Chapter 124 Finally, he got it.

Upon reaching the entrance of the alley, he looked around and, seeing no one nearby, pushed out a bicycle from a hidden spot and rode quickly towards the alley where the group of people had gathered during the day.

Actually, the two places were not far apart. He rode for more than ten minutes, and cleverly dodged a patrol of police officers along the way, before arriving at the outside of that alley.

He carefully hid the bicycle, thought for a moment, then took out a black cloth from his pocket and covered his face before slipping into the alley.

Arriving at the gate of the target mansion, he held his breath and listened intently. All sorts of noises from the courtyard reached his ears—loud snoring, constant farting, and teeth grinding, like a chaotic symphony.

He peered through the crack in the door into the courtyard and saw that the house was completely dark, without even a sliver of light.

He leaped up, bracing himself against the wall with one hand, and nimbly scaled the top. Then, like a light leaf, he floated down into the courtyard without making a sound.

He listened to the sounds in each room, eventually pinpointing the room with the faintest breathing, and reached out to push the door open.

Unexpectedly, with a creak, the old door hinges made an exceptionally jarring sound in the quiet night, startling even himself.

But his reaction was lightning fast. He instantly curled up against the wall, held his breath, and remained motionless for more than a minute. Only after confirming that there was absolutely no movement inside the room did he grope his way into the room in the darkness.

Now, his ability to see in the dark has greatly improved. Although he can't see everything clearly yet, he can see the general layout and outlines of objects in the room very clearly.

This was a spacious shared bedroom with three burly men lying haphazardly on the earthen bed, their sleeping postures varied and slovenly, a truly unsightly sight.

He Yuzhu moved as lightly as a cat, silently moving to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and carefully rummaged through the pile of clothes scattered to the side—sure enough, he found the weapons, all brand new Mauser pistols, with a few gleaming daggers casually tossed aside.

Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his hand and put all the weapons into his personal space. He never claimed to be a good person, but he was by no means a bloodthirsty killer who indiscriminately slaughtered innocent people.

Walking to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), he precisely locked his gaze on the three men's acupoints on the back of their necks, and with a flick of his wrist, delivered a precise and heavy blow to each of them.

Immediately afterwards, he skillfully dislocated the joints of the three men's arms, then cruelly broke their jawbones, and then used their respective belts to tightly bind them. Finally, he tore off their smelly socks and stuffed them into their mouths. The whole set of actions was smooth and seamless.

After doing all this, he quietly sneaked into the next room and, following the same method, subdued all the enemies in that room without leaving any mistakes.

Pushing open the door to the last room, he saw, by the faint moonlight streaming in through the window, that a man was sleeping on the kang (a heated brick bed) inside. His breathing was steady and long, clearly indicating that he was a skilled martial artist, and his vigilance was far superior to that of other bandits—this man was the leader of the bandits.

Just as He Yuzhu was about to subdue him, the leader suddenly woke up from his sleep with an astonishingly fast reaction speed, clearly a result of years of vigilance honed in the midst of sword fights.

However, He Yuzhu was faster. He delivered a heavy elbow strike to the man's chest, and the leader groaned as his body went limp. He Yuzhu then bound the man's hands and feet tightly, rendering him unable to move.

He Yuzhu took out a flashlight he had prepared in advance, covered the bulb with a black cloth, leaving only a faint ray of light, and slowly shone it on the leader's face.

He was a burly man with a full beard, around forty years old, with an inescapable fierceness and malevolence between his brows, and one look was enough to tell he was no pushover.

"I ask, you answer. If you dare to utter even the slightest lie, I'll send you to your grave immediately." He Yuzhu lowered his voice, his tone as cold as ice just taken from an ice cellar, devoid of any warmth.

"Who...who are you? We have no grudge against each other, why are you causing trouble for us?" The leader had been hit hard and was in excruciating pain in his chest. He had difficulty speaking and managed to squeeze out these words with great effort.

"Enough with the nonsense." He Yuzhu snorted coldly, and with a slight flick of his wrist, he cleanly and neatly dislocated his two arms with two crisp "crack" sounds.

"Tell me, where did you come from, and what exactly are you doing in Tianjin?"

"Who...who exactly are you? We've never messed with you, have we?" The leader, enduring the excruciating pain from his broken arms, still tried to ask, wanting to find out more about He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu was too lazy to waste words with him, so he grabbed a tattered piece of cloth that was either a shirt or pants tangled together and stuffed it into his mouth, silencing all his questions.

