ATPnovel Chapter 55 Chasing the Murderer in the Secret Passage
Chapter 55 Chasing the Murderer in the Secret Passage
The soldiers moved swiftly, and in a short time they had moved all the stone coffin lids to the cave entrance, stacking them into a sturdy inverted triangular fortification.
Chen Feng leaped onto the 1.5-meter-high stone coffin wall, his muscular upper body bare, his right hand raised high with a Mauser pistol. He barked, "Qian Jianeng, your squad guards the left flank; Chu Xiongxing, your squad guards the right flank! All of you, aim your guns at the passage entrance. If anyone who comes out shows the slightest sign of disobedience, pull the trigger immediately. Leave no survivors!"
"yes!"
Qian Jianeng and Chu Xiongxing accepted the order in unison, each directing their squad to quickly deploy along the wall according to the tactics they had been trained in, their dark gun barrels locking onto the narrow passage.
At this moment, curses and arguments gradually came from the depths of the passage, growing closer and closer until they reached the cave entrance in an instant.
"Put down your weapons and surrender immediately!"
Before Chen Feng's shout had even finished, a heavy thud echoed through the passageway, followed by a booming voice in English: "Damn it! An ambush!"
"court death!"
Chen Feng smiled coldly. Seeing that the other party had no intention of surrendering, he flicked his wrist and the Mauser pistol precisely locked onto the entrance of the passage.
boom!
Gunshots rang out suddenly, the arrogant voice came to an abrupt halt, and a blond, fat man of about forty years old collapsed out of the passage.
The bullet hit him squarely on the tip of his nose, and his entire cheek was blown to pieces, a gruesome sight.
"General, excellent marksmanship!"
Chu Xiongxing cheered loudly.
He was among the first recruits, and he fought bravely and fearlessly. Now he has been promoted to squad leader, and his eyes are full of admiration when he looks at Chen Feng.
"Um!"
Chen Feng touched his nose, finding it somewhat amusing.
I clearly aimed for his forehead, but hit his nose instead. Looks like I need to practice my marksmanship more.
Marilyn stared at the corpse on the ground, shuddering. She secretly rejoiced that she had surrendered early, otherwise her fate would have been even worse than that of the fat man.
There had been quite a bit of activity inside the passage, but after that shot, the people inside fell silent instantly, clearly having retreated deeper into the passage.
At the same time, Zhang Xiuwu and his men brought over several barrels of kerosene, pried open the lids one by one, and the pungent smell of kerosene instantly filled the entire stone chamber.
Chen Feng gripped his pistol tightly, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. He shouted in English into the passageway, "Listen up, you inside! You're surrounded. Either lay down your weapons and surrender, or wait to be burned alive."
Before the words were finished, the sound of a gun being cocked rang out in the passage, and a grenade crashed against the stone wall, rolling out and grazing the edge of the cover before hitting the ground heavily.
"hidden!"
Chen Feng shouted and jumped off the stone wall.
boom!!!
A loud bang shook the stone chamber, and thick smoke, carrying the smell of gunpowder, instantly filled the air, with rubble falling everywhere.
"court death!"
Chen Feng covered his nose, raised his hand, and fired a shot. At the same time, he ordered, "Zhang Xiuwu, immediately lead your men to pour kerosene into the tunnel. Qian Jianeng and Chu Xiongxing, provide covering fire, aim carefully, and don't hurt your own men!"
As soon as the order was given, a barrage of gunfire exploded in the stone chamber like raindrops, making everyone's ears ring.
The enemies inside the passage also retaliated fiercely, throwing grenades from time to time, sending stone fragments flying everywhere.
Seeing that the two sides were fighting fiercely and no one was watching them, Marilyn and the other two helped each other untie their ropes, grabbed a few gold and silver artifacts that were buried with them, and tried to sneak out of the stone chamber.
"My aim is terrible, don't go looking for trouble!"
