Courtyard House: A Veteran Returns Home and Becomes a Father

Night, 10 PM.

Outside Dongzhimen, there is a long-abandoned textile factory.

The crumbling walls cast menacing shadows in the pale moonlight, resembling the skeleton of a silent behemoth. The air was thick with the stench of rust, dust, and decaying vegetation.

This is the city's scar, a forgotten corner.

But tonight, this is the gathering point for "ghosts".

"Squeak—"

A dilapidated tricycle was parked at the factory gate. A driver wearing a tattered cotton-padded coat and with a weathered face jumped off the tricycle, looked around warily, and then pushed the tricycle and skillfully squeezed through a gap in a collapsed wall.

A few minutes later, a vegetable vendor carrying an empty carrying pole, seemingly returning late from selling vegetables, silently slipped into the shadows from another direction.

Next came the beggar with a cane, the drunkard carrying an empty bottle, and the plumber with a toolbox...

A dozen or so people from the lowest rungs of Beijing, the most insignificant characters, seemed to have received some kind of mysterious summons and gathered here from all directions.

Once they entered the factory area, they shed all their disguises.

The driver threw down his tricycle, his back, which had been somewhat hunched when pulling it, instantly straightened as a spear. The vendor put down his carrying pole, his once obsequious and mercenary face now showing only steely indifference.

They silently entered the main factory building, a space as empty as a cavern, communicating with each other only through eye contact and the simplest gestures. Everyone silently checked their equipment.

That's not the kind of equipment we should have in this era.

They took out parts wrapped in oilcloth from their toolboxes, sacks, and even the linings of their tattered cotton-padded coats, and quickly assembled them.

The Type 54 pistol with a long silencer added.

The Type 53 rifle, after special modifications, can fire in rapid succession.

Military daggers and triangular spikes gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light.

There are also some bizarrely shaped, unnameable weapons specifically designed for silent killing.

Inside the factory, the only sound was the deliberately suppressed "click" of metal parts colliding.

A cold, professional, and undisguised killing intent slowly rose from the ruins.

Wang Erniu stood in the center of the factory, now dressed in a black, close-fitting outfit, looking like a silent iron tower. He watched as his brothers assembled, his eyes filled with the excitement of reunion and the fervor of impending battle.

"boom--"

A roar of an engine grew louder as the beat-up jeep, rattling everywhere except for its bell, burst through the rickety iron gate of the factory like a raging beast, drifted, and came to a steady stop in front of the main factory building.

The car door opened, and Su Mo got out of the driver's seat.

He wasn't wearing that ill-fitting uniform, but just a simple black casual outfit, with the Tang sword "Wufeng" wrapped in a thick oilcloth on his back.

As soon as he appeared, all the sounds in the factory disappeared.

All eyes were on him. It wasn't the look of a subordinate looking at a superior; it was the gaze of a believer looking up at their god.

"Boss!"

Everyone shouted in unison, their voices perfectly synchronized and carrying a power capable of tearing apart metal and stone.

Su Mo's gaze slowly swept over everyone present.

These were his brothers who had risked their lives, one by one, carried out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Brothers," Su Mo's voice was calm, yet every word struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer, "Without further ado, there is only one mission."

"My woman has been arrested."

"Location: Abandoned sanatorium in Xishan. Enemies: More than thirty, all skilled, and armed."

He paused, and a fury ignited deep within his calm eyes, a fury powerful enough to destroy everything.

"Tonight, we'll pick her up and take her home."

Mission objective: Rescue people.

"Principles of engagement:" A cruel smile curled at the corner of Su Mo's lips, "Anyone who obstructs us with weapons shall be killed without exception. Not a single one shall be spared."

"yes!"

The deafening response nearly blew the roof off the factory.

Su Mo unloaded several heavy military wooden crates from the jeep.

The box was opened, and what was inside made all the "Ghost" team members breathe heavily.

Individual combat equipment that is ahead of its time.

Goggles with night vision function.

Lightweight yet durable stab-proof vest.

Special operations boots that ensure silent operations.

There were even a few small military crossbows specifically designed for precision nighttime strikes.

This is top-tier equipment that Su Mo personally crafted for them using resources from his own space, capable of crushing any ground-based armed force in this era.

"Five minutes to change clothes and board the vehicle."

Su Mo gave the final order.

at the same time.

The headquarters of the 38th Army was brightly lit.

The atmosphere in Jiang Chao's office was as oppressive as the sea before a storm.

He had just hung up the phone when he squeezed the receiver of the military-grade encrypted phone so hard that it cracked.

With a sharp clang, he slammed the microphone back into its original position.

"You bastard!"

A thunderous roar made the guard standing at the door tremble.

Jiang Chao's weathered face was filled with rage. He kicked over the chair in front of him and paced back and forth in the office like an enraged lion.

"A special office? A special asset inventory and implementation office?"

"What arrogance! What audacity!"

"They even dare to mess with the family members of a first-class combat hero of my 38th Army! What do they want? Do they want to turn the world upside down?!"

He abruptly stopped and issued a series of unquestionable orders to the guards at the door.

"Pass down the order! First Guard Battalion, all personnel, assemble immediately! I want them fully equipped and ready on the parade ground within five minutes!"

"Connect me to the Beijing Garrison Command! Tell them it was me, Jiang Chao, who said that my unit suspects enemy agents have infiltrated Beijing and kidnapped the families of important military officers. I request that they immediately impose a military blockade on the Xishan area! No unit or individual may enter or leave without my order!"

"Furthermore! Contact the transportation department and implement military control at all intersections along the route from our military base to Xishan! I need a clear, unobstructed green channel!"

"yes!"

The guard was terrified by the murderous aura emanating from Jiang Chao, which seemed to come from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood. He straightened his legs, gave a standard military salute, and turned to run away.

The entire command center of the 38th Army, like a sophisticated war machine, roared into operation under Jiang Chao's fury.

Orders were quickly relayed.

On the parade ground, the urgent assembly whistle and the uniform footsteps of the soldiers rang out.

Amidst the roar of engines, military trucks covered in camouflage netting began to assemble, resembling steel behemoths.

Dongzhimen, an abandoned textile factory.

All the "Ghost" team members have changed their clothes.

They stood in the night, like a group of demons emerging from hell, their entire being exuding only a chilling killing intent.

Su Mo pulled the "Swordless" out of the oilcloth and put it behind his back.

He glanced in the direction of the Western Hills, his eyes cold and devoid of any warmth.

"Set off."

Several vehicles disguised as trucks and ordinary jeeps silently drove out of the abandoned factory and disappeared into the silent night, like a group of sharks that had smelled blood, speeding towards the western mountains.

A swift operation, conducted by both official and unofficial forces, was launched simultaneously, targeting the same objective.

The storm has arrived.