Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

3 p.m., Jing'an Temple Road, International Settlement.

The plane trees had shed a carpet of yellow leaves, which swirled close to the ground in the wind.

A convoy is coming from the west.

A black sedan led the way, followed by two others. The three cars were less than ten meters apart and were traveling at a slow speed. They waited at the intersection for a moment at a red light before turning left onto a side street.

The middle car was occupied by Zheng Yumin, the deputy director of the intelligence department of the Shanghai station of the Military Intelligence Bureau. He was in his early forties and was holding a document bag in his hand. He had just come out of the office.

There were two people in the car in front, three in the car behind, plus the driver and the guard in the passenger seat of the target car, making a total of seven people.

Eight men escorting a mid-level officer would have been a joke two years ago, but now it's standard practice. After the Soviets carried out three months of assassinations in Shanghai, the Kuomintang agents practically drove armored vehicles around the streets.

The convoy turned into a side street, with two patrol cars passing by in front and behind, and a traffic policeman standing at the intersection.

Ye Ningzhen has been watching this street for three days.

Zheng Yumin returns to his residence from his office around 3 p.m. every day, following a fixed route: he turns into this side street from Jing'an Temple Road and gets off in front of an apartment building.

Two days ago, she observed the guards' positions, the order in which they got out of the car, and the time window from parking to entering the building.

Approximately twelve breaths.

From the moment the car came to a stop until Zheng Yumin entered the apartment building, there was a twelve-breath window of opportunity for exposure.

The goal is to finish the fight within twelve breaths, under the firepower of eight guards, and then escape unscathed.

Ye Ningzhen was lying on the windowsill of a three-story arcade building across the street. The curtains were half drawn, and the gun barrel was placed on the windowsill, covered with a cloth so that it was not visible.

A modified Mauser pistol, with its stock removed and barrel shortened, offers greater accuracy at close to medium range.

Her breathing was very slow, her heartbeat was steady, and her right index finger was on the trigger, but she was not applying any force.

The convoy stopped.

The two guards in the front car got out first. One of them took a few steps forward and glanced at the street, while the other stood next to the car and opened the back door of the middle car.

Zheng Yumin's right foot stepped onto the road.

"boom!"

First shot.

Forty meters away, a bullet flew out of the window, passed through the gap between the guard and the car door, and struck Zheng Yumin in the right chest.

The person leaned back, and half of their body fell into the car.

The guards reacted extremely quickly. The man in the first car drew his gun and opened fire towards the arcade, while the three men in the second car almost simultaneously pushed open their doors and rushed out, aiming their guns at the windows and suppressing the fire.

Bullets struck the exterior wall of the arcade, sending brick fragments flying and splintering wood chips from the window frames.

Ye Ningzhen did not shrink back.

"Bang! Bang!"

The second and third shots were fired during the gaps in the suppressive fire. The guard fired rhythmically, and there were a few tenths of a breath's gaps every time he changed magazines or shifted his aim. She fired during these gaps.

The second shot hit the guard at the front in the throat, and he fell to the ground, the gun sliding a long distance.

The third shot hit the guard in the passenger seat in the chest, and he slid off the car door.

The two remaining guards in the rear vehicle split up and ran to the left and right, forming a crossfire, while simultaneously pouring bullets towards the window.

The bullets rained down like a storm; a corner of the window sill bricks was broken, and the curtains were torn to shreds.

Ye Ningzhen took a step back from the window, crouched down against the wall, and the bullet flew over her head, hitting the opposite wall and embedding itself in the bricks.

She did not draw her gun from the original window.

He crouched down and moved three steps to the left, until he reached the bottom of a window. The curtains of this window were drawn, so no one could be seen inside from the outside.

She lifted the bottom edge of the curtain a foot with her right hand, and the muzzle of the gun protruded from the bottom of the curtain at an extremely low angle, almost touching the windowsill.

"boom!"

The fourth shot.

The bullet flew diagonally from an angle where the enemy was off guard, hitting the guard on the left in the knee, causing him to kneel down.

The last guard realized the firing position had changed and tilted his gun to the left.
Because she changed positions, the guard in front of Zheng Yumin moved a step, revealing a gap, and inside the car, Zheng Yumin's head was exposed to Ye Ningzhen's view.

