Chapter 339 - 339 Encounter with the Carjack Gang
The traffic officer glared at Mad Dog and said, "Out-of-town vehicles like yours that violate traffic laws here are subject to temporary vehicle impoundment. You can retrieve your vehicle from the traffic police station once you have paid the fine. That's the procedure!"
"The vehicle gets impounded too?" Mad Dog was stunned and exclaimed, "What kind of rule is that? Why haven't I ever heard of it?"
The traffic officer said, "These are the rules in Dengyang City. What, are you thinking of defying the law?"
Mad Dog scratched his head and replied, "But... but that's different from the regulations I know. Over-speeding usually just results in a fine, where did this vehicle impoundment come from?"
"Are you suggesting that I'm lying to you?" the traffic officer angrily retorted. "As a national law enforcement officer, do you think I would lie to you over such a trivial matter? These are the rules, and if you don't follow Dengyang City's procedures, then you can forget about driving your car out of here!"
Just as Mad Dog was about to respond, Da Fei, who was sitting in the back, quietly opened the door and discreetly handed a stack of cash to the officer, smiling, "Brother, we're really in a hurry; we sincerely apologize. Look, could you possibly make an exception? Aren't rules made by people?"
The traffic officer took the money, felt it, glanced at Da Fei, and then burst out in a smile, suddenly glaring, "No way!"
Da Fei was taken aback; he hadn't expected that the money wouldn't bribe this officer. Could it be that he had come upon a figure of unimpeachable integrity, a modern-day Bao Zheng?
"I'm warning you, follow me to complete the procedures or try defying the law!" the traffic officer glared at Da Fei and said, "And pack up your tricks; we all enforce the law impartially here!"
Seeing the officer's firmness, Mad Dog looked helplessly at Ye Qing. Although Ye Qing was anxious, this was the first time he had encountered such a straight-laced officer. If they had dealt with a scoundrel, he would have personally taken action. But facing a responsible officer, he really couldn't make a move.
"Let's just go through the procedures," Ye Qing said helplessly, gesturing with his hand.
Feeling helpless, Mad Dog could only drive following the officer's guidance into a small path nearby. After traveling about five or six miles, the path became more secluded and the road worsened, which surprised Mad Dog.
Glancing at Ye Qing, he saw that Ye Qing had already furrowed his brow, cautiously observing the surroundings. The vehicle had entered a small forest and the area was unusually quiet, but also filled with a sense of impending danger.
Ye Qing quietly tapped Da Fei, signaling him to be wary. Meanwhile, Mad Dog was on high alert, following the direction pointed by the officer, but his gaze was constantly sizing up the officer.
Under the officer's directions, they traveled about ten more miles, eventually arriving at a clearing. There was also a white Desert Prince parked there—not as luxurious as Ye Qing's Land Rover but still a luxury vehicle.
Mad Dog had just parked the car when five or six men dressed as traffic officers immediately surrounded the vehicle.
The officer sitting next to Mad Dog patted his shoulder and punctuated, "Get out!"
Mad Dog looked at Ye Qing, who nodded at him. Without hesitation, Mad Dog followed the officer out of the car.
Seeing Mad Dog getting out, several officers immediately opened the car doors, yelling for Ye Qing and Da Fei to get out.
Ye Qing and Da Fei didn't resist and followed suit. As soon as they got out, two officers climbed into the car, frantically scouring it.
Meanwhile, several other officers drew out cleavers and daggers, encircling Ye Qing and his two companions in the middle.
"Nice car!" the leader with the Little Mustache sneered at Ye Qing and remarked, "But not so smart, are you?"
"What... what are you doing?" Mad Dog feigned fear and asked tremblingly.
"See, didn't I tell you? The brains aren't quite there!" Little Mustache laughed and said, "At this point, you still don't know what we want to do? Boy, you really are adorably stupid!"
"Eldest Brother, there's a lot of money in the car!" an officer poked his head out of the car, clutching several bundles of cash. Ye Qing had brought three hundred thousand yuan from Shenchuan City as a reserve, which these officers had now found.
"Really?" Little Mustache was ecstatic, hurrying over to take the cash, his face lighting up with excitement, "Damn, we've finally caught a fat sheep! Take all the money out; you guys, take care of these three, then drive the car to Old Liu's place and sell it. This car is worth a lot more than that Desert Prince, at least two hundred thousand.
With this haul, we friends can rest easy for a few months!"
"Yes!" The crowd cheered joyfully, and several men approached, brandishing knives at Ye Qing and his companions to move them aside. Meanwhile, others climbed into the vehicle to continue pillaging its contents.
Mad Dog initially wanted to resist, but Ye Qing waved his hand at him. Not knowing what Ye Qing meant, Mad Dog still obediently followed and left with Ye.
