Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

Who wouldn't be angry after seeing this?
If someone actually manages to find this place to collect some herbs, Fang Wei certainly won't interfere. This is national forest land, not his personal forest land. As long as the harvesting isn't destructive, he won't say anything.

But the scene before him was utter destruction. Even if it were the forestry bureau's patrol team, they would have to take down those bastards.

Even though rare herbs are very expensive outside, some people still managed to find their way here.

"Third Brother, should we give chase? They shouldn't have been gone long ago."

Pan Lianhua was also very angry. These herbs did not grow here naturally. They were transplanted by Fang Wei little by little and cultivated over many years to reach their current size.

These money-grubbing fools almost ruined this woodland full of rare herbs.

She was also a hunter by trade, and after checking the tracks, she concluded that these guys hadn't gone far.

"Chase them! I want to see if they're human or ghosts."

Fang Wei also came over to take a look and judged that there were about five of them, and they had indeed left before they arrived.

So he and Pan Lianhua chased after them with their knives. He turned all his tracking, detection, and identification skills to the maximum, so that not even five rats could escape, let alone a human.

What's more, those guys were carrying heavy loads, and after more than an hour, the two of them caught up with them.

They carried deep baskets on their backs, and two of them also carried loads on shoulder poles.

Just as Pan Lianhua was about to make a sound from behind the bushes, Fang Wei quickly stopped her and gestured for her to look more closely.

She stared intently at it, and couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.

The group stopped without warning. There were several large trees where they were resting, and two people were hanging from one of them, covered in blood.

One of them was still humming softly, while the other hung his head and didn't move at all, just like a dead person.

"Oh no, this one seems to have stopped breathing."

The men put down their loads and burdens, and one of them went over to check on the two men who were hanging.

Then came a gasp of surprise. Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua exchanged a glance, their expressions growing increasingly solemn.

Originally, it was just a matter of destructive herb harvesting. If Fang Wei caught up with them, he could at most subdue them and hand them over to the Forestry Bureau to deal with. It wasn't a very serious matter.

But if someone dies, that's a different story; that would be a major case.

"Wasn't he just whimpering a moment ago? How did he die? Big brother, what do we do, what do we do?"

These guys are definitely not good people, otherwise they wouldn't have beaten someone up like that. But they're not murderous robbers either; they just got nervous when they saw someone dead.

"What can we do? What else can we do but kill the other one as well, otherwise we'll all be doomed."

The man they called "Big Brother" began to twitch his facial muscles, and finally hardened his heart to kill him to silence him.

In this desolate wilderness, if you kill someone and bury them somewhere, even tens of thousands of people in the mountains might not be able to find them.

He felt this was the only way for them to escape legal punishment.

The expressions on the faces of the others changed from panic to distorted madness, but in the end they all decided to listen to their eldest brother.

Then two men drew their daggers, ready to finish off the poor man who was still alive.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me! I won't say anything when I get back, please let me go."

The other person hanging from the tree was still alive and felt threatened, so he kept begging for mercy.

He and the other deceased man were brothers who often went into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs. The two of them accidentally discovered a forest full of wild and rare herbs, a veritable gold mine.

The prices of rare herbs have skyrocketed in recent years, and the two of them felt like they had struck it rich.

Fortunately, the two were herb gatherers who made a living by collecting herbs, and they would never engage in destructive harvesting. Moreover, they were very cautious and only picked a limited amount each time, so they did not attract anyone's attention at first.

But if you walk the dark road too often, you're bound to run into ghosts. During one of their herbal medicine sales, they were targeted by these five guys.

This time, when they went into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs, these five guys followed the two unlucky brothers into the mountains.

Being herb gatherers making a living in the mountains, the two brothers eventually discovered they were being followed. Although they didn't know who was following them, they certainly weren't willing to take them to their herb-gathering and cultivation base.

Just as the two brothers were preparing to take a detour to shake off the group, the other side also noticed the problem and rushed up to capture them.

These two brothers weren't pushovers either. At first, they let these men punch and kick them without revealing where they had gathered the herbs. But then the five men started to use more force, and the two brothers couldn't take it anymore before finally pointing out the direction.

These five guys didn't want to carry any burdens on the road, so they hung them from a big tree.

As a result, one of them succumbed to his injuries and died, so the group decided to kill him to silence him.

So, these five guys are definitely not good people.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua exchanged a glance, their minds in perfect harmony, and they immediately understood that the other wanted to save someone.

"I'll deal with the guy on the left, you deal with the guy on the right. Saving lives is the priority, so go all out!"

