The smell of blood gradually faded from the small courtyard.
The members of the Reverse Scale Squad had dropped from the sky the moment Yue Xiaofei made his move. They quickly established three layers of covert security around the perimeter, sealing off the entire residential compound.
Ugly Ox and Stone Monkey cleaned up the scene, removing every severed limb and bloodstain without leaving a trace.
White Tiger Bai Bing and Spirit Snake slipped into the shadows and began a thorough sweep of the surrounding area, making sure no one had escaped.
Han Duoduo sat on the roof of a nearby building, her fingers flying across a portable computer. She took control of every network and surveillance system in Jiangcheng and blocked all signals from the area.
Everyone understood without a word. No one disturbed Yue Xiaofei in the courtyard.
They knew he needed a moment alone.
Sunlight fell across the courtyard again, as though the bloody slaughter had never happened.
Yue Xiaofei slowly lifted his foot from the corpse and turned toward the peeling rocking chair.
Yue Qinhu still stood where he was, clutching the broken half of his cane. His clouded eyes stared straight ahead, and he kept muttering.
"Charge... charge... can't retreat... Jiangcheng is behind us... the people are behind us..."
The old man's mind seemed trapped decades in the past, in that brutal battle to defend the city.
Yue Xiaofei looked at his grandfather's hunched back and the torn old undershirt on his body. His nose stung, and his eyes reddened at once.
He hurried over and knelt on one knee before the rocking chair. With a trembling hand, he gently took his grandfather's calloused, scarred hand, its veins bulging from the force of his grip.
"Grandpa."
Yue Xiaofei's voice caught in his throat.
"I'm back."
At