Chen Feng caught a glimpse of the three men's subtle movements out of the corner of his eye. With a flick of his wrist, his pistol fired, the bullet striking the stone slab beneath Marilyn's feet with pinpoint accuracy, sending sparks flying.
"I......"
Marilyn's face turned deathly pale instantly. She was so frightened that she took two steps back and obediently squatted back down.
boom!!!
Before Chen Feng could give the order to ignite, sparks from bullets on the stone wall of the passage ignited the flowing kerosene. A violent explosion rang out, and flames instantly spread into the passage along the kerosene.
Zhang Xiuwu couldn't dodge in time, and his hair and eyebrows were burned off completely. He already had a penetrating wound on his left cheek, and now there were burn scars on both cheeks. Coupled with his bald head, he looked both comical and ferocious.
"Help!"
"I surrender!"
"Don't shoot!"
"I can't breathe!"
Inside the passage, the crackling sounds of flames burning the stone walls, the coughing from thick smoke, and pleas for mercy mingled together.
Those people couldn't even wait for Chen Feng's response; they were so overwhelmed by the heat that they rushed out in a panic.
The leader was a tall, thin foreigner with a face covered in soot from cigarette smoke. His clothes were charred and tattered by sparks. As soon as he rushed out of the passage, his legs gave way and he knelt down on the ground, raising his hands high and trembling all over.
The five or six people following behind, some foreigners and some natives, were all red-faced and coughing incessantly. They had burns on their bodies and scrambled out of the cave, none of them daring to resist.
"All of you, squat down! Hands behind your heads, or we'll shoot you!" Zhang Xiuwu shouted sternly, stepping forward with his rifle and pointing it at each of the men.
Chen Feng's gaze swept over the group of prisoners, but he didn't see the Englishman, Jerome. He immediately walked up to a blond man, stepped on his shoulder, and demanded sharply, "Where's Jerome? Where is he?"
Half of the man's face was burned off, but he gritted his teeth and endured the excruciating pain, replying, "They...they're still down there! They made us bring some gold up to scout ahead! I was forced into this; I didn't want to come here at all!"
How deep is the tunnel below?
"It's about a hundred meters long, and there are quite a few gold bricks piled up inside!"
Chen Feng walked quickly to the entrance of the passage and peered inside.
The flames were still scorching the walls, and gold bricks were scattered on the ground, gleaming brightly after being heated by the fire, so dazzling that it was hard to open one's eyes.
wrong!
The direction of that flame is wrong!
The passage below must contain another exit; otherwise, the flames would have simply followed the kerosene and never flowed back into the stone chamber.
These people brought out only a little over 100 kilograms of gold. As the organizer, Javier must have known about another way out long ago. He deliberately used this small amount of gold to send this rabble away to explore the way, while he took the majority of the gold and escaped!
It makes sense. The Spanish governor who set up this treasure site back then would have surely left a way out for future generations by secretly digging another secret passage.
"How dare he steal my gold! That Javier must be tired of living!"
Chen Feng cursed under his breath and immediately ordered, "Some men are responsible for putting out the fire, some men are responsible for collecting the prisoners' weapons, and the rest of you follow me inside!"
Zhang Xiuwu immediately led his men to take action, taking off their clothes and waving them vigorously at the flames.
However, the kerosene on the ground had not yet burned out, so the fire extinguishing effect was minimal. It took a full quarter of an hour for the fire to gradually subside.
Chen Feng bent down and crawled into the passage. His leather boots stepped on the scorching gold bricks, instantly making a sizzling sound, accompanied by a burnt smell.
"Let me cool the baby down." Zhang Xiuwu laughed, took the water bottle from his waist, and poured it over the gold brick.
"Take these prisoners..."
Chen Feng had barely finished speaking when a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out from behind.
Zhang Xiuwu was startled, dropping his water bottle to the ground. His face suddenly turned anxious: "Oh no! Someone else has discovered this place. Is it the Spanish colonial army or the independence army?!"