My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 291 Divine Marksmanship

“Yes, Zima, I think I have a vague recollection of what happened that night.” Another thin, mustachioed man turned around as well. “Besides our friends in Abalensk, who else would remember the deeds of the great hero Andrei so clearly?”

Jima glared at Hu Yi for a couple of seconds, then took a few steps forward with a stern face, and waved to Yuri with a smile: "Gentlemen, please throw your identification over here, I need to verify it."

"Oh, of course, no problem." Yuri turned to the bandits behind him and gestured with his chin: "Show the officers your identification."

The two bandits paused, then pretended to reach into their pockets. Yuri slowly reached into his robes, a helpless and sorrowful smile on his face: "It's truly unbelievable that our police would be so easily fooled by a mere bandit. It's truly pathetic and..."

Before he finished speaking, he swiftly drew his pistol, aimed it at Director Jima, and pulled the trigger.

A gunshot rang out, and Director Ji Ma staggered as the bullet grazed his shoulder, splattering blood. A burly policewoman shouted, first pinning Hu Yi to the ground, then rushing forward to tackle the director.

Seeing Yuri take the initiative, the other two bandits hurriedly drew their guns as well. Unexpectedly, Yuri fired a shot and turned to flee. At the same time, the police fired a barrage of shots, and the two bandits immediately fell to the ground and died.

Yuri had already dashed far away in the meantime, and several policemen turned their guns and fired several shots, but none of them hit him.

Chief Jima, pinned down by the policewoman, pounded the ground in rage, yelling, "Elena! Get up and shoot! Quick! Don't let that son of a bitch get away!"

"Yes, Chief!" Elena braced herself with both hands, straightened up, knelt on one knee, raised her gun, and aimed. There was a "crack" sound, and Yuri in the distance stumbled, his left shoulder slumped down, and his shirt was immediately soaked with blood. But he didn't fall to the ground; he clutched his shoulder and continued running forward, staggering.

"Don't let him get away!" Elena stood up and led several policemen in pursuit. Hu Yi also rallied his spirits and followed behind, hoping to witness Yuri being executed on the spot. He only regretted that he didn't have a kitchen knife with him, so he could personally chop this beast in half.

Yuri ran very fast, occasionally turning around and firing a few shots randomly. However, more and more people were appearing in the town at this time. After all, he was a cowardly thief and dared not go into the town. He could only run all the way to the small road on the outskirts of the town.

Ahead was a forest road leading out of town. Elena and the others ran and fired, but they not only failed to hit their targets, but also slowed down their pursuit.

Yuri fled to the intersection in one breath, and before turning onto the forest road, he leisurely looked back and then casually fired a shot at the pursuing police.

Just as his figure was obscured by the dense forest, a sharp screech of brakes suddenly rang out amidst the pouring rain, followed by a soft "bang." Yuri floated back like a paper doll, somersaulting face-first onto the ground.

Everyone rushed forward to see what was happening. Yuri's body was contorted, blood was flowing from his seven orifices, and he was groaning and convulsing in the rain, clearly on the verge of death. Looking further down the forest road, a large truck was stopped in the middle of the road, and a slender woman with flowing red hair was running towards them in terror—it was Natasha.

"Natasha!" Hu Yi pushed through the crowd and ran towards her without regard for anything else.

"Anton! You...you're alright! Thank goodness! You scared me to death!" Natasha threw herself into his arms and burst into tears. Then she wiped away her tears and stopped crying, staring blankly at Yuri on the ground: "I...hit someone...he suddenly appeared...I tried my best to brake...maybe...it was raining, and I was going too fast..."

"No! You shouldn't have braked!" Hu Yi hugged her tightly as they walked to Yuri's side. "That bastard led his men to steal our goods! He deserved to die!"

"It's him?!" Natasha's eyes flashed with surprise, her expression a mixture of anger and worry: "But...after all..."

Hu Yi also sensed something was amiss and was about to offer Natasha a few words of comfort when Director Jima jogged over. She first looked at Yuri, sprawled on the ground, then at the large truck in the distance, and asked breathlessly, "What... what happened?"

Natasha had just lost contact with Hu Yi. After unloading the goods, she and the others hurriedly drove back to the fork in the road and split up to search. She found the cell phone and kitchen knife left in the car where Hu Yi had jumped off the shoulder, and in her haste, she drove all the way to the edge of town. Unfortunately, she was driving a little too fast and hit Yuri, who was fleeing there in a disheveled state, nearly killing him. Perhaps it could be considered fate.

The police searched Yuri but found nothing to identify him. During this time, Hu Yi recounted the entire story to Jima, Elena, and the others. Natasha agreed to testify and could immediately find several other witnesses.

"What kind of certificate are you giving me?!" Director Jima poked the barely alive Yuri with his toe. "In this state, how can he possibly come back to life?"

"It's probably hopeless if we leave him in our town," Elena pondered for a moment. "Even if we send him to a major hospital in Moscow... there might not be enough time."

Jima stared at Natasha, who looked guilty and uneasy, in Hu Yi's arms for a long time, then said thoughtfully, "Sending such a piece of trash to Moscow for emergency treatment? Was it necessary?"

