Chapter 192 I Went Mad During the Republic of China Era (8)
Zhou Jue left Old K's residence and quickly entered a deserted alley. With a thought, he entered the Starry Sky Secret Box.
Inside the space, she quickly changed her outfit, restoring her clean and neat appearance.
The list she got from the steel nail was now clearly in her mind. There were nine comrades in total, scattered in various corners of Beiping. Some were shopkeepers, some were compradors of foreign companies, some were university teachers, and one was even a cook for Japanese officers.
Zhou Jue's first target was a cloth shop called "Deshunxiang" on Luomashi Street in the south of the city. The list showed that the shopkeeper, codenamed "Old Tailor," was a comrade in charge of material transportation.
She left the space and, instead of pretending to be an ordinary person as before, went directly there invisibly.
Her spiritual power had already spread out, completely enveloping the entire cloth shop inside and out.
[I've been watching for three days now, and not even a fly has flown in. Is there something wrong with that old guy?] This was the thought of a rickshaw puller on the street corner. He seemed to be dozing off, but his peripheral vision was fixed on the cloth shop's door.
[It's been three days. Could the information Dujuan gave us be false?] This is a "leisurely person" drinking tea behind a second-floor window diagonally opposite the cloth shop.
[Damn it, I need to go to the bathroom, I'm dying to hold it in...] This was a junior police officer patrolling the area.
In just a few minutes, Zhou Jue had located at least seven sentries around the cloth shop, making the area as encircled as an iron barrel.
Perhaps business at the cloth shop was slow, because although Deshunxiang's doors were open, no one went in. Perfect timing for her to make her move.
Zhou Jue walked directly into the fabric shop invisibly. There was no one else there, only a man in his fifties wearing reading glasses sitting behind the counter doing accounts. He was the "old tailor".
The old tailor is now within the spy's sight, so we need to get him out of this position first to avoid being discovered the moment he disappears.
"Brother Tong, scan this fabric shop for any 'dangerous items' that we need to take away, like a telegraph machine or any documents."
[Scanning... Host, there's a hidden door in the room to the left of the fabric shop. Inside, you'll find some documents. Under the cabinet where the old tailor sat, there's a pistol. Nothing else was found.]
Zhou Jue understood. He first went to find the secret door, went in and took the documents. After checking them and making sure nothing was missing, he made a little noise.
The noise wasn't loud enough for the watchers outside to hear, but the old tailor could hear it clearly.
The old tailor heard strange noises coming from the empty room. His heart tightened. Was someone there? Was it friend or foe?
He put down his abacus, glanced casually outside, then picked up his water glass and pretended to drink, but accidentally spilled water on his clothes.
He took the opportunity to tuck the pistol into his clothes, hurriedly stood up, patted the water off his body, sighed, and turned to go back to his room to change.
Those watching from outside couldn't help but sneer at the old tailor's appearance.
[This old tailor, at such an advanced age, can't even hold a glass of water properly. Is he really a member of the underground organization?]
What?! A shaky old man has been keeping an eye on me for days?!
【Hey, why isn't anyone here? Anyone could be arrested and taken back to report!】
The old tailor had just entered the room when he found no one there. Before he could even wonder if he was imagining things, Zhou Jue darted forward and delivered a precise chop to the back of his neck. The old tailor didn't even utter a sound before collapsing limply to the ground.
Zhou Jue supported him, and with a thought, directly put the man into a private room in his space.
Having done all this, she relied on her invisibility to swagger out of the fabric shop without attracting any attention.
Meanwhile, the spies on the street corner were still complaining and slacking off, unaware that their target had vanished into thin air.
Without pausing for a moment, Zhou Jue followed the same method and headed to the next location.
Inside the foreign firm, she went to the restroom with a colleague, and as soon as the door closed, she disappeared.
At university, she went back to her professor's office after class, but when she entered the room, he was gone.
...
One by one, her comrades were "stolen" from the agents' tight surveillance network by her elusive methods, along with all the important supplies scanned by the system.
At first, the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators who were responsible for keeping watch didn't think anything of it, but as time went on, they started to feel uneasy.
"Hey, have you seen the old tailor from Deshunxiang come out? It's been so long, hasn't he finished changing his clothes yet?"
"Strange, why did it take Liu, the bank's purchasing agent, so long just to go to the restroom? Did he have diarrhea?"
"Where's Professor Gao? Why has he been so quiet since he got home? It's already dark, and he hasn't even turned on the lights!"
......
"Oh no! Quick, go inside and find them! See if they're still there!"
In Beiping (Beijing), several seemingly unrelated places were simultaneously thrown into chaos. Secret agents broke down doors, only to find the buildings deserted. Living, breathing people had vanished right before their eyes. The Japanese soldiers and their collaborators responsible for surveillance were panicked!
Meanwhile, Zhou Jue, the instigator, had already moved the last comrade on the list. As darkness fell completely, she deactivated her invisibility, and with a few leaps, silently landed back in Old K's small courtyard.
The courtyard was quiet, and the light in the main room was on, casting a dim yellow light through the paper windows, which projected the shadow of a person pacing anxiously.
Zhou Jue pushed open the door and went in. Old K turned around abruptly, and when he saw it was her, his tense nerves relaxed slightly. He quickly came to meet her, lowered his voice, and asked anxiously, "How is it?"
"All nine comrades have been transferred to a safe location," Zhou Jue replied succinctly.
Old K was stunned. All of them? How long had it been? Only a few hours since she left that afternoon. He knew the hiding places of those comrades on the list; each one was surrounded by spies. Rescuing even one person without alerting anyone would be incredibly difficult, yet she had managed to rescue all nine?
He hadn't been unaware of what was happening outside that afternoon, but he hadn't heard anything significant! His mind was in turmoil, but he couldn't utter a single question.
He knew the rules: don't ask what you shouldn't ask. Everyone has their own secrets, especially on their front. Survival depends on keeping secrets.
“They’ve been exposed now and can no longer stay in Beiping.” Zhou Jue looked at him. “Do you need me to send them somewhere?”
"Is the place where you've put them now safe?" Old K asked, getting to the heart of the matter.
“Absolutely safe,” Zhou Jue replied.
Old K pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Since it's safe, let them remain still for now. We'll wait for instructions from above before deciding whether to withdraw them to the rear or transfer them to other cities to continue their covert operations. At a time like this, any slight movement could bring even greater danger."
“Okay.” Zhou Jue had no objection.
"The intelligence you provided, as well as the intelligence about Comrade Steel Nail, have been encrypted and reported to the authorities as quickly as possible." Old K's expression turned serious.
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