Chapter 1534: Tough Journey
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
They stayed for two and a half days in Damakan. After hanging around for two days, they got on their bikes in the afternoon and set out towards Huika.
Initially, they had only planned to stay for a day in Damakan. However, there was a huge storm that night and the rainwater persisted for a day, slowing them on their journey.
They had bought quite a number of stones there. The two that they had cut open had been valuable. Li Du had made five to six million. He did not carry the money with him but converted it to more stones instead.
The black hole was now practically full. Li Du did not know how many jade pieces there were inside. He only knew that his trip to Myanmar had been productive. The money he made would be sufficient for three generations.
Huika was located in the southeast of Damakan, not too far away. However, there was a mountain between the two places. The road conditions were also very poor. Besides, the military had set up a customs pa.s.s on top of the mountain. Hence, it would not be easy to go to Huika.
They were still traveling on motorcycles. This time around, not only there were slopes, but they also had to get down to push the vehicles from time to time. The terrain was all muddy. Sometimes, the huge motorcycles would be stuck in the dirt.
Not long later, a few cars caught up with them behind. The people were driving all-terrain vehicles. Additionally, the vehicles had been modified to have huge power engines. Although the terrain was bad, they could still travel as though it was a flat road.
Hearing the engine of the all-terrain vehicle and seeing that other people had caught up with them from some distance away, Li Du was envious. His eyes could not help but linger on the vehicles.
Coincidentally, the people inside the vehicle were familiar with them. They were also Chinese. Previously they had met at a field named Mochi. These men knew about Da Mao’s capabilities and invited Da Mao and Li Du to check out their stones. However, they had been rejected and were quite unhappy.
After Li Du noticed them, they also noticed Li Du and his men.
Seeing the bunch of them who were pus.h.i.+ng the motorbikes with much effort, the other group started to laugh. They gloated as they watched, “Oh, aren’t these Master Pao and Master Liu? And a few of the little brothers, what are you guys called again? We meeting once more. This is clearly fate.”
Zhong Da Pao looked at them coldly and said, “A bunch of idiotic pigs.”
“What did you said?” A man wearing shades exclaimed angrily.
The man who was sitting in the driver seat waved his hands. “Calm down, Master Pao is a local expert. We cannot afford to offend him. But the expert has been trapped here, he can’t run far anymore.”
He then looked at Da Mao and said, “Master Mao, if you are willing, we have a seat for you on our vehicle anytime. Let’s go together and you can help me. I will not treat you ill. How about that?”
Da Mao was trying to push a motorbike along the muddy road. He rolled his eyes and said, “Doesn’t sound too tempting.”
Someone laughed sinisterly. “He doesn’t know who the good guy is, no foresight is.”
The engines revved again, releasing acrid smoke in the air. The bunch of them could not help but cough.
Liu Zi was infuriated. He pointed at the vehicle and yelled, “D*mn it, you guys are c.o.c.ky. Today, I will…”
“That’s enough, if you have that energy to scold other people, first help Mister Li to get his bike out,” Zhong Da Pao stopped him. “Plenty of opportunities to lash out at them next time.”
Young Markelov spat out his chewing gum and asked Li Du, “Boss, do you want to change your vehicle?”
Li Du understood what he meant and said, “You have a way?”
Young Markelov laughed and said, “No problem.”
After some thoughts, Li Du still rejected the idea, shaking his head. As he always said, there was no reason to become an enemy with someone over a few words.
The bunch of them continued pus.h.i.+ng their vehicle along. Finally, they had pa.s.sed the muddiest path. Right then, each of them looked extremely haggard. Their shoes were all soiled with mud, and so were the tires. The exhausts of some of the cars had been filled with muddy water and could no longer work. Driver could only stop and fix them.
Li Du started to grow mad. He said angrily, “How much are the Hpakant mines worth? Why can’t they fix the road?”
Zhong Da Pao said helplessly, “There are many reasons. One, because of the terrain, it is too expensive to fix. Two, even if the roads are fixed, they will be ruined easily again. Three, there are many wars in the borders here. Would they want to fix the roads so that the other army can send over their troops? Four, there are often conflicts between fields. If the roads are fixed, there might be more conflicts.”
Boom, boom, boom! The engine revved. Driver wiped his face and said, “It’s done, boss.”
Li Du waved his hands impatiently and said, “Let’s go on. Those d*mned b*stards we b.u.mped into just now are probably at the customs by this time.”
Zhong Da Pao smiled mysteriously and said, “They won’t be able to make it there.”
After they pa.s.sed another mountain peak, Li Du realized the meaning behind that smile of his.
There was a raging river between the two small hills. The river was had siltstones and tumbled from above downstream. Several planks were placed across the river. That was the only pa.s.sage there.
On both sides of the river, there were many cars piled up. There were also some people who stood in the water. It seemed that the water was not too deep, just knee-level.
The heavy cars couldn’t drive over the makes.h.i.+ft bridge. Hence, they were stuck. They would not be able to cross the river with their vehicles.
Zhong Da Pao laughed in contempt. “D*mn, such a bunch of amateurs. They only think about striking it rich by coming to Hpakant. They didn’t think about learning and understanding more about the local conditions. The rain was so heavy last night. This river has overflowed, and there’s only a wooden bridge. How were they thinking to cross it?”
Liu Zi cheered as he watched the scene. Li Du followed behind. He examined the wooden pa.s.sage. Although it was narrow, it was still rather st.u.r.dy. There wasn’t supposed to be any problem in getting the motorcycles across.
Zhong Da Pao flipped his middle finger at the men on the ATVs and said, “Hey, idiots, where are you guys going? Not stepping it up anymore? Go on, continue revving it up.”
Da Mao laughed as he pushed the motorbike up the bridge. He said with ease, “Goodbye, everyone. Wait here. This river usually runs dry unless there’s constant rain. There’s so much water now because of the heavy rain from before. Wait for a few days and you should be able to cross.”
They continued to push their bikes across the river. Li Du was the last to cross. He laughed and said, “If you guys are willing, we have extra seats on our bikes.”
The businessmen who traveled to Hpakant were all there because they wanted to make money from buying good stones. They were not there to fight. Hence, after hearing Li Du’s words, a middle-aged man who was the leader asked, “Can we take your motorbikes to Huika?”
Li Du said, “Sure. Can’t you see that there are empty seats atop the tires? You guys just have to hold tight. I won’t mind giving you guys a ride.”
The men’s faces changed. They knew that they had been mocked. Other than being angry, there was nothing they could do.
They did not dare to strike. Seeing the menacing bodyguards traveling with Li Du, they felt weak.
The man with the shades was not prepared to stomach that. Hence, he pushed away his driver and got on an ATV himself. He said, “I don’t believe that this river is deep. Isn’t there someone in the water? He’s near the middle of the river. The water is not even as high as his neck!”
As he spoke, he stepped on the engine. Then, the vehicle started.
The river was more than ten meters wide. The vehicle started to speed up as it entered the water. Initially, the riverbank was shallow, not even coming up to the height of the tires. However, as it continued forward, the water suddenly became deeper. Soon, the entire vehicle was submerged!
Seeing that, the men on the sh.o.r.e were all shocked. They started to shout:
“Hurry, save his life!”
“Bring Boss Song up!”
“Boss Song, grab onto the car, don’t get washed away!”
The man ahead of him, with water barely reaching his ankles, started to laugh. He carefully got on the ATV. Then he jumped into the river and came up. “D*mn, idiot. I was standing on the roof of the Mercedes-Benz Big G! You’re driving such a lousy vehicle and you dare to get in? Are you trying to kill yourself?!”