Chapter 189

Zhao Jianguo stared at the man in the gray jacket, and the man stared back. They were less than ten meters apart, the air like a taut rope.

He didn't move, his finger already sliding onto the red button on the system terminal. Cutting off the power earlier was just a temporary measure; now he had to cover the entire Siheyuan.

"Dong Xu." He said quietly, "Go to the Central Courtyard, take the detector up, and lock down the signals around the west wall."

Dong Xu was still panting; hearing this, he immediately nodded, grabbed the equipment, and ran back. He knew what would happen next.

Zhao Jianguo took a deep breath and pressed the button.

"Activate ultimate defense."

The ground trembled slightly, a ring of pale blue light sprang from the gaps between the floor tiles, spreading outward like ripples. In the blink of an eye, the entire Siheyuan was enveloped in a transparent barrier, even the roof tiles glowing faintly.

The three men in suits across the street froze. The one in the middle lowered his head to check his watch, then looked up at the barrier, his face changing.

They didn't retreat; instead, they rushed forward.

The first to hit the barrier was the man in the black suit. He held up that metal sheet, muttering something, his steps unceasing. At the instant he touched the barrier, the metal sheet emitted a piercing sound, like iron scraping on glass. His body jerked violently, he was flung several meters away, hit the ground, twitched a few times, then lay still.

The remaining two stopped, exchanging a glance.

One turned to run, but as soon as he took a step, his foot slipped, and he fell to his knees at the edge of the barrier. He braced his hands on the ground to push up, but as soon as his palms touched, a surge of current shot up, his arm went limp, and he fell face down.

The last person standing stepped back two paces, lifted his head to stare at the barrier, his eyes glazed.

Zhao Jianguo exhaled in relief, but didn't relax. He knew this barrier drained power quickly and couldn't last long.

He lifted his wrist to check the energy gauge. Sure enough, the progress bar had begun to slowly drop, beside it marked "Estimated duration: 8 minutes 12 seconds."

Not enough.

He immediately switched to pulse mode, changing the energy output to intermittent release. The waveform on the screen jumped a few times, then gradually stabilized. The barrier's light stopped flickering, becoming a steady blue halo.

At that moment, Chen Xiao Jian emerged from behind the kitchen, clutching a repaired detector, his face slick with sweat.

"Uncle Zhao! The western signal is cut!" he shouted while running, "They can't connect to the overseas network!"

Zhao Jianguo glanced at him: "Sure?"

"Certain!" Chen Xiao Jian handed over the detector, "Look, all external channels are blocked, leaving only local loop. They're blind now."

Zhao Jianguo took the device, glanced at it—indeed, all external communication protocols had failed. He nodded: "Well done."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a low rumble came from the street entrance. Several unmarked black armored vehicles sped up and stopped at the Siheyuan gate.

The vehicle doors opened, and seven or eight Special Forces troops in combat uniforms jumped out, moving in unison. They held rod-like devices, aiming at the three men outside the barrier and spraying a pale gray mist. The men struggled briefly, then quickly went limp.

The Special Forces Captain leading the team walked to the edge of the barrier and raised his hand toward Zhao Jianguo.

Zhao Jianguo pressed the terminal, and the barrier split open a gap. The captain led two people inside, crouching to examine the fallen men.

"Two carrying virus encoders, one signal relay." a team member reported, "And this." He pulled an old-fashioned pocket watch from the gray jacket man's bag, its face stopped at 3:07.

The captain stood, looking at Zhao Jianguo: "You intercepted them in time. If they had completed the sync, the 1978 anchor point might have been activated."

Zhao Jianguo said nothing, just slipped his hand into his pocket and felt the badge. It was cool, still there.

"This isn't ordinary infiltration." The captain continued, "They're targeting a historical node, and they're well prepared. Any casualties on your side?"

"None." Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "The kids are all in the courtyard, no one near the street."

"Alright." The captain waved his hand, and his subordinates began to escort the people onto the vehicles. As the gray jacket man walked past Zhao Jianguo's face, he gave him a hard stare. Zhao Jianguo didn't flinch, meeting his gaze.

After the vehicles drove off, the street fell silent.

The barrier was still running, but the energy gauge was down to one third. Zhao Jianguo was about to shut it down manually when he suddenly heard movement on the roof.

Dong Xu poked his head out from the ladder: "Brother Zhao! The twins have come out, should I bring them down?"

