Chapter 126 The Grand Finale
As the saying goes, revenge should not be delayed overnight. Even if he could not make them pay for their crimes in blood that very day, he would never let these villains off easily after some time had passed.
That night, he carefully disguised himself and went alone to the city's black market.
However, he did not reveal Zhao Si's name, but instead secretly inquired about Ma Wu's whereabouts from others.
After finding the place where Ma Wu frequently appeared, he found an extremely secluded corner and began to secretly stake out and keep watch.
Once Ma Wu left the black market, He Yuzhu immediately followed him silently.
The old man was always accompanied by several bodyguards, and the security was tight all the way. It wasn't until he was on his way to his mistress's residence that He Yuzhu seized the perfect opportunity to strike decisively, knocking him unconscious and binding him tightly.
When Ma Wusu woke up, he thought he had fallen into the hands of his enemies. He kept cursing and swearing, and his arrogance was extremely high.
Without saying a word, He Yuzhu stepped forward and gave him a severe beating. After several punches and kicks, he finally made him behave completely.
Upon hearing that He Yuzhu wanted to inquire about Township Chief Ma, Ma Wu's eyes immediately began to dart around, and he kept making excuses, saying that he knew nothing about the outside of Tianjin.
He Yuzhu immediately saw through the hidden story and used a set of interrogation techniques he had learned from later TV dramas on Ma Wu.
Ma Wu finally couldn't withstand the torture and confessed everything.
He had actually been a traitor in his early years, but he kept his identity extremely secret. Almost everyone who knew about it was killed by him, and those who survived were all his accomplices.
That is precisely why he has been able to remain at large and unharmed for so many years.
After obtaining the exact location where he had hidden classified information and ill-gotten gains, He Yuzhu sneaked in under the cover of night and took away all the intelligence and most of the wealth that Ma Wu had accumulated over his life.
Before leaving, He Yuzhu remained as hard-hearted as ever, cruelly breaking Ma Wu's limbs and bones, and then throwing him into a nearby garrison camp like trash.
A handwritten letter was forcibly stuffed into Ma Wu's arms. On the envelope were two shocking words written in bold, colorful calligraphy: "Ma Wu".
The letter was filled with detailed records of the heinous crimes he had committed over the years.
The reason they didn't just hand him over to the police station was because this old man had committed numerous evils and had deep roots; his cronies and henchmen had already infiltrated every corner of the country.
If the police really wanted to arrest him, they probably would have acted swiftly and decisively long ago.
The deeper reason is that He Yuzhu was too lazy to bother cleaning up those small fry and lackeys, so he preferred to use someone else to do the dirty work and let those who always liked to "clean house" do it for him.
The Kuomintang army has always been the most proactive in dealing with these traitors and remnants who have escaped the net, and it has never been lenient in its actions.
The next morning, shocking news broke in Tianjin's underworld: Ma Wu had completely lost power and collapsed, and no one knew which mysterious master had fallen to him.
The troops stationed there destroyed Ma Wu's stronghold in one fell swoop, and also followed the clues to arrest a large number of his accomplices and henchmen.
All factions were whispering amongst themselves, speculating about which powerful and unassuming figure Ma Wu had offended to be uprooted and suffer such a miserable end.
Upon hearing this news, Zhao Xiaonian hurriedly found He Yuzhu with a flustered expression and asked him with concern if he had encountered any troublesome problems.
After all, it was he who introduced He Yuzhu to Ma Wu in the first place.
He Yuzhu casually made up an excuse, saying that he was busy yesterday and didn't go to Tianbao Road at all, and brushed the matter off in a few words.
After hearing He Yuzhu's words, Zhao Xiaonian visibly breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
If this matter really causes trouble, he will probably feel guilty and remorseful for the rest of his life.
He Yuzhu gently patted his shoulder to comfort him, telling him to focus on his livelihood. He then watched Zhao Xiaonian's departing figure and noticed that his steps were indeed much lighter.
From Ma Wu's intermittent confessions, He Yuzhu made a definitive discovery about the true background of Township Chief Ma, whose real name was Ma Yannian.
The name is elegant and understated, suggesting that his father hoped he would live a long and healthy life.
Unfortunately, this person specializes in despicable acts that harm heaven and reason, and bring disaster to the country and its people.
Allowing such a heinous villain to live to a ripe old age will only perpetuate the suffering of countless innocent people.
The crimes he committed, even if not countless, were still numerous and truly outrageous.
For him, bullying men and women was just a trivial matter.
