On May 14th, the weather was sunny and cloudless. The blue sky was as bright and clear as one's mood.

The occasional gunshots made the compound, which was already sparsely populated, even quieter.

On May 16th, the gunshots slowly died down and the birds returned to the branches and chirped.

The sound of messy footsteps passed through the closed door and reached the ears of Ling Yue and Zhang Jia. Zhang Jia immediately stood in front of Ling Yue. At this moment, what he feared most was the enemy's desperate attempt.

"Academician Ling, please hide first and don't come out."

Zhang Jia whispered.

Ling Yue obediently hid herself under the bed, at least to be able to block any bullets for a while.

The room was very quiet, with only the slight breathing sounds of the two people being heard.

Zhang Jia's forehead was covered with sweat, and she stared vigilantly at the direction of the window. She had no weapon, so she could only hide behind the door and wait for an opportunity to strike.

The leaves outside the window rustled in the wind, making a harsh sound.

"Bang!"

A bullet hit the window glass accurately, and there was a sound of shattering.

Immediately afterwards, the door was kicked open. Zhang Jia seized the opportunity and disarmed one of the men with a single grappling move. Before the other man could react, the bullet pierced his chest without hesitation.

A series of reactions were completed almost in an instant, and Ling Yue was so surprised that she exclaimed that she was wasting her talents.

Before Ling Yue could finish her sigh, she saw Zhang Jia rolling twice on the ground and landing behind the Luohan bed where he usually sat.

Zhang Jia wiped the sweat from his forehead, checked the bullets in his pistol, and said in a deep voice, "Academician Ling, there should be two more people outside, one of whom should be a sniper."

There is another one who has not appeared, maybe hiding in the dark, but from the footsteps just now, three people can be identified.

Two have already fallen, so there must be one hiding and not following in.

Ling Yue lay under the bed, eyes wide open: "My goodness, these people take me too seriously."

Zhang Jia would have rolled his eyes if it weren't for his good qualities and professionalism when he heard that.

However, he still analyzed: "They probably want to take a hostage. Without receiving orders, they probably won't kill you."

Ling Yue didn't show any fear on her face. Instead, she smiled: "That's not necessarily true. Did you see that bullet just now? It was aimed at where I usually sit."

"They know this place very well. They probably didn't come from outside. They might be the ones who usually guard us."

Zhang Jia: ...Looking at the two people lying peacefully at the door, they had seen them many times before. They were always there when they brought food and water.

Just as I was about to speak, I heard a noisy sound coming from outside:

"Someone's coming again, Academician Ling, please be quiet for now."

As he spoke, Zhang Jia used the edge of the Luohan bed as a fortress and pointed the barrel of the gun at the door.

Before Zhang Jia could make a move, there were "bang bang bang" sounds outside.

Ling Yue was stunned, then she stuck her head out and looked at Zhang Jia.

Zhang Jia was startled and quickly said, "Academician Ling, please don't come out yet."

Ling Yue could only shrink back like a turtle returning to its nest.

"The military district is here to support us," they were very familiar with this voice. They used to hear it every day in the military district.

Zhang Jia responded without changing the movements of his hands.

After a while, the gunshots outside slowly stopped, and the wind rustled the leaves.

"Zhang Jia, I'm Wang Jianguo, here to pick up Academician Ling."

The person at the door was Wang Jianguo. He didn't show up, probably because he was worried that Zhang Jia wouldn't be able to see him clearly and would hit him in the head.

Zhang Jia didn't believe it rashly and just asked, "Didn't you receive an order from Comrade Xiangzhong to go to Nanjing?"

"I received an order from Comrade Ling Yue to protect Assistant Qiao and went to Nanjing."

Hearing this, Zhang Jia finally breathed a sigh of relief and put away his gun.

As soon as Wang Jianguo came in, he saw Ling Yue crawling out from under the bed. He smiled with his big white teeth bared, saluted, and shouted, "Academician Ling, Comrade Xiangzhong asked me to take you home."

Ling Yue straightened her clothes and jokingly said, "You guys came really fast."

Wang Jianguo chuckled, "Comrade Xiangzhong asked us to stay nearby early in the morning. Just now, someone from this courtyard came directly over. We didn't stop them, so we surrounded them as soon as we heard the noise."

"I'm sorry to have frightened you."

Ling Yue waved her hands, not frightened at all, as she had been prepared for this.

"When did you come back?"

"Years ago, Comrade Xiangzhong secretly asked me to come back, and I've been staying nearby since I came back."

Wang Jianguo and Zhang Jia, one in front and one behind, protected Ling Yue in the middle and went out. They left the courtyard where they had lived for more than two years. They saw that the courtyard was much more dilapidated than when they came, and a lot of the red paint on the door had fallen off.

"Academician Ling, please get in the car first. Comrade Xiangzhong is waiting for you at the Forbidden City." Wang Jianguo opened the car door and waited for Ling Yue to get in before sitting in the passenger seat. "My eldest sister wanted to come pick you up, but she didn't want to come with me because she thought there were still some people who had slipped through the net and it was unsafe. She should be cooking dinner and waiting for you to come home."

Ling Yue looked out the window, listening to Wang Jianguo's chattering, and couldn't help but smile: "That's great."

When several people heard this, they burst into laughter, and for a moment, the mood in the car relaxed.

"Have you seen Brother Tang since you came back?"

The atmosphere that had finally become lively froze in an instant. Even Zhang Jia, who had no news at all, looked at Wang Jianguo unconsciously.

Wang Jianguo stopped talking and didn't know what to say.

Ling Yue's heart, which had been at ease, was instantly lifted up again. If he was fine, why couldn't he say it?

Finally, Wang Jianguo lowered his head, his throat muffled as if tied with a rope. "Brother Tang, Brother Tang, to make it look realistic, he was shot three times and bled all over the snow before he handed over the documents."

"Those people wanted to take Brother Tang away, but our people arrived and rescued him. They escaped with the documents and spared his head."

As he spoke, Wang Jianguo's eyes turned red and his voice became smaller and smaller.

After listening to Wang Jianguo's few words, everyone could imagine the situation at that time.

The two people who had not shed a single tear during the mental torture by those people kept their lips tightly closed.

Ling Yue tasted a salty taste. She wiped the tears from the tip of her nose and choked out, "And then?"

Wang Jianguo let out a long breath to relieve the pressure in his throat, and continued:

"It was too far from the hospital at the time, and I lost too much blood. I was shot in the thigh, calf, and chest. I was rushed to the hospital and was given emergency treatment for a long time. I finally survived, but I still couldn't save my injured leg."

After Wang Jianguo told what he knew, the car fell silent.

Zhang Jia's eyes were red as he looked at Ling Yue, who had known Tang Nancheng the longest.

I saw Ling Yue leaning on the backrest with her head tilted, her eyes closed, and the tears from the corners of her eyes fell on her black hair.

She didn't say anything, and everyone in the car was as if they had pressed the pause button, becoming eerily quiet.

"Academician Ling!" Wang Jianguo turned around and wanted to say something to comfort him, but was stopped by Zhang Jia's eyes.

At this time, it is better not to speak.

Verbal comfort was of no use. Ling Yue was more powerful than they thought.

After a long time, the car stopped at the gate of the Forbidden City, and the tall steps came into view.