Azaro finally appeared again, his face ashen, walking slowly with a cane. Behind him, two of Shava’s bodyguards each held a gun bag, and another carried a very short box.
Azaro sat on the sofa without saying a word, and when Shava’s n placed the gun bags in front of Shava, one of them said, "Taken from a cabinet in the bedroom. There were a lot of guns in the safe, but they were all new guns, the ones we use."
Shava waved his hand and said with a smile, "We don’t want new guns, we only want old guns."
Gao Yang’s breathing was slightly hurried. A gun bag itself was a good thing. If a leather gun bag that has lasted over a hundred years has been preserved, then the guns inside must be extraordinary, and their maintenance will surely be impeccable.
Gao Yang pulled the gun out of the gun bag and glanced at it, but imdiately felt a bit stunned because he had never seen such a gun.
The gun was indeed well-preserved. Although it appeared sowhat crude, which was a basic characteristic of the era it was from, the shotgun exuded a certain charm, the kind that only cos from historical accumulation. However, Gao Yang had seen enough of such old guns; what amazed him was the pattern on the barrel of this gun.
It was the first ti Gao Yang saw a patterned steel barrel, not the kind of engraved pattern, but a pattern inherent in the steel of the barrel itself, like that of a Damascus sword.
Curiously, after taking a closer look at the shotgun with the patterned barrel, Gao Yang gave Azaro a deep look without saying anything. After putting the gun back into the gun bag, he opened the box.
Upon opening the box, Gao Yang experienced a brief mont of distraction.
Inside the large box was a smaller box, with soft protective material laid between the two layers. Gao Yang opened the smaller box inside, which held two pistols, both flintlock guns. Between the two guns was a brass powder flask, below them a rod for pushing lead balls into the barrel, and a small pair of pliers.
Inside the box was a naplate fixed to the bottom board, with a folded piece of paper placed beside the naplate. The paper had yellowed with age. Gao Yang looked at the naplate, which was inscribed in French, a language he couldn’t decipher. Then he picked up the folded paper and glanced at the content, written in Russian. Luckily, he could understand the basics.
Gao Yang felt as if a needle had pricked his heart, sharply painful, but he calmly refolded the paper carefully and covered the box.
After fastening the inner lid of the box tight, he closed the outer wooden layer. Gao Yang lifted his head, and sternly said to Azaro, "How did you acquire these guns?"
Azaro took a breath, his nose twitching a few tis, and then said in a stifled voice, "I stole them."
Gao Yang waved his hand across the row of guns placed before him and said in a deep voice, "If possible, please explain where you stole each one."
Azaro leaned forward for a glance and then said in a deep voice, "The guns in the bag and the box, I stole them from soone’s house. I was young then. I pried open a family’s door, searched inside for a long ti, and found nothing valuable. Then I discovered so guns. I only took what seed valuable and got rid of them all."
Azaro waved his hand and said, "Back then, the Soviet Union hadn’t collapsed yet, but it was almost close. I sold a few, but didn’t get much for them, so I tossed the rest into a corner at ho. Later, a foreigner ca looking for , wanting to buy guns. He heard about them from soone who previously bought guns from . He checked my remaining guns and gave five thousand dollars. That’s when I realized the guns I had sold were all valuable."
Gao Yang frowned and said, "Where did you steal them from? Also, what kind of guns did you sell? I have a photo here. See if the guns in the photo look familiar to you."
After glancing at the photo Gao Yang presented, Azaro shook his head and said, "Never seen them, or don’t recall even if I did. It’s been more than twenty years."
Gao Yang was sowhat disappointed; he said in a deep voice, "Where did you steal them from? Be specific."
Azaro didn’t ponder much and imdiately said, "Just south of Kyiv University. Back then, it was a residential area for officials. I stole from a factory director’s ho. They were wealthy, but unlike military officials who had soldiers on guard, it was easy to get in. But I can’t rember exactly which house it was, it’s been too long.
Gao Yang said in a deep voice, "How many did you steal?"
Azaro said in a deep voice, "Four, three long ones and that box. As for the specific ti, it should have been around the middle of 1991. I rember it was quite hot then, and the Soviet Union hadn’t disbanded yet.
I knew a person who loved old guns and collected vintage ones. After stealing the guns, I went to sell two to him. I rember clearly; he only gave a hundred rubles. At that ti, the ruble devaluation was severe, and a hundred rubles were almost useless. Then that guy asked if I had any other guns. I said yes. Originally, I planned to sell him the remaining two, but I thought they weren’t worth much, so I didn’t bother with him anymore and just left the remaining two guns at my place without touching them again.
