Chapter 129: Should We Go In?

“Damn it! Am I the only one here who’s easy to push around?! One day I’ll blow away everyone who looks down on me!!”

As Dao Yinping grumbled, he pulled out a piece of cotton cloth and slowly wiped down the object in his hands.

He did it deliberately slow, as if admiring a work of art—or showing off a prized trophy.

The other four young men all put on flattering smiles, eager to please.

Blow people away??

Jiang Yan’s eyelid twitched at hearing her own old catchphrase.

She leaned forward for a closer look, and couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath:

That black steel tube was actually a gun!

It looked like an ordinary hunting rifle, but also resembled an American-made Remington M870 shotgun.

The reason it looked so familiar was because she had a whole pile of these in her own arsenal.

If it really was a shotgun, that would be a problem.

A shotgun is a short-range weapon with serious stopping power. Some high-powered models can even punch through body armor.

Speaking of body armor, Jiang Yan cursed inwardly:

Of all days, she’d left in a hurry and forgotten to wear her bulletproof vest.

Thankfully, she’d brought Hua Bao.

After confirming the weapon, Jiang Yan quickly turned to Ye Qing. She made a finger-gun gesture with her thumb and forefinger, and mouthed:

“They have a gun.”

Ye Qing didn’t get it at first, but quickly caught on. He motioned for Jiang Yan to get up and retreat behind him.

But Jiang Yan just put a finger to her lips in a “shh” gesture, signaling him to stay calm.

Ye Qing glanced at her, saw her calm and steady gaze, and had no choice but to let it go.

The fact that the other side had a gun was clearly something neither of them had expected.

But crisis and opportunity go hand in hand.

Most people would see trouble when the bad guys had weapons.

Ye Qing saw it as the bad guys delivering weapons to them.

The only question was how and when to take it.

And—how many weapons did they have?

With that in mind, Ye Qing tapped Jiang Yan on the shoulder and mouthed: “How many?”

This was their first time working together.

With no prior coordination, aside from basic hand signals, they could only rely on mouthing words.

Jiang Yan peered through the periscope for a while, then held up one finger: “One.”

She’d been squatting for a while and her legs were starting to go numb.

She hadn’t seen any more useful information, so she quietly put the periscope away.

Ye Qing quickly reached out an arm to help.

Jiang Yan didn’t stand on ceremony—she braced herself against the wall with one hand and took his arm with the other, slowly standing up.

“Second Brother, we only managed to get two guns from the police station this time. Since Brother Ma gave you this one, that means you’re number one in his eyes! No one else gets that kind of treatment!” the blond guy flattered.

“Hmph!” Dao Yinping just snorted disdainfully, not bothering to respond.

But his show of force had clearly worked. He put the gun back in his backpack.

Seeing his mood improve, the guy in the beret quickly said, “Second Brother, I’ve been away from my post for a while. Should I go check outside? You never know, maybe someone from upstairs will come down.”

“Those cowards on the 32nd floor never leave their apartments—don’t worry! The only way they’d come out is if—”

Dao Yinping suddenly grinned viciously, waved the others closer, and whispered something in their ears.

The group burst out laughing and clapped: “Brilliant! That’s genius!”

They joked and chatted for a while.

Dao Yinping brushed some ash off his arm, twisted his thick waist, and stood up:

“Damn, the more I roast by this fire, the hotter I get. But if I don’t, I freeze! Forget it, I’m done roasting. I’m gonna get some sleep.

Remember to wake up the guys napping later, and organize the residents to bring more furniture up from downstairs.

And grab a few more mattresses that smoke easily. If we don’t smoke out those troublemakers on the top two floors tonight, my last name isn’t Dao!”

“Got it, Second Brother,” said the beret guy quickly.

The blond guy smirked and pointed to the corner: “Second Brother, why so hot? Isn’t there a special tool for letting off steam over there?”

“Hahaha, almost forgot! Zhang Xiaoguang, you and Old Six go bring that dining table out here! I’ll teach you guys a new trick today!” Dao Yinping glanced at the figure in the corner, a nasty grin spreading across his face.

The brown-nosing blond hurried up: “Second Brother, should we put anything on the table?”

“Put what? I’m not the one lying on it!”

Jiang Yan’s heart tightened as she listened.

She’d been about to head downstairs with Ye Qing to keep investigating, but she stopped in her tracks.

She quietly edged back to the door, took out the periscope again, and slipped it outside.

This time, she didn’t squat—just bent at the waist.

Ye Qing, seeing this, gripped his knife tightly and stood guard.

Only now did Jiang Yan notice the dark corner.

There, curled up, was a woman with disheveled hair.

It was barely two or three degrees Celsius, but she was only covered in a few scraps of filthy black cloth.

A waist-high table was quickly dragged out.

The blond guy walked over and, like picking up a chick, grabbed the woman and tossed her onto the table.

What they intended was obvious.

By the firelight, Jiang Yan could see the woman’s vacant eyes and limp body.

Her lips and face were crusted with blood.

Her back was covered in whip marks and burns.

Her arms bore cigarette burns.

It didn’t take much to imagine what she’d been through.

Jiang Yan’s face went pale.

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself, mind racing.

At the same time, she quietly put the periscope away.

Ye Qing hadn’t seen the scene, but from the conversation, he could guess most of it.

He gently patted Jiang Yan’s shoulder and mouthed: “Should we go in?”

Even as he asked, he was already analyzing the situation.

If they went in now, they risked exposing themselves and alerting the enemy.

But the upside was that they could take out one of Ma Longbiao’s strongest henchmen.

The enemy would have to be dealt with in batches anyway.

There were five people in there, and probably more in the four rooms.

If it was just him, he could handle these five.

They say to catch the ringleader first, but Dao Yinping had a gun—he wouldn’t be easy.

But Jiang Yan had a gun too.

In just a second or two, Ye Qing had weighed all the pros and cons.

Jiang Yan was doing the same.

A rash move would ruin everything.

Even with a gun, she couldn’t just charge in without a plan.

The key was, the four men were blocking the hallway, just enough to shield Dao Yinping and the woman.

If she fired, the others would react instantly.

Unless—

An idea struck Jiang Yan.

She turned to Ye Qing and signaled for him to lower his head.

Ye Qing didn’t know why, but did as told.

Jiang Yan leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear."