Chapter 62.2: Armed Clashes
Those who already knew what was happening quickly explained the situation to the people who hadn’t heard the news yet.
As they drew closer to Matun Village, a teenage boy of about fifteen or sixteen suddenly came running out of the village entrance. He shouted at the top of his lungs,
“Something’s happened! Grab your weapons! The people from Gao Family Village are coming to attack us!”
“Damn it! Those bastards are here to cause trouble again! Everyone, grab whatever you can!”
That single shout seemed to flip a switch. The villagers of Matun, who had been leisurely making their way home, immediately quickened their pace. Some even broke into a run, moving almost faster than the motorcycles.
Quite a few men came rushing out of the village itself, carrying shovels and pitchforks.
In the blink of an eye, twenty or thirty people had gathered at the crossroads outside the village, and more were arriving by the second.
“This is bad. They’re about to get into a full-blown armed brawl!”
Seeing the situation, Zeng Jun’s expression immediately turned serious. He twisted around and shouted to Chen Dong behind him, “Forget Xiaobei Village for now! We need to stop this first!”
If a brawl on this scale really broke out, people would almost certainly die!
As he spoke, he accelerated, hoping to reach the villagers of Matun before they set off, hold them back, and find out what was going on.
Chen Dong twisted the throttle wider and hurried after him.
Watching the growing crowd at the crossroads ahead, he felt increasingly uneasy.
There were six of them in total. That might sound like a lot, but two were young women, one was so old that his temples had turned white, and another had delicate, unweathered skin. None of them looked particularly intimidating. The only ones they could really count on were Chen Dong himself, Captain Zeng, and the gun at his waist—which was only good for scaring people.
Against dozens, perhaps even a hundred, enraged villagers, that was nowhere near enough.
If they mishandled the situation, they might end up getting beaten themselves!
Chen Dong had a massive headache just thinking about it. Jiang Xia, sitting in the sidecar, had also furrowed her brows.
Fights between groups weren’t particularly unusual. Back when the original owner still had contact with her paternal grandparents and their family, she’d heard plenty of stories about brawls. But those usually involved one family fighting another. She’d never heard of an entire village turning out to attack another.
After all, large-scale brawls generally came down to one of two things: competing interests or wounded pride.
As far as material interests went, the local villagers had roughly similar amounts of farmland, and there weren’t any major disputes over water resources. It wasn’t like southwestern Shandong, where a large lake had once sparked a massive, county-level brawl over lakebed farmland that was more economically valuable.
There were plenty of reasons for wounded pride, though. Weddings and funerals were common sources of conflict. But those disputes usually involved individual families, with uncles, cousins, aunts, and other relatives getting dragged in. Even with both men and women involved, the numbers would rarely exceed a few dozen.
So how had she managed to run into such a large-scale brawl today?
Judging by how quickly the villagers had reacted and what the boy had shouted just now, this clearly wasn’t the first time they’d fought, either. It had probably happened many times before.
“Gao Family Village (Gaojiazhuang)…”
Jiang Xia repeated the name to herself, but for the moment, she couldn’t tell what kind of situation they were dealing with.
According to traditional naming conventions, a village might be called a zhuang if it had been established by a wealthy family together with others who shared their surname. Alternatively, a village might simply take its name from the surname of the family that made up most of its population.
In such a village, everyone might indeed belong to the Gao family. But it was also possible that the village had been established long ago, and that over time, various circumstances had led people with other surnames to settle there. The village name remained unchanged, even though most of its residents no longer belonged to the original family.
These two possibilities could point to very different causes for the feud.
Hmm… She’d wait and see what was going on first.
The motorcycles with sidecars quickly reached the village entrance. Zeng Jun dismounted and glanced at the four forensic personnel accompanying them. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “Here’s what we’ll do. Photographer Zhao, Trace Examiner Li, you two stay here and keep an eye on the vehicles and our equipment. Don’t let anyone steal anything. Jiang Xia, Xueling, you two stay right beside me at all times. Don’t wander off anywhere, understood?”
Jiang Xia gave a slight nod, remaining composed. “Understood.”
Huang Xueling was a little nervous, but she answered promptly as well. “Understood.”
“Good.”
Zeng Jun said no more. His expression tightening, he turned and strode toward the crowd, which was still growing as the villagers gathered and hurled insults at one another.
Jiang Xia followed closely behind him.
The villagers had their backs to them, but even before they got close, the shouting and cursing reached their ears.
“Fight! Beat the hell out of them today! Who’s afraid of whom? My nephew still hasn’t gotten revenge for the time Gao Zhigang cracked his head open!”
“Exactly! Beat them to death! Damn it, they really think the people of our village are pushovers!”
“Let them see that the people of Matun Village aren’t to be messed with!”
…
Zeng Jun shouted at the top of his lungs, “Everyone, quiet down! The police are here! Where are the village chief and the Party branch secretary?!”
His shout made quite a few of the arguing villagers turn around.
“The police!”
“What are the police doing here?”
“I’m the village chief. Everyone, make way!”
At the sound of an elderly voice, the armed villagers shuffled backward, making a narrow passage through the crowd.
The village chief emerged, leaning on a cane.
He looked to be in his fifties, with silver streaks running through his hair and even the stubble on his short beard flecked with white.
He hurried forward and warmly grasped Zeng Jun’s hand, his sincerity reminiscent of someone welcoming an upright official who had finally arrived to deliver justice.
“Comrade Public Security Officer, you’ve finally come to uphold justice for us!”
“That Gao Family Village is determined to bully us to death!”
“Stop. Spare me the irrelevant nonsense.”
Zeng Jun immediately sensed trouble. This was no time to take sides. He quickly cut the man off and asked, “Why did the people from Gao Family Village take the initiative to start an armed brawl? Do you know what’s going on?”
Seeing that the police officer wasn’t falling for his act, the village chief of Matun could only stop, looking rather disgruntled.
“I heard someone dug up the graves of Gao Hongwu’s parents. Their bodies have gone missing, too. But the police are already investigating that case, and it has nothing to do with our village. Still, they insist someone from our village did it. Now they want to come here for revenge and force us to hand over the culprit.”
His face took on a resentful expression at being saddled with such a terrible accusation out of nowhere.
“Who would do something so utterly wicked? They’re obviously framing us and deliberately coming to our village to cause trouble!”
Oh, boy…
His parents were gone. That was certainly enough to make anyone furious.
Zeng Jun immediately understood why so many people had gathered.
Since ancient times, few grievances had been considered worse than having one’s ancestral graves desecrated. And in this case, the remains had vanished, with no one knowing where they’d been taken. It was entirely understandable that, in a fit of rage, Gao Hongwu would gather people to seek revenge against whoever he suspected. The other villagers of his own village would naturally feel a sense of shared outrage and join him.
This was practically a powder keg. The slightest spark could set it off.
Quickly weighing the situation, Zeng Jun asked, “Then who do they suspect?”
“Comrade Public Security Officer, why are you asking about that?”
The village chief of Matun looked rather displeased.
Clearly, Gao Family Village was the one causing trouble. Their people were practically on the verge of attacking Matun Village, yet instead of helping them, the police officer had turned around and started questioning them about Gao Family Village!
And at a time like this, he was still wasting time talking!
“They’ve had their ancestral graves dug up! They’re coming over here, and a fight could break out at any moment!”
Zeng Jun’s expression darkened. He barked, “Are you the village chief or not? Do you really want to fight them and see several people in your village die before you’re satisfied? Believe me, when that happens, the higher-ups will come after you first!”
“Now tell me! Who do they suspect, and why?!”
After being hit with several sharp questions in succession, the village chief of Matun quickly abandoned what little scheming he’d had in mind.
Right. Their ancestral graves had been desecrated. If a fight broke out, there’d be no stopping it. Injuries would be bad enough, but if anyone died, the authorities would definitely get involved. Then things would become serious!
“It’s Feng Qiangdong. He used to pass by the fields near Gao Family Village quite often, and now they insist he’s the one who dug up the graves. Isn’t that just a false accusation?”
In the distance, figures were already faintly visible along the horizon. Zeng Jun had no time to press for more details, so he asked directly, “Is Feng Qiangdong here?”
“He is. He’s right here.”
As one of the villagers spoke, he pointed toward the man.
Jiang Xia looked over.
The man was standing right beside the village chief.
He appeared to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven. At that moment, his face was full of indignation at being falsely accused.
However, compared with the people around him, the exposed skin on his face and hands was noticeably pale. He didn’t look like someone who did much farmwork. His hair was also a little long, as though he’d deliberately styled it. His clothes and overall appearance didn’t resemble those of a countryman, but he didn’t quite look like a city dweller, either. Instead, he had a somewhat shady, streetwise air about him.
He looked like a local loafer.
Seeing Feng Qiangdong, Zeng Jun paused in surprise. He pointed at the man and asked the village chief, “Is he from your village?”
“Of course.”
The village chief nodded, clearly intent on defending him.
Jiang Xia raised an eyebrow.
Now this was interesting.
In rural communities, people generally had more respect for those who worked hard and endured hardships. Someone like Feng Qiangdong, who clearly seemed to have no proper occupation, would hardly earn the approval of so many villagers.
