Chapter 102: He Yuzhu Returns to the Base Area

He Yuzhu left the hotel and, following the address Chen Daya had given him, slipped silently to the entrance of Liushu Hutong.

He carefully observed the terrain, selected an escape route, then found an abandoned courtyard and quickly entered his space.

Inside the space, he first smeared his face black, then stuck on gray-white eyebrows and a beard, put on a gray-white wig, and finally changed into a tattered cotton-padded jacket; by hunching his not-so-imposing frame, he looked just like a starving, freezing Old Beggar.

Leaning on a withered tree branch, he slowly turned into Liushu Hutong, his gaze quickly locking onto the courtyard at number 25.

It was a large compound with high walls and a tall gatehouse; two stone lions stood before the gate, and in the gateway stood two men carrying Box Cannons, their faces fierce and their eyes alert.

He Yuzhu walked up tremblingly, held out a broken bowl, and pleaded in a hoarse voice: "Kind sirs, have mercy, give me a bite to eat... I haven't eaten in three days..."

The bearded man was already full of anger—the brothers were all eating and drinking, yet he was the only one on guard duty.

Seeing an old man actually dare to come here to beg, he cursed irritably: "Get lost! I haven't even eaten yet! Where would I have food for you! If you don't leave now, I'll beat you to death!"

The other gatekeeper was a man as thin as a Maguan; he hadn't had a smoke all night and was already frustrated, and on top of that, a woman had been captured that afternoon, but he hadn't gotten his hands on her, while Lao Hei had benefited instead. With nowhere to vent his anger, he drew his gun, disengaged the safety, and approached with long strides: "You old immortal, are you looking for trouble? See if I don't blow your head off today!"

Before his words had even faded, a cold light flashed in He Yuzhu's eyes. He lunged forward like a whirlwind, and the Dagger in his right hand precisely pierced the Maguan's heart.

The bearded man realized something was wrong and turned to flee; He Yuzhu quickly pulled the Dagger from the Maguan's body, flicked his wrist, and the Dagger flew through the air, striking the man squarely in the back.

Blood sprayed from the Maguan's chest, and the bearded man's body twitched incessantly.

He Yuzhu quickly collected the two still-struggling men into his space.

He then swaggered through the gate and into the courtyard.

The main hall was lit with many a Candle, bright as day, with two large round tables covered in wine and food.

By the looks of it, it was takeout from a hotel, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat all present.

Over a dozen men were playing finger-guessing games and drinking, shouting loudly, and they hadn't noticed at all that someone had entered the courtyard.

Lao Hei spoke up: "That little lady Maguan tied up today is not bad; once everyone is full and satisfied later, we'll all have some fun!"

A short, stocky man replied: "I get to go first later! If I hadn't used some methods, that storefront at Hufangqiao wouldn't have been so easy to get!"

Another burly man snorted: "We have to draw lots to decide! Otherwise, I'll throw a firecracker while you're busy, so you can't get it up, kid!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

He Yuzhu's expression was cold and stern, his mind made up: this time he would play it big; he wouldn't do anything sneaky, he had to make sure they died without a whole corpse, and it would also serve to intimidate the Boss behind them—what this gang was doing was no different from the little devils!

He took two Hand Grenades from his space, pulled the pins, struck them against the wall, and threw them into the hall.

Seeing two dark objects fly in, Lao Hei's blood ran cold.

He shouted: "Hand Grenade!!"

It was already too late; before the men could even hide, the Hand Grenades exploded.

"Boom! Boom!" With two loud bangs, tables, chairs, bowls, and dishes flew in all directions, and screams erupted instantly.

One of Lao Hei's legs was blown to shreds, and he still tried to crawl away.

He Yuzhu rushed in like a gale, holding a Box Cannon in each hand, shooting everyone he saw.

Tongues of fire spat, bullets whistled, shattered wood and blood splattered together, and amidst the wails, the enemies fell one after another.

In a few moments, there was no more movement in the hall.

