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Chapter 161: Chapter 142: It’s Settled (Please Subscribe!)_1
Tang Qing came to the surrounding wall and slowly climbed up. The wall was originally filled with many glass pieces stuck in the cement, but they were long smashed by those mischievous children over the years. Those brats even made what could practically be a ’convenient’ climbing path on the posts of the wall.
At this time, the steel factory was pitch black. The massive factory in the distance, without any lighting, resembled a giant beast swallowing people in the dark. The cold wind blew through gaps and produced occasional howls. It was a bit creepy in this quiet night.
But Tang Qing was not scared. He wasn’t a child. He knew the natural causes of these sounds. Only those who scared themselves would be afraid of this.
He had often come here to play since he was a child, and was very familiar with this place. Although his eyes could achieve preliminary night vision with the help of Origin Qi, it couldn’t be used as a telescope. In the pitch-black night, his naked eye was far from as useful as a machine. Therefore, Tang Qing casually took out an infrared scope from his pocket. The scope was naturally from the System Shop, which not only sold firearms and ammunition but also sold various firearm-related accessories separately. Both light and infrared scopes were available.
He couldn’t rush in without understanding the situation inside. If there were ambushes, guards or snipers, his life would be over if they directly shot at him. Although in China, criminals of this caliber were not possible, it was better to be safe than sorry. If he were to die just because of carelessness, it would be too bullshit.
After carefully observing with the infrared aiming scope, he found that there were no thermal responses anywhere in sight. Moreover, in the midst of winter, there wasn’t even a mouse. It seemed he could only go in. Once again, Tang Qing took out a light aiming scope to observe the terrain. Fortunately, there was faint moonlight and weak city light from afar, otherwise, the light aiming scope would be useless. As its name suggests, a light aiming scope only worked when there was light. It wasn’t a night vision device. In a completely dark environment, the scope was only for show.
At this time, Tang Qing, who was lying on the wall, hesitated again.
Should he go in or not? After all, this could imply that he might fall into a crisis. In his previous life, he had never heard his parents mention anything happening here. It must not be a minor issue and was likely to have been sealed off by the government.
At this point, he recalled the large number of armed police mobilized in the morning. It was probably related to the gunshots right now; of course, this was just his guess and couldn’t be confirmed. Because if the police and the person who shot earlier were in confrontation, why didn’t he hear any alarm all night and didn’t see any traces of the armed police checking the county during the day?
Forget it, he couldn’t think it through. What mattered most now was whether he should get involved or not. Although he knew that he might miss the opportunity to save someone, but he was just a high school student before. Even with a system as heaven-defying as this one helping him, he wasn’t afraid of unarmed combat. However, he was somewhat hesitant to fight with gun-wielding bandits. He didn’t have a bulletproof vest, and his body couldn’t withstand bullets. A small bullet could take his life.
He just realized that he was only a slightly stronger ordinary person who couldn’t escape from the four-word maxim of ’pursuing gains and avoiding harm’.
Tang Qing, who was hesitating suddenly saw the aiming scope on his left hand, then thought of the ’good person’ in danger. He immediately toughened up in his heart. Damn it, I am also a man with a gun, what am I scared of? Moreover, he had no way out. He had come this far. If any unforeseen serious consequences arose due to his retreat, it would weigh on his conscience.
Having made up his mind, Tang Qing gritted his teeth and jumped over the wall. Below was a cement floor covered with dispersed pieces of broken lime. As for the movable steel, it had long been sold. Many mischievous children often ran into the steel factory to take out screws and small pieces to sell. No one bothered, anyway, this steel factory was to be demolished, and no one cared if those small items were taken away.
To avoid getting caught off guard by a hidden guard, Tang Qing could only hold the infrared scope while advancing slowly. His ears and eyes were enhanced with Origin Qi, so he would not trip and fall.
He walked for over ten minutes to cover the 500 meters to the nearest factory building. Leaning against the wall, Tang Qing’s heartbeat kept accelerating. It was too stimulating, like playing a game, but the cost of losing was his own life.
Tang Qing took a deep breath.
He redeemed an M1911, installed a silencer. The system provided silencer installation services for almost every kind of firearm. If he hadn’t chosen it in advance, he would have no choice but to buy it again. He originally wanted to use a special silencer pistol, but they were all too ugly.
He skillfully loaded the bullet, carefully chambered the round "Ka...Cha"... The bullet entered the barrel, waiting for the firing pin to be set off.
Phew...
It was so damn crazy.
His index finger was on the trigger, Tang Qing’s hand was shaking a bit. This was his first time holding a loaded gun. When he was at his uncle’s, he did not dare to load the bullets, fearing that he might accidentally pull the trigger, that would have caused big trouble.
