Chapter 2245

The two sides looked at each other, and both seemed to feel strange, especially Xu Youzhi, who looked at Gu Chen with fear in his eyes.
Can't tell what's wrong? But it seems that his behavior seems to have aroused Gu Chen's suspicion.
Xu Youzhi smiled and said: "Officer Gu, why are you carrying a backpack when you go to the bathroom?"
"Then where did you go? Why didn't I see you?" Gu Chen directly threw the question back to Xu Youzhi.
Xu Youzhi grinned: "I...I also go to the toilet."
"I thought you left early? You didn't even bring your equipment." Gu Chen deliberately pretended to be confused.
After all, Xu Youzhi left his equipment and drove a long way ahead by himself, and Gu Chen noticed all of this.
But Gu Chen is not clear at the moment, what is Xu Youzhi's purpose for doing this?
Or did Xu Youzhi really go after Hu Peng as he guessed?
It seems that seeing Hu Peng is currently the most urgent task for Xu Youzhi.
Xu Youzhi also looked embarrassed.
Faced with Gu Chen's questioning, he didn't know how to explain it, and it seemed that he didn't know whether Gu Chen knew what he did just now?
After thinking about it, Xu Youzhi could only slowly say: "Just now, I wanted to go to the bathroom, and then, I saw some movement not far away."
"Because you also know that few people pass through the forest here, and there may be wild beasts in the dense forest."
"I'm also out of safety considerations, so I went to the front to explore the road and see what's going on?"
"Then what did you see?" Gu Chen followed Xu Youzhi's words and asked again.
Xu Youzhi chuckled: "I didn't see anything, I feel like it was a false alarm."
"That's why I hurried back, for fear that some wild beasts would attack the lonely humans."
Listening to Xu Youzhi's explanation, Gu Chen nodded slightly, and said with a light smile:
"It seems that you are still quite vigilant."
"Isn't that right? When I was young, I came here, crossed this mountain range with a few friends, and ran to Haibei City. At that time, I felt that crossing this mountain range was a cool thing."
"However, crossing this mountain range also means taking great risks, especially at night."
"At that time, there were quite a lot of wild beasts, especially those wild boars, which often attacked humans."
"At the beginning, among the few friends we walked together at night, one of them was attacked by a wild boar, and a little finger was bitten off in the end."
"Is there such a thing?" Although Gu Chen couldn't judge whether it was true or not, but from Xu Youzhi's mouth, it seemed to be quite reliable.
And Xu Youzhi also grinned: "Don't underestimate this mountain. Although there are infinite treasures in the mountains and forests, they are also full of dangers."
"You can only be in awe of this mountain, and..."
Having said this, Xu Youzhi suddenly hesitated to speak, and after a while, he said slowly:
"And you almost fell to your death in the mountain during the day. This is the best proof. Many people have died in this mountain."
"Oh?" Hearing Xu Youzhi's rhetoric getting better, Gu Chen felt more and more that this Xu Youzhi seemed to have many things that he hadn't explained clearly to himself.
At least there are still a lot of hidden things, for example, what does it mean that many people died in this mountain?
Xu Youzhi also saw that Gu Chen seemed to want to know this, so he also sat on the big rock and said slowly:
"That was decades ago. There were still a few gangs in the boundary of Haidong City. They were doing some shady things and doing illegal and criminal things."
"Because these gangs were very influential, they were later wiped out by the Haidong City Police."
"However, the remnants of these gangs later started to operate other businesses, and gradually gained influence in the land of Haidong City."
"These small groups actually belonged to the same gang at the beginning. Anyway, I don't know much about it. In the end, they separated and divided into different industries."
"However, there are certain interests among these industries, so these people are fighting to the death again."
After a pause, Xu Youzhi turned his head to look at the mountain not far away, and said with a sigh:
"Later, this group of people used this mountain range as a cover to start some illegal activities between Haidong City and Haibei City."
"Based on the wild roads of this mountain range, some illegal supplies began to be secretly delivered."
"Gradually, this mountain range began to form a natural transportation line. Sometimes, it even led horses to transport goods."
