Courtyard House: Home Alone

He covered the street outside with his mental energy. It was already bright outside, but there were few pedestrians in the alley. Occasionally, a few neighbors would peek out, but they all looked terrified and quickly retreated back into their houses.

In the distance, the faint sounds of orderly footsteps and shouts could be heard coming from the street, clearly indicating that the Japanese patrol had begun its operation.

"The timing is perfect." Lin Yifan's lips curled up slightly. He needed to familiarize himself with the specific applications of his upgraded mental power, such as longer-range detection, more refined perception, and how to use mental power to predict the opponent's movements in battle.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and slowly released his spiritual energy. This time, he didn't spread it out with all his might like last night, but carefully controlled it, extending it like a searchlight towards the alley entrance.

Fifty meters, one hundred meters, one hundred and fifty meters... His mental power, from God's perspective, clearly presented the scene at the entrance of the alley and even the street outside in his mind.

He "saw" two puppet soldiers carrying rifles, leaning lazily against the corner of the alleyway, smoking, spitting occasionally, and muttering curses under their breath.

Further away, a squad of Japanese soldiers in yellow uniforms, about a small platoon, were slowly marching along the street. The sound of their boots hitting the ground was particularly jarring.

Lin Yifan could even "hear" the heavy breathing of the Japanese officers and the whispers among the puppet troops. This feeling was very strange, as if he had superhuman eyesight and super hearing.

"The wonders of mental power are truly beyond imagination," Lin Yifan thought to himself with delight. With this ability, he could anticipate the enemy's movements, allowing him to remain hidden while the enemy was in the open, greatly increasing the success rate and safety of his operations.

He withdrew his mental energy, feeling only slightly tired, much better than the near-exhaustion he felt last night. It seemed that with the improvement of his mental energy, the speed of consumption and recovery had also improved.

"It's time to go out and stretch my muscles." Lin Yifan stood up, stretched, and his bones made a slight "crackling" sound.

The two puppet soldiers guarding the alley entrance were still there, while the Japanese patrol had already gone far away.

"I'll start with the two of you, just to practice and get familiar with my new abilities." A cold glint flashed in Lin Yifan's eyes.

He checked the doors and windows, confirming there were no traces left, and exchanged some contribution points for ten hoods. He put on one and put the rest into his spatial storage. Then, with a thought, he disappeared from the room and entered his spatial storage.

When he reappeared, he was already behind two puppet soldiers, and the conversation between the two puppet soldiers could be clearly heard by Lin Yifan.

"Damn it, this weather is freezing!" A tall, thin puppet soldier complained, rubbing his hands, which were red from the cold. "I wonder when the Japanese will be able to leave their posts. I was hoping to go back to sleep for a while."

"Sleep my ass!"

Another short, stout puppet soldier spat out his cigarette butt and said, "Didn't you hear? The city was in an uproar last night. A lot of high-ranking officials died at the consulate. I heard even the commander who was preparing to return home was killed! Now the whole city is searching for the murderer. We should be grateful that we can stay here and not have to risk our lives on the front lines!"

"Search? With us?" The tall, thin puppet soldier sneered. "If that murderer really had the ability to bomb the consulate and kill the commander, would he be afraid of our few guns? I think it's just a formality, and it'll be over in a few days."

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" The short, stout puppet soldier's face changed, and he nervously looked around. "You don't want to live anymore? If the Japanese officer hears you saying that, you'll be in big trouble!"

The tall, thin puppet soldier seemed to realize he had spoken out of turn, shrank back, and dared not utter another word.

Just then, a dark shadow flashed past them like lightning.

"Who?!" The two puppet soldiers reacted quickly, turning around abruptly and reaching for the guns on their backs.

But in Lin Yifan's eyes, their movements were as slow as snails.

Lin Yifan didn't use a gun; he wanted to test his current skills. His left hand flashed out like lightning, precisely grabbing the wrist of the tall, thin puppet soldier and twisting it slightly.

"Ah—!" A shrill scream rang out as the wrist of the tall, thin puppet soldier twisted at an eerie angle, and the rifle in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

At the same time, Lin Yifan swept his right foot out, as fast as a whip, and slammed it hard on the outside of the short, fat puppet soldier's knee.

"Crack!" A crisp sound was accompanied by the pig-like scream of the short, fat puppet soldier. His leg bone was kicked and broken, and he lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The tall, thin puppet soldier felt a piercing pain in his wrist. Before he could even react from his scream, Lin Yifan had already released his wrist, turned his palm into a knife, and slashed at his neck with lightning speed.

"Thump!" The tall, thin puppet soldier didn't even utter a sound. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.

After dealing with the tall, thin man, Lin Yifan turned to look at the short, fat puppet soldier lying on the ground, clutching his broken leg and wailing.

The short, stout puppet soldier, witnessing his comrade's instantaneous death, was terrified. His face turned ashen, his lips trembled, and he forgot even to cry out: "Who...who are you? Don't...don't kill me...I...I'm a law-abiding citizen...I..."

Lin Yifan walked towards him step by step, his eyes as cold as ice, devoid of any emotion.

"Good citizens?" Lin Yifan scoffed. "Aiding the wicked and oppressing your own people, you dare call yourselves good citizens? Keeping scum like you around is just a waste of food!"

The short, stout puppet soldier was utterly desperate. He struggled to get up and run away, but the excruciating pain from his broken leg prevented him from moving. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Yifan walked up to him.

"Spare...spare my life..." he pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

Without saying a word, Lin Yifan leaned down, placed one hand on his head, grabbed his chin with the other, and twisted it sharply!

"Snap!"

With another sharp crack, the short, stout puppet soldier's head tilted to one side at an unnatural angle, his pleading abruptly stopped, and the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.

After eliminating the two puppet soldiers, Lin Yifan didn't linger. He quickly collected all the valuables from the two soldiers, as well as the rifles and scattered magazines on the ground, and stored them in his spatial storage.

As for the corpses, let their accomplices collect them; this will serve as a deterrent to the puppet troops and Japanese soldiers.

Although these rifles are not very useful to him, they are better than nothing. Perhaps he can use them to exchange for contribution points in the future, or give them to someone in need.

After doing all this, he cleaned up the traces left at the scene, then disappeared back into the space and ran in the direction where the Japanese patrol had left.

"Two puppet soldiers, their contribution points shouldn't be much. Let's take a look first," Lin Yifan thought to himself.

Sure enough, the system notification sounded at the right time:

"Ding! Host has killed two traitors and puppet soldiers, contribution points +10."

"Hmm? Killing two puppet soldiers only gets you 10 contribution points?" Lin Yifan frowned slightly. "It seems these small fry aren't very valuable. But it's okay, every little bit counts."