Courtyard House: First, kill the hypocrites, leave none alive.

He left the guesthouse, wandered around the neighborhood, and found a small eatery that had just opened. He bought a few hot steamed buns, a bowl of millet porridge, and two boiled eggs. After thinking for a moment, he went to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative and bought the most expensive set of cotton clothes and trousers suitable for a girl Xiaoyu's age, a pair of cloth shoes, a new towel, and a bar of soap.

When they returned to the room, Xiaoyu remained in the same position, and her eyes lit up as she watched him enter.

"Come on, have something to eat first." Chen Feng placed the food on the table and helped Xiao Yu sit down.

The millet porridge was still warm, and the steamed buns were steaming. Xiaoyu looked at the food, her throat moved, but she didn't eat immediately.

"Eat up, Xiaoyu, while it's hot." Chen Feng pushed the bowl of porridge in front of her and peeled an egg and put it in the porridge.

Xiaoyu finally reached out and picked up the bowl. Her fingers were still trembling slightly. She lowered her head, brought the bowl close to her lips, and first took a small sip of the porridge. Then, as if some floodgate had been opened, she began to wolf it down, almost stuffing the porridge and steamed buns into her mouth whole, choking so much that she stretched her neck out without even caring.

Chen Feng quickly poured her a bowl of warm water and handed it to her. Seeing her disheveled eating, the tears he had just stopped blurred his vision again. He turned his head away and blinked hard, not daring to let Xiaoyu see.

His younger sister, the sister he had cherished since childhood, the slightly spoiled, picky eater Xiaoyu, was now eating so eagerly, so...recklessly, over a bowl of the most ordinary millet porridge and cold steamed bun. Just how hungry had she been for the past two months? How had she survived?

Xiaoyu quickly finished her porridge and steamed buns, and then ate two eggs. After finishing, she seemed to realize her eating habits, and lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly, licking her chapped lips.

"Are you full?" Chen Feng asked, his voice unusually gentle.

Xiaoyu nodded, then gently shook her head.

"Take your time. You can't eat too much at once if you've been hungry for too long." Chen Feng put away the remaining steamed bun. "Eat it tonight. Come on, wipe yourself down and change into some clean clothes."

He fetched hot water, diluted it to lukewarm, handed Xiaoyu a new towel and soap, and turned to leave, saying, "You can wash yourself. Just throw your clothes aside."

There were rustling sounds and the sound of water coming from inside. Chen Feng faced the mottled wall, listening to his sister washing, his heart filled with mixed emotions. After the immense joy of finding Xiaoyu subsided slightly, something heavier weighed on him.

She's safe now, for the time being. But only temporarily.

They were still in Beijing, under the watchful eyes of the police and countless bounty hunters. The bounties on the Zhao family and Wang Dagang (himself) were still up, the four bodies in the shantytown would soon be discovered, and the gunshots would draw an investigation. This guesthouse was not safe; they couldn't stay any longer.

More importantly, Xiaoyu's condition worried him. That deep-seated fear and vigilance, that silence and numbness... He needed time, a safe environment, for her to slowly recover.

But where is safe?

Leaving the city? Checkpoints are definitely more stringent now, and with Xiaoyu in tow, using fake documents would be extremely risky.

Continue hiding in the city? Hide and seek like a rat? Can Xiaoyu handle that?

And...those enemies.

Chen Feng's gaze gradually turned cold, freezing into ice.

The courtyard house was bombed, and those who didn't move out are probably all dead. But many "clever" people moved out long ago. The older women—the first, second, and third aunties—who directly participated in the framing and wrongdoing, are dead. But what about the neighbors who paid for the arson, condoned it, or took advantage of the situation? What about those who, while not directly involved, stood by indifferently or even kicked someone when they were down?

They moved out and scattered to various corners of Beijing. Perhaps they were still glad they had escaped a disaster, perhaps they were still gossiping about the Chen family's tragedy, or perhaps... they had gradually forgotten about it and started a "new life".

What gives them the right?

Why is it that his family was destroyed, his parents died tragically, his sister was displaced and suffered endless hardships, while those people can live with a clear conscience?

Not a single one can be left alive.

The oath he swore on the wall of the courtyard house resounded once again in Chen Feng's heart, with an even more bloody and resolute echo.

Before, his targets were specific individuals. Now, his target has broadened. Everyone connected to this tragedy, whether they benefited from it or remained indifferent bystanders, deserves to die. The courtyard house is gone, but the debt remains. Blood debts must be repaid in blood.

He wanted to find them, every single one of them, no matter where they moved or hid.

For my parents, for Xiaoyu, and for myself, who has been living in hell for the past two months.

Behind her, the sound of water stopped. Xiaoyu had changed into clean clothes. The clothes were still a little loose on her thin frame, but at least they were clean, and they were girls' clothes. She stood quietly by the bed, her wet, short hair plastered to her forehead. Her pale face, now clean of dirt, revealed her once delicate but haggard features. She watched her brother turn around, and in his eyes, beneath the dependence, lay the same deep-seated fear and pain as his.

Chen Feng walked up to her, squatted down, took her cold hand, and looked up at her.

"Xiaoyu," his voice was soft, yet carried a resolute and chilling power, "I've found you, and I won't let you suffer or be afraid anymore."

"Those who harmed our family, those who made you live in fear and hiding for the past two months..."

He paused, a dark storm churning in his eyes.

"None of them will escape."

"I swear to you."

Outside the window, the sky was bright with sunlight. A new day had begun.

But for some, their doomsday may have only just begun its countdown.