He also secretly colluded with bandits, and in fact he was the second-in-command of the stronghold. He eliminated dissidents, seized fertile land, impersonated a village head, betrayed his comrades, and even set up a private prison in his home. He was a wicked and utterly depraved man.
This guy married ten concubines in total. Perhaps because he had done so many bad things and was punished by heaven, only his first wife gave birth to a son for him, who was Ma Lie, who was personally crippled by He Yuzhu.
All the other concubines gave birth to daughters.
Now that Ma Lie is a disabled person for life, how could Mayor Ma not try every means to seek revenge and settle this score?
However, Ma Lie's fate was entirely deserved; he was, after all, an accomplice and lackey who aided and abetted evil.
In addition, the Ma family had more than a hundred guards and servants.
However, after Japan surrendered, he became somewhat more restrained. Some of his guards were sent to the mountain stronghold, but there were still fifty or sixty people left at home.
His home was fully equipped with rifles and cannons, with equipment comparable to a regular army, and even included highly lethal machine guns.
Faced with such a heavily guarded and impregnable mansion, He Yuzhu knew that it was simply impossible to sneak in.
Holding onto the cold-blooded belief that "no snowflake is innocent when an avalanche occurs," he resolved to carry out a thorough and ruthless purge of the entire Ma family.
On the very same day that Ma Wu was sent to the garrison camp, He Yuzhu immediately launched his revenge operation without delay.
Around noon, he rushed home to tell Xiaozhi that he might not be back that evening. He also prepared a meal for her in advance and repeatedly reminded her to reheat it before eating.
As he was leaving, he repeatedly told Xiaozhi to make sure to lock the main gate and room doors tightly, and to be extremely careful and not to be careless.
After getting off work, He Yuzhu rode his bicycle out of the city at high speed, then switched to a motorcycle and headed straight for Tanggu.
After arriving in Tanggu, he disguised himself again, found out the exact location of the Ma family mansion, and then found a secluded hiding place to lie in wait for the right opportunity.
Having traveled a long and tiring journey, his face was covered in dust. Without bothering to tidy his appearance, he first filled his hungry stomach and then quietly waited for night to fall completely.
It wasn't until around 10 p.m., when the whole town was quiet and still, that He Yuzhu quietly arrived at the pre-selected hiding place and carefully took out all the grenade launchers from his storage space.
He arranged all ten grenade launchers neatly on the ground, and then patiently and carefully adjusted the aiming angle and firing position of each grenade launcher to ensure that every grenade could accurately hit the target.
Immediately afterwards, He Yuzhu took out two boxes of grenades from the storage space, totaling twenty grenades. He placed two grenades next to each grenade launcher as spares in case of ammunition shortage.
Once everything was ready, a series of rapid firing sounds rang out, followed by a series of loud explosions from the Ma family compound. Blazing flames shot into the sky, illuminating the entire night.
After a fierce bombing, the Ma family compound was thrown into chaos. Shouts and neighing of horses filled the air. In the panic, some people fired their guns indiscriminately, trying to warn others and stabilize the situation.
After firing all twenty grenades, He Yuzhu did not linger. He quickly retrieved all the grenade launchers into his storage space and then moved to another pre-selected sniping position to prepare for the next stage of the battle.
He slowly took out his KR98K rifle, gently pulled the bolt, and steadily locked the crosshair onto the key position of the gate of the Ma family compound through the sniper scope on the rifle, quietly waiting for the target to appear.
The Ma family compound covers an area of five or six acres, which is quite vast. The twenty grenades that were just fired are certainly not enough to create a sufficiently lethal area of damage, nor can they completely defeat all the enemies inside the compound.
At this moment, He Yuzhu held his breath and focused his eyes on the scope. He had already made up his mind that anyone who dared to rush out of the courtyard with a gun would become a live target under his gun and be slaughtered at his will.
With a muffled thud, the KR98K rifle in his hand suddenly fired, and a guard holding a Mauser pistol at the gate of the Ma family fell to the ground without uttering a sound, dying on the spot.
"Bang bang bang" - a series of crisp gunshots pierced the silent night sky, and several more unlucky guys who had been forcibly pushed out to scout the way fell at the gate. Every bullet hit the head accurately, and it was as if every shot had a hit.
"Charge! You bunch of sons of bitches, charge forward!" Mayor Ma stood in the open space in the front yard, waving his Mauser pistol in both hands, angrily cursing at his guards, his tone full of rage and resentment.
"I've been feeding you all with my hard-earned money, giving you rice, flour, fine wine, and meat every meal, and all I've produced is a bunch of good-for-nothings! Get out of here, all of you! I want to see who's so bold as to dare to rub my hand!"