The men led Ye Qing and his group behind a large rock where three people, two women and one man, were lying on the ground. A man was watching over them, and as the others arrived, he was slyly pulling at the clothes of one of the more flamboyantly dressed women.
"Damn, Bin Zi, what are you doing!" one of the men shouted, startling the other man, who sighed with relief upon seeing the newcomers.
The man said, "Damn, these chicks are quite something. It's a pity to just kill them like this. How about we suggest to the Eldest Brother that we take them back and have some fun? Once we're done, we can finish them off?"
"That's right, it would be such a waste to slaughter these two chicks!" all the men agreed, looking at the two women and clicking their tongues.
"Fine, we'll spare these two women for now. Let's kill these men first, then go back and discuss this matter with the Eldest Brother!" One man turned his head, pointed a dagger at Ye Qing and the two others, and said, "Come here and kneel down!"
Feigning deafness, Ye Qing asked, "What did you say?"
"Come here and kneel down, are you deaf?" As soon as the man finished speaking, Ye Qing suddenly kicked him in the chest, sending him kneeling to the ground as he had instructed. Clutching his chest, the man didn't speak for a long while, only his mouth oozing traces of blood.
"Damn, is this for real? That's too exaggerated, right?" Another man, eyes wide, turned and glared at Ye Qing angrily, and said, "You dare to fight back? I'll kill you!"
The man charged with his dagger, but the result was the same; Ye Qing kicked him back. However, he didn't kneel but collapsed on the ground, unable to even crawl.
At this moment, the others realized that Ye Qing was not to be trifled with. One of them said gravely, "He's tough, let's all go at him together!"
"Damn, looking for a group fight?" Da Fei picked up a machete from the ground and immediately clashed with one of them.
Mad Dog, even more direct than Da Fei, shouted and charged forward, tackling one man to the ground. With one hand, he held down the man's knife and with the other, he choked his neck. The man was strong and struggled a few times, kicking Mad Dog away. However, being Mad Dog, true to his name, charged again and bit the man's wrist, causing the man to scream in agony.
The other three men were up against Ye Qing, and the fight was decidedly one-sided. While Da Fei and Mad Dog were still unresolved, the three men were already down on the ground, severely injured. The least injured had his nose broken by Ye Qing and lost two front teeth, and was currently lying on the ground crying.
Seeing that Da Fei and Mad Dog were gaining the upper hand, Ye Qing did not go to help them but went over to untie the three people instead.
The trio was dressed lavishly. The man, in his twenties, wore gold-rimmed glasses and had an air of scholarly demeanor. One of the women wore heavy makeup; though pretty, she exuded a sense of vulgarity. The other woman was unpretentiously dressed, with fair skin and a pitiable oval face that made her universally likable.
It was probably her simplicity that had spared her from the man's advances, unlike the flamboyantly dressed woman who had been groped several times.
Once freed, the three of them immediately stood up. The flamboyantly dressed woman screamed and ran to the man who had touched her, beginning to beat and kick him while shouting loudly, "I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"
The man bowed to Ye Qing and said, "Thank you so much, friends. If it weren't for you, the three of us might have lost our lives here today!"
Ye Qing waved his hand and said, "It was nothing, hardly worth mentioning. Besides, they kidnapped us too; we were just defending ourselves."
"Regardless, you saved us," the man said. "I'm Xu Changzhi, and I always repay my debts. I haven't asked how to address you three yet, so I can return the favor in the future!"
Ye Qing was about to refuse when Da Fei promptly replied, "Our Eldest Brother's name is Ye Qing, from Jiuchuan County, Dengyang City. If you want to repay him, make sure you remember that!"
Ye Qing looked helplessly at Da Fei, unable to stop him in time with his fast mouth.
Xu Changzhi slowly repeated what Da Fei had just said, nodding slowly, "Eldest Brother Ye, I'll keep that in mind. Should opportunity arise, I shall repay you doubly!"
"Don't mention it," Ye Qing said, frowning slightly. "These people aren't traffic police; what exactly do they do?"
"It looks like they're probably the Carjack Gang that's been causing trouble around Dengyang City lately," Xu Changzhi explained. "I've heard about this group. They masquerade as traffic police to target luxury cars from other places, luring the drivers to secluded spots where they rob them of their vehicles and money, and then they kill them.
They're a serious threat, and I didn't expect we'd run into them today. We're lucky to have had you, Eldest Brother Ye; otherwise, our chances today would have been slim!"
"What era is it, and there's still a Carjack Gang?" Da Fei scoffed, kicking the man beside him and said, "Thinking they can just be carjackers? Aren't they afraid of being hijacked themselves?"