Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups Chapter 1425 - 688

Jiangbei Suburb, Hidden Cloud Cottage.

The afternoon wind carried a dry heat, swept over the walls, stirring the rustling of turning leaves.

The courtyard gate was half-open, and the ground paved with green bricks was meticulously clean, with several bamboo chairs scattered under the grape arbor.

In the corner, two metal barbecue grills accumulated a thin layer of dust, several iron skewers scattered in a tray, evidently unused for quite some time.

Li Dingjian stood at the door, holding a half-burned cigarette between his fingers.

That usual reckless face now seemed to be covered with frost.

He squinted slightly, his gaze passing through the expelled smoke, staring at the winding dirt road in the distance, seemingly waiting for something.

Under the hallway of the main house, Fatty Hu, Fei Ying, Xu Kuan, and others were either standing or sitting.

Since the headquarters at Jinshui Fish Market was still being renovated, the newly recruited members had been lying low in this secluded farmhouse inn for the past two months.

This place had naturally become the temporary meeting place for the Illuminati.

Nonetheless, today’s gathering in the courtyard seemed unusually quiet.

It was as if a giant stone weighed on everyone’s chest, making even their breathing feel heavy.

"These bastards really think our Illuminati is made of clay?"

Fatty Hu expelled a gust of air from his nostrils, clenched his fan-sized palm, and punched the wooden pillar of the corridor.

Bang! Dust from the roof fell silently.

Fei Ying said nothing, leaning against the wall, his thumb slowly running along the edge of the short knife in his hand.

As a trembling hum resonated through the air, a cold light glimmered in his slender eyes.

In the center of the main room, Lin Chuqiao examined several recently received intelligence pages, her long fingers creasing the edges of the paper.

The Professor sat in the bamboo chair opposite, raising a hand to adjust the black-rimmed glasses on his nose.

His brows furrowed slightly, seemingly swiftly strategizing some countermeasures in his mind.

In the corner behind the Professor, the little girl Bean buried her head deep in her knees, her eyes fixed on the ground.

The white mouse named "Xiao Bai," sensing its owner’s unease, crawled in and out of her sleeve, occasionally standing up, emitting agitated squeaks.

A heavy scent of blood permeated the guest room separated by a wall.

Bai Ling carried a basin mixed with bloody water, quickly walked outside, and with a splash, emptied it into the courtyard’s trough.

She shook off the water stains on her hands, turned, and fetched another basin of clean water, rushing back inside.

Lying on the sickbed inside was a young man.

His shirt had been cut open, his bare chest and arms were covered with deep and shallow knife wounds, flesh curled, looking horrifying.

Even though several vital areas were tightly bound with gauze, blood continued to seep faintly along the edges of the fabric.

Jiang Yun was bent over, tending to the wounds, sweat gathering on her forehead.

Bai Ling and Xiao Ya assisted her, handing scissors, cleaning blood stains, appearing exceptionally busy.

"Li Ran, help me find a few more rolls of bandages. Oh, and it’s best to buy a professional hemostatic clamp, quickly."

Jiang Yun turned her head, instructing a black-clothed woman standing at the end of the bed.

The woman mumbled an "oh," hurriedly wiping her swollen eyes.

Tears glistened faintly in her eye sockets, as if she had just cried.

She immediately turned around, began rummaging through the storage rack beside her.

"Here come the meds, here come the meds!"

Just as the words fell, Xiao Shuai walked briskly into the crowd of women, carrying a huge multi-layered medical box.

As he deftly opened the compartments of the medical box, taking out the hemostatic clamps, bandages, and high-concentration alcohol, he said:

"Sister Jiang, use this. In our line of work, there’s always a risk of injury and bleeding. These emergency trauma kits and medicines I had prepared in the car a long time ago."

Jiang Yun didn’t hesitate, immediately reaching out to take the hemostatic clamps.

She, originally a nurse, took charge of this rescue operation.

Her wrist turned with fluidity and speed, cutting open bloody clothing, cleaning wounds, applying medicine and bandaging—a process exuding professional dexterity and decisiveness.

Just then, the faint sound of a car engine running came from outside the courtyard gate.

"They’re here!"

Li Dingjian’s eyes sharp, flicked the cigarette butt into the dirt, crushing it with his toe, turning to look in the direction of the road.

Hearing the commotion, Fatty Hu’s spirit lifted, immediately releasing the wooden pillar. Fei Ying also sheathed his knife, stood upright.

The Professor quickly stood up in the main room, tidied his clothing.

Lin Chuqiao, however, rushed past the threshold first, her steps slightly hurried toward the courtyard gate.

A black Land Rover SUV rolled over the gravel, steadily stopped right in front of the courtyard.

Click, the car door opened, Fang Cheng stepped down from the vehicle.

"Ah Cheng."

Li Dingjian first greeted, giving a shout.

"Uncle."

Fang Cheng replied, then set his gaze on Lin Chuqiao approaching quickly.

"Brother Cheng, you got here so fast."

Seeing the familiar figure, Lin Chuqiao’s previously tense cheeks relaxed slightly, letting out a breath.

"Few cars on the road, didn’t get delayed."

Fang Cheng casually replied, his eyes sweeping across the people in the courtyard, directly getting to the point:

"What’s going on exactly?"

"Here’s the situation."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuqiao took a deep breath, tucked the loose hair in front of her forehead behind her ear, quickly recounting the matter:

"Didn’t the Professor just recruit three new members last week?"

Fang Cheng nodded slightly; the Professor had reported this to him before.

These three were named Li Jie, Li Fei, and Li Ran.

It’s said they had solid foundations, highly skilled in stealth and assassination, exactly what was needed to address the Illuminati’s current shortage of elite strike forces and intelligence penetration personnel.