CHAPTER 291: CHAPTER 292 - THE FIRST STEP

Yunfeng’s eyes rested on Zei, carefully observing every twitch and bead of sweat on the man’s forehead. He was trying his best to look normal—too hard. His grin was forced, his posture too straight, too tense. Yunfeng almost pitied him. Clearly, Zei wasn’t used to anything covert. This wasn’t someone who’d lied much in his life.

Still, that wasn’t a bad thing.

It meant he could trust him... at least, trust him to try. Trust him to follow through, even if his hands shook while doing it.

Yunfeng let out a breath and leaned back slightly on the bed, closing his eyes for just a moment.

He had only written a small fragment of the plan on the note Zei had read.

Just Zei’s part.

The rest was too dangerous to leave lying around on paper.

He blinked slowly and mouthed the words carefully to Zei, making sure the movement of his lips was clear.

"We attack at night."

Zei’s brow furrowed, barely a nod, but Yunfeng caught the message in his darting eyes—he understood.

Then Yunfeng grunted slightly, struggling to sit up straighter and said aloud, his voice strained but steady, "Can you help me into the bathroom?"

Zei didn’t hesitate. "Yeah, of course."

He slid an arm around Yunfeng’s waist and carefully helped him up. Yunfeng leaned on him more than he needed to, making it convincing. His body still felt like a furnace from the residual effects of the food, but it was manageable. Zei opened the bathroom door and helped him in.

The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Yunfeng straightened a little more.

He moved in front of the mirror, gripping the sink edge tightly. He waited a beat, made sure no footsteps lingered outside, then reached for the toothpaste on the shelf.

His fingers twisted the cap off with practiced ease.

In silence, he dabbed a bit of the white paste on his finger and leaned forward, drawing on the mirror in quick, sharp strokes.

The foggy reflection filled with messy, angled shapes.

Rough maps.

Yunfeng had marked out the immediate vicinity—the cluster of houses, the tree lines, and most importantly, the outer perimeter.

Kailun’s information had been invaluable.

He pointed to three boxy shapes near the edges. These were where the soldiers had made camp. He’d memorized the placements earlier that day during a pretend stroll with Muchen.

Yunfeng quickly wiped the mirror clean, leaving no trace of the crude battle map. He didn’t speak again. No more could be risked aloud. Instead, he grabbed a piece of notepaper from a shelf and scrawled two sets of instructions—one for Zei and one for Lu Zhi.

Zei would carry out the freezing strike, and Lu Zhi...

He paused before writing.

Lu Zhi was only human. He wasn’t an alpha, wasn’t an omega, had no awakened abilities. He was just Shao’s younger brother, pulled into this nightmare because of blood. But even still... Yunfeng didn’t want the boy to be helpless. Or worse, implicated in the coming chaos. If something happened and the plan failed, he wanted Lu Zhi far away from blame.

So, Yunfeng wrote carefully, plainly: After Zei and I leave for the walk, use the distraction to sneak into the outer station. Take whatever weapons and supplies you can carry. Avoid attention. Move only when the soldiers are frozen. If possible, aid from a distance during the raid on the second camp.

He slid the notes into Zei’s jacket while he washed his hands at the sink and whispered low, "Pass this to him. Discreetly. He doesn’t get involved in any frontline danger. Only recon and supplies."

Zei gave the faintest nod.

As Yunfeng left the bathroom, he leaned heavily on the wall. His vision had blurred again, more strain than usual, but he blinked rapidly and pushed on.

He made his way to the kitchen with the half-eaten candy bar still clutched in one hand. The scent of sugar masked his presence a bit. He forced himself to hum—off-key and slow—like he was just a sick man trying to find something to eat. The illusion had to hold.

He crouched down by the lower cabinet slowly, painfully, almost theatrically. His hands slid along the edge of the dusty wood until he found it—the bottle he was looking for.

Household cleaner. Industrial-grade. It had a sharp, bitter scent that made his nose wrinkle.

Perfect.

Carefully, he shifted things aside until the bottle was half-hidden behind some rarely touched cans. Then he opened the cabinet fully and used his sleeve to sweep dust and debris from the floor.

From his sleeve, he pulled out a few items he had stored earlier—ripped wires, a broken switch from an old toaster, a battery, and a small pouch of powdered sugar that had dried solid.

He poured a portion of the cleaner into a tin cup, crushed the sugar with the back of the candy bar until it became almost powder again, and mixed it in, inserting the wires into the concoction before taping the switch loosely on the side. The final touch was a tightly twisted plastic bag around the entire setup, layered with an extra rag from the cabinet.

It wasn’t powerful—maybe not enough to blow a building—but it would explode if tripped right. And fire would spread. That was enough.

He tucked the crude bomb in a crevice just behind the cabinet, invisible from any window angle.

No one would know it was there—unless they were meant to.

Standing shakily, Yunfeng wiped his palms on his pants and staggered to the sink, washing the remaining candy from his fingers and setting the bar on the counter, like he’d just come for a bite.

The sound of laughter from Zei’s room echoed faintly.

Outside, the sun was beginning to drop. The shadows lengthened.

Yunfeng leaned on the counter, breathing hard, lips pressed in a tight line. His body was burning, his senses dulled but also painfully sharp in the places where fear lived.

They had a plan now. Not a perfect one. Not a safe one. But it was a plan with options.

And with the bomb hidden, the map drawn, the instructions passed—

The first move had been made.