Chapter 127: The Ruthless Zhao Ying

The wind was blowing fiercely in the suburbs of Shanghai, and the withered woods whistled in the gale.

He Yuzhu lay in ambush in the waist-high withered grass, camouflaged with dead branches and fallen leaves, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, staring fixedly at the approaching headlights.

A Military Statistics Bureau Jeep came bumping along, the sound of its tires crushing gravel particularly jarring in the silent night air.

He Yuzhu narrowed his eyes and clearly saw Bureau Chief Wang sitting in the passenger seat, while Zhao Meiting and his wife were tied up with thick hemp ropes in the back, their mouths stuffed with cloth, with a Military Statistics Bureau agent sitting beside them holding a gun on guard.

He Yuzhu held his position, letting the vehicle pass. His true target today was the reinforcement convoy behind it.

About ten minutes later, a dull engine roar came from the distance.

Two military trucks drove over with their high beams on, bumping along the road.

When the first truck was only three meters away from He Yuzhu, he focused his mind, and the twenty Military Statistics Bureau agents on the truck, along with their guns, vanished instantly, leaving only an empty cargo bed. The truck, losing control, jerked violently and then slowly came to a stop.

The driver of the truck behind was caught off guard, hurriedly slammed on the brakes, and the vehicle swayed violently before stopping in the middle of the road.

He Yuzhu darted out from the withered grass like a leopard, moving so fast he was nothing but a black shadow.

Before the people in the second vehicle could react, he had already reached the cargo bed and once again used his Space Ability to take away all twenty people on board.

Having dealt with the reinforcements, He Yuzhu straightened his collar and swaggered toward the Jeep ahead.

At this moment, the atmosphere beside the Jeep was tense: Zhao Ying held a Box Cannon, the muzzle pressed firmly against the temple of Bureau Chief Wang's wife. Bureau Chief Wang and his two Bodyguards had their guns aimed at Zhao Ying and the Zhao Meiting couple; the two sides were at a stalemate, and the air seemed to have frozen.

"Zhao Ying, a top student from the 1944 Chongqing Special Training Class, you've done quite a lot following Liu Rusi." Bureau Chief Wang tried to remain calm, though fine beads of sweat seeped from his temples. "I never expected a hero of the Party and State to degenerate to the point of coveting the private property of Mayor Xiong and my younger brother!"

"Go to hell!" Zhao Ying interrupted sharply. "You colluded with gangs when seizing enemy assets, framed people of vision, and squeezed the lifeblood of the people... You've turned great Shanghai into a living hell, and you still have the nerve to lecture me?"

"You foul woman, still sharp-tongued, I see you're tired of living!" Bureau Chief Wang said through gritted teeth.

Zhao Ying caught sight of He Yuzhu walking over calmly and suddenly felt emboldened, a cold sneer curling her lips: "Bureau Chief Wang, aren't you celebrating too early? It's not yet decided who will be the victor!"

"Don't talk tough. To tell you the truth, I brought 40 men here. Put down your gun! If I kill you, maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll let your parents go!" Bureau Chief Wang roared.

Just then, with a "Bang!", a gunshot rang out, and Bureau Chief Wang's hand holding the gun was pierced by a bullet, the Pistol falling to the ground with a thud.

"Bang! Bang!" Two more gunshots followed, and the two Bodyguards beside Bureau Chief Wang fell to the ground, each with a bloody hole in their forehead.

Bureau Chief Wang looked at He Yuzhu in terror, his face full of disbelief: where were his forty men? How could he have let this person break through the defensive line so easily? He struggled to pick up the gun with his other hand, but with another "Bang!", his other wrist was also pierced, and blood instantly stained his sleeve red.

Zhao Ying suddenly turned her muzzle toward Bureau Chief Wang's youngest son and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang!" The boy's head exploded in a mist of blood, and his body fell straight to the ground.

"No!" Bureau Chief Wang cried out desperately. "Crimes shouldn't extend to family! We are both Military Statistics Bureau, I beg you to spare my children!" Bureau Chief Wang's attitude shifted instantly from arrogance to begging.

"If you hadn't tried to wipe me out and tortured my parents, I might have spared your wife and children. But after seeing what you did to my father, I won't let a single one of your family go," Zhao Ying said coldly.

