Free Web NovelChapter 2417: Chapter 2481: Invite the Enemy into the Trap
In this battle for the Li family, sixteen security guards died. Li Yifei knew every single one of them, could call them by name, remember their faces, even clearly recall their family situations. For the vast majority, he knew which unit they had once belonged to, and what merits they had earned. They’d come from all over the country, and after they retired, Li Yifei had summoned them, offered them generous pay, gave them a job that looked different from the norm and was actually pretty good. This was the clan’s development model, the way it trained its household retainers. In this regard, Li Yifei had never been stingy. At the same time, he treated these security guards as friends—whenever they gathered, drinking and chatting never got delayed. He was not some aloof figure towering over them.
Of course, the necessary distance still had to be there—otherwise how could he serve as the clan head? During those three months of recovery earlier, Li Yifei had even organized several rounds of drinking sessions, drinking shoulder to shoulder with the security guards.
In this battle, the Li family’s security guards were loyal unto death, fierce, fearless, even tragic. Knowing full well they were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, they still went in without a second thought.
"I’ll avenge you. For every one of ours who dies, I’ll kill ten of them!" Li Yifei said in his heart. He hadn’t gone into the issue of what arrangements would be made after these guards were gone. They were basically all around thirty, some around twenty‑five. Their parents were just getting old, some of them were married with children, their kids only a few years old. They were the pillars of their families, and once that pillar fell, how was their family supposed to live afterwards?
Li Yifei would take care of it, but the women of the clan would handle those arrangements well; he didn’t need to personally worry.
After the call ended, Li Yifei adjusted his emotions. Maybe his wives were still affected, but with Su Mengxin, Xu Yingying and the others around, there was no need to be overly concerned.
Noah’s Ark’s move had already proved one thing: the actions of Li Yifei and the Saintess these past days had stabbed right into Noah’s Ark’s sore spot, to the point that they could no longer care about exposing themselves and had launched a frenzied retaliation.
"See a hundred meters up ahead?" Li Yifei said.
The Saintess mimicked Li Yifei, narrowed her eyes to look, then nodded and said, "I see them."
"I counted six people," Li Yifei said. The six he meant were: one disguised as a balloon seller; one couple that looked just like any other pair; an old man in sunglasses sitting in a chair sunbathing; and two girls taking turns helping each other snap pictures, who looked around twenty.
Although these six looked no different from anyone else, they had still exposed themselves. The Saintess withdrew her gaze, nodded, and said, "They’re all abnormal. But I spotted two more."
"Oh?" Li Yifei tilted his head and asked, "Two more?"
"At the shop entrance over there, there are two men. They look like they’re waiting for a ride, but since when do people waiting for a bus not get on when it arrives, or refuse a taxi that stops?" the Saintess said.
Li Yifei grinned and said, "I didn’t even notice them. Your observation is sharper than mine."
"Eight in total. You take four, I take four," the Saintess said, fair and reasonable.
But Li Yifei shook his head and said, "No. I’m really pissed off right now, so I’m taking those six over there. You handle the two waiting for a ride."
The Saintess nodded in agreement and said, "Fine. Quick and clean. Looks like we won’t be short of blood and carnage here in Japan either."
"Be careful. They’re all experts."
Of course, not all experts were on the same level, but you still had to be wary of overturning in a gutter. From ancient times till now, plenty of small fry had taken down big shots and triggered huge upheavals. Li Yifei being a bit more cautious was no mistake.
"Sir, could you help us take a picture?" A girl in a pink dress full of girlish charm walked up to Li Yifei with a camera in hand, a sweet smile on her face, asking with a hint of pleading. Li Yifei smiled, nodded, and said, "Sure."
"Thank you, thank you so much. My sister and I were just fretting that there was no one to help us take a picture." The girl spoke in awkward English. Li Yifei took the camera, his face wearing a faint smile, and casually asked, "Are you locals?"
"Yeah, our home is not far from here. Sir, you’re really handsome. Could we take a picture with you later?" the other girl asked expectantly.
The two girls did look very similar; they really did seem like twins. In his heart, Li Yifei knew these two were both experts. Since they could be sent to assassinate them, they naturally had the corresponding skills. Li Yifei took the camera and said, "You can just speak Japanese. I can understand it."
"Oh my God, sir, you actually know Japanese, that’s great. Our English is really bad," the first girl hurried to say in Japanese.
Li Yifei raised the camera and said in Japanese, "Let’s start."
The camera was just an ordinary camera, and it carried the girls’ body fragrance, a faint sakura scent, very pleasant. If these two women weren’t experts—or rather, weren’t killers—Li Yifei would actually be quite happy to take pictures for them, even spend some extra time.
The two girls went over and struck a few poses. Li Yifei’s finger pressed the shutter—click, click—as he took a few shots, while thinking to himself, "These are probably the last few photos of your lives, and you don’t even know it."
