Chapter 468 - 395: Oh, My Son
The flashlight beam was faint in the dead of night, but Zhang Laibao, who was picking corn with his back to Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu, still noticed it.
But the instant he turned, he saw a black muzzle aimed at him spit fire.
"Aaaargh!"
Zhang Laibao’s bloodcurdling scream tore through the night sky, echoing across the vast, open fields.
Nearby, Zhang Laifa, who had been engrossed in picking corn, jumped at the sudden gunshot. His hand trembled, and the cob he had just picked slipped from his grasp.
Immediately after, Zhang Laifa heard Zhang Laibao’s gut-wrenching scream.
"Brother!" Zhang Laifa cried out in anguish and turned to run. But he didn’t run toward the sound of Zhang Laibao’s voice; he bolted in the direction of the village.
"Agh..."
From not far behind him came the sound of intermittent, agonized groans.
Li Baoyu was on his knees, clutching his right shoulder. His forehead was pressed to the dirt, and pained sounds escaped his lips.
A short distance in front of him, Zhang Laibao lay flat on his back, staring at the sky, motionless.
Zhao Jun rushed to Zhang Laibao’s side, knelt down, and pried open his eyelids. He shone the flashlight into them for a moment, then scrambled over to Li Baoyu.
Reaching Li Baoyu, Zhao Jun tossed his gun aside, tucked the flashlight under his arm, and tore open the collar of Li Baoyu’s cloth shirt with both hands. He pulled it apart to look and saw Li Baoyu’s right shoulder hanging limply.
"Wang Qiang! Brother Long!" Zhao Jun threw his head back and bellowed for Wang Qiang and Wang Dalong.
"Yeah!" Wang Qiang’s voice called back in response.
Zhao Jun shouted back, "Get over here! Quick!"
"Yeah! Coming!"
"Agh... ah..." Li Baoyu squeezed his eyes shut, his face contorted in a grimace as he let out another cry of pain.
Zhao Jun quickly tore Li Baoyu’s shirt completely, ripping it into wide strips to bind Li Baoyu’s arm against his body.
But the moment Zhao Jun touched his arm, Li Baoyu’s cries instantly became more agonized.
Kneeling on one knee beside Li Baoyu, Zhao Jun put a hand on his back and said softly, "Hang in there, brother."
After speaking, another thought struck Zhao Jun. He unbuttoned his own cloth shirt, tore off a piece of his undershirt, folded it into a thick wad, and stuffed it into Li Baoyu’s mouth for him to bite down on.
Li Baoyu bit down on the cloth, his eyes wide. His cheeks twitched uncontrollably, and fat beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
Zhao Jun’s heart ached seeing him like this. He bellowed again, "Wang Qiang, hurry up!"
There was a loud RUSTLING as Wang Qiang and Wang Dalong, each carrying a flashlight and a gun, burst through the cornstalks to Zhao Jun’s side.
"Xiaojun, what happened?!" Wang Qiang exclaimed as he got closer, reeling in shock at the sight of Li Baoyu.
"Brother Long!" Zhao Jun pointed to the two guns on the ground and said to Wang Dalong, "I’ll carry Baoyu. You carry all the guns for me."
"Got it!" Wang Dalong didn’t dare hesitate, immediately slinging the guns over his shoulder.
Then, Zhao Jun added, "Back in that shack we were in, weren’t there some wooden poles? Go grab one, quick."
"What for?" Wang Qiang asked from the side, confused.
Zhao Jun didn’t answer. Instead, he pointed nearby and said to Wang Qiang, "Uncle, there’s a little bastard over there. Get some rope and tie him up hand and foot. You and Brother Long carry him back."
"Huh?" Wang Qiang froze, quickly shining his flashlight in the direction Zhao Jun was pointing. He had also heard Zhang Laibao’s scream earlier, but when he arrived, he’d seen the injured Li Baoyu and assumed the cry had come from him.
Seeing a person lying there now, Wang Qiang and Wang Dalong hurried over to check. They found Zhang Laibao with his eyes squeezed shut, his face a mask of pain.
Wang Dalong remembered the gunshot, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly ran the flashlight beam over Zhang Laibao’s entire body.
Zhang Laibao was dressed all in black tonight, so they couldn’t tell if he’d been shot, but they could smell the stench of urine.
"Brother Long, stop looking!" Zhao Jun was getting impatient. He barked, "Get over here and give me a hand!"
"Yeah!" At his words, Wang Dalong hurried behind Li Baoyu.
Zhao Jun was now kneeling on one knee with his back to Li Baoyu. He pulled Li Baoyu’s left arm over and draped it across his own shoulder.
"Baoyu, hold on tight to me, you hear?" Zhao Jun said, turning his head slightly. Then he leaned forward, using the arm to pull Li Baoyu’s upper body onto his back.
Li Baoyu was tall and heavyset, and Zhao Jun couldn’t get to his feet while carrying him. Wang Dalong reached out and helped hoist Li Baoyu up, allowing Zhao Jun to use the momentum to stand. Once up, Zhao Jun reached back with both hands, grabbed the crooks of Li Baoyu’s knees, and hitched him higher onto his back.
With Li Baoyu secure on his back, Zhao Jun turned his head to Wang Dalong and said, "Brother Long, hurry up! Go get that pole, and you and Uncle carry that bastard to my house!" With that, Zhao Jun, carrying Li Baoyu, plunged through the cornstalks and ran all the way to the village.
Li Baoyu was heavy, and carrying him was a huge strain for Zhao Jun, but he pushed on, moving quickly the entire way.
After more than twenty minutes, Zhao Jun was drenched in sweat. Droplets dripped constantly from his chin onto his chest, but he gritted his teeth, forced himself to endure the weight, and broke into a jog as he entered the Li Family Courtyard.
Reaching the door, Zhao Jun lifted his foot and kicked it twice, shouting, "Open up! Open the door!"
It was now past one in the morning. Of the five members of the Li Family, the other four were sound asleep.
But it was the hottest part of summer, and every family slept with their windows open. Zhao Jun’s frantic rush into the courtyard startled the dog, and its barks woke up Li Dayong and Jin Xiaomei.
Hearing Zhao Jun’s shouting, the couple’s first reaction was that something terrible had happened. They quickly turned on the light. Li Dayong leaped off the *kang* bed, not even stopping to put on shoes, and ran to the outer room to open the door.