Chapter 57: Dozens of Crates of Firearms and Ammunition

Zhang Huacheng slipped out and unlocked the ancestral hall's main door using a black bobby pin. Crates of bullets and firearms were moved out into the surrounding snow.

"Ergou, stop moving those, bring out the ones outside first!" Seeing that Ergou had already hauled up over twenty crates in just a short while and was about to head back down for more, Zhang Huacheng immediately stopped him.

It was better to take a batch away first; after all, what was secured in hand truly belonged to them.

Ergou cast a reluctant glance downward before beginning to haul the crates outside.

Once most of the items inside the room had been cleared out, Zhang Huacheng called out to Ergou, who was eager to go back for another trip. "Go fetch Tiezhu. Take advantage of the heavy snowfall to bring a flatbed cart for transport."

With the heavy snow currently drifting down, any tracks they left in the snow would be quickly wiped clean.

"Got it!"

Without wasting words, Ergou dashed swiftly toward home.

Zhang Huacheng went back inside to continue moving the ammunition. Most of them were 7.62mm rounds, compatible with Springfield rifles, Arisaka rifles, and even Mauser C96 broomhandle pistols. There were also two crates of 6.5mm ammunition used by Arisaka rifles. Each crate contained 1,440 rounds, weighing around forty-five jin including the wooden container. Carrying two or three crates at a time was effortless.

How much money could these fetch if they were all sold?

Unfortunately, selling them was difficult. Offloading them bit by bit on the black market was feasible, but attempting to sell large quantities at once would inevitably invite massive trouble.

After everything was moved outside, Ergou had not yet returned. After pondering for a moment, Zhang Huacheng re-entered the arms warehouse.

He searched around the armory once more but could not find any information regarding this batch of Japanese ammunition.

He was debating whether to find an opportunity to sneak into Old Uncle Chen's house and search around. These ammunition crates were entirely brand new, without a single scratch or trace of blood, indicating that the transport had been consistently smooth, making it highly unlikely they were seized from the Japanese military. Since the older Chen family members were bandits, he had reason to suspect they were either funded by the Japanese or had acquired them through trade with the Japanese.

If they had been captured as spoils of war, it would be impossible for the crate surfaces to be completely free of bumps or dents. Furthermore, if the Chen family had stumbled upon a Japanese military base hidden deep in the mountains, they would have sold everything off long ago instead of trickling it out piece by piece—selling for so many years without even managing to clear half of it.

Footsteps sounded from above, followed by Ergou's lowered voice.

"Where are you?"

Zhang Huacheng carried a Type 54 rifle upstairs.

"Tiezhu is waiting for us outside. Let's move a few more crates!" Ergou was eager to continue hauling.

"Then bring up two more crates of 7.62mm ammunition, and I'll grab one more crate of Arisakas. Leave the rest here for now and let's pull back!" These items definitely had a shady origin, otherwise the Chen family wouldn't have hidden and hoarded them so secretly. Naturally, Zhang Huacheng wanted to take away as much as possible.

However, to avoid any unexpected complications, they should transport a first batch away first. It would be impossible to haul everything out at once anyway.

"Alright!"

Overjoyed, Ergou quickly brought up three more crates of 7.62mm ammunition.

Zhang Huacheng took the Type 54 rifle back up, returned to grab a crate of Arisakas—since firearms commanded high prices on the black market, especially those in such pristine condition.

"Leave the remaining twenty or so crates to be moved tomorrow night. They surely don't check on them every single day." Seeing Ergou run back down, Zhang Huacheng handed him the crate of Arisaka rifles in his hand.

Ergou quickly took it.

"Head back with Tiezhu first. I'm going to restore the scene. Don't take the cart home; pull it directly to the foot of the mountain and wait for me!"

After giving his instructions, Zhang Huacheng turned and went back in.

These firearms and ammunition could not be hidden at home; secreting them away deep in the mountains was the safest course of action.

Ergou hugged the crate and ran toward Tiezhu.

Upon returning inside, Zhang Huacheng shut the secret tunnel door, nailed the old black cloth back into place, hung up the paintings of the Immortals of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity, and swept away all footprints on the ground with a broom. Once everything was restored to its original state, he went outside to lock the door. On the door, he left a very thin, inconspicuous piece of thread—as long as the lock was opened, he would notice it. The lock on the main gate had been treated with a thread in the exact same manner.

