Zhou Chenghai opened the front door, and the four of us stepped onto the porch like we were going to go out for a stroll.
The plants closest to the mansion shifted aside as soon as I crossed the threshold. The thicker vines pulled away from the front steps, their branches lifting from the lawn, and several flowers lowered themselves until the road beyond the gate came clearly into view.
The men outside had been firing blindly into the greenery, but now there was nothing blocking their view of us.
There was also nothing blocking Gu Han's people from seeing what happened next.
Across the road, vines crept along the outside walls of the workers' houses. They didn't attack the men hiding inside, but they pulled curtains away from windows and pushed loose branches aside until every observation point Yuche had noticed faced directly toward the porch.
One of the figures holding binoculars jerked backward when a vine curled around the edge of his window.
It left him alone.