He flicked his wrist and fired a shot.

"boom!"

The fifth shot, a headshot.

The first shot could only hit the chest, but high-ranking officials traveling like this would most likely be wearing bulletproof vests, so there was no other way but to take the risk.

Zheng Yumin collapsed in the back seat and fell completely silent.

Ye Ningzhen frowned. She had been shot in the shoulder, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She put away her gun, turned around, and climbed out of the back window on the second floor of the arcade.

Outside the back window was a narrow alley leading to another street.

He had already torn a piece of white cloth in his hand. With a twist of his muscles, he pulled and tugged with one hand to wrap the white cloth around the wound to stop the blood from flowing out, so that he could escape quickly.

When she landed, she could already hear whistles and shouts on the street. Police officers were blowing whistles, and someone was shouting "Arrest people!"

Not just the police.

People rushed towards them from both ends of the side street at the same time; they weren't police officers, but plainclothes officers.

Upon hearing the gunshots, the Kuomintang secret police and the Qingyi Society's sentries in the area began to surround the enemy. At least seven or eight of them surged in from both ends of the street and the alleyways next to it, moving extremely fast. Two of them had a clear sense of skill in their footwork, indicating a level of Ming Jin or higher.

Ye Ningzhen did not walk onto the street.

She ran deeper into the narrow alley, which was winding and lined with the back walls of residential buildings on both sides, with garbage and debris piled on the ground.

At the end of the alley was a wall two people high. She pushed off with her toes and vaulted over, landing in the yard on the other side. It was the backyard of a printing factory. The workers, who had heard the gunshots, were looking out of the workshop when they saw someone climb over the wall and were stunned.

Ye Ningzhen walked through them without stopping, pushed open the front door of the printing factory, and went out onto another street.

Footsteps were already approaching from the alley behind me, the sound of someone climbing over a wall, and rapid breathing.

She didn't run; instead, she slowed her pace, her left hand already unbuttoning her dark coat.

As I turned a corner, I took off my coat, crumpled it up, and stuffed it into a basket of scraps of cloth on the side of the road.

She was wearing a gray-blue floral cheongsam with long sleeves as she walked.

The gun was disassembled, the barrel and grip separated, wrapped in cloth, and stuffed into the bottom of the bamboo basket slung over the elbow, covered with a few bunches of green vegetables and a piece of tofu.

As she walked out of the street, she stopped in front of a cigarette and paper shop, her back to the street, her hands raised to the sides of her face, as if she were fixing her hair.

With ten fingers pressed on the face, internal energy drives the bones and muscles to make subtle adjustments.

The brow bone is flattened, the cheekbones are pushed outward, the jawline becomes rounded, the corners of the mouth droop, and the nasolabial folds deepen.

When I turned around, the woman in her early thirties with a cool and pretty face was gone. Walking on the street was a housewife in her forties, carrying a bamboo basket, her back slightly hunched, her shoulders pulled forward, her steps unhurried, and her face showing the weariness of someone returning home after grocery shopping.

On the street behind them, the pursuers had already surged onto the street. Seven or eight plainclothes officers spread out, searching through the crowd, their eyes scanning the faces of every pedestrian.

Two skilled individuals led the way, moving with great speed and sharp eyes.

One of them walked past Ye Ningzhen from two steps away, his gaze lingering on her face for less than a moment. Bamboo basket, green vegetables, floral cheongsam, slightly bent waist, slow steps.

Look away and keep chasing forward.

Ye Ningzhen did not quicken her pace or look back. She continued walking with her basket, turned into a small street selling fabrics, passed through the back door of a silk shop, and exited through another alley, making a large detour.

Finally, we sat down at a wonton shop in Nanshi and ordered a bowl of wontons.

After eating half a bowl and confirming there was no tail, I got up and left.

The money for the wontons was placed on the table, one cent and two cents.

at night.

Zhabei, along the Suzhou Creek.

A row of low houses, where dockworkers lived, with brick walls and low roofs. Ropes and iron barrels were piled up at the door, and the air smelled of the river and diesel.

Ye Ningzhen walked along the riverbank, having already returned to her original appearance.

