"Ah Jin, the position of this 'Fu' character seems a bit too low."
"Huh? And now?"
"Hmm...it seems a bit to the right."
"And now?"
"Hey, that's perfect, that's just right!"In the narrow, old stairwell, Yang Jin held a roll of bright red "福" (Fu, meaning good fortune) characters in his hand. Standing on a small stool, he carefully pasted the "福" character onto the door, meticulously smoothing out every corner.
After posting this, he gently jumped off the stool, turned around to examine it, and nodded.
"Mom, is there anywhere else we need to stick these up?"
"And the doors, every single door needs to have one!" Auntie carefully picked out a "福" (Fu, meaning good fortune) character from a roll of "福" characters. This one was noticeably different; it was bigger, redder, and had a gold trim.
"This, this should be pasted on your brother's door. The kid lives far from home, so a regular 'Fu' (good fortune) might not be very effective. I specially went to the store to get this 'Fu', and it cost me over twenty yuan!"
Auntie held the "Fu" character in her hand, gently rubbing the edge with her fingers, and said earnestly.
Yang Jin chuckled softly, "Mom, there's no such thing as near or far when it comes to 'blessings'."
"Tsk, you little brat, what do you know? This is called 'better safe than sorry.'" His aunt glared at him. "Your siblings must be having a hard time out there. After using this 'blessing,' we hope that some kind of god will take care of them."
"Got it." Yang Jin shrugged.
Yang Jin took the "Fu" character and the tape, opened the door, and kicked the little black toad that was sleeping in the stairwell. The toad stood up unsteadily, yawned, and lazily followed the two into the house.
Yang Jin pasted "Fu" characters on each door, while his aunt put on an apron and went straight to the kitchen to start preparing the New Year's Eve dinner.
"Xiao Qi and Xiao Chen, it's almost Chinese New Year, and they haven't even called home," Auntie muttered as she chopped vegetables.
"You can't make phone calls all the time in the military; they're probably busy right now."
"Sigh... never mind, I'll call him later. It's Chinese New Year, I should at least ask him if they're having New Year's Eve dinner."
"Mom, let's cook less food tonight. We can't finish it all."
Auntie paused slightly while chopping vegetables, but didn't say anything.
Yang Jin glanced at the kitchen, sighed slightly, smoothed out the large "福" (good fortune) character on Lin Qiye and Lin Xi Chen's doors with his hand again, and nodded in satisfaction.
This "福" (good fortune) character is pasted up quite well....
Outside the low building.
A black van was parked on the side of the road, its body covered in snow, with only a few windows exposed. The windows had been specially treated so that it appeared completely black from the outside.
The man in the driver's seat, a cigarette dangling from his lips, slowly lowered his binoculars and raised the walkie-talkie beside him.
"Scorpion Three reports: No abnormalities observed near the target. Report complete."
Immediately afterwards, another voice came from the walkie-talkie.
"Scorpion Nine reports: The target woman is chopping vegetables in the kitchen, nothing unusual. Report complete." On the rooftop opposite the low building, a man in a white combat uniform lay prone in the snow, gripping a sniper rifle, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Scorpion Eight reporting, the target boy is in the living room, nothing unusual observed, report complete." From a different angle in that building, another sniper lurking behind a screen window said.
"Received. Remain on standby."
Upon hearing this, Scorpion Three, sitting in the car, frowned slightly and turned on his walkie-talkie.
"Scorpion One, we've been waiting here for two days now. How much longer are we going to have to wait?"
"Wait for the target to appear."
"What if he never shows up?"
The man on the other end of the walkie-talkie paused for a moment, then continued, "Miss [Snake Woman] said that if the target doesn't arrive by tonight, she will take the woman and child hostage and hand them over to Miss [Snake Woman] for disposal."
"[Snake Woman], [Snake Woman]... Hmph, when did our Mad Scorpion become a woman's lackey?"
"Scorpion Three, watch your words." Scorpion One's voice became noticeably serious. "Since we have chosen to become [believers] of the Church of the Ancient Gods, we must obey the will of the gods within the church!"
"They're just a few agents of the gods, yet they dare to call themselves 'gods'?" Scorpion Three sneered.
"Scorpion Three!" Scorpion One was clearly angry. "Since we chose to follow the Church of the Ancient Gods when we were desperate, we cannot break our covenant with the gods again. Otherwise, you will not only kill yourself, but also everyone in the Mad Scorpion mercenary group!"
Scorpion Three, holding the walkie-talkie, chuckled and said nothing more.
"Scorpion One, since our target is that agent of the two gods, if he really appears, can we handle him with just the few of us?" Another man's voice came from the walkie-talkie.
"Scorpion Seven, when did you become so timid and hesitant?"
Even if we can't handle it, there's still that person. He's the sixteenth seat of the [Believer], a powerful expert just half a step away from entering the 'Sea' realm. Dealing with a newcomer who's still in the 'Pool' realm shouldn't be a problem for him.
As soon as Scorpion uttered those words, all other voices were silenced, and no one dared to question the operation any further.
As for Scorpion Three sitting in the car, he merely snorted coldly and said no more.
"A believer?" a voice drifted from outside the car.
Scorpion Three's body trembled, and he turned his head sharply. He saw a boy standing outside the van, carrying two black boxes, his eyes as black as ink.
He stood outside the door, and a patch of darkness rapidly expanded from him, instantly enveloping the entire van!
Scorpion Three's pupils suddenly contracted, and he quickly reached for the walkie-talkie, but the boy outside the door fixed his gaze, and the walkie-talkie beside him was torn into several pieces out of thin air, scattering dazzling sparks.
The boy stood quietly outside the car, and with a light stroke of his fingertip on the car door, the entire door shattered from the center!
"What is a believer?"
The boy's deep voice echoed through the snow.
Scorpion Three, being a seasoned warrior, quickly pulled a short knife from under his seat, let out a low growl, and swiftly stabbed it towards Lin Qiye's throat!
Lin Qiye seemed to have anticipated his movements, and gently took half a step back. The tip of the short knife grazed his skin without leaving a scratch. Then, he quickly struck Xie San's wrist with his other hand!
Scorpion Three loosened his wrist, and the short knife flew out of his hand. But instead of showing any shock, a cunning smile flashed across his face.
A black, short-barreled submachine gun appeared in his left hand at some point, and was pointed at Lin Qiye.
He pulled the trigger abruptly.
Blinding sparks erupted as bullets swirled and poured from the barrel, carrying terrifying kinetic energy as they hurtled straight toward Lin Qiye's face!