Chapter 168: The Feed Went Black
Shichen heard the cutting equipment before he saw anything change on his tablet.
The whine of the blade began somewhere beyond the western door, rising until the metal it was cutting though managed to carry it into the corridor.
He tightened his hold on the tablet, watching the small image of soldiers disappearing beneath the damaged roof.
He had chosen that door.
He remembered rejecting a cheaper alternative, then arguing with a supplier who insisted the difference was unnecessary for a private residence.
He wished the man were here now. Preferably on the other side.
"Move back," Hanchuan instructed, touching Shichen’s arm. His eyes remained on the barrier. "You don’t need to stand against it to know whether it’s holding."
Shichen hadn’t realized he had moved closer. He stepped away, his shoes dragging through the pale dust gathered along the wall.
"It’s holding," Shichen replied, glancing at the closed seam. "They’ve barely started."
Hanchuan nodded, but he kept his hand on Shichen until they had both retreated toward the bend in the corridor.
From there, the door remained visible beneath the overhead lights, a solid rectangle at the end of an increasingly unpleasant stretch of floor.
Shichen could feel the noise in his teeth.
Through the phone in Hanchuan’s hand, Jingwei called for their attention.
"The western entrance still has a working deterrent dispenser," Jingwei reported. "It’s outside the door, under the section of ceiling that stayed up."
Shichen looked down at the tablet. The soldiers had passed beyond the exterior camera’s view, leaving only a pair of boots visible beneath the broken edge.
"Can you see where they are?" Shichen asked, leaning closer to the phone. He hated how much they were relying on a picture that showed everything except what mattered.
"I can see who goes in and who comes out," Jingwei replied. His voice had become clipped. "And you can hear what they’re doing."
The tool struck a harsher note, answering for them. Hanchuan glanced at Shichen, then lifted the phone.
"Warn them before you activate it," Hanchuan ordered. "Give them a chance to put the equipment down and leave."
Shichen turned toward his friend. He had expected Hanchuan to demand something worse, and the relief embarrassed him almost as soon as he felt it.
Then he remembered the men outside intended to carry Zhiyi through the passage they were currently cutting into. His relief became harder to hold.
A recorded warning began beyond the barrier, muffled by the door and nearly swallowed by the equipment.
The cutting stopped halfway through it.
In the sudden quiet, Shichen could hear someone speaking, followed by the scrape of a case being moved.
He watched the tablet, waiting for those boots to retreat.
"Think they’re listening?" Shichen asked, shifting the tablet so Hanchuan could see. He wanted to believe a recorded warning might accomplish what their voices hadn’t.
"They’ve stopped to listen," Hanchuan replied. He stood beside the wall with his rifle lowered. "Let’s see what they do after."
The soldier beneath the opening backed out far enough to speak into his radio. Dust covered his helmet and shoulders. He listened, glanced toward the vehicles, then ducked beneath the concrete again.
A few seconds later, the cutting resumed.
Shichen closed his eyes briefly. They had provided a perfectly usable opportunity to walk away, and somehow that still hadn’t been enough.
"Do it," Hanchuan instructed Jingwei, looking back toward the door.
Shichen opened his eyes when the tool stopped.
There was no dramatic explosion.
But sometimes, drama wasn’t needed to get a point across.
A shout reached them through the barrier, then a crash that made him flinch. Someone began coughing, the sound interrupted by an angry demand he couldn’t make out.
On the tablet, a soldier stumbled backward into view. He struck his shoulder against the edge of the opening and nearly fell before another man caught him.
Shichen watched them emerge together, bent beneath the broken roof. One had his eyes squeezed shut. The other kept trying to look behind him while dragging his companion clear.
"They’re coming out," Jingwei reported. Shichen could hear Zeyu speaking in the background, counting the men as they appeared.
Hanchuan moved closer to the tablet. His attention followed the soldiers across the rubble while Shichen found himself watching the opening they had left behind.
"Did they bring the tool?" Shichen asked, searching the image for its case.
"They left it," Jingwei replied. "Nobody’s at the door."
Shichen let out a breath that made his chest ache. He hadn’t realized how hard he had been holding it.
Along the corridor, the ventilation continued its steady hum. The door remained closed, the lights remained on, and nothing on their side had changed.
He wanted to sit down anyway.
Hanchuan took the tablet from him, giving Shichen a moment to rub his damp palms against his trousers.
"Check the barrier," Hanchuan told him. "Then we go back."
Shichen approached cautiously.
He examined the door and frame without touching the controls, listening for any sound beyond them.
The soldiers had failed to open it, and for the first time since the military arrived, he had something better than a promise to offer.
"It’s secure," Shichen confirmed, turning toward Hanchuan. "They didn’t get through."
Hanchuan nodded and handed back the tablet. They started toward the main room, their footsteps filling the quiet left by the cutting equipment.
Jingwei kept the call open.
"The captain’s coming back to the gate," Jingwei warned. "He looks pissed."
Shichen almost smiled. Captain Du could be as angry as he liked from outside.
When they entered the main room, the captain’s face filled the communications wall. Behind him, a medic helped one of the affected soldiers sit beside the transport.
"You deployed a chemical agent against my men," Captain Du accused them, his voice harsh through the speakers. "You’ve turned this into an armed confrontation."
"You were breaking into our home," Shichen replied before Hanchuan could reach the microphone.
He stepped beside Jingwei and opened the outgoing connection, surprised by how steady he sounded. "You can end it by leaving."
Captain Du stared up at the camera. Then he stepped away and gestured to a soldier beside him.
Shichen watched the man raise his rifle toward the lens.
The shot cracked through the speakers, and the entrance feed went black.