulled out a pistol from his waist, then used his left hand to force open Brother Qiao’s mouth, shoving the barrel inside.

He smiled and said, "Don’t worry, I won’t kill you."

With the gun in his mouth, an intense smell of gun oil rushed up to his brain.

Brother Qiao gave a few dry heaves, his face turning even paler.

He didn’t believe a word from the person in front of him.

After all, these armed security guards in the scam compound committed every imaginable evil without even blinking at murder.

If the words of these bastards were trustworthy, pigs could fly.

"Tha... thank you, big brother..."

Although Brother Qiao didn’t believe, he still nodded with a face full of gratitude.

"No thanks needed!"

Sha Wang laughed heartily, and continued, "Let me ask you..."

"Where are the others? Especially that girl named Tie Shanshan?"

"I... I don’t know..."

Brother Qiao instinctively shook his head upon hearing this.

"What, you don’t want to talk? Quite loyal, huh!"

This answer slightly startled Sha Wang.

He hadn’t expected that the Dragon Country men in front of him, scared to the point of nearly wetting their pants, would have the courage to cover for their comrades.

"Even though I said I wouldn’t kill you, but..."

Saying this, Sha Wang slowly withdrew the gun from Brother Qiao’s mouth.

With a twist in his tone, he pulled the trigger, and with a "bang" a bullet shot into Kong Lin’s thigh beside him.

"Ah!"

Kong Lin instantly let out a scream, writhing in pain on the ground.

He widened his eyes, his face full of incredulity.

He thought, Brother Qiao didn’t speak, why the hell did you shoot me?

Sha Wang didn’t pay attention to Kong Lin’s reaction; his gaze remained fixed on Brother Qiao before him.

Brother Qiao’s face had lost every trace of color, his body trembling even more violently.

The intimidation tactic had initially succeeded.

"Do you know how we treat gunshot wounds here?"

Sha Wang first asked, then answered himself: "We heat a knife over a fire, sterilizing it a bit."

"Then, we cut open the bullet-struck area with the knife and pry the bullet out with the tip."

"This process is quite exquisite, you can imagine it simply..."

Brother Qiao swallowed hard after hearing this.

He dared not look up at Sha Wang but could imagine that if his thigh were also shot through like Kong Lin’s, these people would take advantage of treating the gunshot under the guise of cutting open his flesh...

Thinking about it, Brother Qiao couldn’t help but shudder.

Large beads of cold sweat rolled down his face, quickly soaking his clothes.

"I... I really don’t know..."

Fearing that he’d also be shot, Brother Qiao quickly explained after speaking: "We entered this forest, and someone got injured, unable to walk, so we rested."

"The two of us weren’t that tired, so we came out to scout the path and find food."

"We got lost while walking..."

Brother Qiao didn’t reveal that he and Kong Lin didn’t want to be burdened, hence why they separated from the others.

Because he understood, their value was in helping these armed guards find Tie Shanshan and the others.

If he told the real reason and let them know they couldn’t actually find the others, then these desolate mountains might become their burial ground.

"Brother, everything I said is true!"

"I honestly didn’t deceive you!"

After explaining, Brother Qiao added another sentence.

After hearing the explanation, Sha Wang couldn’t help but frown deeply.

He turned his head to look at Kong Lin, still wailing in pain, and coldly asked, "Is what he said true or false?"

"Tr... true!"

Kong Lin winced from the pain.

Upon hearing Sha Wang’s question, he instinctively glanced at Brother Qiao.

Brother Qiao’s expression slightly changed, hard to notice.

But having a tacit understanding with him, Kong Lin caught the hint and nodded repeatedly, affirming.

"If you dare lie to me, I will break your limbs."

"And toss you here, to feed the snakes, insects, rodents, and beasts!"

Inwardly, Sha Wang already believed Brother Qiao’s words.

After all, this forest with its dense trees, complex terrain, and towering canopy hiding the sun made finding direction difficult.

Not just these Dragon Country folks; even alone in the forest, he could likely get lost as well.

However, for safety, he still gave them a round of threats.

"Won’t dare... won’t dare..."

Kong Lin and Brother Qiao spoke in unison.

"If you want to stay alive, you must help us find Tie Shanshan and the others, understand?"

Sha Wang glanced at both of them coldly.