"But because of a conflict of interest, the gang in Haidong City fought with the gang in Haibei City."
"In the end, the two sides lost several lives on this mountain, and then they stopped."
"Later, with the clues provided by the informant, the police wiped out this gang in one fell swoop."
With a faint sigh, Xu Youzhi also said with a lot of emotion: "So, later on, the descendants of these gangs stopped doing those illegal activities and started to run some normal businesses."
"And the influence of those gangs is getting weaker and weaker. Many members who joined in the past couldn't get along well in the end."
Speaking of this, Gu Chen also heard the clues, and then asked tentatively: "Xu Youzhi, the person who provided clues to the police and helped the police destroy this criminal gang back then, could it be you?"
"Ah?" Seeing Gu Chen mentioning it suddenly, Xu Youzhi, who hadn't reacted yet, was stunned for a moment.
"You are the police informant, right?" Gu Chen asked him again for confirmation.
But this time, Xu Youzhi didn't hide any more, but nodded slowly, voluntarily admitting:
"That's right, I was the informant back then, and I joined this gang because I was forced to make a living."
"However, I don't want to embark on the path of crime in my heart. I hate the way this group of people do things. I want to make money cleanly. I don't want to be involved by this group of people."
"In particular, I saw this group of people acting recklessly. I know that if this group of people continues to be so arrogant, they will be arrested and imprisoned sooner or later."
Sighing softly, Xu Youzhi tried his best to calm down, and then said again: "In the end, in order not to let myself be involved, I also did meritorious service in order to take the blame."
"So, I took the initiative to get in touch with the Haidong Criminal Police Team and became a police informant."
"Finally, under the arrangement of Haidong City Police, I provided them with the time and place of an important transaction."
"It was at that time that the police dispatched a large number of people. With my close cooperation, the criminal gangs in Haidong City and Haibei City were almost uprooted in one fell swoop on this mountain."
"And I was exempted from punishment because I did not deeply participate in the criminal activities of this gang and actively cooperated with the police to destroy this criminal gang."
With a heavy sigh, Xu Youzhi rubbed his face with his hands, as if time had passed, and the bits and pieces of the past resurfaced before his eyes.
And when Gu Chen learned about Xu Youzhi's past, he sighed softly and asked Xu Youzhi:
"So, you started working as a scrap collector, right?"
"There's no other way." Looking up at Gu Chen, Xu Youzhi sighed and said:
"I wanted to live a good life at first, but the gang was blamed. Even the smartest people know that there must be problems."
"The people who were not implicated must also be related to this matter."
"So, in those two years, the Haidong police helped me arrange some jobs in other places in order to protect my safety."
"The main reason is to avoid those people's retaliation against me, and to avoid unnecessary suspicion."
"That's how I stayed out of town for two years before I dared to return to Haidong City."
"But I didn't dare to show my face too much in the urban area, so I hid in Hushan Town and started a business of buying scraps."
"Fortunately, Hushan Town is comfortable enough. For people like me, life is just right, and I like this place quite a lot."
Speaking of this, Xu Youzhi looked at Gu Chen, and said with a smile:
"So, I am more familiar with this mountain than any of you, and I know how dangerous this mountain is."
"Also, there were many lives left here back then, so, somehow, I always feel that this place is not very safe."
"Especially when I was in the bamboo forest, I seemed to encounter a ghost hitting the wall and couldn't get out at all. I started to panic, and I also had a natural fear of that bamboo forest."
"Later, you fell to the edge of the cliff inexplicably and almost died. Only then did I confirm that it is really not suitable to stay in that place for a long time."
"Okay." Hearing Xu Youzhi's words, Gu Chen nodded silently, and said involuntarily:
"You may be overly nervous, so, were you really just going to explore the way just now?"
"Yes." Faced with Gu Chen's questioning, Xu Youzhi nodded silently, and also confirmed:
"I'm always worried about the mountain, especially at night, I can't sleep at all."
"I always feel that when I sleep, there are always eyes staring at me, and I feel uncomfortable."
