Courtyard House: Home Alone

It's 7:15.

Lin Yifan glanced at his pocket watch; the metal cover clicked open and closed between his fingers. "When you're loading the truck, put the medicine boxes towards the back of the compartment. If we encounter police checks on the road..."

"Take the medical supplies we sent to Maria Hospital, for example."

Xu Zheng interjected, "This is the story we discussed last night. Chen Gongshu got the travel permit from John, stamped with the seal of the Municipal Council."

Lin Yifan nodded, his gaze lingering on each of the three faces.

"remember,"

Lin Yifan's voice suddenly lowered, carrying an almost metallic coldness, "If the Green Gang makes any unusual moves at the transaction site, don't hesitate, shoot first."

John is English, and he's very timid. If a fight breaks out, he'll be the first to hide behind the box. Chen Gongshu knows how to cooperate with you.

His spiritual power once again spread outwards—the sound of Tang Juye's footsteps on the second floor, the sound of servants emptying chamber pots in the neighboring courtyard, and the newsboys on the street corner starting to hawk the morning edition of the North China Daily.

Business as usual.

"I'm leaving now. Just be there at the agreed time." With that, Lin Yifan stood up and walked outside.

They got into the car, started the engine, and drove towards the Lihua Hotel.

Before even reaching the Lihua Hotel, he noticed that there were many more people around it today. He stopped about a hundred meters away from the hotel and then used his mental energy to examine the surrounding area.

After checking, immediately turn on the communicator: "Uncle Chen, where are you now?"

Just as he finished speaking, Chen Gongshu's voice came through the earpiece: "Young master, I'm still in the room. We need to leave for the bank at nine o'clock."

"Listen carefully, there are now more than a hundred people around the Lihua Hotel. Half of them are from the Japanese Special Higher Police, and the other half look like they are from the Black Dragon Society."

I suspect their target is the medicine and us. They will definitely try to find us and the warehouse where the medicine is stored by tracking the British.

"So, contact John right away. After you get the gold from the bank, take the Haihe River detour to the warehouse. I'll clean up the mess for you along the Haihe River."

Chen Gongshu's voice froze for a moment in the earpiece, followed by his rapid breathing: "Young master, are you sure? The Lihua Hotel is in the British concession. Does the Japanese Special Higher Police dare to deploy such blatant surveillance?"

"They weren't wearing uniforms; they were all disguised as rickshaw pullers, newspaper vendors, and tea drinkers." Lin Yifan's mental power was like an invisible spider web, capturing all the movements within a 500-meter radius of the restaurant.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over a black Ford sedan that had been passing by repeatedly at the street corner—this was the fourth time already, with the curtains on the windows completely drawn.

"Understood." Chen Gongshu's voice regained the composure of a veteran Kuomintang agent. The sound of him pulling open a drawer's metal slide could be heard through the line. "I'll contact John right now and have him leave through the hotel's back door. My car is parked in the back alley."

"No, let John walk through the main gate as usual. And he should swagger in. I want to see how many Japanese soldiers this wave can take away." Lin Yifan's fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel.

A low chuckle came through the earpiece, tinged with the approval of a seasoned veteran: "This move of yours reminds me of what Boss Dai often says—'Making the enemy think they've seen through your scheme is just the beginning of the scheme.'"

"Don't listen to Dai Yunong too much; more of our own people have died in his 'schemes' than the Japanese."

Lin Yifan's tone was calm, but his mental energy remained undiminished. "After you contact John, stay with him the whole time. Once you get to the warehouse, act according to the situation. The deliverymen are Xu Zheng and Qi Haishan, and their vehicle is armed."

"What about the gold?"

"Let Xu Zheng and the others take the gold. I'll wait for them on the road." Lin Yifan had already restarted the engine, and the car slowly slid into the shadows at the street corner.

Chen Gongshu responded, and the clicking sound of him dialing the phone dial came from the other end of the line. Lin Yifan drove the car into a narrow alley, turned off the engine, and used his mental power to monitor everything around the restaurant.

He closed his eyes, his spiritual energy flowing like a tide towards the Haihe River. That road was usually sparsely populated, lined with abandoned warehouses and coal yards. If someone were following him, they would have a complete view.

At exactly nine o'clock, John appeared at the main entrance of the Lihua Hotel. The British businessman was wearing a camel-colored cashmere coat and carrying a crocodile-skin briefcase. His plump figure appeared somewhat clumsy on the steps.

Chen Gongshu lagged half a step behind him, the hem of his gray long gown fluttering slightly in the wind, his right hand always in his pocket—where a loaded Browning was.

At the same time, a truck slowly pulled up in front of the restaurant. Inside the truck were more than a dozen burly men, each with a Mauser pistol tucked into their waistband, and five or six of them carrying Thompson submachine guns. These were likely the Green Gang bodyguards John had hired.

The truck followed John's Buick as they left the restaurant.

Lin Yifan "saw" the rickshaw driver on the street corner put down his pipe, the newspaper vendor began packing up the Shen Bao newspapers that nobody bought, and the tea drinkers getting up to pay their bills. The black Ford sedan slowly started, maintaining a fifty-meter distance behind John's Buick.

"The fish has taken the bait," he said into the communicator.

John's convoy drove directly to HSBC Bank. Chen Gongshu accompanied John into the bank, while members of the Green Gang were stationed at the bank entrance and street corners to keep watch.

Lin Yifan's mental power penetrated the bank's thick granite walls, "seeing" John signing a thick stack of bank drafts in the VIP room, while Chen Gongshu stood by the window, his gaze occasionally sweeping towards the street.

The Special Higher Police officers didn't follow them inside, but instead formed a loose perimeter around the bank. The agent disguised as a rickshaw puller even actually made a fare, taking a woman wearing an indigo-dyed cheongsam to the silk shop next door.

"major."

Lin Yifan mentally assessed the situation, while simultaneously noticing movement in the direction of the Haihe River. Two unlicensed Ford sedans drove into the abandoned warehouse street ahead of time, each carrying five Japanese soldiers, including the driver.

Are the Japanese trying to take over the tracking?

Lin Yifan withdrew his mental energy and restarted the car. He didn't drive directly towards the Haihe Road, but waited quietly.

At 9:40, John's convoy emerged from the bank. Chen Gongshu, as planned, instructed the driver to turn onto Haihe Road. The Buick sedan led the way, followed by the Green Gang's truck, maintaining a 20-meter distance between the two vehicles.

The tail immediately split into two groups. Two black Ford sedans continued to pursue John's convoy, while two other Fords that had been lying in wait were waiting on the roadside.

Lin Yifan's car lagged behind, following the convoy.

Inside the Buick at the front, John also sensed something was wrong and asked Chen Gongshu beside him, "Mr. Zhou, is 'Ghost' really confident in intercepting the tail behind?"

"Mr. John, don't worry, 'Ghost' will never let anyone ruin our deal. We just need to keep moving forward, and soon the tail behind us will disappear." As they spoke, they were already close to the Japanese relay point.