If anyone had opened it, they wouldn't enter again; if it remained untouched, they would continue moving the supplies tomorrow night.

Feather-like snowflakes drifted down in flurries, and within a short moment, the tracks they had left in the snow were completely covered.

By the time Zhang Huacheng hurried to the foot of the mountain, he saw Tiezhu and Ergou waiting for him.

"Brother."

"Huacheng."

Seeing Zhang Huacheng arrive, the two men immediately stepped forward to meet him.

"I'll pull, you two push, let's head into the mountain!" Zhang Huacheng took over the flatbed cart. No one would ever suspect that these firearms and ammunition were hidden deep within the mountains. Currently, the snow in certain parts of the mountains reached up to people's knees, making the task of transporting them into the mountains for concealment extremely difficult.

"Hiding them in the mountain is good—it's safe." Ergou expressed his full approval.

"Right, by hiding them in the mountain, we can also set up a temporary hunting base here. Every time we return from hunting, we can bring back some ammunition and have Qin Xiaodong and the others throw it onto the black market to sell."

On the black market, not to mention ammunition, firearms could easily be acquired as well. Firearms were not heavily restricted at the moment.

Qin Xiaodong and his crew had connections to offload them.

It was just that the selling process would be quite slow.

"A single bullet goes for at least seven cents on the black market at its lowest price. Just think about how much money this can make!" Ergou's heart leaped wildly; the feeling of getting rich overnight was far too thrilling.

"How much money? You can calculate that if a single crate of ammunition is completely sold out, you might get a thousand yuan, but it's very difficult. In the county town's black market, selling just one crate might take half a year before it's cleared out. Ordinarily, it just serves as a bit of extra subsidy for us. The main thing is that once we have enough firearms and ammunition, we can retreat safely even if we encounter a pack of wolves."

Zhang Huacheng's words brought Ergou crashing back to reality. In this day and age, privately trafficking firearms and ammunition carried the penalty of a firing squad, and selling them on the black market required extreme caution.

These were all Japanese items, almost entirely brand new. Selling a small amount was fine, but moving a large quantity would undoubtedly attract attention.

The Japanese ammunition supply system possessed a very high degree of standardization, with a single crate basically containing 1,440 rounds, whereas domestic crates typically held 500 rounds.

Hearing this, Ergou calmed down as well. He understood that if they were truly easy to offload, the Chen family would have hauled them to the black market for cash long ago instead of selling merely a few dozen crates over the span of ten or twenty years.

In the Northeast, bullets and guns were truly not in short supply during this era.

"Brother, where are we hauling these to? Are we still hunting wolves tonight?"

Tiezhu's mind was entirely occupied with hunting.

He had virtually no concept of firearms and ammunition.

"We'll find a nearby cave to hide them first. If we run into wolves tonight, we hunt wolves; if we don't encounter wolves, we'll go hunt a couple of wapiti."

Hunting naturally could not be stopped.

They hadn't heard any wolf howls tonight. They wondered if it was because the alpha wolf had died, causing the pack to choose to leave. If that was the case, it would be somewhat regrettable.

Finding a cave was no easy task; scrambling across mountains and ridges almost exhausted them to death, relying entirely on brute force to pull the cart. Whenever they encountered slopes they couldn't ascend, they had to unload and reload the cargo all over again.

After nearly two hours, Zhang Huacheng finally located a very secluded rock cave nestled inside a mountain crevice. This location left him quite satisfied. The only regret was that the cave was a bit small—they couldn't even stand up straight inside—but for use as a hunting base, it posed absolutely no problems at all.

"Nobody else will come here, right?"

Once the hauling was finished, Ergou wiped the sweat from his brow and sat down on the ground.

"No. We don't need to worry about that until spring. During this period, we'll also keep looking for an even better spot." The probability of this place being discovered right now was pitifully small; heavy snow would keep hunters and mountain patrollers from entering the mountains, so they didn't need to worry for the time being.

Several months would be more than enough time for him to find a new, suitable cave.