Chapter 122 Afraid that her sister will run away?
"Xie Yunce, how are you feeling?" Xu Zhili quickly reached out and gently helped Xie Yunce up.
"Sister, I'm alright, but what should we do with these people?" Xie Yunze frowned slightly and asked the group of people.
"Don't worry, we'll just wait here for them to come," Xu Zhili said calmly.
"Huh? More people are coming? Could it be another group of spies?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Yunze immediately became nervous and paced anxiously back and forth.
"Don't worry, they're not spies."
Seeing Xie Yunze's nervous expression, Xu Zhili reached out and gently patted his shoulder to comfort him.
"It should be the military. They should arrive soon after hearing the commotion. Let them handle these men in black; it'll save us some trouble."
Xie Yunze relaxed slightly upon hearing this, but he was still somewhat puzzled: "People from the military? What are they doing here..."
Before he could finish speaking, a series of steady and powerful footsteps came from afar.
Not long after, a group of people dressed in military green uniforms appeared.
Their steps were neat and powerful, radiating an aura of determination, like a steady green torrent surging towards us.
The leader was a burly middle-aged man with piercing eyes and a calm demeanor befitting someone who had been through many battles.
Upon seeing Xu Zhili and Xie Yunze, he quickly stepped forward and asked with concern, "Comrades, I am from the nearby People's Liberation Army unit. My surname is Zhou, and I am the captain here."
"Are you all alright? As soon as our troops received the news that enemy agents had appeared in the back mountains, they rushed over without stopping."
Xu Zhili gently shook her head, a tired yet gratified smile appearing on her face.
"Hello, we're fine. Luckily you arrived in time, otherwise we don't know how much effort it would have taken to resolve these problems."
Upon hearing this, Captain Zhou glanced at the men in black lying haphazardly on the ground and frowned slightly.
"Which faction do these guys belong to? They're so ruthless, daring to openly attack you."
Xie Yunze clenched his fists and said angrily, "Captain Zhou, these people are spies sent by foreign powers, trying to intercept the important intelligence we have finally obtained."
"Foreign spies?" (Foreign countries are foreign countries)
Captain Zhou's eyes instantly sharpened like an eagle's, and he snorted coldly, "They really haven't given up, daring to act so recklessly in the country. It seems we need to intensify our investigations into these kinds of forces recently."
As he spoke, he turned to his team members behind him and loudly ordered, "Take all these people back and interrogate them thoroughly. Make sure you find out who the mastermind is and what their plans are."
The team members responded in unison, "Yes!" and quickly began to escort the man in black away.
Captain Zhou then looked at Xu Zhili and Xie Yunze and said earnestly, "Although this operation to capture enemy agents has come to a temporary end, you must not relax in the slightest."
"In the days to come, you must always be mindful of your own safety. Once we have completely wiped out the enemy agents, I will report to my superiors and try to secure a special reward for you."
Xu Zhili and Xie Yunze exchanged a glance. Before parting, Captain Zhou shook hands with both of them and said goodbye.
"Fall back!"
With Captain Zhou's command to "regroup," the team members quickly regrouped and escorted the prisoners away in an orderly manner.
Xu Zhili and Xie Yunze watched the group gradually disappear into the distance, their figures becoming increasingly blurred in the green mountains and forests.
Xie Yunze's Adam's apple bobbed, and his dry palm instinctively enveloped Xu Zhili's slightly cool fingers.
His ears flushed slightly, and he turned his face away from her, but his voice carried an undeniable force: "Sister, we're going down the mountain."
Xu Zhili's fingertips curled up subconsciously, not out of shyness, but out of an instinctive wariness towards sudden contact, a trait developed during the apocalypse.
But the warm, dry touch from my palm felt real and meant no harm.
She looked up, her sharp gaze sweeping over the boy's tense profile and unnatural blush, a playful smile suddenly curving her lips.
After walking a few steps, a mountain breeze swept by.
Xu Zhili lowered her eyes and looked at the two clasped hands.
The boy's hands, with their distinct knuckles and thin calluses, were now stubbornly and clumsily encircling her.
She didn't break free; instead, she lightly scratched his palm with her fingertips.
Xie Yunze jerked violently as if he had been scalded, almost tripping over his own hands and feet.
"Tsk!"
Xu Zhili chuckled softly, the sound particularly clear in the quiet mountain forest, tinged with a hint of teasing, "Xie Yunce, your claws are pretty quick, aren't they? Holding on so tightly, are you afraid your sister will run away?"
She deliberately shook the hand he was holding tightly.
Xie Yunze suddenly stopped and turned around.
His face was still flushed, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness, like a small animal that had been provoked, with a stubborn ferocity in them: "Hmm! Scared!"
His voice sounded somewhat muffled, yet exceptionally clear, like a stone settling in a mountain stream. He spoke slowly, "This road is really difficult to walk on, with lots of loose stones. I'm afraid... afraid you might twist your ankle if you're not careful. I... I'll hold your hand, so it'll be more stable."
Xu Zhili felt as if a feather had gently tickled her heart, and a sweet feeling quietly spread through her.
My gaze inadvertently swept over the boy's lowered profile, and I noticed that the tips of his ears, peeking out from under the brim of his old military cap, were so red they looked like freshly picked hawthorns, dazzlingly bright.
Seeing her forced composure yet utterly embarrassed, her heart melted; she found him incredibly adorable.
Xu Zhili felt like teasing him, so she deliberately took another half step closer, her clear voice carrying a mischievous smile.
"A-Ce, your ears are so sharp... Did the mountain wind ripen them? They're so bright red."
Xie Yunze felt as if he had been pricked by a needle. His back straightened instantly, his head shook like a rattle drum, and his voice stumbled slightly.
"No, no, it's just that the slope is steep and I was walking fast, so I... I got sweaty!"
He instinctively reached out to touch his ear, but halfway up, he clenched his fist and awkwardly put it back at his side.
Seeing his flustered attempt to cover up his true feelings, Xu Zhili couldn't help but chuckle. Her eyebrows curved into crescent moons, and her voice softened.
"Alright, alright, I believe you. A-Ce is so concerned about his sister's safety, he has a high level of awareness and takes positive action, he deserves praise."
She paused, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, a sly smile playing on her lips, "I'll tell you what the reward is after we safely descend the mountain."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yunze's eyes, which had been lowered due to nervousness, suddenly lit up, like stars breaking through the clouds to reveal the moon. He looked at her eagerly, his Adam's apple bobbing. He wanted to ask but was a little embarrassed to speak, so he just gave a soft "hmm".
My steps quickened involuntarily, as if the path down the mountain had suddenly shortened.
While carefully watching his footing on the sharp pebbles, he couldn't help but steal glances at the smiling girl beside him, his heart pounding like a rabbit, pondering repeatedly.
What could the reward she mentioned be...?
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