"Quick, keep up!"
Deep in the mountain wilderness, several flashlight beams pierced the thinning darkness.
Night was nearly over, and a faint gleam was already visible above the distant mountains.
Rabbits bounded away, foxes fled, and beasts scattered as more than thirty figures strode nimbly through the dense forest.
Despite their hurried pace, they quietly maintained a formation in groups of three, muzzles slightly raised and gleaming bayonets flashing coldly. All carried grenades, while the two men in the very middle carried a Type 56 Rocket Launcher and twenty to thirty kilograms of explosives respectively. Every face was calm, and no one spoke.
At a sudden rustle, someone's eyes shifted, sharp as knives. The bayonet in his hand flicked forward and withdrew, its cold gleam flashing past. His feet never stopped, and within a few bounds, he had followed the squad deeper into the mountains.
Just after they left, a pit viper that had been raising its head and flicking its tongue suddenly fell from a tree trunk, its head pierced through.
Their rapid footsteps seemed to become a drumbeat.
Qin Yuhu brought up the rear, his expression taut as he followed closely without falling behind. Yan Lingyun ran beside him, her face flushed and her breath coming in gasps, but she gritted her teeth and persevered, her anxious eyes urgently searching the trees for marks.
In fact, they did not need her to guide them at all. These veterans could already find the marks Lian Youming had left on their own.
"That little bastard."
Qin Yuhu's face betrayed little, but inwardly he was deeply anxious, and his anger kept welling up.
He had warned him a thousand times, yet Lian Youming never learned and always loved stirring up trouble.
This time was even worse. He was actually taking on desperate outlaws like Third Brother Xie and his men.
But as he glanced at his empty right sleeve, a terrifying killing aura suddenly burst from Qin Yuhu's eyes.
Last time, a moment's carelessness and the constraints of the surroundings had cost him dearly, and several fine soldiers he had brought along had died for nothing. This time, he would vent that pent-up fury no matter what and finish off those lawless scum.
The veterans were all nursing a bellyful of anger too, fighting spirit blazing in their eyes.
Yet although everyone remained fully alert and never stopped along the way, they were deep in the Greater Khingan Mountains, in the dark. They could only hurry as best they could, and needing Yan Lingyun to confirm their direction cost them considerable time as well.
Only when dawn surged over the horizon and daylight first broke did they finally reach their destination.
The morning breeze swept past, still carrying a faint trace of blood and the scorched smell of smoke and fire.
"Director Qin, look at this..."
Someone suddenly called softly.
Qin Yuhu looked toward the voice and saw a corpse lying among the vegetation, severed at the waist, its upper body chopped to a pulp.
Looking at the head, its bloodshot eyes still wide in death, someone was already comparing it against the portrait on a wanted notice.
"It's a match. Bai Fu."
Qin Yuhu nodded, then took a pistol handed over by the man beside him and instructed, "If anyone inside resists, shoot them on the spot."
At his words, the men immediately split into groups of three, circling around both sides of the birch grove to close in and kill. Others hurried uphill, searching for commanding positions and setting up sniper rifles.
"Uncle Qin, will Lian Youming be all right?"
At the sight of this deployment, Yan Lingyun went deathly pale, her heart pounding with fear.
Qin Yuhu fell silent for a moment, then said softly, "That'll depend on the kid's luck."
By now, Qin Yuhu was somewhat unsure what to make of Lian Youming. Though the boy had always loved causing trouble, he had initially been easy enough to read. But ever since carrying him down from that mountain, Qin Yuhu had felt as though he was hiding something.
"Fuck, even if he isn't dead, I swear I'll break one of his legs this time. I've got to teach that brat a lesson."
But theirs was a deep bond between uncle and nephew, after all. Who did not have a few secrets? As long as he had not taken the wrong road, none of that mattered.
Perhaps worried for Lian Youming's safety, Qin Yuhu dared not delay either and hurried into the woods with Yan Lingyun.
The group made their way around the dense trees and emerged from the birch grove. At the sight before them, every last one burned with fury. Especially when they saw the woman's mutilated corpse on the ground and the two children sleeping on their stomachs beside it, their eyes all flooded with blood as they searched everywhere for signs of the living.
"Over here!"
Before long, Lei Hu's body was found as well.
Beside a fire not far away sat another figure, covered in blood, his face and head smeared with dirt.
Lian Youming brightened at the sight of their arrival and was about to wave, but the moment he moved, a mass of muzzles swung around together and aimed straight at him.
