Chapter 409: All in One Fell Swoop

Zhuo Yifan watched helplessly as Sima Qiudao charged diagonally up the left slope. He moved like the wind, his steps as light and fluid as flowing water. With a few leaps and bounds, he covered a distance of seven or eight zhang.

Almost simultaneously, the dogs on the opposite side began to bark furiously, and the others joined in. The short-haired officer immediately waved his hand, and the large dogs were unleashed. Four black shadows shot out like arrows, roaring.

Zhuo Yifan’s heart leaped into his throat. At that moment, the short-haired men’s muskets also fired. The crackling of the guns was deafening, and the opposite slope was instantly shrouded in smoke.

Sparks flew from the stones and dust billowed around Sima Qiudao as he was hit by the bullets. He didn’t slow down at all, leaping and bounding through the grass, trees, and rocks like a nimble ape. The bullets seemed unable to touch him. In a flash, he had descended the mountain, crossed two paddy fields, and was about to run into the woods on the small hill to the left.

“Run!” Zhuo Yifan shouted silently. Sima Qiudao seemed to hear him, running faster and faster.

Suddenly, Zhuo Yifan saw Sima Qiudao’s trouser leg being pulled to the left by something, and a shower of small debris flew out. Sima Qiudao’s body seemed to tense up, and he immediately fell into the paddy field… Before he could even steady himself, the four vicious dogs, as large as calves, were already roaring and pouncing on him.

“Damn it!” Zhuo Yifan felt a chill run down his spine. He had been shot before and knew that once hit, it was impossible to even crawl without help, let alone with four vicious dogs attacking!

Sima Qiudao, after all, was a martial artist with quick reflexes. He rolled over and drew a dagger from his waist, intending to stab the pouncing dogs. But the two wounds on his body made it impossible for him to exert any force, and his wrist was immediately bitten by the first dog. A piercing pain shot through him, and the dagger fell from his hand. In an instant, the second, third, and fourth dogs all pounced on him. Fortunately, they were trained police dogs. Seeing that Sima Qiudao had lost the ability to resist, they didn’t all swarm him and tear him apart. But even so, he still let out a terrifying, blood-curdling scream…

His clothes were torn to shreds, and his body was covered in blood, his flesh torn open. A few short-haired soldiers slowed their pace, cautiously approaching with their muskets, as if afraid he would suddenly jump up and attack.

The soldiers surrounded Sima Qiudao, speaking loudly in a language Zhuo Yifan didn’t understand. They looked very pleased with themselves. Seeing this, Zhuo Yifan’s eyes blazed with anger, and he spat out two words: “Beasts! One day, I will avenge you!” He slammed his palm on a rock.

Taking advantage of the short-haired men’s focus on Sima Qiudao, Zhuo Yifan endured the excruciating pain in his body and got up to run up the mountain. For now, he could only run as far as he could. But he hadn’t taken more than two steps when he heard a young man shout from behind, “There’s another one on the mountain!” Before the words were even out of his mouth, the sound of muskets firing erupted from behind him. The short-haired men at the foot of the mountain all fired at Zhuo Yifan. Bullets whizzed past him, sending leaves and branches flying. Zhuo Yifan ran for his life, and in one breath, he crossed the small mountain.

Having just crossed the mountain on a burst of adrenaline, Zhuo Yifan’s pace slowed as he descended. The wounds on his body were excruciatingly painful, and even the slightest breath sent a sharp pain through his ribs. He was thirsty, his throat felt like it was on fire. He couldn’t move his feet properly. He basically just stumbled forward, grabbing onto a tree to catch his breath, then pushed himself forward again, grabbing another tree to catch his breath. He continued in this way, and gradually, he saw the valley. As he reached for the last tree, his foot got caught in a vine, his legs gave way, and he tumbled down, his left leg hitting a rock hard, and he passed out.

He woke up a short while later, the pain bringing him back to consciousness. He felt dizzy, the world spinning around him. He looked back and saw that he had rolled down the mountain and was lying in the grass in the valley. He could faintly hear the sound of dogs barking on the mountain. He tried to stand up, but he couldn’t. He had to turn on his side and use his right elbow to support himself as he crawled towards the sea. Every movement of his left leg and left rib sent an involuntary spasm of pain through his body…

The sky was azure, the clouds were snow-white. He thought of the sea of clouds on Wudang Mountain, the clouds were just as white… His vision gradually blurred. In the haze, he seemed to see a boat floating in the sea of clouds, with several people standing on it. He wanted to see them clearly, but he couldn’t. He could only call out. Suddenly, he seemed to see them clearly. The people on the boat were his junior brothers. They were all smiling at him. Junior brother Zhao shouted at him: “Come on, hurry up, we’re almost there. Senior brother, we’re almost there…”

But then, there was a young woman in a white dress and blue skirt, standing motionless, looking at him with a sorrowful expression. It was Lian Nishang. Was she here to capture him too? Zhuo Yifan looked into her eyes, and they seemed to be filled with tears…

Three or four public security soldiers rushed down the mountain after him. They were swift, and in an instant, they had caught up with Zhuo Yifan. The one in the lead, carrying a musket with a bayonet, ran towards Zhuo Yifan. Seeing that the target was already lying in the grass, barely crawling, he slung his rifle over his back, drew a tachi from his waist, and slowly approached.

