Courtyard House: Home Alone

"Hello!" Captain Yamada replied respectfully, bowing his head. "As for the guard duties..."

"Guards?" Ono sneered. "Does our Imperial Japanese Army fear a mere 'ghost'? Strengthen security, especially underground. Absolutely no mistakes can be tolerated! If anything happens to those important 'goods,' we'll all have to commit seppuku!"

"Yes, sir! Understood!" Captain Yamada dared not say another word, bowed again, and turned to leave quickly.

Ono-kun stayed alone in the office, walked to the window, lifted a corner of the heavy curtain, and looked warily at the street outside.

His brows furrowed, and the unease in his heart grew stronger.

The complete annihilation of the reinforcements made him sense danger. Who were those who murdered Imperial soldiers and civilians? How could they so brazenly hunt down Imperial troops and their collaborators in Beiping?

Lin Yifan heard everything clearly in the space and was secretly shocked. "Important goods?" It seems that there are extraordinary people being held in this underground prison.

Moreover, judging from their tone, the Japanese soldiers seemed to be waiting for reinforcements and were running out of food, which was actually good news.

He continued to observe and found that the defenses of this compound were indeed much tighter than those of Wang Defa's division headquarters. Not only were there heavy machine guns guarding it, but the Japanese soldiers patrolling inside were also heavily armed and extremely vigilant.

The entrance to the underground area, especially the backyard, was heavily guarded, making it quite difficult to sneak in and kill the Japanese soldiers during the day.

"Forced entry is definitely not an option; it would be too noisy. If the Japanese soldiers are cornered and decide to kill the prisoners, that would be a real problem." Lin Yifan thought to himself, "It seems I need to come up with a way to clear out the Japanese soldiers one by one from the bottom up and from the inside out, so as to ensure that the prisoners inside are not harmed by the Japanese."

He observed carefully again, then put on the hood. With a thought, he appeared next to the two Japanese soldiers at the innermost part of the room and, with a wave of his hand, took the two unresponsive soldiers into his spatial storage.

Then they attacked from the inside out, defending from a distance, and slowly wiped out all the Japanese guards in the underground prison.

Then, arriving at the entrance to the dungeon passage, he looked at the cells on both sides and said, "I don't know what you guys do, but I'm telling you, all the Japanese soldiers in these underground cells have been killed. I'm going upstairs right away to deal with all the Japanese soldiers in the military court."

However, to ensure everyone's safety, I need at least ten men, armed, to guard the entrance to this dungeon, to prevent the Japanese from taking advantage of the situation and harming you. I wonder if any of you are willing to do this?

As soon as he finished speaking, the cell fell into a deathly silence, followed by a series of suppressed coughs and the scraping of chains.

In the dim light, a series of haggard and wary faces peeked out from behind the iron bars, scrutinizing Lin Yifan who had suddenly appeared.

Most of them were dressed in rags and had scars on their bodies, but deep in their eyes, there was a faint glimmer of indomitable spirit.

"Who are you?" A hoarse voice came from the innermost cell. The speaker was a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion but sharp eyes. "You said all the Japanese soldiers were killed? Is that true?"

"Believe it or not, you'll soon find out," Lin Yifan said calmly. "I don't have time to explain much. Now, those who are willing to take up arms to protect themselves and others, step forward!"

After a brief silence, with a "bang," the door to a cell was opened from the outside by Lin Yifan (he had obtained the key while cleaning up the guards).

A tall, broad-shouldered man staggered out, bearing obvious whip marks, but his back remained ramrod straight.

"I'll fight you! My name is Chen Dashan, I'm from the 29th Army. I'll risk my life as long as I can kill the Japanese devils!"

With the first person taking the lead, others followed suit.

"Count me in! I used to be a policeman, I know how to use a gun!"

"I'm a student. Although I haven't handled guns much, I'm strong and can help!"

"Let me do it! My father was killed by the Japanese devils, and I want revenge!"

Soon, a dozen or so strong men stepped forward. Among them were soldiers, workers, students, and ordinary citizens. Their eyes were filled with hatred for the Japanese invaders and a longing for freedom.

Lin Yifan nodded in satisfaction. "I'll go check the entrance. Chen Dashan, organize them and then lead them out. I'll wait for you outside."

After saying that, he turned around and ran towards the entrance, where there was already a machine gun nest and two sentries with rifles. He moved the Japanese soldiers' corpses aside, and then took out about ten rifles and their ammunition, piling them on the ground.

Just then, Chen Dashan arrived with the people he had organized.

Lin Yifan pointed to the weapons on the ground and said, "These weapons are for you. Guard this place and wait for my signal. Remember, unless you see me return or hear my coded message, anyone who approaches this entrance will be killed on sight!"

"Yes!" Chen Dashan took the rifle, his hands trembling with excitement. He led the others to quickly set up defenses at the entrance of the passage, their eyes warily fixed on the steps leading to the ground.

Lin Yifan didn't delay any longer. He took a deep breath, and with a flash, he appeared silently in the backyard like a ghost.

At that moment, several patrolling Japanese soldiers were walking slowly along the courtyard wall with their backs to him.

Lin Yifan's eyes turned cold, and bullets flew out from the still warehouse, accurately hitting several Japanese soldiers in the back of the head. The Japanese soldiers didn't even utter a sound before collapsing to the ground, and Lin Yifan quickly dragged them to a hidden corner.

He followed suit, using the houses, flower beds, and shadows in the courtyard as cover, like a hunting cheetah, constantly approaching, ambushing, and clearing. Each move was swift and decisive, without any hesitation.

The number of Japanese patrols dwindled, yet no alarm was raised. This was thanks to Lin Yifan's exquisite teleportation and precise timing.

Soon, most of the guards in the backyard were cleared out. Lin Yifan lay in ambush under the window of a dormitory building, where he could hear the laughter and shouts of several Japanese soldiers, interspersed with a few vulgarities.

He did the same thing, teleporting into the dormitory. With a wave of his hand, several beams of cold light shot out, and the Japanese soldiers who were drinking and playing around were hit by bullets and fell to the ground.

Soon, apart from the Japanese soldiers on the second floor, the sentries at the door, and the Japanese soldiers in the two heavy machine gun nests, all the Japanese soldiers in the military court were wiped out.

Lin Yifan didn't linger and quickly made his way towards the two-story building in the front yard.

After arriving downstairs, he teleported into Ono's office and, to the Ono soldier's utter bewilderment, chopped off his head. A piece of white paper with the words "The Fate of Invaders" written on it then floated down onto him.

At the same time, all the documents, materials, and valuables in his office were collected.