Later, over a year had passed, and the Soviet Union had already collapsed. One day, while I was scrounging on the streets, the person I sold the guns to ca looking for , asking where the two guns I ntioned before were. He wanted to buy them. I had completely forgotten about the guns, but agreed to go back and search for them. Just after the guy left, a foreigner stopped , saying he wanted to buy my guns at a high price. So, I had him wait while I went ho and dug out the guns."
After saying that, Azaro shrugged and said, "That foreigner gave five thousand bucks, dollars, and that’s when I found out those two guns were very valuable, truly worth much more than five thousand dollars."
Gao Yang curiously asked, "What kind of two guns?"
Azaro smiled, pointed to the gun in front of Gao Yang, and said with a smile, "The pistol in the box and the rifle in the bag."
Gao Yang asked curiously, "Didn’t you sell them?"
Azaro laughed, "I sold them, and then I felt it was a bad deal, so I had soone steal them back from that foreigner."
Gao Yang exhaled and said, "I see."
Azaro sighed, "At that ti, I realized I sold sothing very valuable for two hundred Rubles. I regretted it and got very angry. I felt I was cheated, so I took so people to the bastard’s house who bought my gun and stole all his guns. Those are the other ones on the table."
Gao Yang pointed at the relatively ordinary hunting rifles and said in a deep voice, "Just these? So, are there any guns here that you sold?"
Azaro shook his head and said, "No, that guy had a lot of guns at ho initially, but when I went there, these were all he had, and I took every last one of them."
Gao Yang nodded, snapped his fingers at Eileen, and said sternly, "The na and address of that person."
Azaro replied in a deep voice, "His na is Oleg, from Kiev. As for his address, it’s useless; he used to live in Kiev, but he left long ago. Soon after the Soviet Union disbanded, he went to Arica."
Seeing Eileen had already noted down what Azaro said, Gao Yang continued, "Oleg, what’s his surna? Does he have any nicknas? And his age?"
Azaro thought for a long ti, then said in a deep voice, "His last na is Yonov. Yes, it’s Yonov. He had no nicknas. I don’t know his exact age. He looked about forty back then. In the Soviet era, he was a teacher at Kyiv University. I rember that. Not long after I stole all the guns from his house, he moved away, and the whole family went to Arica."
Gao Yang nodded and said calmly, "So, Oleg Yonov, is this person an antique gun collector?"
Azaro scratched his head and said, "Sort of. He always liked antique guns. He spent so money buying those old guns. I only went to him after hearing from a friend that he was collecting old guns. But that’s all I know about him."
Collecting information on Oleg wasn’t considered a clue, but Gao Yang didn’t want to miss any chance to help Morgan find the guns. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack, so he had to rely on so clumsy thods.
After thinking for a while, Gao Yang raised the photo again and asked Azaro, "Think carefully, was this gun among the ones you stole?"
Azaro shook his head, "No, I took the pretty, luxurious guns when I was stealing. The gun in your photo isn’t good-looking enough, so it definitely wasn’t one of the two I sold."
Gao Yang sighed, nodded, and said, "Alright, I have no questions for now. If I have anything else to ask, I’ll co back to you."
After speaking, Gao Yang turned to Shava and asked, "Do you have anything else to discuss?"
Shava smiled and said, "No, we’ve said everything we need to."
Gao Yang snapped his fingers and said, "Then let’s take our leave and not disturb Mr. Azaro’s rest any longer."
After speaking, Gao Yang picked up the box on the table, while Eileen unceremoniously slung the rifle with the gun bag over her shoulder and took another gun in her hand, and Li Jinfang also lifted a gun in each hand.
Gao Yang slightly bowed, smiled, and said, "Goodbye, Mr. Azaro. Hmm, before I leave, I’d like to say a few words to you. I know you’re probably feeling unhappy right now; I fully understand. But I’d like to say you’re actually very lucky. Losing a bit of money isn’t really a big deal. What you got to keep is more valuable than what you lost."
After saying that, Gao Yang was the first to walk out the door, while Shava waved his hand, saying loudly, "Let’s go, haha."
After leaving the door, before getting in the car, Gao Yang said to Shava, "I won’t be going with you. I need to head back first. See you tomorrow."
Shava laughed and said, "I hope you have a great night. See you tomorrow."
Gao Yang got back into his car. Once the door closed and the car started moving, Eileen suddenly smiled at Gao Yang and said, "Did you hit the jackpot tonight? Stop pretending, I’ve long noticed you’ve been forcing yourself to stay calm. You can’t fool . Tell , what did you gain?"
After Eileen finished speaking, Gao Yang, sitting upright in the back seat holding the box, suddenly let out a long breath. Then, the hands holding the box began to tremble violently, a very intense trembling, just like they had since Gao Yang first held a gun in his hand. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to visit Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to read.)
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