One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Gao Lian took the water glass, drank it all in one gulp, grimacing from the heat without uttering a sound, and slammed the glass back onto the table: "What do we do? What else can we do? Are we really going to go to that damn auction and bid against those bastards? Our company has money, but we don't spend it like this! Besides, Chairman Zhao's order is to resolve the missile crisis, not to buy that thing back!"

"Brother Gao is right, we can't really participate in the auction." Nie Lingfeng stood by the window, watching the snowflakes begin to fall again outside, his voice calm as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself. Snowflakes landed on the windowpane, instantly melting into tiny water droplets that trickled down the window frame. His gaze pierced through the watermarks, looking at the distant mountain silhouettes hidden in the snowstorm, lost in thought. "But we have to go to the auction. It's currently our only chance to get close to the missile, confirm the movements of Bald Bear and those foreign forces, and possibly rescue Zhenqiu and the others."

"How are we going to go? Just walk in like that? Wouldn't that make us easy targets?" Gao Lian frowned, put his hands on his hips, and his chest heaved.

"Of course not." Nie Lingfeng turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the room before finally landing on the map on the wall. "The auction will be held underground at the chemical plant. Bald Bear will definitely be on high alert, but with more people, it will be easier to take advantage of the chaos. We'll split into two groups."

He walked to the table and pointed to a location marked with a red circle on the map: "The first group, the team that will openly participate in the auction. The number of people should be small, but they need to be significant enough to attract attention and also have the ability to protect themselves and adapt to changing circumstances at crucial moments." He looked up and pointed to the people present in turn, "Me, Chu Lan, Daoist Wang Ye, Bao Bao, Chen Duo, and Xiao Yun, the five of us will go."

"Just the five of you?" Gao Lian's eyes widened like saucers. "That's too dangerous! That bald bear has at least dozens of men under his command, plus people from Japan, Russia, and the United States. If the five of you go in, aren't you just asking for trouble?"

"Too many people are actually a bad thing." Nie Lingfeng's tone left no room for argument. "We're going to an auction, not to fight a war. The smaller the target, the less likely we are to be spotted. With Master Wang Ye's Qimen Dunjia and Bao Bao's intuition, Chu Lan's resourcefulness, Chen Duo's magical skills, plus me, that's enough. What we need to do is observe, gather intelligence, and create opportunities in the chaos, not be the main force."

He paused, then turned his gaze to Gao Lian, his voice deepening: "The second team is the real action group."

Gao Lian was taken aback, then his eyes lit up: "You mean...?"

"Brother Gao, you take Hei Guan, Lao Meng, Xiao Mei, and all the remaining manpower, and launch a feint attack on the chemical plant from the outside as soon as the auction begins." Nie Lingfeng drew an attack route on the map with his finger. "Make a bigger commotion than last time. The goal is to create chaos, draw the guards' fire, and put pressure on the factory area. At the same time, Er Zhuang will fully cooperate to disable their communication and monitoring systems, creating opportunities for our operation and your attack."

"A feint? Is this for real?" Gao Lian's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and his eyes flashed with excitement.

"Yes, for real." Nie Lingfeng's lips curled slightly, revealing a cold smile. "But the goal isn't to storm in, but to create enough chaos to force Bald Bear to split his forces, creating loopholes in the auction. If possible, try to sneak in from other directions to find and rescue Zhenqiu and the others. Black Pipe will be in charge of long-range sniping and eliminating key targets. Old Meng—" He turned to Old Meng, who had been silent in the corner, "You can go all out with your 'little gift' this time. The scope can be wider, and the target can be more specific—make Bald Bear's men have diarrhea to the point of weakness at the crucial moment."

Old Meng pushed up his glasses, the glare obscuring his eyes, but a rare, somewhat ruthless smile played on his lips, sending a chill down everyone's spine. He carefully took a petri dish from his portable incubator; inside was an inconspicuous grayish-green colony, gleaming faintly under the light. "No problem, Commander Nie. I've been looking for a place to test my newly cultured 'enhanced diarrhea treatment.' I guarantee it will be unforgettable—three days and three nights, the toilet will be their battlefield."

"..." Zhang Chulan silently moved two steps to the side, distancing himself from Lao Meng.

Gao Xiaomei stood in the corner, twisting the hem of her clothes with her hands, and timidly spoke: "I... I can try to communicate with the 'spirits' near the factory area, interfere with their perception, or create some... small noises." Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something, but her eyes were much more determined than a few days ago.

"Very good." Nie Lingfeng nodded, his gaze shifting to the laptop on the table. "Erzhuang, your task is the most demanding. You need to simultaneously monitor the auction venue, the inside and outside of the chemical plant, and the movements of several major foreign forces, providing us with real-time intelligence, and launching an electronic attack at a critical moment to paralyze their command and defense systems. Can you do it?"

