EFB Chapter 90 The deathly silence of Fengtai Camp, a coffin arrives at the door!
Chapter 90 The deathly silence of Fengtai Camp, a coffin arrives at the door!
Chapter 91 The Deathly Silence of Fengtai Camp, Coffins Delivered! (4k)
Late at night.
Qianmen Street has returned to tranquility, with only the occasional barking of dogs.
Meanwhile, dozens of miles away in Fengtai Camp, the lights were on, yet it was deathly silent.
This is the residence of Zhang, the commander of the Third Mixed Brigade, under the command of the Fengtian warlord Mo Xia.
At the entrance to the military camp, searchlights, like two sharp swords, pierced the night sky.
Squads of heavily armed soldiers patrolled, their footsteps echoing in unison, exuding a chilling aura.
Deep within the camp, at the division commander's residence.
This was supposed to be a joyous day.
Tomorrow is Commander Zhang's fiftieth birthday.
The hall was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and large red "longevity" characters were pasted everywhere. The huge round table made of rosewood was already filled with all kinds of birthday gifts.
There are golden Buddha statues, jade ruyi scepters, and clocks that were presented as tribute from the West.
Commander Zhang, dressed in civilian clothes, was sitting in a grand chair with his eyes closed, holding a teacup in his hand.
His fleshy face betrayed no emotion, but his slightly trembling eyelids betrayed his inner anxiety.
"What time is it?"
Commander Zhang suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse.
The aide next to him glanced at his pocket watch and said cautiously, "Reporting to the commander, it's almost three o'clock."
"Three points —"
Commander Zhang suddenly opened his eyes, a sinister glint flashing within them.
"Still no news from the Black Wolf Group?"
No—no.
The aide wiped the sweat from his brow. "Logically speaking, they should have succeeded long ago. No matter how skilled Lu Cheng is, he's still just a mortal. The Black Wolf team brought German-made Mauser 98k rifles, those are divine guns that can blow a person's head off from 800 meters away."
"Maybe—maybe it's to clean up the scene, to make it cleaner?"
Commander Zhang didn't speak, but his fingers tapped unconsciously on the table.
"Tap, tap, tap."
The sound, in the silent hall, sent shivers down one's spine.
For some reason, his right eyelid has been twitching nonstop since just now.
"Where is Bai Feng?" Commander Zhang suddenly asked.
"Your concubine is resting in the back. She needs to be well-rested because she will be personally celebrating your birthday early tomorrow morning."
"snort."
Commander Zhang snorted coldly.
"That spendthrift woman, if it weren't to get revenge for her, I wouldn't have bothered provoking that scoundrel surnamed Lu."
.
Although he said that, he didn't really think he would lose.
He's just an actor.
Even if they have some skills, can they really turn the world upside down?
In this chaotic world, guns are the only true weapon.
"Report—!!!"
Just then, a shrill voice announced something from outside the door.
Immediately afterwards, a guard stumbled in, his face ashen, as if he had seen a ghost.
"General, something terrible has happened!"
"What happened? Why are you in such a panic? How can you be so undignified?"
Commander Zhang slammed his teacup down. "The Black Wolf Group is back?"
"I'm back."
The guard was trembling and could barely speak.
"However—but it didn't come in by walking in."
"It was—it was carried back by people from Marshal Ma's mansion!"
"What?!"
Commander Zhang suddenly stood up, his heart skipping a beat.
Before he could react...
"Boom!"
The roar of a truck could be heard outside the gate.
Immediately afterwards, several soldiers dressed in the uniforms of an independent brigade, without any prior notice, swaggered in carrying two black coffins into the festive birthday hall.
"Bang! Bang!"
The two coffins crashed heavily to the ground, landing right in front of the table laden with birthday gifts.
A black coffin with a red "longevity" character on it.
The scene was indescribably eerie and ironic.
"Commander Zhang, congratulations!"
Li Biao, the adjutant, walked out from behind, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his face full of roguish charm.
He didn't salute, but just looked at Commander Zhang with a sidelong glance.
"Our Commander Ma said that tomorrow is your 50th birthday."
"We don't have much to give as a gift."
"Perfect timing. Instructor Lu found two corpses in the city, saying they were your family's lost dogs."
"That's why our commander specially had two fine cypress coffins made and sent them back to you."
This is called "Returning to one's roots after falling, and living as long as the Southern Mountain".
"Ha ha ha ha!"
After Li Biao finished speaking, he let out a wild laugh.
"you-!!"
Commander Zhang was so angry that he trembled all over, and his face instantly turned a deep liver color.
He looked at the two coffins, then at Li Biao's arrogant face.
