Courtyard House: Home Alone

As he spoke, he exerted a little force with his left hand, and the man with the mustache immediately let out a painful whimper, veins bulging on his forehead, and cold sweat instantly soaking his shirt.

The other seven Japanese leaders looked at each other, their faces filled with fear and hesitation.

They were all prominent figures among the Japanese expatriates in Beiping, accustomed to a life of luxury, and had never seen such ruthless killers.

The young man before them, though dressed in a school uniform, had eyes colder than the most ferocious samurai, and his hand gripping the man with the mustache's throat was as steady as a rock, without the slightest tremor.

"One!" Lin Yifan began counting, his voice not loud, but like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

The man with the mustache felt the pressure on his neck increase, a wave of suffocation washing over him, and his vision blurred. He desperately tried to signal to his companion, his eyes filled with pleading.

"two!"

An elderly man in a kimono, his lips trembling, seemed to want to say something, but was stopped by a sinister-looking man next to him with a glance.

"three!"

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Finally, a short, stout middle-aged man, unable to withstand the invisible pressure, screamed, his face deathly pale, "The armory... the armory is in the merchant guild's warehouse! But... but all the weapons and ammunition inside have already been distributed. The deployment map... the deployment map is in Mr. Hashimoto's briefcase!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the man with the mustache whose throat was being choked—Hashimoto.

Lin Yifan's gaze remained unchanged. His left hand still gripped Hashimoto's throat tightly, while his right hand moved the gun slightly, pointing it at the short, stout man: "Where's the briefcase?"

The short, stout man shuddered in fright and quickly pointed to a black leather briefcase next to Hashimoto: "It's...there! Under the table!"

Lin Yifan scanned the area with his spiritual power and indeed sensed the presence of a briefcase under the rosewood table. Inside, there were several sheets of paper with lines and symbols drawn on them.

He snorted coldly, twisted his left hand sharply, and with a soft "crack," Hashimoto's neck tilted to one side at an eerie angle. The ferocity and fear in his eyes froze instantly, and his body went limp.

"Ah!" The remaining seven Japanese leaders inside the room were terrified at the sight, some even screaming in terror.

"Anyone who dares to make another sound will suffer the same fate as him." Lin Yifan casually tossed Hashimoto's corpse aside with a dull thud. His voice seemed to come from the deepest hell, instantly silencing everyone, who even became careful with their breathing.

He walked slowly to the table, bent down to pick up the black briefcase, unzipped it, and sure enough, found several deployment maps. They were drawn in great detail, showing the location, number of personnel, weaponry, and patrol routes of each outpost within the settlement.

"Very good." Lin Yifan put the defense map into his pocket and glanced at the remaining seven people in the room again. These people were the core figures of the Japanese expatriate community, and their hands were more or less stained with the blood and sweat of the Chinese. Keeping them around would definitely cause trouble in the future.

"You two seemed to be arguing just now?" Lin Yifan suddenly asked in Japanese, his tone slightly playful.

The seven men looked at each other, none daring to answer. They had indeed been arguing, debating whether to continue holding out for reinforcements or to break out under cover of night and head towards the Japanese garrison in Tianjin. Little did they expect that before they could reach a conclusion, death would strike.

Lin Yifan didn't need their answers. He took out a few grenades from his spatial storage, pulled the pins, and played with them in his hands, feeling the cold metallic texture and the destructive power that was about to erupt.

"Since you can't agree, I'll make a decision for you." Lin Yifan smiled coldly, raised his arm, and threw the grenade in his hand towards the center of the round table.

"No!"

A series of piercing screams echoed inside the room as the seven Japanese leaders scattered in terror, trying to escape the deadly explosion. But with limited space around the round table, how could they possibly run away?

"boom!"

Another violent explosion rang out, this time much closer, shaking the entire building violently. Windowpanes shattered, and thick smoke and flames billowed out. The screams inside abruptly ceased, leaving only the crackling sound of the burning flames.

The moment Lin Yifan threw the grenade, he flipped and jumped out of the window, landing steadily on the ground. He glanced back at the small building engulfed in flames, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

Having dealt with these leaders, the next step was to dismantle the resistance of the entire settlement.

He opened the newly acquired defense map and quickly browsed through it. Now that the defenses were in place, things would be much easier.

Now that the weapons have been distributed, let's take out the people carrying them first. The rest is just collecting the spoils.

The Japanese were quite meticulous. This defense map not only showed the Japanese deployment in Dongjiaomin Lane, but also clearly marked all the shops and residences. Lin Yifan only needed to follow the map.

Lin Yifan carefully folded the defense map and put it in his pocket, his figure blending into the street like a ghost.

Inside Dongjiaomin Lane, Japanese soldiers and civilians patrolled, rifles in hand, scanning their surroundings warily. The clatter of their leather boots on the stone pavement was particularly clear in the quiet night.

Lin Yifan, like a cheetah in the jungle, relied on his memory of the defense map and his superb stealth skills to quickly move through the shadows of buildings and the corners of alleys.

His gaze was as sharp as a hawk's, and he quickly locked onto the first target—a machine gun emplacement located at the entrance of the alley.

Two Japanese soldiers were lying prone behind sandbags, with a Type 11 light machine gun mounted on top of them, its dark muzzle pointing towards the street.

They seemed somewhat relaxed; one of them was yawning, while the other was wiping the barrel of his gun.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yifan released two bullets from his spatial storage. Two soft "pfft" sounds reached his ears almost simultaneously.

Before the two Japanese soldiers could even utter a sound, two sprays of blood appeared on their heads, and they fell into a pool of blood with blank expressions. Blood gushed from their wounds, quickly soaking the sandbags beneath them.

After eliminating the machine gun emplacement, Lin Yifan didn't linger. In a flash, he appeared near the next target.

This was a patrol squad of five men, slowly making their way down the street. Using the same method, in the blink of an eye, all five patrolmen lay lifeless on the ground.

Like a skilled butcher dissecting an ox, Lin Yifan meticulously eliminated the Japanese firing positions one by one, clearing out the patrol squads, following the markings on the defense map.

He was like a precise scalpel, methodically dissecting the Japanese defense system.