A week later, in the midst of a hectic shift in the restaurant kitchen, Lin Yifan suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps in the alley outside; immediately afterward, several dark figures flashed past the kitchen's back door.
Although these figures moved quickly and hid themselves well, the sharp-eyed Lin Yifan still sensed something odd.
He saw the figures carrying a wriggling sack, moving rapidly and looking very anxious.
The experienced Lin Yifan realized in an instant that someone had been kidnapped. So, he immediately put down the dishes and dishcloth in his hands and gave chase.
After exiting the kitchen, he spotted the figures and called out, "What are you doing?"
However, the figures in black didn't pay any attention to him and continued to run forward.
Helpless, Lin Yifan had no choice but to rush over to stop them.
As a special forces operative, he was agile and caught up to the dark figures in just a few seconds.
Approaching them, he noticed there were four figures in black, all with their faces covered, making it impossible to see their true appearances.
Sensing Lin Yifan's ill intentions, two of them split off to deal with him while the other two continued to run with the moving sack.
The two left behind first pulled out a sharp dagger, then swiftly turned and stabbed at Lin Yifan, intending to take his life.
Lin Yifan reacted quickly. First, he performed a wall run and injured one of the assailants; then he ducked low, evading the other's horizontal dagger thrust.
After dodging the lethal strike, he swiftly got up, grabbed the assailant's dagger-wielding hand, and with a forceful twist, injured his arm, followed by a kick that sent him tumbling to the ground.
The assailant, whose arm Lin Yifan had twisted, yelled out in pain, his entire face contorted, clearly in agony.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. After dealing with one assailant, the other, who had been injured earlier, came at Lin Yifan with a dagger.
Lin Yifan remained calm and unafraid in the face of danger.
One-on-one, he feared no black-clad figure.
So, when the assailant nearly reached him, Lin Yifan kicked out his long leg, sending the assailant flying with a blow.
"Bang!"
The rash assailant was sent airborne, tumbling backward; he never understood how he could have been attacked so quickly—it was truly unimaginable.
After falling to the ground, he couldn't rise due to severe injuries.
Having quickly dealt with two assailants, Lin Yifan picked up a dagger from the ground and chased after the other two fleeing figures.
Behind the large restaurant was a narrow alley, with a corner on the right side; beyond the corner was a larger alley, wide enough for a sedan to pass through.
Lin Yifan guessed that the other two figures must have had a vehicle waiting for them; otherwise, they wouldn't dare head toward the larger alley—after all, emerging there would lead them onto a busy street, and even bold assailants wouldn't dare to walk openly on a busy street carrying a writhing sack.
Rescuing the victim was of utmost importance, and Lin Yifan hoped that he could still catch the other two assailants.
In three seconds, he rounded the corner and saw the two figures stealthily stuffing a moving sack into a white van.
Without a doubt, that was the victim.
He immediately threw the dagger in his hand, then quickly ran towards them.
This was a race between man and dagger; Lin Yifan had to reach the white van right after the dagger hit one of the assailants and subdue the other masked figure.
The dagger was light and met little resistance, making its speed extremely fast; Lin Yifan gave it his all, trying to keep pace with the dagger's trajectory.
"Shhh!"
Three seconds later, the dagger pierced the thigh of one of the figures, causing him to howl in agony.
The other assailant, seeing what had happened, hurriedly stuffed the hostage's feet into the van.
Upon completion, when he attempted to jump into the van and flee, Lin Yifan caught him by the shoulder.
With no other choice, the assailant closed the door, instructing the driver to take the victim away.
But how could Lin Yifan let him succeed? He forcefully pulled back, dragging the assailant a short distance from the van.
The white van's driver, seeing this, immediately drove off.
Without a second thought, Lin Yifan jumped into the vehicle and began strangling the van's driver by the neck.
Unable to see where he was going or discern the direction, the driver kept braking. He did this because he didn't want to risk his life in a crash.
Once the van stopped, Lin Yifan immediately turned off the ignition, took out the keys, and then stepped out to properly deal with the kidnappers.
Without a vehicle, the kidnappers couldn't take the hostage right under his nose—Lin Yifan was confident in that.
As he stepped out, the masked figure he had pulled back brandished a sharp dagger, stabbing viciously towards him.
In a dangerous moment, Lin Yifan leaped backward into the van, avoiding the strike. After dodging it, he sprang out and kicked the dagger-wielding assailant to the ground.
The assailant got up immediately, but as he attempted to stab with the dagger again, Lin Yifan kicked the weapon away and then landed a kick on his head, knocking him unconscious on the spot.
"Whoosh!"
Just as Lin Yifan thought he had settled the matter, a dagger quickly flew in from his left side, aimed straight at his body.
The dagger was thrown by the assailant he had previously hit in the thigh. Although the assailant could hardly walk, he could still throw a weapon.
Furthermore, he hoped to take a chance and kill Lin Yifan—that was his motive, to try his luck.
But there isn't so much luck to count on in reality, and the dagger thrown by the assailant was swiftly dodged by the agile Lin Yifan.
Despite the darkness of the alley, relying on the listening skills, Perception, and reaction ability honed through years of fighting on battlefields, Lin Yifan easily avoided the attack.
Now, the assailant could only blame his bad luck for encountering such a formidable opponent.