"Moreover, I found that there were some strange movements not far away, so I thought about going to see the situation."
"But when I turned back again, I found that you had disappeared, which made me even more frightened."
Speaking of this, Xu Youzhi also patted his chest, trying to let himself catch his breath, it seemed that the fear just now was still spreading all over his body.
Seeing that Xu Youzhi had explained the situation clearly, and Gu Chen didn't want to embarrass him, he gave up and said:
"Okay, since this is the case, then, you'd better rest quickly, I will watch over you in the second half of the night."
"What?" Hearing what Gu Chen said, Xu Youzhi looked blank: "Aren't you going to sleep?"
"I've had enough sleep." Gu Chen also told the truth, at this moment, he was already full of energy.
Seeing this, Xu Youzhi thought for a few seconds before slowly saying:
"That's all right. If you're sleepy, take a break. After all, you'll have to continue your journey tomorrow, and you don't know when you'll be able to catch up with Hu Peng. Rest more and store up your energy."
"Understood." Faced with Xu Youzhi's nagging, Gu Chen could only nod in agreement.
Just like that, Gu Chen watched Xu Youzhi slowly fall asleep, and at night, Gu Chen had already lost sleepiness.
However, in this dense forest, even if Gu Chen has a master-level observation ability, he can't use it.
The next morning, at 5 am.
The sky began to appear pale.
At this time, Gu Chen had finished wiping with a wet towel, and was taking out his breakfast to enjoy.
At this moment, Xu Youzhi also slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing that Gu Chen was staying by his side, he quickly took off his sleeping bag and walked up to Gu Chen: "Officer Gu, we will hurry on our way later."
"If we hurry up, we might be able to catch up to Hu Peng later today."
"Understood." Gu Chen said casually while drinking mineral water:
"If you can catch up with Hu Peng at night, that would be the best."
"Let's go." Xu Youzhi took out his wet wipes, wiped his face casually a few times, and wanted to hurry on his way.
Gu Chen couldn't screw him, so he could only follow behind.
The two walked on the ridgeline among the mountains, one in front of the other.
Along the way, Gu Chen also discovered that many discarded garbage seemed to be fresh.
Therefore, Gu Chen felt more and more that Hu Peng seemed not far away from him.
When the two came to a mountain, Gu Chen stood on the edge of the cliff, looking at the opposite side, there seemed to be a faint object, which looked very different from other vegetation.
Gu Chen squinted and found that this object seemed to be a figure.
Since the other party seemed to be wearing a conspicuous coat, he could see clearly from the top of the mountain.
"Could that be Hu Peng?" Gu Chen turned to look at Xu Youzhi.
Receiving Gu Chen's reminder, Xu Youzhi hurried to the edge of the cliff and began to look towards the opposite mountain.
A few seconds later, Xu Youzhi looked at Gu Chen excitedly: "Officer Gu, there is indeed someone over there."
"That guy hasn't climbed that slope, and it's possible that he rushed there at night, and climbing at night is dangerous, so he found a gentle terrain and rested there."
"Then how long will it take for us to go down from here and then go up to that mountain?"
Although Gu Chen saw that the straight line on the opposite mountain was relatively short, he was not sure how long it would take to go down to this valley and then climb up that hillside?
Xu Youzhi grinned: "Based on the pace of our climbing yesterday, I estimate that we will be able to arrive at the opponent's area in less than an hour."
"One hour?" Although there seemed to be no problem with the time, Gu Chen felt that one hour seemed a bit extravagant in terms of time.
But Xu Youzhi smiled and said: "Officer Gu, it does take an hour."
After a pause, Xu Youzhi pointed at the feet of the two with his trekking pole, and said, "Look, there is a steep cliff at the foot of our mountain. If you want to go down to the valley from here, it will take a lot of money. The power of the tiger."
"If you are not careful, you may fall off the cliff and go down to the bottom of the cliff. This is not over yet. The next step is the hillside that makes you feel a little desperate."
"The slope over there is similar to the downhill angle on our side, even steeper, with an average slope of about 70 degrees."
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