Giving Them a False Impression
Yun Jingheng walked to the window and peered down through the extremely narrow gap.
South Street was deserted.
The tea stall's awning hadn't been set up yet, and there was only a handcart loaded with goods parked by the roadside. The shadows of two men in gray flashed at the street corner and quickly disappeared into the morning mist.
"They're still here," Ye Xinglan said from behind him.
"They'll definitely change shifts before dawn." Yun Jingheng didn't turn around.
Ye Xinglan remained silent.
He could hear that her breathing was heavier and shallower than usual.
She didn't go back to the stool or sit at the table; she just stood two steps behind him.
Yun Jingheng turned around and waved to her.
Ye Xinglan hesitated for a moment, but still walked over.
He reached out, gently pulled her wrist towards him, and drew her closer.
She didn't struggle, but whispered, "You just woke up, let's get down to business first."
"This is also important business."
He said in a low voice, his fingers slowly sliding from her wrist to his fingertips, touching the nail marks on her palm caused by prolonged repression.
His palms were colder than he had expected.
He had just woken up, and his body temperature hadn't fully returned to normal.
Ye Xinglan grabbed his hand with her own, her grip neither too tight nor too loose.
"During the fifty-six days you were asleep, I wasn't actually that scared."
She suddenly said, her voice extremely low, almost touching his chest, "I knew you would wake up, but when I heard 'I'm back,' I still couldn't help myself."
Yun Jingheng remained silent.
He raised his other hand, placed it on the back of her head, and pressed her forehead against his shoulder.
Ye Xinglan gently closed her eyes.
Her breath hit his collar, hot.
He stood very straight, without backing down or saying a word, only gently stroking her hair with his fingers.
"Your family will be fine."
He whispered, his lips brushing against her forehead, "As long as you haven't shown yourself, they won't touch your parents. They still want to use the Ye Family to lure you out and use you to manipulate me, so they won't kill you easily."
Ye Xinglan hummed in response, her voice heavy with nasal resonance.
"I'll go out and move the wire when it's a little brighter," he said.
"I'm not afraid of those people," Ye Xinglan said.
"I know, but I don't want anything to happen to you."
Ye Xinglan choked.
Yun Jingheng continued, "If anything happens to your family because of me, I will feel guilty for the rest of my life."
Yun Jingheng hugged her again before slowly letting go.
Ye Xinglan took half a step back, quickly wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, and didn't look at him again.
He turned the computer around and sat down again.
"Half-Sweet Coffee, prepare the list of Shrek personnel outside the area."
He pressed the spacebar, and the screen switched from the satellite image back to the dark blue data interface.
The blue light shone on his face, illuminating his sideburns, which hadn't been trimmed in fifty-six days, clearly.
"The list has been retrieved, totaling sixty-three people. Seventeen are from the Inner Court, and forty-six are from the Outer Court. Six are in long-term undercover operations, and nine are currently carrying out assigned missions."
"The rest are scattered throughout the southern and eastern parts of the Federation," said Half-Sweet Coffee.
"Exclude those nine who are currently on missions and temporarily stop sending them any information," Yun Jingheng said.
"They have been eliminated. The remaining 54 people are all capable of moving freely."
"Eleven of them stayed in the town, twenty-two went into the countryside, seven hid near the trade routes, and fourteen moved along the periphery of the Shrek Ruins' radiation zone," Half-Sweet Coffee listed the complete data.
Yun Jingheng tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
He considered for a few seconds and said, "In three batches. Each batch should be spaced at least thirty minutes apart."
"Use different wording in the content; don't use a uniform approach. Tell them to abandon their previous state of concealment from now on."
"Make a public appearance so that the locals can see them, but don't gather in groups, don't go back towards Shrek, and don't head towards the central cities of the Federation. After making their appearance, find a safe location nearby to continue hiding and wait for further instructions."
Ye Xinglan looked up at him when he told her "don't gather in groups".
She understood what Yun Jingheng meant: if fifty-four people appeared outside at the same time, it would indeed send a signal— Shrek had not been wiped out, but the survivors had scattered, fled, and were no longer organized.
This is more believable than "everyone died".
Those high-ranking officials who are still investigating will begin to waver.
They will stop their advance into Shrek City and instead focus on hunting down the "Shrek remnants scattered throughout the city."
The pressure on Heaven Dou City will be diluted.
"Okay, I'll get started," said Half-Sweet Coffee.
A delivery queue pops up on the left side of the screen, and three information templates have been generated.
Yun Jingheng glanced at it, made slight modifications, and then said, "The first batch, send it out now. The second batch, in half an hour. The third batch, in one and a half hours."
"Understood," replied the man with the Half-Sweet Coffee.
Yun Jingheng closed his laptop and stood up.
Ye Xinglan had already packed her gray cloth bundle.
He walked up to her and reached out to tuck a strand of hair from her forehead behind her ear.
She didn't look away, but looked into his eyes and said softly, "You've lost weight."
"The same to you."
Yun Jingheng smiled and offered his hand, "It's been over fifty days, let me hold your hand?"
Ye Xinglan took his hand.
I didn't use force, nor did I immediately release it.
They just stood there.
There was already light outside the window, and the sky was a completely grayish-blue.
On the screen of the Half-Sweet Coffee, the first batch of eleven messages had already been quietly sent out.
Those Shrek youths who have been hiding throughout the Federation will appear in markets, ferry crossings, city gates, and towns after dawn.
Like seeds scattered by the wind, they neither gather nor cluster, yet they are everywhere.
The source of all this was a young man who had spent fifty-six days in a top-floor room. He had just woken up and hadn't even eaten yet when he drew the attention of the entire continent in the opposite direction.
Luo Guixing woke up before the sunlight had fully penetrated the alley.
He slept in the stairwell of an old teahouse in the back alley, with two tattered straw mats under him and a half-length gray cloth covering his body.
The place was narrow and damp, with a musty smell from morning till night, but the good thing was that no one came to check.
He had been in this small town southwest of Heaven Dou City for seven days, disguised as a craftsman who had fled from the south. During the day, he would set up a stall on a street corner to repair copper kettles for people, and at night he would retreat to the alley to sleep.
The message arrived just as he had set up his stall.
The thin black piece on my wrist vibrated very slightly, just once.
He was bending down, mending the bottom of an old woman's teapot, his movements never stopping.
He wore that thin piece close to his body and never took it off; only those inside Shrek who were sent out to work knew of its existence.
The vibration pattern is important: one vibration indicates a safe passage, two vibrations indicate an emergency assembly, and three vibrations indicate immediate cover.
This time it's just once.
He looked around.
The woman was still waiting with her head down, the old man selling vegetable seeds next door was dozing off, and the tea shop diagonally opposite had just opened when two men in gray walked by without looking in their direction.
He finished repairing the pot without making a sound, took the money, and lingered for a while before pretending to bend down to get his tools.
With this action, he pressed the thin film twice with his left hand, activating the message reading function.
The message was sent directly through an encrypted channel, and the signature instantly dispelled any lingering drowsiness he felt.
"Luo Guixing, immediate observation: Holy Spirit Cult sentries have appeared in your area. Next step: abandon your current concealment and publicly appear once within your area of activity today. Do not deliberately expose yourself; simply appear as an ordinary person. After appearing, immediately leave your current location and find a new safe place to hide, awaiting further instructions. Do not contact anyone."
That concludes the message; there are no further instructions.
Luo Guixing pressed the thin sheet back down, stood up, and slowly and methodically packed away his tools.
He moved very slowly, much slower than someone who had just received a secret order.
After he had packed everything into the sack, he straightened up and walked towards the end of the street.
He knew in his heart that there was only one possible source for this message: Yun Jingheng's location might have been exposed, and he wanted to create the illusion that Shrek had scattered and fled.
This thought made him walk a little lighter than when he came.
He lowered his head, but the corners of his mouth curled up briefly.
Then he turned out of the alley and headed towards the busiest street in town.
There happens to be an early market day today, so he'll be there, buy a bowl of noodles, and chat with the vendor selling wooden spoons next door.
Let more people see him, and deepen the impression that "Shrek has fallen apart, leaving only headless flies."
Showing up isn't suicide.
It's about creating a space for everyone who's still hiding to catch their breath.
He understands.
So he walked steadily, carrying the sack on his back, like the most ordinary pot mender in town, step by step heading towards the place with the most people.