Chen Shouyi watched for a long while before returning to the bed and sitting down.
Listening to the dense barrage of artillery, he sat there in a daze.
He hadn't received any notice of a military exercise, nor had he heard so much as a whisper about one. Besides, even if it were an exercise, it wouldn't be held at four or five in the morning.
Something had definitely happened.
The artillery fire went on for a full half hour before gradually thinning out. Another hour passed, and it finally stopped altogether, with only the occasional stray shot.
For some reason, hearing the gunfire fall silent made him feel even more uneasy.
The sky outside was already beginning to brighten.
A new day had arrived.
Chen Shouyi stood by the window, watching the many people hurrying through the villa district, their faces grave. It felt as though a huge boulder weighed on his heart.
This was a villa district inside the safe zone. Everyone living here was either a senior military or government official, or at the very least a martial artist.
He recognized one of them: Hedong City's second-in-command. Not long ago, he had personally visited Chen Shouyi's home on behalf of the municipal government to offer his regards.
Back then, he'd worn a warm, amiable smile. Now his face was shrouded in gloom, his expression grave. Accompanied by two communications officers, he jogged off into the distance.
Yunshan Mountain lay in Hedong City's Cheng'an District. It stood more than 220 meters above sea level, with a vertical height of 183 meters. It stretched seven kilometers from east to west and three kilometers from north to south. A renowned scenic area in Hedong City, it was also the city's largest natural park.
At that moment, the once-beautiful Yunshan Mountain