Courtyard House: Home Alone

He paced restlessly in the private room, then suddenly stopped, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "If you can't find them, arrest them! Arrest everyone suspected, regardless of age or gender! Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free! I refuse to believe we can't get them to talk!"

The short, stout subordinate looked troubled. "Sir, wouldn't this... cause too much public resentment? The people in the city are already dissatisfied enough because of the grain rationing issue..."

"Public outrage?" The triangular-eyed man sneered. "Just a bunch of Chinese, their lives are worth less than ants! So what if there's public outrage? Who dares to resist? The Imperial Army's bayonets aren't just for show! Arrest them! I'll take responsibility if anything happens!"

Remember, you only have three days.

Saturday is the consulate's welcome banquet, which will be attended by our empire's military and political leaders. We need to make arrangements two days in advance, and we absolutely cannot let that murderer cause any more trouble before then!

Otherwise, let alone committing seppuku, we'll all be skinned alive by the Commander!" The short, stout subordinate dared not say anything more and could only agree repeatedly.

The man with the triangular eyes gave a few more instructions, nothing more than to strengthen patrols and conduct focused checks, then waved for his men to go and carry out the orders. He himself stayed in the private room, drinking tea alone, his brows furrowed, clearly clueless about this thorny case.

Lin Yifan withdrew his mental energy from the private room, but his heart was in turmoil. "The consulate's welcome banquet on Saturday... military and political dignitaries..." Lin Yifan pondered these two pieces of information, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

These high-ranking Japanese officials gathered together; weren't they just offering up "contribution points" and "skill points"?

Killing one major general isn't enough. If you could "send off" a few more at the banquet, or even get a lieutenant general or something, wouldn't your contribution points skyrocket? The system could even be upgraded directly.

However, this also carries enormous risks.

Consulates are places with the highest level of security. Although I have become stronger, I am still just one person. Forcing my way in would be tantamount to suicide. Fortunately, I have a spatial ability and can teleport.

It seems I need to make a proper plan. He composed himself and stopped listening to the sounds coming from the private room. The man with the triangular eyes was just sighing and there was no more valuable information to be gleaned.

With a thought, Lin Yifan left the space and appeared silently in the back alley.

He dusted himself off and left the teahouse alley as if nothing had happened, but in his heart he was already making plans.

First, we need to conduct an on-site inspection to see the environment and buildings surrounding the consulate. Second, we need to find a way to obtain specific information about the consulate's Saturday dinner, such as the time, location, security arrangements, and list of attendees.

This kind of intelligence is probably not so easy to obtain. The Special Higher Police are in a state of utter chaos, which shows how much the Japanese are taking this banquet.

Lin Yifan stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the street, trying to find a breakthrough.

"Perhaps... we could start with those traitors or members of the puppet government? They might also be invited!" Lin Yifan muttered to himself.

These people, in order to curry favor with the Japanese, are usually well-informed and may be less vigilant than those in the Special Higher Police.

But how to make contact and how to get information out of them is another problem.

He's still just a child, and he probably won't even see them. Even if they capture a traitor and interrogate him, he'll only know so much. That would be too much of a commotion and could easily alert the enemy.

Lin Yifan stopped as he passed a newsstand. Newspapers! Although most newspapers were now controlled by the Japanese and published mostly praise or false news, one could occasionally find some useful clues or learn about some public activities between the lines.

He felt his pockets and found he had a few coins left, so he bought a copy of the day's Xinmin Daily.

The newspaper was filled with clichés like "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" and "The Mighty Imperial Army," which made Lin Yifan frown as he quickly flipped through it.

The social section mostly deals with trivial matters, while the entertainment section is even less interesting.

Just as he was about to lose patience, a seemingly insignificant piece of news caught his attention: "To promote Sino-Japanese friendship and strengthen cultural exchange, the Consulate General of the Imperial Japanese Empire in Beiping will host a grand New Year's banquet this Saturday evening, which will be attended by prominent figures from the military and political circles..."

"As expected!" Lin Yifan was delighted, but upon closer inspection, the content was extremely brief, only mentioning the time as "this Saturday night" and the location as "the consulate," with no other key information. This was tantamount to saying nothing; the Special Higher Police must have already obtained this information.

Lin Yifan was somewhat disappointed, but it was also within his expectations. How could the Japanese possibly publish truly important information in the newspaper?

He crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it into the nearby trash can. It seemed the conventional method wouldn't work. He had to use some "special means." His gaze sharpened again, and his mental energy unconsciously spread out slightly as he warily observed his surroundings.

"Special methods..." Lin Yifan tapped his thigh lightly with his fingers, a bold idea flashing through his mind.

"If I have space to hide, can I sneak up near the consulate sooner? As long as I can get within 200 meters, I can 'see' and 'hear' everything inside."

At most, I'll just have to spend a few more days there. My only regret right now is that I don't know any military skills.

If I had military skills and a few boxes of captured explosives in my inventory, I could just plant them at their meeting place beforehand and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

However, there are many things that can be done here, and I need to go back and plan them out carefully. With that thought, Lin Yifan stopped lingering and quickened his pace towards the courtyard house.

He had to hurry back and refine this audacious plan. Soon, the familiar outline of the courtyard house came into view.

Lin Yifan composed himself, took out about ten steamed buns from his spatial storage, and adjusted his expression to be as normal as possible, trying to appear as just a child who had bought steamed buns and was going home.

He didn't want those "interested people" in the courtyard to notice anything amiss. Especially Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old woman; those two were as cunning as monkeys.

Upon entering the courtyard, it was quiet; most families were probably still indoors during the winter. Lin Yifan lowered his head and quickly walked towards his family's small side room.

As he passed by the Central Courtyard, he caught a glimpse of Jia Zhangshi in her own house, looking out through the window, muttering something to herself, her face still bearing that mean expression.

When she saw Lin Yifan return carrying a bag of steamed buns, her eyes visibly lit up, a fleeting glint of greed in them.

Lin Yifan sneered inwardly, ignoring her completely, and walked straight to the backyard, returning to his house. He slammed the door shut, cutting himself off from the outside world.