The laptop screen flickered, and Gao Erzhuang's voice came through the small speaker, carrying the characteristic electronic tone but unable to conceal his excitement: "Don't worry, Commander Nie! I haven't been idle these past three days. I've infiltrated the networks of Ussuriysk and the chemical plant like a sieve! Their communication protocols, firewall weaknesses, even the personal devices of several leaders—you have no idea how many selfies that bald bear has on his phone—I've pretty much figured them out! Just give the order, and I guarantee they'll be playing 'The Most Dazzling Ethnic Trend' on their walkie-talkies, turning the surveillance footage into SpongeBob SquarePants! I can even hijack and interfere with the audio and video signals at the auction! But…"

She paused, her voice becoming more serious: "That underground hall seems to have strong physical shielding and an independent power supply, so my direct influence may be limited. We'll need your on-site cooperation to deploy signal repeaters."

"Understood, we will find a way." Nie Lingfeng looked at Wang Ye, "Daoist Wang Ye, we may need your Qimen techniques to help us in this regard."

Master Wang Ye was leaning against the corner of the wall, his hands in his sleeves, with an expression that said, "I knew this would happen." He sighed and said lazily, "Alright, alright, disrupting the earth's magnetic field and creating local signal chaos, I'm good at that. But let's make it clear first, if things don't go well, I'll activate the formation and slip away... Don't blame me."

"I know, I know, you're the fastest runner." Zhang Chulan replied, earning a roll of his eyes from Wang Ye.

"So, that's roughly the plan." Nie Lingfeng straightened up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. "These next three days, everyone should seize the time to prepare and get into the swing of things. Brother Gao, your feint attack team's equipment and routes need to be carefully planned, leaving no blind spots. Erzhuang, continue monitoring, and report any abnormalities immediately. Especially the vibration signals from the underground of the chemical plant, and that so-called 'other good stuff'."

"yes!"

Over the next three days, undercurrents surged in this remote little town of Xueling.

On the surface, the town remained peaceful. During the day, only howling snow and the occasional barking of dogs could be heard. Smoke rose from the chimneys of each house as usual, and the old people squatted on their kang (heated brick beds) chatting and eating melon seeds as usual. But in secret, various forces were making preparations in full swing, like a taut bowstring that could snap at any moment.

Gao Lian and his men repeatedly rehearsed the attack route, measuring out a simulated field in the inn's backyard with their footsteps, practicing formations and coordination over and over again. Hei Guan meticulously cleaned and adjusted his prized sniper rifle; the barrel gleamed a cold blue in the sunlight. Each time he wiped it, he squinted, examining it against the light with the focused intensity of someone caressing a lover. Old Meng had erected a makeshift "laboratory" in the snow in the inn's backyard—a shed made of plastic sheeting and wooden planks, filled with bottles, jars, and petri dishes. A strange, sweet-smelling odor wafted through the air from time to time, causing passing locals to cover their noses. One old woman, thinking he was making stinky tofu, even came over to ask the price.

Gao Xiaomei often sat alone on the roof of the inn, whispering to the wind and snow. She sat cross-legged in the snow, snowflakes falling on her hair and shoulders, but she was oblivious, her lips moving as if communicating with an unseen force. Once, Zhang Chulan passed by and vaguely heard her say, "Please help us," her voice as soft as if she were coaxing a child, but the wind around her seemed to have indeed subsided a little.

Nie Lingfeng wasn't idle either. Besides taking care of Xiaoyun—feeding, changing diapers, and soothing her to sleep—he performed the entire process flawlessly, even surprising Chen Duo. He spent most of his time meditating and regulating his breathing. He sat cross-legged on the bed, his breathing long and even, his chest barely rising and falling, yet a subtle flow of energy emanated from his body, as if he had merged with the surrounding air. Zhang Chulan once pushed open the door and almost thought no one was in the room, until she saw the slightly sunken bedding beside the bed and realized Nie Lingfeng was sitting there, his aura so subtly concealed it was almost imperceptible.

Zhang Chulan pestered Daoist Wang Ye, hoping to learn a couple of last-minute tricks for self-preservation or to outwit others. Wang Ye, annoyed to no end, finally tossed him a handwritten notebook on "Simple Illusion Techniques" and "Basic Escape Techniques," telling him to figure it out himself. Zhang Chulan was overjoyed, spending the entire day engrossed in it in his room, occasionally letting out exclamations of "Eh!", "Oh!", and "So that's how it is!" Occasionally, a muffled thud would be followed by a curse—clearly, he'd tripped and fallen while trying to master a technique.

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