However, Zhuo Yifan didn’t notice him at all. The soldier looked strangely at the man, who was obviously seriously injured, still struggling to move towards the slope, grabbing at the grass and trees. Since this person was being so heavily protected, even if he wasn’t a general, he was an important warrior. Taking his head would be a great merit. He took a slight lunge, raised the sword with both hands above his head, and was about to bring it down on the back of Zhuo Yifan’s neck…

“Stop!”

Suddenly, a rough shout came from behind. The soldier hesitated and looked at the officer who had just caught up.

“Baka!” The officer looked like he was about to give the soldier a good slap. But he was clearly more concerned about Zhuo Yifan’s life.

The soldier muttered in annoyance, “Nani?!”

But he immediately sheathed his sword and turned to face the officer, standing at attention and bowing slightly, “Hai!”

This caused a public security soldier next to him to smash the butt of his rifle into Zhuo Yifan’s back, knocking him to the ground, motionless.

Okamoto Shin was startled by the assassination attempt and didn’t sleep well that night. He woke up early in the morning. The rehearsal was disrupted, and he heard that the cultural festival was also going to be postponed. Even if it were held on schedule, they couldn’t perform. The folk music orchestra had been taken to a temporary detention center for “assisting with the investigation.” This put him in a very bad mood.

“We’re in the arts, what’s the point if we can’t perform?” His resentment hadn’t even dissipated when he heard some of the Elders making strange comments on the internal network, things like “artists are just actors” and “they can’t eat or drink, they’re just a waste of food.”

“It’s hard to do practical things, and it’s even harder to do practical things in the arts.” Okamoto muttered to himself as he was being served by his maid. He used to be a “critical” art critic himself, the type who, if a mouse was killed in the cafeteria, would ask, “What led this mouse to steal food?” But since he became the head of the art troupe, he had also tasted the bitterness of being criticized, and he didn’t like it much anymore.

After washing up, he sat at the table and ate the breakfast his maid had prepared. He opened the newspaper that had just been delivered. As expected, the entire front page of the Lingao Daily was about the cracking of the terrorist group. The front page even had two news photos, which was a rare thing.

The first photo was captioned “Bandit Chief Captured at Nanbao.” In the front row, Sima Qiudao was tied up and sitting cross-legged on the ground, with several swords and daggers in front of him. Behind him was a row of public security soldiers, standing ramrod straight with their rifles grounded, their eyes wide like a bull’s. Zhuo Yifan’s eyes were closed, his leg wrapped in a blood-stained bandage. A public security soldier behind him held his rifle with his right hand and pulled his hair back with his left, so that his entire face could be clearly photographed. Sima Qiudao’s head was slumped on his shoulder, his eyes staring blankly ahead. Below the photo was a caption: “Bandit Zhuo Yifan, Bandit Sima Qiudao, captured!” The text briefly described how the public security soldiers had bravely pursued and captured the two criminals.

The photo below showed more than a dozen men and women in various costumes, their right arms tied together in a string. They were all dejected and listless, some with injuries. They were surrounded by heavily armed police and soldiers. The caption read: “Captured male and female terrorists.”

“A few of the girls are quite pretty…” In fact, you couldn’t see the facial details from the blurry photo, but their figures were clearly more well-proportioned than the natives. “Good figures!”

Okamoto drank some soy milk and continued reading. The illustrated report was long, and he took some time to read it carefully. Although this kind of official writing was all the same, with the leaders giving wise guidance, the cadres working effectively, and the masses bravely sacrificing themselves… The article was flowery and watertight, a typical story of moving from victory to greater victory. Although there was a lot of nonsense, the entire investigation and capture process was written very clearly. Finally, it listed all the results: thirty captured, eighteen killed, and no one currently at large.

Below that was a small article: “A Terrorist Turns Himself In, Abandoning the Darkness for the Light.” Okamoto Shin wasn’t interested in this and turned the page.

The back of the front page was “Can a Flea Jump High Enough to Flip a Pot Lid? - An Interview with Wu Mu, a Leader of the General Political Security Bureau.” …Wu Mu revealed that terrorists, remnants of suppressed elements, and feudal secret societies have never stopped their infiltration and sabotage against us. The composition of the recently cracked gang is a case in point…