Courtyard House: A Veteran Returns Home and Becomes a Father

"Beep beep beep beep—!"

The urgent, heart-wrenching countdown alarm sounded like the death knell, pounding frantically on everyone's eardrums.

The third-floor corridor was filled with smoke and dust, and blood flowed like a river.

Su Mo and Xia Wanqing gazed at each other from afar, separated by a pile of broken door frames and walls.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at that moment.

In Xia Wanqing's eyes, her husband's figure, like a god descending to earth, was still reflected. The way he shattered everything was the most shocking and reassuring sight she had ever seen in her life. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry, she wanted to throw herself into his arms.

But the wailing alarm froze all her emotions into endless fear.

ten seconds.

They only have ten seconds.

"Su Mo!"

Xia Wanqing let out a piercing scream and rushed towards Su Mo without regard for anything else.

"Don't move!"

Su Mo's roar was faster and more resolute than hers.

His brain was working at its maximum capacity at that moment.

Running downstairs? Too late. The entire building's load-bearing structure is riddled with explosives; the staircases will collapse instantly.

Jump out the window? The window is nailed shut, and it will take time to break it open.

There's no time left!

Su Mo's gaze swept across the room, finally settling on the exterior wall.

Only there!

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Mo's figure shot out like an arrow, instantly rushing to Xia Wanqing's side. He didn't say a word of nonsense, nor did he show any tenderness; he simply used his strong arms to pull her tightly, very tightly, into his embrace.

His left hand tightly protected the back of her head, pressing her face against his firm chest.

"Hold on tight! Don't let go!"

Su Mo's voice, carrying an unquestionable command, resounded in her ears.

Xia Wanqing instinctively stretched out her arms and tightly wrapped them around his waist, which was as hard as steel. She could feel her husband's muscles tense up instantly, like a spring compressed to its limit.

Countdown, five seconds.

Su Mo, holding Xia Wanqing, suddenly turned around, presenting his back to the outer wall of the room.

He bent his knees slightly, firmly planted his feet, and a surge of powerful energy rushed from his feet to his waist and back.

He was like a heavy hammer about to be unsheathed!

"boom--!"

With three seconds left on the countdown, Su Mo moved.

He held Xia Wanqing in his arms, his whole being like a raging rhinoceros, slamming his own flesh and blood against the hard brick wall!

Bajiquan, Tieshankao!

This time, he held nothing back and used all his strength!

"Boom!"

A deafening roar, even more muffled than an explosion!

The thick brick wall, struck by Su Mo's inhuman impact, was like a battering ram hitting it head-on, instantly bursting open with a huge hole! Bricks, cement blocks, and steel bars scattered and flew into the darkness and towards the cliff!

Just as they burst through the wall.

Countdown, reset to zero.

"boom--!!!!!"

A deafening roar erupted from the summit of West Mountain!

The entire sanatorium building, like a giant firework ignited in an instant, was completely engulfed by a blazing, dazzling fireball from its foundation to its roof!

The terrifying shockwave, carrying countless building fragments and reinforced concrete, spread wildly in all directions like an invisible giant hand!

In mid-air, Su Mo and Xia Wanqing, who had just crashed through the wall, were slammed hard into their backs by the violent shockwave!

Su Mo coughed up a mouthful of blood, but his arms, which were holding Xia Wanqing, remained as still as iron clamps. He used his entire back to shield his beloved from the full force of the injury that could have torn steel apart!

The force of the shockwave hurled them like cannonballs, sending them flying far away, over the forests, and crashing down onto the steep slopes below!

"Rumble..."

The two tumbled and collided on the steep hillside. Su Mo held Xia Wanqing tightly in his arms the whole time, using his own body to bear the brunt of each violent collision with rocks and tree trunks.

……

at the foot of the mountain.

Wang Erniu and the "Ghost" team members, who had just evacuated to a safe area, stared in disbelief at the huge mushroom cloud rising from the mountaintop.

"Boss—!"

Wang Erniu let out a heart-wrenching roar, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot. He threw down his gun and was about to rush back without regard for anything else.

"Stop him!"

Several team members held him tightly.

"Let me go! The boss is still inside! Let me go!" Wang Erniu struggled frantically like a wounded beast, tears streaming down his face, mixed with gunpowder stains.

Despair and death were evident on everyone's faces.

Further away, Jiang Chao, who had just arrived at the outer blockade line of Xishan, also saw the towering flames.

His speeding command jeep braked suddenly and came to a stop on the side of the road.

Jiang Chao pushed open the car door and stood there, completely stunned, as if struck by lightning.

He stared at the flames that seemed to burn through the night sky, and in an instant, his resolute face lost all color.

"Su...Mo..."

His lips trembled as he muttered to himself. A tremendous, unspeakable grief and regret ripped into his heart like a knife.

late.

He's late...

"Commander! Commander!" The guard rushed over, his voice trembling with tears.

"Pass on my order..." Jiang Chao's voice was hoarse, like a tattered rag, "Artillery battalion, aim at that hill! Erase it from the map!"

He wanted those people to be buried with his soldiers!

However, just when everyone was sinking into the abyss of despair.

At the edge of that burning inferno, a figure slowly emerged from the thick smoke and flames.

His clothes were now just tattered strips, stained with blood and dust. His back was a bloody mess, revealing the white bones beneath.

But his upright posture was like a javelin that would never bend.

He was holding a woman in his arms.

The woman was unharmed; not even a single hair on her head was singed by the flames.

Su Mo carried Xia Wanqing step by step as they walked out of that hellish sea of ​​fire.

Behind him were towering flames and crumbling ruins.

Beneath his feet lay the burning earth.

He was like a blood-soaked war god returning from purgatory, and also like an immortal demon king guarding his treasures.

At the foot of the mountain, Wang Erniu's roar abruptly ceased.

He stared intently at the figure emerging from the firelight, rubbed his eyes, and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Yes...it's the boss..."

"The boss is still alive!"

After experiencing the dramatic reversal from hell to heaven, all the "Ghost" team members erupted in deafening cheers! They threw down their weapons and charged madly toward the figure.

Jiang Chao also saw that figure near the command vehicle in the distance.

He stood there, stunned, his eyes instantly welling up with tears.

"Good lad... good lad!" He pounded on the car door and laughed loudly, but his laughter was tinged with the sobs of someone who had survived a disaster.

Su Mo carried Xia Wanqing to a safe area.

He carefully and gently put the woman in his arms, who was too frightened to speak, down.

"It's alright now."

He looked at her and gave a smile that was more like a grimace.

Xia Wanqing could no longer hold back and threw herself into his arms, bursting into tears.

Wang Erniu and the others rushed over, and when they saw the horrific injuries on Su Mo's back, their eyes turned red.

"Boss! Your injury!"

"I won't die." Su Mo waved his hand. The spiritual spring water had already begun to repair his damaged body. The wound that would have killed an ordinary person ten times over was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His gaze swept past the crowd and landed back on the still-burning ruins, his eyes turning cold once more.

The battle is over.

But the war has only just begun.

"Erniu".

"exist!"

"Search in the ruins." Su Mo's voice was devoid of any warmth. "I need the button for the underground control room. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find the people or corpses inside."

"I need to know where Lin Wanyuan is."