There was something unusual about this man.
And he was actually from the village?
The village chief’s confirmation surprised Zeng Jun, but the people from Gao Family Village were drawing closer by the minute. He had no time to dwell on it and hurriedly said, “Feng Qiangdong, come over here. Stand between us. We’ll protect you.”
Four police officers surrounding him—was that supposed to be protection?
Feng Qiangdong was a hundred times reluctant.
Those people from Gao Family Village had wanted him dead for ages! He felt much safer staying among his own villagers than standing with the police.
A burly villager immediately objected. “There’s no need for you police officers to protect him. We can handle this ourselves!”
“Exactly! We won’t trouble the police. We can fight them off on our own!”
“How dare they slander us like this? We have to beat them back!”
“That’s right! We’ll beat them until they’re too scared to come here again. That’ll teach them not to come and steal our vegetables next time!”
…
Zeng Jun felt as though his head were about to explode!
Why were the people of Matun Village so eager to fight, too?!
Vegetables?
At that word, Jiang Xia froze for a moment. Then she immediately understood why the villagers were reacting this way.
So there was a substantial financial interest involved!
With both profit and grudges at stake, and several fights already having taken place, the old grievances combined with the new ones would make them all the more determined to beat the other side half to death this time!
The people from Gao Family Village were getting closer and closer. A vast crowd was surging toward them, seemingly numbering one or two hundred. Their footsteps kicked up clouds of dust that seemed to shake the very ground beneath them. They advanced at a rapid pace, all kinds of long-handled farm tools jutting above their heads.
Unless it was just her imagination, Jiang Xia thought she even spotted a hunting rifle.
This was bad. Really bad!
The people of Matun Village wanted to fight, and the people of Gao Family Village, whose ancestral graves had been desecrated, probably wanted it even more! In the past, they might have exchanged a few insults and threats first, but this time, they would likely start fighting the moment they arrived!
They absolutely could not let the two sides come to blows. Once the fighting started, it would be impossible to bring the situation under control!
Jiang Xia glanced at Feng Qiangdong again.
Captain Zeng hadn’t explained his intentions, but she had already figured out his plan.
The most important thing now was to defuse the tension and get both sides to calm down.
But their group was far too small. Their words carried little weight.
More importantly, they couldn’t rely on one side to suppress the other. If they openly took sides, the opposing villagers would immediately explode, convinced the police were corrupt and biased. Once their anger boiled over, they might attack the officers as well.
This was especially dangerous because they were currently standing on Matun Village’s side. When the people from Gao Family Village arrived, they could easily jump to the conclusion that the police were allies of Matun and attack them all together.
So they had to convince Gao Family Village that the police were neutral. Only then would there be a chance of getting them to stand down.
As long as they could temporarily cool the tempers of the people at the forefront, there would be room to mediate afterward.
Captain Zeng’s plan was fairly straightforward. Since Gao Family Village suspected Feng Qiangdong, the police would first take this “suspect” into their custody.
Once the police detained someone from Matun Village, it would be obvious that they hadn’t been brought in as Matun’s reinforcements. And with the police holding the suspected culprit, Gao Family Village would lose its immediate justification for starting a fight. Their momentum and anger would both diminish considerably, giving everyone a chance to talk—and making mediation possible.
There was nothing wrong with this approach. The problem was that Zeng Jun couldn’t simply demand that Matun Village hand over Feng Qiangdong. The villagers believed they were innocent. If the police took him away, wouldn’t that look like they suspected the village themselves?
That was why Zeng Jun could only frame it as an offer of protection, asking Feng Qiangdong to stand among the officers.
Naturally, such a tactful request had been rejected.
If they’d had more time, Zeng Jun could surely have thought of a better way to persuade them.
But in the blink of an eye, the people from Gao Family Village were already less than twenty meters away. They were so close that the sound of their feet pounding against the ground could be heard clearly!
In just a few more seconds, they would come charging straight at them.
Many of the villagers from Matun Village tightened their grips on the farming tools in their hands.
There was no better option.
They would have to take a risky gamble.
Jiang Xia suddenly turned around. Before Chen Dong could react, she swiftly unclipped the handcuffs from the back of his waist, took three quick strides toward Feng Qiangdong, grabbed his right wrist, and snapped the handcuffs shut around it with a click.
While Feng Qiangdong stood there looking utterly bewildered, she gripped the handcuffs with her left hand and seized his collar with her right, then threw all her strength into pulling him backward.
In one swift movement, she dragged him straight into the middle of their group!
Everyone who witnessed the scene was instantly stunned.
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