"Don't rush." Zhao Jianguo looked up, "Let them stay there for now."

Hardly had he finished speaking when two small figures had already risen onto the roof ridge. One held a modified metal sheet, raised high, as if comparing who could hold it steadier.

"Dad!" one shouted.

Zhao Jianguo frowned: "Come down! It's not safe now!"

"Not scared!" the other shouted back, "We have a shield!"

Saying that, he waved the sheet in his hand.

Dong Xu hurriedly climbed up, pulled them down, one in each arm, and carried them back to the Central Courtyard. The twins were still unhappy, shouting all the way that they wanted to go back and guard the roof.

Zhao Jianguo watched them being placed into the main hall, the door shut, then turned back.

Chen Xiao Jian still stood where he was, gripping the detector.

"Tired?" Zhao Jianguo asked him.

"Not tired." Chen Xiao Jian shook his head, "Just a little scared."

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid they'll come again." He said quietly, "My dad said these people won't come just once."

Zhao Jianguo patted his shoulder: "Then we'll wait for them. Since we held them off this time, we can do it next time too."

After saying that, he checked the system interface again. The barrier could hold for three more minutes, but there was no need to wait for it to shut off automatically. He prepared to terminate it manually.

Just then, a soft sound came from the base of the west wall.

Like the sound of a stone hitting the ground.

Zhao Jianguo immediately turned to look. A blue brick had appeared on the ground, having fallen from the wall next door at Wang Shen's house. The wind wasn't strong enough to shake it loose.

He walked over, picked up the brick and turned it over. The back was dusted with a layer of gray, and in the middle was a thin line, as if something had scorched it.

He crouched down and rubbed the mark with his hand.

It was a bit warm.

He immediately realized something was off, and looked up toward the street.

In the distance, it was empty, nothing there.

But he knew someone was testing the barrier's boundary.

He quickly opened the encrypted channel and typed a command: "Xiao Jian, go tell Dong Xu that tonight everyone will take turns on watch, switching every two hours."

After sending the message, he placed the brick on the stone table and stared at that scorch mark.

This was not an accidental detachment.

It was a probe.

Although the shield blocked the frontal impact, the enemy has already begun looking for weak points.

He was thinking when footsteps came from behind.

Chen Xiao Jian ran over again, now holding a lunch box.

"My mom asked me to bring you food." He said, "Steamed buns, just made."

Zhao Jianguo took the lunch box but didn't open it.

"Go back." He said, "Don't go out tonight; if you hear any noise, strike the copper gong."

"And you?"

"I'm standing guard here."

Chen Xiao Jian didn't move.

"Go back." Zhao Jianguo's tone grew heavier.

The boy bit his lip, turned, and left.

Zhao Jianguo opened the lunch box, steam rose. He didn't eat, set the lunch box aside, and called up the system monitor page again.

Twenty seconds before the energy bar hit zero, he pressed the shutdown key.

The shield faded bit by bit, like mist dispersing. The last glow fell on the floor tiles, flickered twice, then went out.

The courtyard returned to its original state.

The children were talking inside the house, Sha Zhu was humming a tune in the kitchen, and San Daye sat on the threshold smoking.

Everything looked normal.

Zhao Jianguo stood in the center of the courtyard, looking toward the west wall.

There was a brick there, its color a shade darker than the others.

It was a newly replaced one, patched up this afternoon.

He walked over and reached out to feel the brick seam.

A faint vibration came through his fingertip.

Very slight, like a heartbeat.

He withdrew his hand and lowered his head to look at his fingers.

Then he slowly squatted, pressing his ear against the wall.

From inside came an extremely faint humming.

It wasn't an electric current, nor pipe noise.

It was more like some kind of machine running at low frequency.

He stood up, pulled out the terminal, and connected the detector.

The screen lit up, the waveform diagram jumped. A red line extended from underground, pointing deep into the west wall.

The signal source is inside the wall.

He stared at the data for five seconds, then turned and walked toward the toolbox.

He had just taken a step when his phone rang.

It was Jia Dongxu.

He answered the call.

"Brother Zhao, the detector just picked up an abnormal heat source." The voice on the other end was urgent, "It's in the interlayer of the west wall, temperature twelve degrees higher than the surroundings, and… it's varying rhythmically."

Zhao Jianguo gripped his phone tightly.

"Prepare to breach the wall." He said, "Bring the wrench and insulated pliers, come over now."