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

His lips moved slightly, his voice extremely low, as if he were talking to himself: "Jinluan, arrange a ship to return to Jiangcheng from the docks around the provincial capital, the sooner the better."

Everyone was stunned and stared at him.

In this desolate wilderness, without even a carrier pigeon, who is he talking to?

After a moment, Lin Ji lowered his hand and looked at everyone: "The boat is ready. We'll depart from Qingyuan County Wharf."

The courtyard fell silent instantly.

Everyone stared at him, their faces filled with disbelief.

Jiang Yunhe stared at his ears for a moment, then scanned his entire body, but didn't see anything unusual, which secretly surprised him.

Having traveled all over the country for so many years, I've seen many strange things, but I've never seen such a reliable method of transmitting sound.

Just how many cards does this old man still have up his sleeve?

Gu Feng was also taken aback. He gave Lin Ji a deep look, but didn't ask any further questions. He said in a deep voice:

"Alright, let's go to Jiangcheng. The Gu family still has some silver notes, so they won't be helpless if we go there."

Madam Gu opened her mouth as if to say something, but seeing that Gu Feng had made up his mind, she swallowed her words.

As dawn broke outside the temple, the morning light shone through the broken window, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Gu Yanzhao stepped forward, his back ramrod straight, and said in a deep voice, "Father, I won't go to Jiangcheng. I plan to stay."

Gu Feng suddenly looked up: "What did you say?"

"I'll stay." Gu Yanzhao repeated, his gaze sweeping over everyone:

"He Ze is colluding with the Japanese and harming the people of Guanghua. Now that we've all left, he's become even more unscrupulous. We can't leave Guanghua's ironworks, mines, and the people of the city to him."

Madam Gu panicked and stood up abruptly: "Are you crazy? He Ze is searching for you everywhere. If you stay, you're just sending yourself to your death! Listen to your second mother, come with us. As long as you're alive, you can always fight again!"

"Second Aunt, the Gu family has protected Guanghua for generations; we can't just leave like that." Gu Yanzhao looked at Gu Feng, her eyes resolute.

"When faced with the greater good of the nation, we cannot only think of our own survival. I will lead the remaining brothers and unite with the patriotic forces in the city. We can hold off Heze for a while. Once things are settled in the north, we will devise a plan for the future."

Gu Feng looked at his son with a complicated expression.

He used to think that his son was young and impetuous, acted rashly, and only cared about his own family business.

But looking at his son's straight back, he suddenly realized that his son had really grown up.

After a long silence, Gu Feng slowly nodded, his voice somewhat hoarse:

"Good. A son of the Gu family should have this responsibility."

He turned to Gu Xuan:

"Gu Xuan, you stay here and keep an eye on Yan Zhao. Be careful in everything you do."

Gu Xuan nodded and patted the iron box on his back:

"Rest assured, sir, I will risk my life to ensure the young master's safety."

Jiang Yunhe, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said, "I'll also leave two brothers in the city to receive the remaining weapons. When the weapons arrive in three days, have them go directly to Young Master Gu."

Gu Yanzhao cupped his hands in thanks to him: "Thank you."

As everyone was talking, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the temple.

The sentry disciple stumbled in, his face deathly pale: "Young Master! Something terrible has happened! The South City Villa is surrounded!"

"What?!" Gu Yanzhao's expression changed.

The villa in the south of the city was where he used to live. It was secluded, with a large courtyard, where he kept a lot of military equipment and tens of thousands of silver dollars in cash.

Su Mingyuan and seven or eight men were guarding the place, thinking it was the safest place, but he didn't expect He Ze to have figured out the location so well.

"How many people?" Gu Xuan asked immediately.

"So many soldiers! And Japanese ronin too! A section of the courtyard wall has been bombed down, Steward Su can't hold on much longer!" The disciple was panting and could barely speak.

Gu Yanzhao gripped the knife tightly and turned to rush out.

"Stop!" Lin Ji shouted at him. "Going back now is like walking into a trap. He Ze is clearly planning to besiege the stronghold and attack reinforcements, just waiting for you to walk right into it."

"What should we do? Su Mingyuan and the others..." Gu Yanzhao's voice was anxious.

"I have informants in the city," Jiang Yunhe said slowly. "I'll have them lend a hand. There's a secret passage in the backyard of the villa, right? Have them retreat through the secret passage and rendezvous in the north of the city."

As he spoke, he took out a signal flare, walked to the temple gate, and raised his hand to send it into the sky.

"call out--"

A dark red flame shot into the sky, exploded in mid-air, and disappeared in an instant.

"Alright." Jiang Yunhe clapped his hands. "My men will come to meet us when they see the signal. Whether they can break through or not depends on their luck."

Gu Yanzhao clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm, but in the end he didn't act impulsively again.

He knew Lin Ji was right; going back now would be suicide.

Meanwhile, at the Gu family villa in the south of the city.

A corner of the courtyard wall had been blasted down, with broken bricks scattered all over the ground, and blood flowing down the cracks between the bricks.

In the courtyard, Su Mingyuan, along with seven or eight of his henchmen, hid behind the screen wall, each clutching a pistol, their faces pale.

"Mr. Su! We can't hold on any longer! Another wave is rushing in from the east!" a waiter shouted at the top of his lungs. He had been shot in the arm, and blood was dripping down his sleeve, staining half of it red.

Su Mingyuan gritted his teeth, raised his hand and fired a shot, and the soldier at the front fell to the ground.

He Ze's soldiers, along with a dozen or so Japanese ronin, launched a series of attacks. After nearly an hour, they were almost out of ammunition.

"Damn it!" Su Mingyuan spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva: "Hold on! The young master won't abandon us!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door was smashed open with a loud crash.

A group of soldiers rushed in yelling, led by a Japanese ronin with a small mustache, wielding a samurai sword with blood on the blade, and muttering broken Chinese:

"Kill! Kill the entire Gu family!"

Su Mingyuan gripped the short gun tightly, his eyes fierce.

We'd rather risk everything than let these people storm in and destroy our weapons.

Just after Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the group split into two groups and said goodbye at the entrance of the dilapidated temple.

Gu Yanzhao and Gu Xuan led a dozen or so capable young men toward the north of the city.

They planned to take a detour through the mountains to enter the city, find a secluded base to settle in, contact patriotic forces in the city, and receive Su Mingyuan and his group as they evacuated.

Gu Feng, along with his family, housekeeper, Lin Ji, Li Shuwen, Jiang Yunhe, and others, headed west towards the river mouth.

"Father, take care." Gu Yanzhao stood at the crossroads, his voice hoarse.

"Take care of yourself, don't overexert yourself." Gu Feng patted his shoulder without saying anything more.

The two groups turned around and went their separate ways, their figures quickly disappearing at either end of the mountain path.

Lin Ji walked along the side of the group, his eyes occasionally sweeping over the surrounding mountains and forests.

Jiang Yunhe, a cigarette dangling from his lips, leaned closer and chuckled, "Old sir, that telepathic contraption of yours is quite rare. Where did you get it?"

Lin Ji glanced at him indifferently: "Just some unorthodox methods."

"Unorthodox methods?" Jiang Yunhe laughed, exhaling a puff of white smoke.

"In all my years of traveling around, I've never seen such a powerful and unorthodox method. You old man, you've kept it well hidden. Are all the people in the Xinghua Society as mysterious and unpredictable as you?"