Immediately afterward, he suddenly exerted force with his foot, and a teeth-grinding cracking sound rang out. The leader's calf was instantly broken, and the sound of bones breaking was particularly jarring in the silent room.

"Ugh... ugh..."

The bearded man's eyes bulged out, his face filled with terror as he stared at the masked man shrouded in darkness before him, his eyes filled with disbelief and extreme fear.

The excruciating pain caused large beads of cold sweat to instantly appear on his forehead, sliding down his cheeks and soaking his temples in the blink of an eye. His whole body was convulsing, and even his breathing became intermittent.

He was a seasoned veteran who had been navigating the world for many years, and he realized in a flash that he had met his match today.

Those dozen or so men outside had probably already been quietly dealt with by this person, without a sound being made.

He knew better than anyone that if he refused to cooperate, the masked man would show him no mercy, and what awaited him was only more painful torture.

"I ask, you answer, do you understand?" He Yuzhu's voice grew colder and colder, devoid of any emotion, as if he were speaking to an inanimate object.

The bearded man nodded frantically, his Adam's apple bobbing rapidly, signaling with his eyes that he understood and dared not resist in the slightest.

"If you dare utter another word of nonsense, I'll snap your neck in the next moment," He Yuzhu threatened coldly, while suddenly pulling the rag stuffed in his mouth.

"Uh... huff... huff... huff..."

The long-suppressed cry of pain finally burst forth, followed by violent and rapid breathing. Each breath was accompanied by excruciating pain in his chest, making his face as pale as paper.

"I'll ask you one more time, where are you from? Where did you come from? What kind of business are you going to do in the city?" He Yuzhu's tone did not soften in the slightest; it remained icy and chilling.

"Sir... have mercy! We are from Dongling Mountain and Dongling Village in Tanggu." The bearded man gasped for breath, his voice trembling, daring not to conceal anything.

"This time, I'm here on the orders of the boss to come into the city to 'pick up' people."

"Picking someone up? Who commissioned you to do this job?" He Yuzhu frowned slightly and continued to ask.

"It's...it's our mountain stronghold's elusive second-in-command." The bearded man didn't dare hesitate and quickly answered truthfully.

"The second-in-command has never shown his face on the mountain?"

"No, that's for sure. The second-in-command's identity is too mysterious. No one in the stronghold has ever seen his true face."

"The chief once told us that at least half of the guns, stored food, and life-saving medicines used in our stronghold were brought back by the second-in-command and his men."

"All we need to do now is follow the second-in-command's orders and do the tasks he has entrusted to us properly. We don't need to ask any other questions."

"Oh? So what kind of person are you looking for this time?" He Yuzhu's tone carried a hint of barely perceptible mockery.

"He's a young man. He went to Tanggu a while ago. I heard it was him who crippled our Township Chief Ma's only son." The bearded man lowered his head, not daring to look He Yuzhu in the eye.

"If we take him back, what are you going to do with him?" He Yuzhu's tone was even more playful and sarcastic as he spoke.

"Looks like my kick wasn't a waste of effort." He Yuzhu sneered, his face full of sarcasm, his tone undisguisedly mocking.

"You, you're... that young man!"

If, at this point, the bearded man still couldn't guess the true identity of the masked man before him, then all his decades of struggling in the martial world would have been for nothing.

"Congratulations, you've finally figured it out and realized it." He Yuzhu's tone remained cold and unwavering.

"How many people are there in your mountain stronghold, in total?"

"If you've got the guts, just kill me. I'd rather die than utter a single word about something that concerns the survival of our stronghold!"

After figuring out the other party's true identity, the bearded man was instead spurred into a tough stance. He clenched his teeth, kept his mouth shut, and refused to reveal any more information, looking as if he were ready to die.

"Alright, since you won't talk about this, I'll try a different approach. How much do you know about that Township Head Ma?" He Yuzhu didn't press him further and changed the subject.

"You... what exactly do you want to do? That's a proper official of the imperial court, a high-ranking official. You can't do anything reckless!" The bearded man was full of astonishment and quickly reminded him, his tone tinged with fear.

"What I want to do is none of your business. Just tell me everything you know." He Yuzhu's tone was calm, but it carried an undeniable authority.

"Hehehe, since you insist on courting death and daring to oppose Mayor Ma, then I'll go with the flow and grant your wish!" Seeing that He Yuzhu remained unmoved, the bearded man decided to go all out, his tone filled with obvious provocation and arrogance.