The chicken soup is here

Inside the rental apartment, a rhythmic series of knocks—three long followed by several short ones—sounded against the door. It was their prearranged signal.

After the faint squeak of hinges, the door was pulled open a crack.

Standing outside was Ma Wenlong. Clean-shaven and sporting a new hairstyle, he had completely shed his usual lethal aura. Blending into the crowd, he looked like nothing more than an utterly ordinary middle-aged man.

"The outside is clean."

Ma Wenlong squeezed sideways through the gap, locked the door behind him, and spoke in a hushed tone.

"I walked three laps around the neighborhood. I observed the hawkers, the plumber, and the scrap collectors. I didn't find anything amiss."

Ma Wenlong walked into the kitchen and placed the meat and vegetables he was carrying onto the counter with practiced efficiency.

Shouzhen stood behind the curtains, peering through a tiny slit to observe the street below. His expression was significantly more relaxed than it had been at the start.

"No news from Liu Zheng yet, so we'll just have to wait. I'm sorry to trouble you, Layman Ma, having you worry about these secular matters for us."

"You are too polite, little Daoist."

Ma Wenlong turned on the faucet. Over the sound of rushing water, his voice carried a hint of laughter.

"I'm just born to toil; I can't sit still. Besides, when it comes to infiltration and reconnaissance, we are more professional than you, little Daoist."

Shouzhen nodded, finding the statement deeply convincing. "True enough. Every trade has its master."

At that moment, Xia Zhi walked out from the inner room. She habitually glanced toward the window before asking softly, "Is there still no movement from Liu Zheng's side?"

Their only mission here was to ensure their own safety and that of the target, and then to wait.

Their task on this end was simply to wait and stay safe.

"Don't worry. They have the Five Thunder Talisman, which could strike down a dozen men like me. There will absolutely be no problem." Shouzhen shrugged—a rare gesture for him—and adopted a relaxed posture.

"That's true." Xia Zhi nodded, her taut nerves relaxing slightly.

A delicious aroma began to drift from the kitchen.

Soon, a mouth-watering fragrance filled the air.

Ma Wenlong had been doing all the cooking these past few days. Shouzhen wasn't much of a cook, and Xia Zhi was even less of one.

Who could have guessed that Ma Wenlong, a man with such a rugged exterior, possessed culinary skills comparable to a master chef?

According to Ma Wenlong himself, he had once used the identity of a chef to go undercover during a case investigation.

At this very moment, downstairs from the rental apartment.

In the dark, damp alleyways, several figures moved like ghosts, silently positioning themselves in various corners, perfectly blending into the chaotic environment of the urban village.

A young man leaning against a utility pole playing on his phone, a man squatting in a corner smoking a cigarette, and a woman haggling with the owner of a grocery store.

They all looked harmless.

They seemed unrelated, yet out of the corners of their eyes, their gazes were deadlocked on the fifth floor of the same building.

"Snake Eye, the target is on the fifth floor. Data indicates the target possesses some counter-attack capability. If necessary, you are authorized to kill on sight."

A cold command came through the earpiece.

The man referred to as "Snake Eye," the team leader, was the man smoking nearby. He was wearing a power company uniform, looking for all the world like an ordinary utility worker.

He crushed the cigarette butt into the ground, his voice devoid of any fluctuation.

"Understood. Everything is for Ning Qingcheng. She is the core of this plan; everyone else is expendable."

The team consisted of eight people, each carrying enough firepower to level the small building.

Everything was ready; they only awaited the command.

Snake Eye's thumb was already pressing against the button on his communicator, ready to give the order to assault.

Just then, a new order came through his headset.

Snake Eye glanced upstairs, frowning slightly.

A moment later, he released the button on the communicator and switched to the team channel, his voice remaining steady.

"Wait!"

"All units, hold fire. Slow down the operation. Switch to Plan C."

The channel fell silent. Although the team members were puzzled, their absolute obedience made them instantly cease all preparatory actions and resume their cover.

One team member couldn't help but whisper, "Snake Eye, why the sudden change? We already have the target locked."

"To reduce the risk of exposure. This isn't Pengcheng; there's no one here to clean up our mess."

As he spoke, Snake Eye leisurely lit another cigarette.

Upstairs.

"Chicken soup is here! This is American ginseng chicken soup; Xia Zhi, you need to drink plenty of this."

Ma Wenlong, still wearing an apron, walked out of the kitchen beaming, carrying a boiling hot clay pot.

The soup had been simmering over a low flame since before he went out for groceries. The heat was just right.

The rich aroma of chicken soup mixed with the mellow scent of medicinal herbs instantly filled the small apartment.

"Smells delicious. Old Ma, it's a pity you don't open a restaurant with skills like that," Xia Zhi said, twitching her nose as she picked up her bowl and chopsticks.

Ma Wenlong placed the clay pot steadily in the center of the table, untied his apron, and let out a long sigh of relief as he sat down.

"Open a restaurant? No thanks. Right now, I just want to retire early, plant some flowers, maybe raise some birds. That would be the life."

Xia Zhi sighed. "True. After these years on the front lines, I feel exhausted too, let alone you."

Shouzhen raised his drink. "This humble Daoist offers a toast to you two, for ferrying people through the mortal dust and protecting the peace of the nation."

"Don't say that. Aren't you helping us too, little Daoist?"

With that, the three of them began to eat, picking up food with their chopsticks.

Right at that moment.

Crash!

The window glass shattered without warning!

A dark, metallic lump, carried amidst a shower of broken glass shards, flew in with pinpoint accuracy. With a splash, it landed squarely in the pot of steaming chicken soup in the center of the table.

Chicken soup splashed everywhere.

The smiles on their faces froze instantly.

There was no explosion, no fire. The metal object bubbled in the chicken soup, and immediately, a plume of white smoke, thick to the point of being eerie, erupted violently from the clay pot!

Poof!

"Cover your mouth and nose! Get out of here!"

Xia Zhi and Ma Wenlong reacted with extreme speed. Almost simultaneously roaring the command, their bodies reacted faster than their brains, springing up to retreat backward.

It was an instinct carved into their bones!

But they felt an indescribably heavy sensation spread through their limbs and bones.

It was as if their bodies had been instantly filled with lead; their legs went soft, and their eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

"Damn it!"

Xia Zhi gritted her teeth, wanting to struggle, but she didn't even have the strength to lift her hand.

On the other side, Shouzhen's heart went cold. His left hand instinctively formed a hand seal, attempting to circulate the spiritual energy within his body. However, it felt like he had hit an invisible wall; the energy was instantly suppressed and even began to dissipate.

"What kind of knockout drug is this? How is it so potent?"

A sensation of spinning heavens and rotating earth drowned him. Shouzhen's vision went black. Before he could even make a sound, he went limp and slid under the table.

Thud! Thud!

Xia Zhi and Ma Wenlong followed suit, falling stiffly to the floor as their consciousness sank into darkness.

In a single encounter, all three were taken down.

In the room, only the clay pot remained, bubbling and billowing smoke.