Chapter 149: Sudden Incident

“They’re watching us too closely. There’s no way to find a route of retreat.”

At a window on the second floor of the photography shop, the Scholar gazed outside, his lips moving faintly.

Beside him, Shi Xiaozhen glanced at Li Wensheng in the street, then turned her eyes back and spoke in a low voice.

“Then we act directly. When the section chief has gone twenty meters farther and is just about to enter the encirclement, open fire.

“As soon as the shots ring out, I’ll shout, ‘Yongning Street!’ The section chief will understand that we’re calling for help. As long as we hold out, he’ll be able to fight his way in and rescue us.

“Even if he doesn’t come to save us, the moment the gunfire begins, those people will panic. Once they expose themselves, the section chief will certainly open fire.

“If he keeps the people outside occupied, our chances of breaking out will increase.”

“All right. I’ll inform Old Niu and the others.”

The Scholar walked toward Old Niu and the others as though nothing had happened.

* * *

The sudden gunfire sent the people from the Star newspaper office rushing back inside.

On the street, the civilians who had been stunned by Li Wensheng’s appearance came to their senses at the sound of the shots. Abandoning everything, they fled in panic.

The gunfire sent the surrounding people running in terror. It also left Li Wensheng somewhat bewildered, because the shot had not been aimed at him.

Following the sound, he looked toward the photography shop several dozen meters ahead on his left. He saw nothing, but the gunshots continued without pause.

Li Wensheng was hesitating over whether to investigate or leave at once when a shout suddenly rang out from inside the photography shop.

“Yongning Street!”

Li Wensheng immediately headed toward the shop.

Yongning Street, Number 25 in Jinling, had once been a warehouse where the Japanese stored their logistical supplies.

Whoever had shouted “Yongning Street” could only be Bai Yan and the others. Yu Jiarong did not know that he was acting alone and could not possibly have called for his help.

After taking a few more steps, Li Wensheng suddenly drew a pistol from beneath his raincoat and fired toward the front right.

At the mouth of an alley, two men stepped halfway into view, pistols aimed at Li Wensheng.

They had him covered, but they did not fire. According to the plan, the people concealed in the bakery in front of the photography shop were supposed to emerge and shoot first; only then would these two open fire.

In fact, according to the plan, they should not have appeared at all. They certainly should not have raised their guns and aimed at Li Wensheng.

Although Chen Wenqi had not revealed Li Wensheng’s existence to Sima Faren, she had inadvertently let slip that his instincts were extraordinarily sharp—that he could immediately sense anyone aiming a gun at him.

The claim was absurd. Sima Faren had not quite believed it. Yet in order to capture Li Wensheng in one sweep, he had arranged that no one was to aim at him until the attack began.

The gunfire from inside the photography shop, however, panicked the men stationed at the alley entrance. They rushed out and raised their weapons.

They did not fire, but Li Wensheng did.

Bang, bang!

The two men were dispatched.

Whether Sima Faren had issued an order or the others were simply trying to protect themselves after Li Wensheng opened fire, those two shots acted like a signal. People began emerging from all around.

Seeing a group of men coming out from the bakery ahead with their guns raised and their backs pressed to the wall, Li Wensheng immediately swung his pistol toward them and fired.

After eliminating the group with several rapid shots, he ran forward at once.

He had taken only two steps when—

Bang!

A deep, heavy sniper shot rang out.

Then came a rapid burst of gunfire. People emerged from the tailor shop, the grocery store, and the Western restaurant on the right, all firing at Li Wensheng.

There were as many as forty of them, yet not one shot struck him. His speed was beyond reason. They tried to predict where he would be and fire ahead of him, but their calculations were hopelessly wrong.

Li Wensheng dashed into the bakery and swept his gaze across it. Seeing no one, he ran toward the back kitchen.

There he found people—but all of them were already corpses.

Bodies covered the floor of the kitchen. Every corpse bore knife wounds, and so much blood had poured out that the ground had become a sea of red.

Among the dead were Chinese and foreigners. Judging by their clothing, they had been customers and employees of the bakery.

“The Japanese?”

They killed indiscriminately, sparing neither Chinese nor foreigners. Other than the Japanese, Li Wensheng could think of no other faction capable of such brutality.

Yet something felt wrong. If they were Japanese, there should not have been so few of them. Moreover, the men outside had been carrying M1911 pistols—American weapons. The Japanese would never use American arms.

There was no time to think it through. Suppressing his doubts, Li Wensheng tossed Feng Jingyun onto the corpses. Then, with his left hand, he drew another pistol from beneath his raincoat—or, more precisely, from his system storage—and walked outside.

The moment he emerged from the back kitchen, he saw a group of men with guns gathered at the entrance of the bakery.

Bang, bang, bang!

Several men at the front had already stepped one foot out of the bakery. Before they could fire, Li Wensheng shot them dead.

The men behind them, along with those outside, opened fire through the glass windows on either side of the entrance. The panes shattered as countless bullets poured toward Li Wensheng.

He immediately darted aside and took cover behind a nearby counter.

Crouching on the floor and listening to the gunfire, Li Wensheng counted silently.

These people coordinated terribly. They clearly had not previously belonged to the same department. They were actually firing at the same time.

An M1911 held seven rounds. Excluding the two shots fired when he had first come in, Li Wensheng counted five more shots, then instantly sprang forward.

Most of the men had crouched beside the wall beneath the windows to reload their magazines. Only five men, who were consciously coordinating with the others, had not fired just now. They were still aiming at the counter.

But Li Wensheng suddenly threw himself sideways, catching them completely off guard. As they swung their guns toward him, he fired both pistols in midair.

With a thud, Li Wensheng landed.

As he sprang upright, the five men who had been shot between the eyebrows fell backward almost simultaneously.

By then, the others had finished reloading and were preparing to show themselves.

Bang, bang, bang!

Li Wensheng watched in every direction, his fingers rapidly tightening on both triggers.

By switching weapons through his system storage, he never had to worry about running out of ammunition. Whoever exposed himself had his head blown apart.

More than a dozen men had barely raised their heads before their skulls burst open. The sight cowed the rest. They remained crouched against the walls, too frightened to expose themselves.

When they refused to come out, the two pistols in Li Wensheng’s hands vanished. Two grenades appeared in his right hand instead.

He pulled both safety pins. One grenade flew through the window to the left of the entrance; the other flew through the window to the right.

As soon as he threw them, Li Wensheng ran toward the left-hand window. Along the way, the two pistols reappeared in his hands.

Two meters from the window, he stopped and glanced toward the second floor of the Western restaurant opposite.

Then, with a thunderous roar, the grenade outside the window exploded.

The blast tore up the ground, sending dust billowing through the air. Narrowing his eyes, Li Wensheng quickly fired once at the second-floor window of the restaurant opposite.

A thunderous explosion erupted outside the glass window to the right of the entrance.

At the same moment, the sniper at the second-floor window of the Western restaurant was shot through the head.

Then came agonized screams from outside both windows.

Li Wensheng walked out of the bakery.

Bang, bang, bang!

After finishing off the few men who had been lucky enough to survive the explosions, though gravely wounded, Li Wensheng headed toward the photography shop ahead.