The two men understood each other perfectly without needing to speak, displaying remarkable tacit understanding. The two men, each holding a dagger, first cut the ropes, causing the pleading man to fall to the ground, dazed and confused.

Just as the two were about to finish off the herb gatherer with their daggers, Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua sprang out of the bushes almost simultaneously.

Both men were holding machetes, but Fang Wei didn't use his. Instead, he kicked the guy on the left far away.

Fang Wei's physical abilities are now superhuman; that kick almost took half of the man's life, and he immediately passed out.

Pan Lianhua was no innocent flower. She drew an arc with the cleaver in her hand, the blade grazing her wrist, and the dagger the man was holding fell to the ground.

Blood spurted from her wrist, but luckily she was sideways and managed to dodge it in time.

The man clutched his injured wrist with his other hand, fell to the ground, and rolled around in pain.

Only then did the other three realize what was happening and prepare to draw their swords and fight back.

Fang Wei was not only much stronger than them, but his reflexes were also much faster than the three of them. With a swift movement, he struck one of them on the neck with the back of the blade. The man rolled his eyes back and collapsed to the ground, motionless.

He had clearly fainted.

The remaining two were heading straight for the lotus flower. They had already drawn their machetes and were wielding them, each strike aimed at a vital spot.

They were planning to kill someone.

Instead of advancing, Pan Lianhua retreated, observing Fang Wei's position with her eyes, and then the machete in her hand spun out.

Then came the sound of chopping meat on a chopping block. The cleaver slashed deep into the arm of the man who was wielding the cleaver, penetrating three inches into the bone, almost severing his arm.

Fang Wei then swiftly stepped forward from the other side, grabbing the man's wrist in one swift motion. He tripped the man, causing him to lose his balance and fall flat on his face.

Fang Wei fell to the ground, landing on the man's back. Then, with a forceful pull, a "crack" was heard, and the man's wrist snapped, the machete in his hand was snatched away.

"Third Brother, I'm sorry, it's so bloody."

Pan Lianhua was indeed a little embarrassed, because Fang Wei's side hardly saw any bloodshed, while her side was drawing blood with every strike.

Fang Wei waved his hand, indicating that it was alright.

He quickly stepped forward and subdued the person who hadn't fainted, then applied physical hemostasis to the injured man's arm and wrist.

Pan Lianhua cut the ropes binding the still-living herb gatherer and also released the already dead man.

The surviving herb gatherer wailed, clutching his brother's corpse. They had truly suffered a terrible misfortune; they had encountered a group of wicked people who wanted both money and their lives.

Fang Wei tied up the five men, then said to Pan Lianhua, "Go call the police. I'll watch them from here."

Because this was a murder scene, Fang Wei dared not move the body without permission, which is why she asked Pan Lianhua to call the police.

As for the surviving member of the two brothers, although his injuries were not minor, he should be able to hold on for a while, enough for Pan Lianhua to lead the group back.

Pan Lianhua didn't dare to delay and quickly ran out of the mountains. Once she arrived in the village, she called the township police station and the county bureau.

Upon hearing that someone had died in the mountains, the police officers rushed over at lightning speed and, led by her, arrived at the scene.

Because Pan Lianhua had mentioned that someone was injured, doctors and nurses were among those who rushed to the scene.

After some basic first aid, the two brothers were carried away. However, the older brother was a cold corpse, while the younger brother was still breathing.

“Secretary Fang, you really went all out! But you did it while stopping the other party’s crime, subduing the bad guys and upholding justice. You should be commended.”

The detective leading the team was quite familiar with Fang Wei, so he made a joke as soon as they met.

To be honest, there was blood everywhere at the scene. If Fang Wei hadn't done some physical hemostasis for those guys, that is, tied them up with ropes, those two guys might have already died from blood loss.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua left with several police officers, who also escorted the five men back with them.

Some people stayed behind to investigate the scene, but this matter had nothing to do with Fang Wei and his wife. They went to the township to give their statements and then returned home.

The two of them went into the mountains in high spirits in the morning, but returned empty-handed in the evening.

The older sister didn't ask, but she saw some bloodstains on the two of them and knew that something must have happened.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua went to take a shower and change clothes before coming out to eat.

"Sister, we encountered bad people in the mountains today."

Pan Lianhua briefly explained what had happened in the mountains to her older sister, which terrified her.

Not every woman is as strong as her; most women would instinctively feel fear upon hearing that someone has died.

The next day.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua went to the county early in the morning; today they were going to discuss the details of what happened with the criminal investigation team. (End of Chapter)