Courtyard House: Home Alone

Li Yunlong's face flushed with excitement. He rubbed his hands together and circled Lin Yifan in front of him, looking him up and down. He clicked his tongue in amazement, "Good heavens! Seeing is believing! Your marksmanship, your skills—you're a natural-born fighter!"

Chu Yunfei also stepped forward and solemnly cupped his hands to Lin Yifan: "Brother Lin, I am deeply grateful for your help at the city gate just now." Although he was a Kuomintang officer, he was also a man of character and sincerely admired Lin Yifan's skills.

Wei the Monk was even more direct, handing the oil paper package in his arms to Lin Yifan and grinning, "Brother Lin, my name is Wei Dayong, you can just call me Monk! This is a roast chicken for our political commissar, it's still warm, have a taste!"

"If it weren't for you, we might have been done for in the city!" His honest face was full of sincerity, and his admiration for Lin Yifan was evident in his words.

Chu Yunfei's adjutant nodded in agreement. Although he didn't say much, his eyes revealed his respect.

Looking at these renowned figures from the anti-Japanese war, Lin Yifan was filled with emotion. He waved his hand, signaling Wei Heshang to take the roast chicken back: "No need, I have more here."

As he spoke, he patted the bulging package at his waist, which contained the roast chicken and pork knuckle he had just packed from the restaurant.

Li Yunlong's eyes lit up as he looked at Lin Yifan's bag. He chuckled, "Hey, you sure know how to enjoy yourself, packing up so much good stuff! Perfect, let's eat as we go. My stomach's been growling all this way!"

Lin Yifan glanced at the receding county town behind him, then looked at the road leading to Lingqiu, and said, "This place is indeed not safe to stay any longer. The Japanese reinforcements might arrive at any time. Let's leave here as soon as possible and go to your base."

"Okay! Okay! I'll do as you say!"

Li Yunlong immediately chimed in, "You're someone headquarters specifically called upon, so we'll do as you say. Go back to our base first, and then I'll arrange for someone to take you to headquarters!"

Chu Yunfei nodded in agreement: "Brother Lin is right. We should hurry back to our base. Let's say goodbye here."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong immediately became anxious: "Hey, Commander Chu, what are you saying! Things are chaotic right now, are you just going to leave like this? More people mean more protection! Besides, Brother Yifan is here, are you worried about his safety?"

Chu Yunfei glanced at Lin Yifan and pondered for a moment before saying, "Brother Yunlong, I appreciate your kindness. However, my unit still has military affairs to attend to, so it is inconvenient for me to stay any longer."

He paused, then turned to Lin Yifan, "Brother Lin, until we meet again."

Lin Yifan nodded: "Until we meet again."

Chu Yunfei said no more, and with his adjutant, quickly retreated in another direction. His movements were efficient, and he soon disappeared into the mountains and forests.

Watching Chu Yunfei's departing figure, Li Yunlong pursed his lips and said, "That's the problem with Chu Yunfei, he's too particular! Fine, let's ignore him and go!"

As he spoke, he put his arm around Lin Yifan's shoulder—this time Lin Yifan didn't dodge—and said casually, "Brother Yifan, come on, I'll take you back to the Independent Regiment and let you try our sweet potato fritters!"

Monk Wei followed happily beside him, carrying his oil paper package, his steps light and quick.

Lin Yifan was half-embraced by Li Yunlong, feeling the rough and fiery aura emanating from this legendary regimental commander. The sense of alienation he felt due to the time and space distortion seemed to have faded a little.

He looked up at the sky; the last rays of the setting sun were filtering through the trees, casting long shadows of the group. The road ahead was still unknown, but with such a group of passionate men by his side, perhaps this journey would be even more exciting than he imagined.

Along the way, Wei Dayong (Wei Heshang) led the way, while Li Yunlong took the initiative to keep watch from behind. They were all secretly amazed when they saw Lin Yifan walking calmly and nimbly among them.

This child looks young, but he walks on mountain paths more steadily than veterans who spend years in the mountains, and shows no signs of fatigue.

Li Yunlong couldn't help but start nagging again: "Brother Yifan, how did you train to be so fit? Your steps are even more agile than the scouts in our regiment!" Lin Yifan just smiled faintly and didn't say anything more.

His strength and stamina had long since reached the Grandmaster level, so this mountain path was nothing to him.

Wei Heshang turned around and chuckled, "Commander, I think Brother Lin is a born prodigy! Someone like me, probably three or five of us wouldn't be a match for him."

Don't ask anymore. When we get back to the regiment, we'll bring out your sweet potato liquor and have a proper welcome dinner for Brother Lin with Political Commissar Zhao. You can ask him then!

Li Yunlong's eyes widened: "What? You're no match for him? And three or five of them? But you're right, we'll have to get Old Zhao to prepare some good dishes to properly entertain our little hero!"

As night deepened, mist began to rise in the mountains and forests, and the surrounding light became dim. The experienced monk Wei took out a torch he had prepared beforehand and lit it. The flickering flame dispelled the darkness and illuminated the rugged mountain path ahead.

Li Yunlong lowered his voice: "Everyone be on guard. This area isn't safe at night. There might be small groups of Japanese soldiers or traitors operating here."

After walking for about an hour, Lin Yifan, who was in the middle, suddenly stopped and gestured for the two men to extinguish their torches. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Commander Li, there seems to be some movement ahead." He dared not say that it was a platoon of Japanese soldiers.

Li Yunlong and Wei Yong immediately held their breath and, by the faint moonlight, looked in the direction Lin Yifan had indicated. They could see a few flickering lights in the ravine not far ahead.

"Are they Japanese soldiers? Or puppet troops?"

Li Yunlong's eyes sharpened. "Judging from this, there aren't many people. It looks like a small outpost or a temporary checkpoint."

He turned to Lin Yifan, "Brother Yifan, what do you think, should we go around it, or..."

A cold glint flashed in Lin Yifan's eyes: "How much further is it to your base?"

"Not much left, maybe five or six kilometers more," Monk Wei said softly.

"You should have placed your sentries a bit further out. If a large group of Japanese soldiers were to attack, you wouldn't have enough time to react at this distance. Alright, there's only a few of them. There's no reason to let them go. Just attack them," Lin Yifan said coldly.

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong immediately perked up and slapped his thigh: "Good! Brother Yifan is the most decisive! Monk, go and find out the situation, see how many people there are and what their firepower configuration is."

Wei the monk nodded, drew his pistol from his waist, and stealthily crept over like a cat.