Looking at the pure smiles on the two girls’ faces, Li Yifei said, "Is that enough?"
The first girl paused slightly and said, "Sir, if you’re not in a hurry, could you help us take a few pictures over there? In that sea of flowers. My little sister and I really want to take a few photos there." frёewebnoѵēl.com
"Sure, but make it quick, my girlfriend’s still waiting for me."
"Okay, thank you." the two girls said gratefully.
Li Yifei smiled faintly. The two girls walked in front while Li Yifei followed behind. Dozens of meters away was a sea of flowers, though the flowers themselves were pretty ordinary. There were actually more trees around. The two girls chattered away up ahead, looking just like two ordinary girls out sightseeing.
When they reached the sea of flowers, Li Yifei casually asked, "Any good places to eat around here? Can you recommend something?"
"Restaurants? My mom’s cooking is really good, hehe, but sadly we can’t invite you over to our house as a guest." the second girl, the younger sister, said.
"Can I know why?" Li Yifei asked.
The older sister reached out, plucked a flower, brought it up to her nose and took a sniff, her expression full of enjoyment. When she opened her eyes, she couldn’t help but smile and said, "Sir, are we supposed to bring a strange man home? That would be really inappropriate."
"What if we already knew each other?" Li Yifei shot back.
"Sis, come here, let’s take a picture together!" the older sister waved.
Li Yifei glanced back. The path they’d come from was blocked by trees, but he could feel a few people silently closing in. These were exactly the six people he had sensed before, including the two girls right in front of him.
Just six people want to take me out? Li Yifei raised the camera to his eyes, getting ready to take a picture of the two girls. In the lens, the two girls were striking poses. When he pressed the shutter for the third time, he saw the older sister wink at him and even blow him a kiss, her lips making a soft popping sound.
Suddenly Li Yifei felt the space in front of him twist. The sisters in the viewfinder disappeared, replaced by two terrifying faces. The faces opened their huge mouths, baring teeth and claws as they lunged at Li Yifei.
Li Yifei frowned and, in an instant, figured out what was going on. That faint sakura scent on the camera was some kind of hallucinogen. He’d unconsciously inhaled quite a bit of it. And this flower field had clearly been prepared by them beforehand. The moment he walked in, he’d stepped right into their setup.
Of course, Li Yifei had already been on guard. His aura exploded outward, and everything within dozens of meters fell under his control. At the same time, as the two grotesque faces pounced, Li Yifei neither dodged nor flinched, not even reacting at all. He let the two horrifying faces rush up to him, the wind howling in his ears. With a whoosh, Li Yifei seemed to perform a Tai Chi push, and in an instant two True Qi Blades formed in his hands, which he flung toward two different directions.
The two True Qi Blades arrived in a flash. Two muffled grunts sounded, and the figures of the two girls appeared. Li Yifei’s True Qi Blades had hit them, but hadn’t caused any real damage.
Seeing the two of them appear, Li Yifei said, "Looks like you don’t need me to take your pictures anymore."
"Hehe, sir, even though you’re very handsome..."
"We’re not here for photos."
"Then forget it." Li Yifei said, flicking his hand and tossing the camera out—not toward the two girls, but straight at a thick tree.
"Pa!" Just as the camera was about to smash into the tree, a hand suddenly appeared on the pitch-black trunk, followed by a person. It was the old man from before, white hair, sunglasses, an ice cream cone in his other hand. There was no smile on his face as he said stiffly and coldly, "Young man, throwing things around like that is a bad habit."
"Hiding in the shadows isn’t what good people do either." Li Yifei said carelessly. "The rest of you come out too. There aren’t that many of you. If you keep hiding, it won’t be very safe for you."
"I’ve already taken the ’kill Golden Eagle’ mission. Everyone, let’s move together. This man is extremely dangerous. We need to be cautious. After we complete the mission, the Captain will reward us richly."
"Okay!" a shrill voice answered. A woman walked out, with a man at her side. These two were that strange couple from before. Only now the woman’s voice sounded like a man’s, while the man’s voice sounded like a woman’s, giving off a strong sense of dissonance.
The guy from the ice cream cart appeared as well, still wearing a pink Kitty Cat apron. He was a burly hulk of a man, full beard on his face, looking a lot like one of those Russian muscle influencers. He too was packed with muscle, and as he walked out he was holding two oversized ice cream cones, a vicious look on his face. Anyone timid would probably be scared just by his looks and expression.
One, two, three... all six of them had revealed themselves. Sensing them, their breathing was steady, eyes sharp. They were definitely all experts—though just "experts," not top-tier masters.
Li Yifei even felt a bit puzzled. These people weren’t top-tier. No matter how many of them there were, they wouldn’t be of much use. So what was their real objective? The doubt flashed through his mind, then he pushed it aside for now, because the six had already formed an encirclement and were about to make their move on him.
