Rescuing Ah Fu

"Quick! This way!"

The manor's butler was leading Li Mucheng toward the backyard. Escaping through the front gate was no longer an option, so their best bet was to hide in a place where they wouldn’t easily be found.

Before long, the two of them had reached a storage room near the woods in the backyard. After locking the door, the butler gestured for Li Mucheng to stay quiet, then whispered in an extremely soft voice, "Miss, there’s a backdoor behind this storage room that leads to the small woods on the back hill. If things get truly dangerous, you must slip out quietly."

"But... what about you, Uncle Butler?"

The butler took a deep breath, as if he had made a firm decision, and looked at Li Mucheng seriously. "I’ll do my best to delay these villains. If it comes to the worst, you must escape quietly, Miss."

"But... but..."

"There’s no time, Miss. It’s been an honor serving you all these years. I hope you grow strong and well."

The butler gave Li Mucheng a gentle smile, then opened the storage room door and rushed out, deliberately shouting loudly, "Miss, this way!"

He then ran in the opposite direction.

"Ah Fu... Uncle Butler... Father... Teacher..."

Li Mucheng still clung tightly to the fox mask in her arms, as if its presence meant Ye Feng was by her side.

......

"Dammit... still no contact with reinforcements?"

The head of security outside the manor was practically grinding his teeth in frustration as he yelled at the communications officer behind him.

"It’s connected! It’s connected! We’ve got a signal!"

The communications officer, wearing headphones, looked at the now-functional communicator in his hand with relief and immediately began contacting the relevant authorities in Shu City for assistance.

"That’s good. Everyone, hold on a little longer. Reinforcements are on their way!"

As the security chief spoke, he noticed a man in casual clothes walking up from the road.

"Hey! Kid, get out of here! It’s dangerous!"

Hearing the security chief’s voice, Ye Feng, who had arrived at the manor’s entrance, walked over. His expression grew increasingly serious as he surveyed the surrounding wreckage.

"Where’s Miss Li?"

"Miss? She’s inside. Several groups have gone in to rescue her, but none have returned. I suggest you wait for reinforcements and plan carefully... Hey! Where are you going?"

As Ye Feng stepped toward the interior of the manor, the people around him stared in astonishment until his figure disappeared into the smoke outside the manor...

"Cough... cough..."

Ah Fu, who had just regained consciousness, looked up at the crumbling ceiling, his body too weak to move. The acrid smoke made it hard to breathe. At the same time, a mercenary wearing a gas mask, seemingly tasked with clearing the area, slowly approached Li Mucheng’s room with a rifle in hand.

Just as the mercenary reached the doorway, he noticed Ah Fu glaring fiercely at him. The mercenary smirked coldly beneath his mask. "Still struggling, little rat? Don’t worry, I’ll send you off now."

As the mercenary raised his gun and was about to pull the trigger, a figure suddenly appeared behind him, followed by a powerful kick that swept him off his feet.

"Thud."

The mercenary felt his body go weightless, and in the blink of an eye, he was on the ground. Reacting quickly, he realized he had been ambushed and tried to roll over and shoot his attacker. But before he could, Ye Feng firmly grabbed his arm and twisted it with force. A sickening crack echoed as the mercenary screamed in pain.

"Ah! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!"

The mercenary’s rifle fell to the ground. Desperate, he reached for the pistol on his chest with his other hand, but with one arm incapacitated, he was too slow. Ye Feng seized the opportunity to pull the pistol from the mercenary’s chest. Thanks to his mastery of firearms, Ye Feng quickly checked the safety and the chamber before pointing the gun at the mercenary’s other arm.

"No... don’t shoot..."

"Bang."

Ye Feng didn’t give him a chance to explain. A single shot hit the mercenary’s arm, rendering him completely immobile as excruciating pain spread through his body.

"You... you’re done for. Our boss won’t let you..."

Before the mercenary could finish, Ye Feng kicked him in the head, and with a dull thud, the mercenary was knocked out cold.

"Ye Feng... you’re here..."

Ah Fu, seeing Ye Feng clearly now, let out a sigh of relief.

"Ah Fu, you’re injured."

"It’s... it’s nothing. Just a shot to the stomach. I was wearing a bulletproof vest, so it shouldn’t be serious."

Ah Fu gasped for breath as he spoke.

"Quick... go save Miss Li. She left with the butler. It’s all up to you now, Ye Feng."

"Let me help you out first, Ah Fu. You can’t handle this smoke."

"Ye Feng, don’t worry about me... ah..."

Ye Feng immediately supported the wounded Ah Fu and ran toward the main gate. Once they reached his allies, he carefully set Ah Fu down and headed back into the manor...

"Still no sign of her? Time’s running out!"

A tall man stood at the back hill of the manor, addressing the mercenaries beside him. It seemed they were almost out of time.

"What the hell is Bihu doing? How can they not find one little girl after all this time?"

"Boss... the jammer’s failed. Reinforcements from all over Shu City are closing in, and official forces outside the city are mobilizing too. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late."

Mei'er, looking increasingly panicked, stared at the malfunctioning equipment.

"In that case, we’ll withdraw first. We’ve done what we agreed to as partners. I hope you’ll honor the agreement."

Shan Yang stroked his beard calmly and smiled, then led the members of Dark Palace toward the back hill...

Earlier, Dark Palace had quietly infiltrated from the back hill, destroying the manor’s surveillance network without anyone noticing. This had given the mercenaries at the front gate the opportunity to breach the defenses, wiping out most of the manor’s security in just a few minutes.

Li Mucheng recalled the lessons Ye Feng had taught her, and her initial fear was gradually replaced by courage. Just then, she faintly heard the sound of a branch snapping outside the storage room. Instantly, her nerves tightened, and she dared not even breathe loudly.

"Bang."

The storage room door was kicked open, and a twisted face peered in—it was Bihu, who had been searching for Li Mucheng.

"Hehe... found you~"