This is humiliating!
This is a blatant slap in the face!
On the eve of his birthday banquet, two coffins were delivered?
If this gets out, how will he ever be able to live in Beiping again?
"Open!"
Commander Zhang gritted his teeth and squeezed out two words.
Several guards stepped forward tremblingly and pried open the coffin lid.
"Splash!"
The lid is lifted.
A strong smell of blood hit me.
Lying inside were the two elite assassins from the Black Wolf Group.
One had a twisted neck and died with its eyes wide open.
The other one had a collapsed chest, and his heart had been crushed.
And in the corpse's arms, there was a Mauser sniper rifle with its barrel bent from being squeezed!
"hiss-
—
A collective gasp filled the hall.
Commander Zhang's pupils contracted sharply as he looked at the gun, which resembled scrap metal.
Barehanded — bent the gun barrel?
How much finger strength does that require?
How terrifying must that be?
That Lu Cheng—he's not dead?
Not only did they survive, they also wiped out the entire Black Wolf squad with sniper rifles?
Fear, like a cold hand, instantly gripped Commander Zhang's heart.
He had always thought Lu Cheng was just a somewhat capable martial artist, but now it seemed—
This is a monster!
"Ma Linyuan — Lu Cheng —"
Commander Zhang's eyes were bloodshot as he abruptly drew his sidearm from his waist.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
He frantically pulled the trigger on the two corpses until the magazine was empty.
That was venting anger, and also a way of masking inner fear.
"Get out, all of you, get out!!"
He roared at Li Biao.
Li Biao wasn't angry; instead, he chuckled and waved.
"Alright, the gift has been delivered. Let's go."
"Commander Zhang, please wait, no need to see me off."
After saying that, he led his men away.
The hall was filled with the smoke of gunpowder.
Commander Zhang slammed the empty gun to the ground. The Browning pistol bounced twice on the ground before sliding under the coffin.
"Assemble! Assemble the entire guard battalion for me!"
Commander Zhang roared, the veins on his neck bulging like earthworms.
"Bring out the heavy machine guns, and the mortars too!"
"Tonight, I'm going to raze Qianmen Street to the ground!"
"I'm going to turn that actor surnamed Lu, along with his entire lousy troupe, into utter rubble!"
He's really gone mad.
If he swallowed his anger at being presented with a coffin at his birthday banquet, he would be unable to lead his team.
"General, you mustn't, you absolutely mustn't!"
The staff member turned green with fright and scrambled over to grab Commander Zhang's leg tightly.
"General, please calm down."
"We can't mobilize troops now."
"Get out of here!"
Commander Zhang kicked his staff officer aside, "Why can't I move? I have guns and cannons, why would I be afraid of some martial artist?"
"General, you're confused."
Ignoring the pain, the staff member crawled back up and began analyzing the pros and cons at lightning speed.
"First, that's Qianmen Street, a busy downtown area. If we really use artillery, bomb houses, and injure civilians, the public opinion will drown us. Nanjing is watching us closely; this is like handing a knife to someone else!"
"Secondly, since that old fox Ma Linyuan dared to send a coffin here so openly, it means he was prepared long ago. The moment we make a move, his independent brigade will immediately surround us. To start a full-scale war with Ma Linyuan over an actress—that's not worth it!"
"third----"
The aide lowered his voice and pointed to the broken gun.
"This Lu Cheng—he's weird."
"Even a sniper rifle couldn't kill him; he even managed to turn the tables. This kind of person is the Jing Ke or Zhuan Zhu of our time."
"If you really send troops to surround and annihilate him, what if he escapes—"
"A master who can dodge bullets and bend gun barrels, if he were hiding in the shadows, watching your head every day—"
'
At this point, the staff member shuddered.
"General, will you be able to sleep at night from now on?"
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Zhang's head, waking him up.
Yes.
You can't guard against thieves forever; you can only be a thief for a thousand days.
Offending an assassin of this caliber is a nightmare.
Unless a single, decisive blow can be delivered, the consequences will be dire.
Commander Zhang slumped back into his chair, panting heavily. The madness in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by deep fear and resentment.
"So... then we'll just leave it at that?"
"Am I supposed to be this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?"
"Of course it doesn't count!"
A sinister glint flashed in the advisor's eyes.
"If the open approach doesn't work, let's try the underhanded one."
"No matter how powerful Lu Cheng is, he is still a mortal with a weakness."
"Isn't he a loyal friend? Isn't he protective of his own?"
"I heard that his opera troupe has quite a few apprentices, and also that blind musician, and his parents—"
"We don't need to take direct action against him."
