"Ah...!"
Liu Haizhong struggled desperately, trying to break free from the grip. He could feel that this person genuinely wanted to kill him.
The terror of death filled Liu Haizhong with despair, and he wanted to open his mouth to beg for mercy.
Yet the suffocation made breathing difficult, preventing him from uttering a single sound.
"Still not behaving!"
Chen Feng let out a cold snort, then raised his hand and brought it down fiercely in front of Liu Haizhong's terrified eyes!
"No..."
...
Ten minutes later, looking at Liu Haizhong, who now resembled a pile of mud, Chen Feng let out a long breath of satisfaction.
He hadn't killed Liu Haizhong.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but rather that killing him this easily would let him off too lightly.
As for whatever secrets Liu Haizhong was hiding, Chen Feng didn't really care.
He knew all too well what kind of beasts inhabited the Quadrangle Courtyard.
Liu Haizhong had a hand in his predecessor's death, and the others were no better.
Asking or not asking made no difference to him.
If he questioned Liu Haizhong, it would expose his identity, leaving him no choice but to finish Liu Haizhong off.
And wouldn't that let the man off too easily?
In any case, having already decided that every beast in the Quadrangle Courtyard was complicit, concrete evidence was irrelevant to him.
All he wanted was revenge.
As for whether there might be innocent people among them, Chen Feng didn't care.
When an avalanche strikes, not a single snowflake is innocent.
Besides, he wasn't someone who killed indiscriminately.
Who was good and who was bad—he had his own internal measure of that.
Calming down, Chen Feng felt Liu Haizhong's pulse and found he was still breathing. He grabbed one of Liu Haizhong's ankles, gave a mental command, and left the Spatial Farm.
The silent night held no trace of a shadow anywhere.
Familiar with the routine, Chen Feng leaped over the courtyard wall and dragged Liu Haizhong straight to the entrance of the Liu household.
Hum!
"Consider yourself lucky. I didn't want to finish you off just yet, but the days ahead will likely be your last moments of peace. I hope you enjoy your final leisure time!"
Giving Liu Haizhong a cold glance, Chen Feng turned and left the Quadrangle Courtyard. Returning to the abandoned yard, he took off his clothes, mask, gloves, and shoes, and with a thought, stepped back into the Farm Space.
Inside the space, Chen Feng washed up thoroughly, completely scrubbing away the stench of blood.
After all, tomorrow he would be facing a group of battle-hardened soldiers. Liu Haizhong's little soldiers were one thing, but that Company Commander Zhou clearly wasn't ordinary.
He was in his thirties, and Chen Feng could actually sense the killing aura radiating from him.
If he wasn't careful, the man would surely discover something.
He didn't want all his efforts to fall short at the final hurdle.
Fortunately, the spring water in the Farm Space possessed the power to cleanse the spirit, doing an exceptional job of erasing the scent of blood from his body.
Once washed clean, Chen Feng verified that not a trace of bloody odor remained before putting his original clothes back on.
The next second, he vanished from the spot.
When Chen Feng reappeared, he was back in the room provided by the reservoir management station.
Looking at the tightly closed door and the small trap he had set outside, both completely undisturbed, Chen Feng finally let out a sigh of relief.
He had genuinely feared that Liu Haizhong's group might come looking for him while he was away.
Now, everything had gone exactly as he envisioned—perfect.
Hah!
Exhaling a breath, Chen Feng gently lay down on the bed.
His excited heart gradually quieted down.
Even though it was his first time doing something so outrageous, Chen Feng felt no fear whatsoever; instead, there was a fierce satisfaction of having exacted profound revenge.
The mere thought of the plight awaiting Liu Haizhong brought a smile to Chen Feng's face as he drifted off to sleep.
...
Early the next morning, Chen Feng awoke to the resonant sound of military bugles.
Pushing open his door, he discovered that over a hundred officers and soldiers were already drilling on the camp parade ground.
"Comrade Chen, did we wake you?"
Seeing Chen Feng emerge, Liu Yuan'an walked over with a smile.
"Platoon Leader Liu, not at all. I usually get up this early."
Not dwelling on the matter, Chen Feng shifted the topic. "By the way, Platoon Leader Liu, when are we heading into the mountains?"
"I came here precisely to talk about that. Let's go get breakfast first, and as soon as we're done, we head into the mountains."
"This operation was specially approved by our company commander—you've got good timing. Otherwise, your chances of getting this much meat would be slim to none!"
Liu Yuan'an was right.
If he didn't have his Gold Finger, blindly coming here would indeed yield a slim chance of success.
Too bad for them, he had a cheat!
Though, of course, he couldn't mention that to Liu Yuan'an.
"Indeed, Platoon Leader Liu! I really have you and Company Commander Zhou to thank this time; otherwise, I simply couldn't fulfill the factory's quota. You're my greatest benefactors! If you ever come to Beiping in the future, just say the word if you need anything. I might not be able to pull off massive favors, but running errands is no problem at all."
Whether it was Liu Yuan'an or Zhou Zhen, they both gave Chen Feng a very favorable impression—they were people worth befriending.
Especially Zhou Zhen.
Chen Feng could sense the man was out of the ordinary.
By his estimation, someone with Zhou's capabilities shouldn't just be a lowly company commander.
Yet when he considered the strategic importance of the Yunmi Reservoir, it all made sense.
Perhaps the man had been deliberately placed here by higher-ups!
Liu Yuan'an was quite pleased with Chen Feng's attitude as well.
After all, nobody wanted to help an ungrateful ingrate.
As for how much sincerity lay behind Chen Feng's words—that was a matter for another day.
After a hurried breakfast, Chen Feng and the platoon led by Liu Yuan'an headed into the mountains under the lingering gaze of Zhou Zhen.
Zhou Zhen had zero worries about the safety of Chen Feng and his men.
They were just going hunting in the mountains; if Liu Yuan'an somehow managed to get casualties out of that, Zhou would shoot him himself.