"Bang..." 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Another gunshot, and in an instant, he identified the direction of the gunfire. It was coming from the riverside. He remembered that it was the staff accommodation area of the steel factory, located near the river, and there was also a large playground where the staff could leisurely exercise and attend meetings.
Tang Qing did not recklessly run towards the direction of the gunshot. Instead, he slowly made his way through the buildings of the steel factory while constantly observing whether anyone was on guard with the infrared aiming scope. His hands were a bit sweaty. He was scared too. Faced with death, one could never be too cautious. If he was shot out of the blue, it wouldn’t just be a matter of losing face, he would lose his life instead.
He was already doing good by coming to the rescue; if someone died because of his caution, he wouldn’t feel guilty. As Han Leng said, protecting yourself to harm the enemy is important, rash people often come to a bad end. He’s not that selfless.
Slowly making his way through the factory grounds, he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, which eased Tang Qing’s nerves.
However, Tang Qing didn’t head directly toward the playground. Instead, he climbed onto a factory building beside the river that stored steel materials. Outside, a stairway led to the roof of the factory. He climbed up slowly, careful to not make any sound, looking ahead at every step.
It took him a good five minutes to reach the roof. All was safe, and he dared not step on the steel roof panels as they were thin and would produce a loud sound when stepped on. His only option was to slowly walk along the not-so-narrow steel beams.
Slowly reaching the center of the arch-shaped roof, he checked what lay ahead through his infrared scope.
Suddenly, four heat signals appeared in his sight, right ahead at the edge of the playground near the river. Some villagers used this spot to grow rapeseed. There was not a soul within a kilometer, the playground was overgrown with weeds, there was also the sound-dampening effect of the river, no wonder the bandits were firing guns with impunity.
He quickly put away the handheld infrared scope, paying no mind to the dirt, and lay directly on the large I-beam, peeking with through the low-light scope.
He saw two figures in the distance, both holding pistols. The distance was too far to identify the models. He had no interest in identifying the pistol models as the System Shop had any model he wished to play with. After such long, he had lost much of his initial excitement about firearms. Besides, they were almost 150 meters away, with the roaring river as the backdrop, he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
As for the other two, they were seated, an old man and a young one, obviously at a disadvantage.
Looking at their moving lips, he couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. Tang Qing panicked for a moment; he couldn’t distinguish who was good and who was evil yet. He couldn’t just shoot anyone holding a gun, what if he ended up hitting the wrong person?
Then...Tang Qing’s eyes lit up.
Damn, how could he forget that he had Origin Qi. Before, to keep an eye in every direction and to listen to everything, he had divided his origin Qi into two parts, one for the eyes and one for the ears. If only he could concentrate all of it on his ears, maybe he could hear everything properly.
Tang Qing quickly draws Qi away from his eyes to his right ear.
Instantly, the voices from the other side became clear. Although the environmental noise was still loud, as long as he listened carefully, his brain could somewhat filter it out.
At that moment, a voice got to him: "Uncle Wang, I’ve wronged you. Last week, you should have returned home, you..."
Looking through the scope, it was clear these words were spoken by the young man sitting down.
"Young Master, ever since your father took us, grandfather and grandson, in, my life has belonged to your father. Plus, I have no one left at home, my grandson is settled with a family in Australia. Right now, you and your father are my family. If I can die alongside you, I would consider myself content." The older man spoke with a smile.
Before the young man could speak again, one of the gunmen scoffed, "Humph, you two are making us sick with this sentiment. Are you really not going to reveal where your family keeps its money? I’m asking you for the last time. If you don’t answer, I won’t be shooting empty threats like before. You reject once, and I’m shooting him in the limbs. Reject five times, and I’m ending him."
After he finished, he lifted his gun and pointed it at the old man’s left leg. The old man, unafraid, glared at the gunman in hatred.
"Humph! Keep dreaming, this money we earned through hard work, all legally. You bunch of ingrates! I’ve already paid your toll as per rules, yet you still covet our property. I would rather give this money to the bank than to you. You might as well kill us." The young man spoke in anger.
Upon hearing this, Tang Qing immediately understood the situation - the ones with the guns were clearly the villains. Even though he didn’t understand what the young man meant by the toll, he also disliked those who didn’t play fair, taking people’s money while also coveting their property. Not only that, they were planning to kill them. These people lacked any professional ethics and he immediately categorized them as the bad ones.
By now, Tang Qing had made his decision. He was to rescue them.
PS: Here comes Chapter One.
