Chapter 141: He Yuzhu Breaks Out Alone

He Yuzhu surveyed the surrounding environment. He discovered that although this place was located in the city center, there were few people, likely because it had been bombed.

Everywhere were broken walls and ruined pillars; it was indeed suitable for a fight, but it had to be quick. Once someone escaped to call for reinforcements, there would be no running away.

He Yuzhu turned his gaze toward Zhao Ying and Su Qing beside him, seeing that their complexions were not good. Although Zhao Ying had been an agent, it was impossible not to be afraid when facing more than 20 Japanese gangsters holding samurai swords.

He Yuzhu lowered his voice and said, "Su Qing, tell them that our female Boss needs to consider it, and let them not be in a hurry; we can't run away anyway."

Su Qing hurriedly used Japanese to stammeringly convey this meaning.

The short, fat man leered, "If she isn't willing, then let her stay and serve us!"

Zhao Ying and Su Qing immediately huddled close to He Yuzhu. Zhao Ying's voice trembled: "Zhuzi, there are a bit too many of them this time. What should we do?"

He Yuzhu took a deep breath and whispered, "Deal with it! But, I have to ask for your forgiveness!"

Before his voice had even faded, his hands chopped down on the back of Zhao Ying's and Su Qing's necks respectively.

The two let out a muffled groan and slumped limply to the ground.

The short, fat leader was stunned by this sudden turn of events. He widened his eyes and started shouting gibberish.

He Yuzhu could not understand, so he said loudly in English, "This woman is my Boss. She doesn't agree to give you the things, but I am willing. I want to make a deal with you. I will give you the boxes and the people, as long as you promise to leave me a little bit of money." After he finished speaking, he pointed to a small box in his hand; if he guessed correctly, those people would focus all their attention on this box.

The short, fat man did not understand English, so he turned his head and called out a guy from his subordinates who knew a little English.

After that person finished translating, a look of contempt appeared on the short, fat man's face.

He said a few words, and then the translator said loudly, "Our big brother says you are a dog that betrays its master. However, he agrees to your deal."

"Men die for wealth, birds die for food; you and I are the same!" He Yuzhu remained calm. While speaking, he slowly pushed the three large boxes forward, but left the small box where it was.

More than twenty gang members began to surround him, the samurai swords in their hands flashing with cold light.

He Yuzhu's eyes scanned the shrinking encirclement rapidly, calculating the distance in his heart.

His system could only collect items within three meters; he had to wait for enough people to enter this death radius for the system to produce its maximum effect.

A black cat resting on a ruined wall was flashed by the cold light of a blade and, startled, let out a "Meow" and ran away quickly.

Twelve people entered the three-meter range, and nine people were still standing outside the circle.

A short man suddenly pointed at the small box and shouted.

The translator immediately shouted, "Hey! Your small box must also be handed over for inspection!"

He Yuzhu stopped the action of pushing the boxes, then retreated, took the small box, and approached the short, fat man.

"You can check it; there is only a little bit of money inside, it's my travel expenses back to the United States. You can't be untrustworthy, right?" He Yuzhu said.

The short, fat man laughed triumphantly and babbled on for a long time.

The translator said, "Our big brother says our credit is only reserved for those with great strength. You are nothing but fish on a chopping block; are you even worthy of talking about credit?"

After hearing this, the twenty-plus people burst into loud laughter, and even the hands gripping their swords relaxed.

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had arrived; at this moment, He Yuzhu was only two meters away from the short, fat man...

He did not choose to collect him, but wanted to kill him with his own hands. He wanted to humiliate them to their faces.

He Yuzhu's figure leaped up like a leopard, pouncing straight at the short, fat man. The speed was so fast that it left only an afterimage in everyone's eyes.

The smile on the short, fat man's face had not yet faded when the Dagger in He Yuzhu's hand had already sliced across his throat with a cold glint.

Fresh blood sprayed out, splashing onto the faces of several people nearby.

Immediately following, He Yuzhu was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, his figure flashing rapidly through the crowd.

Those who came within the three-meter range, he moved his mind to collect into his space; those slightly further away, he lunged at and slit their windpipes with the Dagger. Those samurai swords in their hands could not even be swung in time.

On the street, those who were not dead saw He Yuzhu as if a god of slaughter had possessed him and forgot to scream.

Two people standing in the distance saw that the situation was bad and turned to run wildly toward another street.

He Yuzhu did not hesitate, raising his hand to throw two Flying Knives. A cold light flashed, and those two also fell to the ground in response.

The battle ended in less than a minute.

He Yuzhu quickly collected the twenty-plus Japanese corpses and the weapons scattered on the ground into his space, and even covered the bloodstains on the ground with soil released from the space.

After confirming that all traces had been cleaned up, he walked to Zhao Ying and Su Qing's side and woke them up.

Zhao Ying rubbed the back of her neck and sat up, looking around in confusion, then reacted and punched He Yuzhu in the chest in anger: "You knocked me out again! This is the second time! I'm not done with you when we get back!"