Elena smiled with a hint of regret: "If I had hit that shot more accurately, it wouldn't have been necessary."

"I think I hit the target pretty well," Jima muttered to herself, then turned to the police and townspeople who had gathered around and shouted, "There might still be bandits active in town. Everyone, split up and search immediately! Be careful!"

The crowd dispersed, searching in all directions, leaving only Elena standing smiling beside them. Jima frowned, craned her neck, and pointed behind Hu Yi: "Look, who's here?"

Hu Yi and Natasha turned around together, only to find the place empty, without a single person in sight. Just as they were wondering what was going on, a gunshot rang out behind them. When they turned back, Yuri had already stopped his painful spasms.

Natasha gasped softly, holding her breath. Hu Yi felt a mix of surprise, satisfaction, and amusement, but then he saw Director Jima cry out "Ouch!" and crouch down, clutching her shoulder. Elena quickly bent down to help her up: "Director, are you alright?"

"The bandits, posing as security agents, broke into the town at night, opened fire on the police, and were killed on the spot in the ensuing firefight. Everyone witnessed it." Jima slowly rose, leaning weakly against Elena. "I was unfortunately wounded in the process and need to go to the clinic to get my wound bandaged and rest. Write a report after you come to work later. Do you know how to write one?"

"Leave it to me." Elena tilted her head back, squinting at the sunlight breaking through the clouds. "Chief, your leadership is exemplary, and your marksmanship is divine; we subordinates are deeply moved and can only look up to you in awe!"

Jima gave a noncommittal "hmm," then walked up to Hu Yi with her hands behind her back: "You two aren't bandits, right?"

"Of course." Hu Yi nodded vigorously. "I'm your friend."

"What? Impossible." Jima looked at him with a half-smile. "I swear to God, this is absolutely the first time I've met you today. How could we be friends?"

The fatigue of a day and a night had made his mind very sluggish. Hu Yi paused for a moment, turned his head to look at Elena, only to see that she had already turned her back to him and slowly walked away.

"Alright, let's get out of here." Jima waved him off impatiently. "You all saw it, there was a shooting in town. Please don't interfere with our police work. If you want to do sightseeing, come back another day!"

"Understood, sir." Hu Yi smiled wearily, then turned and pointed to the truck Natasha had driven: "This truck looks like it belongs to the bandits. There are two other trucks on the roadside outside the woods; I guess they belong to them too."

"Thank you, kind foreign friend. Let those who need to worry about it take care of it. Goodbye!" Jima muttered, turned and quickened her pace, then, shivering with her flabby body, she jogged and whimpered, "Wait~ Elena~ Don't abandon this injured person!"

"Anton," Natasha watched the two policemen walk away, then reached out and took Hu Yi's arm, "Shouldn't we... go back now?"

"Let's go home. I think I can get at least twenty hours of sleep." Hu Yi looked back at the road leading out of town, then sat down on the ground, exhausted. "But you'll have to call a car first."

A dozen minutes later, Dagana and her husband arrived with the others. The tall, dark-haired man, after helping Natasha get rid of the minibus, thought the matter was over and went to pick up Yabalov and Tanya and return to Moscow.

When asked what happened, Hu Yi and Natasha simply said that Yuri and his men had a gunfight with the police and were killed on the spot. Everyone applauded and cheered, crowding around Hu Yi and Natasha as they got into their car to go home.

"Wait a minute!" Hu Yi suddenly remembered something and waved his hand, saying, "Come on, let's go find something first."

The group followed Hu Yi into the woods, to the spot where he had slipped and fallen down the slope. They then spread out in a fan shape and turned back to search. By this time, it was broad daylight, and sunlight streamed through the leaves, providing excellent visibility.

Hu Yi led the way based on his memory, and after walking only a few dozen meters, Xiao Linzi found a small to medium-sized shoulder bag on the ground. Upon opening it, he found it filled with bundles of US dollars.

"Two hundred and sixty thousand." Fu Jiahui quickly counted the money, then lowered his head and pondered, "He sold so many warehouses to the bandits last night, he must have received more than this amount of money."

"It's definitely more than that, only a part of it." Uncle Yu shook his head: "But these won't just be from the three of us."

"Yes, he sold our goods to bandits, and the price certainly wasn't high." Hu Yi nodded and said, "There must have been many victims last night, but... there's nothing we can do about it."

Everyone sighed with emotion, but Xiao Linzi was quite pleased: "Brother Hu, since this is all ill-gotten gains anyway, let's split it 50/50, hehe, let's divide it up."

"Give him your big head!" Uncle Yu slapped him on the back of the head, snatched the bag, and tossed it to Hu Yi. "If it weren't for your brother Hu, we would have been robbed of everything! This money should all belong to him!"

Hu Yi took the bag, weighed it in his hand, and smiled weakly, "Since it's ill-gotten gains, how can I take it with a clear conscience?"

"So what are you going to do?"

"I—my brain isn't working right now. I'd better go back to sleep and talk to you when I wake up." Hu Yi yawned, turned around and put his arm around Natasha, and strode towards the edge of the forest while muttering to himself, "There are gains and losses, debts and repayments. Heaven doesn't allow people to be too greedy."

(End of this chapter)