"Bang! Bang!" Zhao Ying fired two more shots, and Bureau Chief Wang's wife and other son fell one after another.

Bureau Chief Wang struggled to stand up, but with two more gunshots, both his thighs were hit, and he could no longer stand. He stared at Zhao Ying with the most venomous look imaginable.

The Zhao Meiting couple watched in a daze, looking at their daughter's cold profile as if they were seeing her for the first time.

He Yuzhu also frowned; even though he had killed so many Japanese invaders, he could not bring himself to be so ruthless toward women and children.

"If you don't pull up the weeds by the roots, they will grow again in the spring breeze. That's what my Military Statistics Bureau teacher taught me," Zhao Ying said, looking at He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu did not blame her, because everyone has their own way of dealing with the world. He couldn't do it because he was a person from a later age.

Bureau Chief Wang stopped begging and said coldly: "You killed me today, but on this land, you, you will have no place to stand!"

Zhao Ying said indifferently: "Having no place to stand doesn't matter to me. You are a man of the Military Statistics Bureau; this outcome today isn't bad for you! At least I didn't torture you."

"We don't have time, stop wasting words with him. Bureau Chief Wang, you spoke too soon. It's not that Zhao Ying has no place to stand, but that your Party and State have no place to stand!" He Yuzhu said.

"Bang, bang, bang..." Zhao Ying emptied her magazine, and over a dozen bullets were fired into Bureau Chief Wang's body.

His body twitched violently a few times before he died on the spot, his eyes wide open, filled with unwillingness and despair.

Zhao Ying walked to her father's side, looked at the scars and rope marks all over him, turned and kicked Bureau Chief Wang's corpse several times, then threw herself into her father's arms, her long-repressed tears finally breaking through, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

"I'll clear the scene. Zhao Ying, you go check the trucks quickly. If there are gasoline drums, it's best to siphon all the gasoline from the trucks. Move all the fuel to the Jeep," He Yuzhu instructed.

Zhao Ying wiped away her tears and nodded. She drove the Jeep toward the trucks, while He Yuzhu quickly cleaned up the battlefield, taking all the corpses into his space and carefully removing any traces.

Before long, He Yuzhu caught up with Zhao Ying.

A hint of joy appeared on Zhao Ying's face: "There are several drums of gasoline in the trucks, enough for at least a thousand kilometers!"

"That's great." He Yuzhu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Where are we going tonight?"

"We can't stay here anymore. We'll change our route to Hong Kong and take a boat from there." Just as Zhao Ying finished speaking, she suddenly remembered something and turned to Zhao Meiting, "Dad, where are the two Bodyguard uncles who came with us?"

Zhao Meiting's expression dimmed, his voice low: "They were just... killed on the spot."

"Uncle, was that old friend of yours intentionally trying to harm you?" He Yuzhu asked.

Zhao Meiting shook his head, his eyes complex: "He was forced to do it, I don't blame him."

"By the way, where is Zhao Ming? I haven't seen him since just now," Zhao Ying asked.

"When I took you to run, he didn't keep up, and I don't know where he went," He Yuzhu said.

Zhao Ying quickly calmed down: "We agreed before that if we got separated, we would call Beiping to report our location. I'll find a phone booth and ask."

He Yuzhu drove to find a hidden phone booth, and Zhao Ying dialed the number, quickly getting Zhao Ming's address. By the time they picked up Zhao Ming, it was already past ten o'clock at night.

"Let's go to Hangzhou first. My family has a relative there who can let us stay for a few days," Zhao Meiting suggested, and everyone agreed.

The Jeep started up, the roar of the engine breaking the night, and the taillights drew two red ribbons of light in the cold wind, gradually disappearing into the vast night.

He Yuzhu and Zhao Ying took turns driving until early the next morning, when they reached the outskirts of Hangzhou. The group didn't dare enter the city directly; He Yuzhu parked the car in a small grove and went to the city gate alone to scout.

There was indeed a checkpoint at the city gate, and soldiers were strictly inspecting passersby.

On the wall, wanted posters for Zhao Ying's family were clearly posted, the white paper and black ink looking particularly jarring in the morning light.