Courtyard House: Home Alone

After dealing with the guards at the back door, Lin Yifan gently pushed open the slightly ajar door, slipped inside, and quickly closed it. He then hid in the shadows behind the door and observed his surroundings once more.

This is a small backyard with a few trees. Apart from a stone path leading to the back door of the main building, there are four bungalows on each side, which is where a small team of guards lives.

Apart from the four sentries at the front and back doors and the four men on patrol, the other Japanese soldiers were all sleeping inside. Lin Yifan quickly entered each room, put all the Japanese soldiers inside into his spatial storage, and also searched the rooms for weapons, ammunition, and personal belongings.

Just then, the patrol team in the front yard happened to walk into the blind spot of the sentry in the front yard. With a thought, he appeared behind the soldier behind him, ran three steps, and put the four patrolling Japanese soldiers into his space.

Now, apart from the main building, there are only two Japanese soldiers left at the gate in the entire courtyard. These two soldiers are a bit far away and cannot be taken down in one go. Lin Yifan calculated that he should be able to deal with them before they make a sound.

So his figure disappeared from the spot, and when he reappeared, he was already next to the sentry on the left. He reached out and put the Japanese soldier into his spatial storage, and then pushed off with his feet to move towards another Japanese soldier on the opposite side.

Just as he was about to touch the sentry on the right, the Japanese soldier seemed to sense something was wrong, turned his head sharply, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Lin Yifan's pupils contracted slightly, but his movements didn't falter. His left hand shot out with lightning speed, precisely pressing against the Japanese soldier's chest, his mind instantly activating the technique. Just as the Japanese soldier was about to struggle, his body flashed and disappeared from the spot.

After dealing with the last guard at the entrance, Lin Yifan let out a long sigh of relief, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. If he hadn't reacted quickly enough, he probably would have alerted the people inside the main building.

He didn't enter the main building immediately. Instead, he first put the two Type 96 machine guns and several boxes of ammunition at the main entrance into his spatial storage. These were all good items that might come in handy later.

The main building's doors were tightly shut. Lin Yifan checked the guards on the first floor of the villa again, then teleported to the side of a guard who was dozing on the living room sofa. Without the guard noticing, he put the guard into his spatial storage.

Inside the main building, a faint scent of incense filled the air, a stark contrast to the somber atmosphere outside. Thick carpets lined the corridors, making each step feel completely silent.

Then, he teleported into the four rooms on the first floor and took the other three guards and four servants into his spatial storage.

Now, apart from Lin Yifan and the Tianbian family, there is no one else in the villa.

Without further hesitation, he teleported instantly to the master bedroom on the second floor of the villa. Naotake Tanabe was fast asleep, snoring loudly. His wife was curled up beside him, also sleeping soundly.

A cold glint flashed in Lin Yifan's eyes. He took out the samurai sword he had just seized from the merchant guild from his spatial storage. With lightning speed, he slashed twice, striking Tanabe Naotake and his wife on the necks respectively.

The two heads rolled to one side, and the headless corpse kicked its legs a couple of times before falling silent.

After dealing with the two in the master bedroom, Lin Yifan didn't linger for a moment; his figure disappeared again, appearing in the girl's room next door.

The girl seemed to be having a nightmare, her brows furrowed slightly. Lin Yifan showed no mercy either, repeating the same method to end her young life.

Finally, there was the boy's room. The boy was sleeping soundly, a slight smile even playing on his lips. Lin Yifan felt no emotion whatsoever. Mercy towards the Japanese was cruelty towards one's own people.

He repeated the action he had just performed, the whole process was clean and efficient, without making any unnecessary noise.

After doing all this, he quickly checked the second floor and confirmed that the Tanabe Naotake family had been completely wiped out, leaving no survivors.

He walked to the window, lifted a corner of the heavy curtain, and cautiously observed the street outside. The night was still deep, and the footsteps of the patrol team could be heard in the distance. Everything seemed to be under control.

Lin Yifan pondered in his heart. The system mission required him to kill Tanabe Naotake, and now that the target had been eliminated, he did not intend to leave.

Now that he was here, he couldn't leave empty-handed. He began to carefully examine the second floor, with Tanabe Naotake's study being his primary target.

The study door wasn't locked; it opened easily with a gentle push. A faint smell of tobacco and ink filled the room. A large mahogany desk stood in the center of the room, piled high with documents and books.

Lin Yifan walked to the desk and quickly flipped through the documents. Most of them were in Japanese, which he couldn't understand yet, but intuitively, his parents might be useful.

So he put all the documents that looked like they were marked "Top Secret" or "Confidential" into his space.

In the desk drawer, besides some personal belongings and seals, he also found a small leather suitcase.

He opened the suitcase, revealing several thick stacks of US dollars and some jewelry—clearly the ill-gotten gains that Tanabe Naotake had plundered from the people. Lin Yifan sneered and accepted it all.

Next, he carefully searched the bookshelves in the study, hoping to find some valuable maps or military-related books.

Sure enough, at the very bottom of the bookshelf, he found several folders labeled with titles such as "Defense Deployment Map of North China" and "Summary of Recent Operational Plans of the Japanese North China Area Army".

"What a pleasant surprise!" Lin Yifan was overjoyed. The value of these items was probably much higher than the supplies from Matsui Trading Company before.

He carefully put these folders into his space, and even took a few books on the bookshelf that looked like military theory or historical research, thinking they might come in handy when he learned Japanese later.

After leaving the study, he "sweeped" the other rooms on the second floor. In the guest room, he found two brand-new carved beds and four sets of brand-new bedding, which solved another big problem.

There wasn't much of value in the girl's and boy's room, except for some clothes and toys. He only took a few pieces of silver jewelry that looked quite exquisite from the girl's jewelry box and a rather sharp-looking small military knife from the boy's bedside.

In the master bedroom, he also put Tanabe Naotake and his wife's clothes, watches, wallets and other items into his space. Although they were not worth much money, every little bit helps.

Of course, he also put the collar insignia and identification documents belonging to Tanabe into his spatial storage.

"That's about it." Lin Yifan checked his haul: gold bars, US dollars, silver dollars, Japanese yen, jewelry, documents, supplies... he was practically hauling a full load.

He checked the villa again, inside and out, and found no trace of his presence before nodding in satisfaction.