"We can use someone else to do our dirty work, or—we can defeat them one by one."
"Once we find his weakness, even if he's like Sun Wukong, he'll have to obediently wear the golden headband!"
As Commander Zhang listened, his eyes slowly brightened.
"Using someone else to do the dirty work?"
"right."
The aide smiled sinisterly.
"Whose knife should I borrow?"
"In this city of Beiping, that old bandit Ma Linyuan protects him, that local tyrant Jin Pangzi flatters him, and even those writers who only know how to talk big sing his praises in the newspapers."
"Lu Cheng now is a dragon that has gained momentum."
"Who dares to provoke this at this time? Who has the ability to take his head?"
The aide pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, took two steps forward, and lowered his voice.
"General, have you forgotten?"
"Haven't the Japanese been contacting you lately?"
"Snapped!"
Commander Zhang slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup lids bounce wildly. Although he was a scoundrel warlord, he had certain bottom lines, fears etched into his very bones.
"fart!"
"Those are Japanese devils!"
Commander Zhang's eyes widened, and he spat all over his staff member's face.
"Although I love money and power, I can't do something like betraying my ancestors. If Nanjing or the old marshal of Fengtian find out, they'll definitely kill me. I'll be a traitor, and they'll curse my ancestors for eighteen generations!"
In those days, although the warlord conflicts were chaotic, everyone still had to be mindful of the "righteous cause" at play.
It's okay to collude with the Japanese, but if you openly become their lackey, you won't be able to lead your soldiers.
"Oh dear, my lord, please keep your voice down."
The aide didn't wipe the spittle off his face, but instead leaned even closer to Commander Zhang's ear, his voice barely audible.
"Who told you to become a traitor?"
"We're doing this—using one tiger to devour another."
The aide pointed to the pitch-black night outside the window.
"You don't know this, but these Japanese have been quite busy in Beiping lately."
"Their Black Dragon Society and Genyosha have been frantically searching for martial arts practitioners around here lately."
"It's ostensibly a martial arts exchange, but what's the reality?"
The aide sneered, stretched out his palm, and made a downward cutting gesture.
"That's a deadly attack."
"In the past two weeks, Master Liu of Baguazhang in the south of the city and Wang Ermazi of Chuojiao in the west of the city, both skilled practitioners with hidden strength, were crippled in the night. Some had broken spines, others had their hearts shattered—their deaths were truly gruesome."
Commander Zhang's eyelids twitched as he listened. He had vaguely heard about this, but hadn't taken it to heart, since those who died were just roughnecks from the martial world.
"What are these Japanese trying to achieve?"
"We're not only after fame, but also for the roots of our Chinese martial arts!"
A glint of shrewdness flashed in the advisor's eyes.
"They want to prove that their karate and judo are the best in the world, and they want to ridicule us, the sick men of East Asia."
The brand's reputation is now confirmed.
"Right now, who is the most famous and influential martial arts master in Beiping?"
"Isn't that Lu Cheng, the one who killed Hua Che with a single shot and is known as the 'Martial Arts Grandmaster'?"
Commander Zhang was stunned for a moment, then his eyes slowly lit up.
"You mean—"
"That's right."
The aide clapped his hands, a sly smile of smug satisfaction spreading across his face.
"We don't need to openly collude with the Japanese, much less risk our lives for them."
All we need to do is—set up a platform.
"Organize a so-called Sino-Japanese martial arts and opera exchange conference, or an East Asian goodwill fair—make the name sound nice and grand."
"At that time, we'll invite those Japanese samurai who are eager to make a name for themselves, and then we'll drag Lu Cheng up there."
"Those Japanese are just looking for a real expert to establish their authority. Lu Cheng, this piece of meat, has been delivered right to their doorstep; how could they not take a bite?"
"and----"
The aide added ominously.
"Lu Cheng is arrogant and can't tolerate any dissent. If those Japanese people were to humiliate our national treasures and our kung fu on stage, do you think Lu Cheng, with his temper, could stand it?"
"He'll definitely have to fight tooth and nail!"
"At that time, it will be a normal martial arts competition," and "fists and feet have no eyes."
"If Lu Cheng gets killed by the Japanese, it's because he's not skilled enough. What does it have to do with us? We can even get a good reputation for 'organizing events and promoting exchanges.'"
"If the Japanese are killed by Lu Cheng—"
The aide shrugged.
"That's even better. We can use the Japanese to deal with him. If we kill the Japanese, will Lu Cheng still be able to stay in Beiping? We won't even need to lift a finger; the Japanese consulate will skin him alive."
"That's called killing two birds with one stone, getting away with nothing!"
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