What is a gun? It's something that, once held in hand, can boost one's courage.
With the pull of a trigger, the bullet leaves its casing propelled by gunpowder, then spins out of the barrel rifling; before the naked eye can see anything, the bullet has already penetrated the human muscle tissue, inflicting massive damage with its immense rotational force and velocity.
The reason why the three poaching gangs in No Man's Land had managed to coexist peacefully up to now, each earning their money, was precisely because they all had firearms at hand. A real battle would mean mutual destruction, and might even give a third party the chance to rob them while they were down.
Even gang leaders like Li Kun couldn't say for certain they wouldn't die in a shootout—that was the crux of it.