Su Qing also clutched her neck and asked confusedly, "Zhuzi, what exactly happened just now? Why did you have to knock us out?"

He Yuzhu explained with a bitter smile: "There were too many of them, and fighting head-on was too dangerous. I could only pretend to give Zhao Ying to their boss to make them lower their guard. Otherwise, how would I have had the chance to get close?"

Su Qing nodded, rubbing her temples: "The method was fine... it's just, could you be a little gentler next time?"

Zhao Ying glared at He Yuzhu and said, "You really are a piece of work. If you didn't have the ability to deal with them, you would have absolutely given me away as a gift!"

"My lady, all is fair in war! If they hadn't lowered their guard and fired their guns at the same time, we would have been finished."

At the same time, the No. 95 Siheyuan was quiet. Yan Jiecheng stood by the window with his neck hunched, staring at the main gate just like his father.

Ma Yan ran out of the main gate, skipping and jumping.

Yan Jiecheng immediately ran toward the Houyuan.

Xu Damao was looking at a frozen persimmon in a bowl of water, talking to himself: "Why is the ice all on the outside of the persimmon, but there's no ice inside the persimmon? Fun!"

"Dong, dong, dong!" A rapid knocking sound rang out.

Xu Damao had just taken a bite of the persimmon and hadn't swallowed it yet, so he asked indistinctly, "Who is it?"

Yan Jiecheng said urgently through the crack in the door: "Brother Damao, Ma Yan went to collect the clothes, she's all by herself!"

Xu Damao immediately perked up and pulled the door open, "You go quickly and call Liu Guangqi, Li Yong, Wang Shucheng... don't call that traitor!"

"Understood!" Yan Jiecheng replied and ran off in a flash.

Xu Damao returned to the room to wipe his mouth, put on that old, worn-out cotton hat, thought for a moment, and then rummaged through the wooden box at the head of the kang to find a few opera masks bought at the temple fair—Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and also a Cao Cao.

He stuffed the masks into his schoolbag, locked the door, and walked quickly toward the agreed-upon ruined courtyard.

That courtyard had long been abandoned, with only half a crooked earthen wall remaining.

Four half-grown children were stomping their feet at the base of the wall. Xu Damao took out the masks and distributed them to everyone.

Liu Guangqi took the mask and chuckled, "Brother Xu Damao is still the most thoughtful; once we put on masks, no matter how formidable Ma Laotou is, he won't be able to pin this on us."

Xu Damao lowered his voice to warn them, "Whoever lets word of today's business slip, I'll beat them every time I see them from now on!"

Li Yong quickly declared his stance, "Rest assured, Brother Xu Damao, I won't let a single word leak!"

Yan Jiecheng nodded repeatedly, "You could beat me to death and I still wouldn't say a word!"

Liu Guangqi, being rather slippery, said, "If you don't say anything, Brother Xu Damao, I certainly won't either."

The four of them put on their masks and hid behind a low wall; this was the path Ma Yan had to take to get home.

They waited for quite a while, and since it was too cold outside, the group huddled together for a moment before scattering to do their own things.

Xu Damao faced the base of the wall to urinate, trying his best to aim over the wall.

Li Yong gathered some dry branches to light a small fire and held his hands out to warm them.

Yan Jiecheng was responsible for keeping watch, stomping his feet incessantly while carefully observing the entrance to the alley.

Liu Guangqi, meanwhile, leaned against the wall with his hands tucked into his sleeves, closing his eyes to rest.

Suddenly, Yan Jiecheng whispered, "Ma Yan is back!"

The four of them immediately gathered together and looked outward.

They saw Ma Yan walking toward them, staggering under the weight of a large bundle on her back.

The bundle was clearly too heavy, weighing her down so she couldn't stand straight; her small face was flushed red, and steam was actually rising from her forehead.

Just as she passed the low wall, the four of them lunged out!

Ma Yan shrieked in fright, and the bundle hit the ground with a "thud."

Looking at the four people in front of her wearing eerie masks, her voice took on a sobbing tone: "W-what are you doing? I don't have any money; these are just clothes that need to be washed..."

Xu Damao deliberately strained his throat to produce a hoarse voice: "You've offended someone! Today we're going to grab you and sell you to human traffickers, sell you off to a brothel!"

Ma Yan was so terrified she burst into loud wails, throwing herself over the bundle to protect it desperately: "I beg you, don't ruin the clothes, we can't afford to pay for them!"

Xu Damao stepped forward and kicked her aside, cursing, "You money-losing wretch, all you know how to do is cry!"

The other three swarmed forward, tore open the bundle, threw the clothes inside all over the ground, and began stomping on them and tearing them apart with their hands.

Ma Yan cried out as she lunged forward to snatch them back, but she was pushed away again and again.

Her thin figure appeared exceptionally helpless in the cold wind.