As Wei Tianyang hesitated, the intersection of a small road south of the villa was illuminated by two beams of white light, and from afar, the sound of an engine could be heard.
The lights paused for a moment, the sentry raised the barrier gate, and a white box truck entered the courtyard.
Wei Tianyang looked up and sniffed, there was no smell coming from the truck’s contents, probably because they have undergone some special preservation treatment.
The truck passed the sentry post and drove along the path in front of the villa to the left side of the house, where it eventually stopped. From Wei Tianyang’s perspective, only half of the vehicle’s tail appeared from the side of the house.
The driver got out of the vehicle, a fat man in blue overalls, who called over three patrolling conservative soldiers to help, along with another guy in overalls who opened the rear doors of the van to move out the refrigerated boxes.
No wonder there was no smell, he guessed it was food.
With the patrolling team busy helping, Wei Tianyang took advantage of the shadows and rushed toward the villa below, pressing against the wall to look through the window, where he saw not a single figure.
He glanced towards the side wall.
The scents from the direction of the box truck were all jumbled together—three soldiers plus two deliverymen—simple.
Later, he could use this truck to escape.
He drew out his Bone Knife, sticking to the wall, and slid to the edge like a shadow. Two people entered through the side door, leaving three smoking outside.
Wei Tianyang decided to wait a bit longer.
Then the two came out, clapping their hands off, one soldier and one driver.
He stealthily quick-stepped forward, using the box truck as cover, and with a swift sweep of the Bone Knife, the two soldiers turned into six pieces of flesh, collapsing to the ground.
The person on the other side of the vehicle heard something.
Wei Tianyang crouched and moved to the front of the truck. Extending his Bone Knife forward, the lower half of the smoking worker in overalls disappeared, and he fell to the ground, his face shattered by the thrust of the Bone Knife.
He heard the sound of a bolt being drawn and quickened his pace, circling to the other side of the truck. The Bone Knife struck again, taking down another soldier.
He wiped his hands in the mud of the landscaped area and then quietly entered through the side door into the villa’s first-floor kitchen.
It was now night, and there was no one in the kitchen, which was very clean.
Outside the kitchen was a small parlor, an orange chandelier made the atmosphere very cozy, at least enough to momentarily forget one was living in the heart of a prisoner of war camp, and every corner of the room had air fresheners with a faint floral scent masking the surrounding stench of corpses and blood.
Who would want to live here? Surrounded by prisoners of war, dead bodies, and a bunch of unruly soldiers. Was Li Fei really here?
Wei Tianyang looked toward the staircase leading to the second floor of the villa; there were no lights on, and it was pitch dark.
But something was off... there was the scent of blood in the house.
In the dark stairway, there were two inconspicuous lines of bloodstains, flowing down the steps...
He rolled his neck slightly, and that was when he noticed a kitchen knife pressing against his Adam’s apple. Lowering his gaze, he saw blood on the blade.
"You made quite a commotion outside, did you really think the people inside wouldn’t hear?"
Behind him, a mature woman’s husky, low voice rang out, her hair exuded a floral fragrance... Damn... it wasn’t air freshener.
"I’m here to find Li Fei," Wei Tianyang whispered.
"What do you want with her?" the woman asked.
"To save this country," he replied.
The woman let out a light laugh and slowly walked in front of him but never put down the kitchen knife in her hand.
Wei Tianyang scrutinized the woman before him, involuntarily taking a deep breath.
She was Li Fei.
Her appearance had not changed from the girl in the photographs, only now, she was over forty.
Li Fei had slightly curly dark brown hair and a pair of profound eyes that one could not easily forget.
She wore a black tank top and jeans, barefoot, which explained why Wei Tianyang had not heard her approaching.
Her skin was dark, her arms had well-defined muscles, and a large burn scar marred her left cheek, destroying her beauty.
If one word was to describe Li Fei, it would be "warrioress."
But think about it, a woman who fought in guerrilla squads, commanding a group of men to kill another group of men—she was definitely not just a decorative "character."
"This country is already dead." Li Fei said.
"It’s just in shock. You could make it come back to life." Wei Tianyang said.
"You’re still a child. I’m curious, who sent you? Luo Wen? Li Jincheng? Or Feng Yu? No, no... they wouldn’t do this..." Li Fei mentioned several names Wei Tianyang hadn’t heard before, then shook her head.
"Du Yan and Li Bin sent me to find you. They said you’re the only one who can save this country." Wei Tianyang said.
Upon hearing these two names, Li Fei paused for two seconds, then stepped closer to Wei Tianyang, reached out to grab his throat, and pinned him against the wall, her eyes glaring fiercely.
"Who sent you to play me? Huh? Where did you hear those two names? Speak! Or I will rip your throat out!" Li Fei threatened in a deep voice.
"They told me themselves." Wei Tianyang said.
"Ha! They were carrying rifles, fighting guerrillas in the woods when you were still a goddamn liquid!" Li Fei exclaimed angrily.
Wei Tianyang extended his right hand and, as if by magic, swiftly produced a photograph.
It was a photo of Li Fei together with Du Yan.
Li Fei looked at the photo, slowly lowering the kitchen knife in her hand.
"Impossible... Impossible! This photo... I’ve already burned it..." she said, her voice trembling as she let go of Wei Tianyang and stepped back.
"Now do you believe me?" Wei Tianyang said.
"Impossible... I saw with my own eyes their charred corpses... they can’t be alive..." Li Fei covered her mouth, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"They’re dead, that’s true. But there are more ways to be alive than one." Wei Tianyang said.
Li Fei calmed herself, stepped forward, and reached out to touch the photo, but her fingers passed right through it.
"You’ve already burned it." Wei Tianyang said, and he took the photo back into his palm, at the same moment producing an AK47 gifted to him by Du Yan from his palm.
Seeing the inhuman transformation of Wei Tianyang’s right arm, Li Fei realized something, and the charred rifle also stirred her memories.
"You’re from the Superpower Special Department? How many of you have come?" Li Fei said.
"No, don’t have too high of an expectation; damn it, I’m only sixteen." Wei Tianyang shook his head.
"Alright, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to escape anyway, I would have made a move tonight with or without you," Li Fei said with a smile.
"Do you have a team? Liberating a country needs an army; you can’t do it alone, even though they are convinced you can..." Wei Tianyang was somewhat doubtful.
Li Fei smiled, put her hands on her hips, and said, "I have my own ways, just need to escape this godforsaken place, and I will spread the flames of revolution across the entire homeland."