Staring at that row of dark gun barrels, Lian Youming's smile instantly froze. He felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar, cold all over. Then he gave the one-armed figure a sheepish grin and called, "Uncle Qin!"
Qin Yuhu looked at the corpses on the ground, then at Lian Youming making faces at him. His expression shifted, neither clearly pleased nor angry. Finally, with a dark face, he said, "Come here. I have something to ask you."
Lian Youming hurriedly squeezed past the row of muzzles and followed Qin Yuhu aside. "Uncle, this must be a whole reinforced platoon, right? Tsk, tsk."
He was still grinning and joking when Qin Yuhu suddenly turned. At some point, he had pulled out his belt, and now it came whipping down with two sharp cracks.
Lian Youming saw it coming. With his current physique, even a beating with clubs would probably only hurt for a little while.
"Ow! What are you doing?"
But he still had to put on a show. Lian Youming deliberately dodged aside and cried out in pain a couple of times.
Qin Yuhu was putting all his strength into it, swinging the belt in full arcs as spittle flew. "Can't you give me a moment's peace? If anything happened to you, how would I answer to your parents?"
Dodging, Lian Youming sighed. "Ah, I couldn't help it. Seeing that mangled corpse and those two kids, I couldn't swallow that anger... Besides, if I'd backed down, would you have respected me? I wouldn't even have respected myself."
"Utter fucking bullshit!"
Qin Yuhu glared fiercely with his lone eye and was just about to scold him when a startled cry rang out. Then a figure came stumbling over, caught Lian Youming's hand, and kept looking him up and down.
"Lian Youming, are... are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?"
The journey had exhausted Yan Lingyun. Her temples were damp, sweat beaded her forehead, and her little face had lost all color. Though she was panting hard, she was still worrying about Lian Youming's injuries.
At the sight, Qin Yuhu swallowed the words on his tongue.
"Don't worry. I'm fine."
Looking at the girl's pale lips, then the hot sweat on her cheeks, Lian Youming's gaze softened considerably. He instinctively raised a hand to wipe it away, but remembered that his hands were covered in blood and drew it back.
He blinked and smiled. "Little sis, worn yourself out, haven't you? Don't worry, your big brother will carry you back later."
Yan Lingyun's eyes had been full of worry, but at his words, her concerned questions abruptly stopped. Then she flushed, lowered her head, and muttered in a mosquito-small voice, "You little bastard. At a time like this, how can you still be such a smart-mouth?"
"Ahem..." Beside them, Qin Yuhu could not help frowning and coughing twice.
Only then did Yan Lingyun belatedly come to her senses, hurriedly lowering her face and retreating to one side.
Qin Yuhu said solemnly, "First, tell me how those two died. Where's Third Brother Xie?"
Lian Youming did not conceal it, briefly recounting the infighting between Third Brother Xie, Lei Hu, and White Ape. As for the outcome, all three had perished together, while he himself had survived by luck.
Only upon hearing that Lian Youming had already burned Third Brother Xie to ashes did Qin Yuhu finally feel completely reassured. He could not be bothered to dwell on the details either.
Lian Youming thought for a moment, then added, "There's something else."
"What else?" Qin Yuhu's gaze sharpened slightly.
After considering for a moment, Lian Youming suddenly gave an odd grin. "Uncle, if I hand over a map of a Kwantung Army underground fortress, what sort of reward could I get?"
This was not a decision Lian Youming had made in a moment of hotheadedness. Rather, if the White Lotus Sect was hunting Third Brother Xie, news of his death was certain to spread before long, and as the battle's sole survivor, Lian Youming would very likely be dragged into it.
The White Lotus Sect itself was manageable. Those people were like stinking bugs in a gutter, unable to stand the light. What worried him was the possibility of martial arts experts within the military too.
Thinking of his father's comrade who practiced Eagle Claw Kung Fu, as well as Zhongnan Sea bodyguards like Gong Wuer, how could such a vast country lack someone capable of holding the fort?
Perhaps that was precisely why the White Lotus Sect's people dared not show themselves openly, and why many did not even dare remain in the country, instead going far overseas.
So, since this matter would come to light sooner or later, rather than wait for the other side to come knocking and expose it to his face, he might as well hand it over himself. Not only could he use the opportunity to gain some benefits, but he could also divert the White Lotus Sect's attention. More importantly, there was something unusual about the map in that jade casket...
At his words, Qin Yuhu first froze, then his lone eye flew wide, and he blurted out, "Where's the map?"
(End of chapter)
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