Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

The city was instantly in an uproar.

The sounds of barking dogs, whistles, and soldiers shouting mingled together, and footsteps echoed through the streets and alleys.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Head to the Governor's Mansion immediately! There are assassins!"

Chaotic noises surged in from all directions, turning the once quiet provincial capital into a hornet's nest that had been stirred up.

The patrol abruptly stopped, and the leader shouted, "Quick! Something's happened at the Governor's Mansion! Follow me!"

The group, carrying guns, ran haphazardly toward the governor's mansion.

"It's our turn." Jiang Yunhe threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out.

He raised his hand and fired a shot, with a crisp "bang".

The streetlights hanging across the street shattered with a crash, shards of glass scattering all over the ground.

The soldiers at the front immediately stopped and turned around abruptly: "Who?! An assassin!"

Lin Ji swayed and darted out from behind the wall.

The Mountain and River Stabilizing Spear swept out with a whoosh, and with two crisp clangs, the rifles in the hands of the two soldiers at the front were knocked away, and the shafts were thrust forward, slamming hard into their chests.

The two men grunted and flew backward, crashing into the people behind them and collapsing into a pile of bodies.

Jiang Yunhe followed and slid out from the side, his steps floating as if he were walking on cotton.

Without even lifting his flintlock musket, he casually flicked it diagonally downwards, firing two shots with a "bang, bang."

Two soldiers who were about to aim their rifles were immediately shot in the wrists, screamed and squatted down, their rifles crashing to the ground.

The two walked one in front of the other.

Lin Ji's spear moved with wide, sweeping strokes, following the straight path. Every strike he made was devastating, each blow carrying the wind, like a fierce tiger charging into battle. Anyone who stood in his way was either injured or killed upon contact.

He controlled his strength with great precision, never resorting to lethal force, yet each strike dissipated the opponent's fighting power. In just a few breaths, five or six soldiers were rolling on the ground in agony.

Jiang Yunhe, on the other hand, took a completely different approach.

His footsteps were always in tricky positions, and his musket seemed to have eyes, targeting wrists and shoulder blades—places that, while not fatal, could instantly incapacitate the target. Every shot was accompanied by a scream, and his aim was flawless.

While reloading, he crouched down and slid behind Lin Ji. After Lin Ji cleared a section, he straightened up and fired two more shots.

The patrol team of twelve was half dead in the blink of an eye.

The remaining men were terrified; they dared not linger and turned to run away, shouting:

"There are rebels! There are assassins! So many people!"

"Chase," Lin Ji uttered a single word.

The two deliberately followed at a leisurely pace, leading the way towards the Gu residence.

They encountered two more waves of reinforcements along the way, but the two of them scattered them.

The soldiers only heard gunfire and saw shadowy figures darting around. They didn't know how many people were on the other side, so they only dared to fire from a distance and didn't dare to get close.

Jiang Yunhe emptied a magazine of bullets, and the metal casings clanged as they ejected.

He chuckled as he retreated, "You old man, your marksmanship is quite to my liking. After this is over, let's find a place and have a good match to see whose gun is faster."

Just as Lin Ji was about to reply, several gunshots rang out from the direction of the Gu residence.

Two flashes of fire appeared in the direction of the Gu residence, followed by a short, agonizing scream.

Lin Ji's heart sank. Something had happened to Gu Yanzhao.

……

When Lin Ji kicked open the side gate of the Gu residence, a fierce battle was raging in the courtyard.

Dark red blood flowed on the ground, running down the lines of the bluestone slab.

Gu Yanzhao protected Gu Feng as they retreated towards the moon gate. Two members of the Gu family beside him were already wounded, blood dripping from their arms along the blades.

Jiang Baichuan stood blocking the entrance to the secret passage with a long sword, the blade nicked and stained with blood.

Yan Songshan stood beside him, his left ear wrapped in thick bandages, blood seeping out and smearing half his face. He held a revolver in his hand, aiming it in this direction, his eyes filled with resentment.

"Old sir!"

Gu Yanzhao called out when he saw Lin Ji enter.

He had just led his men through the secret passage, and as soon as they pushed open the stone slab at the exit, they ran into the soldiers guarding outside. Two of his men were shot on the spot, and they barely managed to retreat back to the courtyard.

"Don't come any closer! The secret passage exit is blocked!"

Gu Feng was hit in the arm by a stray bullet, his dark-patterned long robe soaked in blood, his face ashen: "He Ze was prepared; the outside is full of soldiers from the Governor's Mansion, just waiting for us to walk in!"

Lin Ji's eyes turned cold.

The news has been leaked.

Apart from a few people in the village, no one knew the exact time of this operation.

The secret passage is a core secret of the Gu family, and even most of the Gu family members do not know where the entrance is.

"Enough with the nonsense! Kill them!" Yan Songshan grinned maliciously and fired a shot.

With a "bang," the bullet grazed Gu Feng's shoulder and hit the pillar, sending wood chips flying.

Jiang Yunhe emerged from behind Lin Ji and fired a shot.

"Ah!" Yan Songshan screamed again as half of his right ear, which had just been bandaged, was blown off, and blood instantly smeared his face.

He crouched down, clutching his ears, trembling with pain, and screamed, "Damn it! Kill them! Kill them!"

Jiang Baichuan charged forward wielding his longsword, followed by a dozen or so Jiang family guards who swarmed in, each brandishing a knife and with bloodshot eyes.

Lin Ji brandished his spear and charged forward.

The spear tip flickered, sending out three cold stars. The three guards at the front immediately coughed up blood and fell to the ground without uttering a sound.

With a twist of his wrist, he swept the gun horizontally, and with a "thud," it slammed into the chest of the fourth man. The sound of his sternum shattering was clearly audible. He flew backward and crashed into the courtyard wall, collapsing into a limp heap.

Jiang Yunhe was behind him, and the muskets fired in quick succession.

He switched to a new magazine and fired six bullets in quick succession, each shot accurately taking down an enemy, never missing a target.

With the magazine empty, he casually pulled out another flintlock pistol from his waist, raised his hand and fired two more shots. Two guards who tried to flank him were immediately shot between the eyebrows and fell to the ground.

The two stood back to back, one engaging in close-range sweeping attacks while the other fired short bursts from a distance, managing to suppress the offensive of more than a dozen people, making it impossible for them to advance an inch.

The corpses piled up on the ground, and the bluestone slabs became slippery from the blood.

Gu Xuan then climbed over the courtyard wall and slammed the iron box onto the ground with a loud thud that shook the ground.

He reached out and pulled out two explosive bombs, pulled the fuses, and threw them into the crowd.

"Boom boom—"

Two loud explosions rang out, and flames shot into the sky.

The guards screamed and retreated, their broken arms and legs scattered all over the ground, the smell of burnt flesh mixed with the stench of blood filling the air.

"Let's go through the front door!"

Lin Ji roared.

Gu Yanzhao quickly helped Gu Feng up and followed Gu Xuan towards the gate.

Lin Ji and Jiang Yunhe covered the rear, firing spears and muskets in turn. Anyone who caught up was either injured or killed upon contact, and no one dared to get too close.

Just as I rushed out the gate, the heavy machine gun at the street corner opened fire.

"Da da da da—"

Bullets swept across like raindrops, hitting the bluestone slabs at their feet, scattering pebbles and forcing everyone to huddle against the wall, unable to lift their heads.

The pebbles splashed on my face, stinging painfully.

A Maxim heavy machine gun was set up at the street corner, with three guards lying prone behind sandbags, the dark muzzle of the gun pointed directly at them, spitting fire continuously.