Chapter 934: Chapter 934: Between Life and Death
"Young master... are you okay?"
Tang Xiaoshuang, strapped in by the seatbelt, first looked at Lin Fan in the passenger seat.
"Not a big problem... I must say, a good car is sturdy... but we need to run; they probably won’t let us off easily..."
Lin Fan gritted his teeth and adjusted his body. After unbuckling the seatbelt, he fell heavily onto the car roof, while at this moment, Tang Xiaoshuang had also freed herself, reaching to push open the still intact car door. Before she could get out, a gunshot rang out.
"Bang!"
The scattered pellets shattered the car glass, also shattering Tang Xiaoshuang’s chance to escape.
"It’s a shotgun, probably used for hunting. Crawl to the back seat quickly!"
Lin Fan grabbed Tang Xiaoshuang’s hand, stooping as they crawled to the back seat. He signaled for her to get into the trunk, then abruptly pushed open the rear door. Almost simultaneously, gunfire sounded accompanied by the crash of broken glass, yet Lin Fan rushed out without hesitation.
"Green-faced Ghost, you finally decided to show yourself!"
Lin Fan looked up at the man under the strong light coming from the road below, who was changing bullets; this call made the man, who had his back to the strong light, raise his head.
"County Magistrate Lin, is Bashen in your possession?"
"Yes, indeed, Bashen is with me, but so what? Aren’t you also about to meet your end at my hand this time?"
Seeing the opponent push the cartridge shell out, Lin Fan knew there wasn’t much time left.
"End at your hand? County Magistrate Lin, what a joke, the gun seems to be in my hands now!"
The Green-faced Ghost pulled two cartridge shells from his pocket with a cold smile. This hunting gun differs from normal firearms in that the bullets lack a projectile. The rear of the shelled bullets can be refitted with Base Fire, packed with black powder, and filled with steel balls for lethal use, sealed with tinfoil on the tip.
Once the firing pin ignites the Base Fire, the resulting explosion ignites the black powder within the shell, blasting steel balls out to execute the shot. The advantage is the large damage area; the downside is the lethal range is short, beyond twenty meters, it’s hard to achieve a kill, which Lin Fan, having grown up in rural areas, is quite familiar with.
"Who holds the gun doesn’t matter. After all, I already know your background, Xiong Baiyan!"
At the mention of this name, the opponent visibly hesitated, but then still pointed the loaded hunting gun at Lin Fan.
"County Magistrate Lin, you’re indeed smart; you guessed it all!"
Xiong Baiyan sneered coldly; he was that so-called persecuted Deputy County Magistrate whom Huo Ben had previously instructed Lin Fan to meet, living with a mentally deranged daughter at the urban-rural fringe, truly the Green-faced Ghost who executed the slaughter.
"Actually, it wasn’t hard to guess. Once I realized Zhao Chuanchun wasn’t as villainous as you claimed, you were the first person I thought of. After all, you were the witness proving County Magistrate Zhao was a bad person. If he wasn’t, what would be your significance?"
Facing the black muzzle, Lin Fan smirked: "So your significance was to drive me to find you, note my appearance, and secretly investigate everything about me. Once Huo Ben decided to act, you’d know all my movements, right?"
"No wonder Huo Ben dealt with you so cautiously. So you’re this smart; that’s why the triple kill strategy ended up putting you in my hands. But standing here, isn’t it because you’re too smart, too self-assured at having unraveled all of Huo Ben’s schemes, yet never expected me waiting here?"
Xiong Baiyan sneered: "Fine, overly smart people shouldn’t let others know their intelligence, otherwise this killing disaster wouldn’t happen. County Magistrate Lin, you’ll be taking the lead step now."
"Whizz! Bang!"
In that instant, Tang Xiaoshuang, having retrieved the Strong Crossbow, already pulled the trigger; as the steel ball shot out, it directly hit Xiong Baiyan’s hand holding the gun. In pain, he instinctively pulled the trigger, and gunfire rang out with countless steel balls shooting towards Lin Fan.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew beside Lin Fan, steel balls bounced off stones, causing sparks. The pain caused a deviation in the gun muzzle, allowing Lin Fan to escape death.
"Run quickly!"
Seeing the staggering Xiong Baiyan fall to the ground, Lin Fan stooped and ran to the car trunk, pulling Tang Xiaoshuang along, they headed towards the opposite side of the river. As they stumbled across, gunfire resounded again from behind, but they were over fifty meters away now; at this range, steel balls only splashed some water, unable to cause harm.
"Head into the woods quickly!"
Looking back at Xiong Baiyan dragging himself down the riverbank, Lin Fan held Tang Xiaoshuang’s hand, quickly running towards the forest ahead.
"Young master, perhaps you should run first. I’ll find a chance to take him down!"
Tang Xiaoshuang gripping the Strong Crossbow eyed Xiong Baiyan chasing after them, but Lin Fan flatly refused: "The thing in your hand is useless against a real gun, and I need this person captured alive. How far away is the battlefield you picked for me?"
"Just around that corner!"
Tang Xiaoshuang pointed forward, where Lin Fan had previously indicated.
"Great, let’s capture him alive there!"