He quickly searched the compound and found two women in the west wing of the Houyuan; they were thinly clad, tied with hemp ropes, and huddled in a corner.

He Yuzhu stepped forward and cut the ropes, but they were too terrified to move.

He took twenty Big Ocean coins from his bosom, stuffed them into their hands, and said in a deep voice: "The villains have been cleared by me, you must leave quickly."

Seeing they were barely covered, he turned back to find two men's cotton robes in the room and handed them over.

Only then did the two sob their thanks, supporting each other as they stumbled out.

He Yuzhu used the space's detection function and soon found a wooden box under a bed in the main room, which contained some Big Ocean coins, though not many.

By now, police whistles could be heard in the distance; he quickly collected the money and flashed out of the courtyard.

He didn't take the alleyway, but instead moved with agility across the rooftops; after running past several courtyards, he entered his space in an uninhabited area and changed back into his own clothes.

He found a rickshaw on the road and hurried toward the Beijing Hotel—he had to see Wang Jiazhi.

Hearing that the house had been rented, Wang Jiazhi immediately asked to go see it.

Because it was not far from the hotel, the two walked there.

Pushing open the gate, there were three main rooms and two wing rooms in the courtyard; the windows were covered with new paper, and the previous occupants had kept it very tidy, with all the furniture complete.

Wang Jiazhi walked to the window, looked at the empty house, and whispered: "I'm afraid to live in so many rooms all by myself."

"That's easy to solve." He Yuzhu thought for a moment, "I'll help you find a mother and daughter to live here, so you can look out for each other."

What he was calculating in his heart was Li Xiangxiu—the Li Family had poor living conditions, with only one room; letting this mother and daughter move into the wing rooms would not only solve their housing problem but also allow them to take care of Wang Jiazhi.

Wang Jiazhi looked at the courtyard and sighed: "I don't know why, but having grown up in Jiangnan, I've suddenly come to Si Jiu Cheng and find I quite like it here; I feel there's a sense of grandeur, and my mood is much better."

He Yuzhu said: "Listen to me sing a bit of a song, and perhaps you'll understand."

He finished speaking and began to sing: "This landscape, I start the brush... this capital, the central axis; just like a gentleman's spirit that never shifts, the Nine Dragon Wall, the glazed tiles on the roof, history falls and rises again from here..."

After hearing it, Wang Jiazhi's eyes lit up and she said: "This song of yours is quite interesting, it has more momentum than our little tunes from Jiangnan... I understand... I know why I like it here."

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, He Yuzhu got up.

He put on his thickest cotton-padded jacket, bought two catties of steamed buns from the street, hired a horse carriage, and headed out of the city.

The north wind made the carriage "woo-woo" as it rattled, and the accumulated snow was crushed by the wheels, splashing up fine, powdery snow.

After traveling for about three hours, near noon, he finally arrived at the village in the Jidong Base Area—he had stayed here before and was fairly familiar with Xiao Duizhang.

The sentry at the village entrance asked about his situation and then led him into the village.

Xiao Duizhang was practicing bayonet drills with a soldier in the courtyard; seeing He Yuzhu, he immediately put down his stick and walked over with a smile: "Zhuzi! Why have you come? Come inside and warm up!"

"Xiao Duizhang, I've come to ask about my uncle." He Yuzhu sat down, took the hot water, and asked anxiously, "Is he alright? The grocery store at Dian'anmen was bombed, and my mother has been worried."

Xiao Duizhang patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't worry, your uncle is fine! Lao Zhou is also safe. But you won't be able to see them this time. The two of them just set off for Shanxi yesterday to carry out a mission and won't be back until after the New Year."

"Is that so!" Hearing that his uncle was safe, the heart He Yuzhu had been holding up the entire journey finally settled.

Just then, a guerrilla fighter ran in and said: "Xiao Duizhang, a regiment of the Nationalist Army is heading toward us, they are still 6 li away, what should we do?"