She stopped in front of a wooden door and raised her hand to knock.

"Thump, thump—!"

One light, one heavy – a special code.

There was a brief silence inside, followed by the sound of footsteps, very light, the kind of steps only someone with a solid foundation could take.

The door opened a crack.

A young man, not yet thirty, stood behind the door. He was thin and short, wearing a faded short-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing a section of his strong forearm with clearly defined muscles and bones.

Three scars on my face, from my left cheekbone to my jaw, have healed for many years and are now white.

Chen Li, nicknamed "Blood Fox," is extremely ruthless. Seven or eight years ago, he started with a dozen or so brothers at the Zhabei Wharf and built the Sanshui Gang.

Over the years, they grew to nearly a hundred people, surviving under the suppression of large gangs such as the Green Gang and the Hung Gang.

Only Ye Ningzhen knew his true identity.

"Master's wife, what brings you here?"

Ye Ningzhen didn't answer, but glanced over his shoulder and around the room.

Is anyone here?

"No."

"There's something I need to tell you."

"Please come in, Master's wife." Chen Li stepped aside to let her in, closed the door, and bolted it shut.

The room was small but clean. The wooden bed was covered with a military green blanket, folded neatly. There was a kerosene lamp and a teapot on the table, and a short stick leaned against the corner of the wall, its blade worn smooth.

Chen Li poured a bowl of tea and handed it over.

Ye Ningzhen took the drink and placed it on the table without drinking it.

"The Green Gang is making a move."

Chen Li's expression darkened for a moment, and he sat down opposite him.

What's that noise?

“Lu Desheng’s men have been moving around Nanshi and Zhabei these past two days, going door-to-door at the docks and questioning people. They’ve wiped out quite a few small gangs. You need to be careful.”

Lü Desheng was a leader of the Green Gang in Nanshi, a protégé of Du Yuesheng, and had cooperated with the Military Intelligence Bureau for many years.

Chen Li tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice. "They came to the Sanshui Gang to ask questions. Two people came the day before yesterday and asked a few questions, but because of my reputation, they didn't lay a hand on me."

"Do you suspect me?"

"It shouldn't be yet. They only came to investigate that time, asking a few people in the gang about their backgrounds. The brothers all had their own versions of events, and they matched up."

Ye Ningzhen nodded.

"You need to prepare to leave. Those of your men who don't know the situation should disperse, and those who do should leave gradually. It's too dangerous here."

Chen Li did not respond immediately, but looked down at the teacup on the table.

For seven or eight years, he started from a dozen or so brothers at the Zhabei Wharf, gradually establishing himself and surviving in the cracks between the Green Gang and the Hongmen.

"Yes, Master's wife, I understand. You must have something else to say, right?"

"You need to protect someone for me. She's been exposed here, and I've hidden her away."

"Hmm, where should I send it?"

“Send them to the Central China Liberated Area.”

"Okay, leave your address and I'll make arrangements for tomorrow. This group of people won't be coming back."

Ye Ningzhen nodded, quickly wrote down a detailed address on the paper, and got up to leave. Chen Li suddenly smelled a hint of blood: "Master's wife, are you injured?"

"It's okay, I can handle it myself."

Ye Ningzhen pushed open the door to leave, but Chen Li asked again, "Master's wife, what about you? When are you leaving?"

"I do not go."

"Master's wife—"

"I'll leave once I've finished things in Shanghai, otherwise what will happen to the rest of the people?" Ye Ningzhen picked up her teacup and took a sip. "You don't need to worry about me. Just make arrangements for the Sanshui Gang and get them all out of here within ten days."

Chen Li gripped the teacup, wanting to say something, but after glancing at Ye Ningzhen, he remained silent.

He knew his teacher's wife's temper well; once she made a decision, she wouldn't change it.

Ye Ningzhen stood up and walked to the door.

"Be careful."

"And so is Master's wife."

She unlatched the door and went out.

The night breeze blowing across the Suzhou Creek carried the smell of fish. Most of the lights at the distant docks were off, while the lights of the yarn factory on the opposite bank were still on, and the shadows of the night shift workers were reflected on the windowpanes.

Chen Li stood at the door, watching her figure disappear into the night, then closed the door. (End of Chapter)