Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 253: Cautiously

“I quietly checked all the rooms. There are listening devices in this apartment, maybe in every room. We have to be careful not to give ourselves away.”

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure, I suspect there are still hidden cameras."

"A pinhole camera?" During the seven-day intensive training, Zhou Yuan learned many techniques such as coded messages, intelligence gathering, tracking, and counter-tracking, so of course he knew what a pinhole camera was.

Zhou Yuan recalled his parting with General Chu, who had said, "Little Zhou, you and Xiaolu must be careful on this trip. Treat it like a play in your lives; you and Xiaolu must perform well and not make the slightest mistake. Don't give yourself away. I'm entrusting my precious daughter to you. Xiaolu, you must cooperate with Little Zhou and protect him at all costs. Even if it costs you your own life, you must protect Little Zhou." After saying this, General Chu patted Zhou Yuan on the shoulder.

"Yes, Father." Zhou Yuan remembered that Chu Xiaolu saluted General Chu with tears in her eyes.

General Chu pulled the two men together and made them stand side by side in front of him, nodding repeatedly.

"Although you two are pretending to be husband and wife, in my heart, there is no distinction between real and fake."

General Chu's meaning couldn't be clearer. Chu Xiaolu blushed. Zhou Yuan thought of Xiao Mei and hesitated, wondering whether to tell her about Xiao Mei. But after thinking about it, he decided not to. He didn't want any more unexpected events to delay the important mission.

"Can you find all the listening devices and hidden cameras?"

“Give me time, and I can pinpoint their location. However, I am concerned that Western Turks possess listening devices or technologies that we do not have.”

When Zhou Yuan heard what Chu Xiaolu said, he thought to himself that this was indeed a troublesome matter. If they did not move out of this apartment, Zhou Yuan and Chu Xiaolu would have to keep pretending. Even if they moved to another place, the Western Kingdom would still secretly monitor them. In other words, as long as they were in the Western Kingdom, they would have to keep pretending and could not make any mistakes. General Chu and General Chu had already anticipated this situation.

"In other words, as long as we are in the Western Kingdom, we must be on guard at all times."

"Yes."

After saying that, Chu Xiaolu leaned closer to her.

There's something I need to tell you.

"What's up?"

"I...I have a woman."

Chu Xiaolu was shocked for a moment, but quickly recovered. "That floral umbrella, it's hers, isn't it?"

"Ah."

"When did this happen?"

"The night before I and you entered Xishan."

Chu Xiaolu thought for a moment, then whispered in Zhou Yuan's ear, "Is it Panna?"

Zhou Yuan paused for a moment, then gently touched Chu Xiaolu's hand. "No."

Since they were coming to the Western Tu Kingdom, all of Zhou Yuan's belongings were kept by General Chu, including the clothes that Zhou Yuan and Chu Xiaolu wore when they came to the Western Tu Kingdom, which were also from the Kingdom of Risa.

“I can’t interfere in your affairs. The task assigned to me by the organization is to cooperate with you and protect you. We must complete the mission and perform the play well.” It’s clear that Chu Xiaolu, as a soldier, is obedient to orders and decisive.

After lightly tapping Zhou Yuan's palm, Chu Xiaolu suddenly flipped over and pressed down on Zhou Yuan. Chu Xiaolu pressed down on Zhou Yuan's hands with both hands and wrapped her legs around Zhou Yuan's waist. Zhou Yuan felt that Chu Xiaolu was extremely strong, and after struggling slightly, he gave up.

Chu Xiaolu slowly released Zhou Yuan's hands and stroked his cheek with her right hand. Zhou Yuan also stroked Chu Xiaolu's face with his right hand and suddenly felt that his hand was a little wet. Was that Chu Xiaolu's tears? Because the room was too dark, Zhou Yuan could not tell and could only guess.

Zhou Yuan tentatively reached out and hugged Chu Xiaolu's waist, but Chu Xiaolu didn't react. Suddenly, Zhou Yuan felt a soft touch on her lips. Chu Xiaolu turned to the side and pressed herself against Zhou Yuan, and Zhou Yuan felt a wave of tingling.

Zhou Yuan felt as if he had returned to twenty days ago. Xiao Mei's face flashed by in an instant, and soon after, he heard Chu Xiaolu's seemingly deliberately suppressed cry of pain, before falling into a gentle, intoxicating embrace. The two of them tossed and turned until the wee hours of the morning.

In a hazy, half-asleep state, Zhou Yuan seemed to hear a buzzing sound again. He opened his eyes, still hearing the same buzzing. He tried to move to turn on the light and swat the mosquitoes, but he felt that Chu Xiaolu was sleeping on her side, her right hand on his chest, her head resting on his right arm. Zhou Yuan had no choice but to give up on moving. He realized that the buzzing sound was familiar, and suddenly remembered the night he took care of the drunken Panna at Uncle Pan's house; it was the same buzzing sound then. Zhou Yuan found it strange; this sound seemed different from the sound of mosquitoes. It was louder, and the buzzing frequency seemed to be faster than that of mosquitoes.

Zhou Yuan thought of Xiao Mei and Pan Na, then looked at Chu Xiaolu beside him, but couldn't see her face clearly. Zhou Yuan gently stroked Chu Xiaolu's face with his left hand and kissed her forehead.

Chu Xiaolu's even breathing stopped for a moment, then resumed. Only now did Zhou Yuan feel a slight soreness in his right arm, but he remained motionless, keeping Chu Xiaolu in her current sleeping position.

After a while, the buzzing sound started again. Zhou Yuan tried his best to analyze the sound. Suddenly, he thought of a sound, but it was impossible. It was the end of July. Where would there be bees? And how could there be bees in this apartment? Zhou Yuan thought for a long time but still couldn't figure it out.

In a daze, Zhou Yuan woke up again and found that Chu Xiaolu was no longer in bed. He looked out the window and saw that the sunlight was already golden. Zhou Yuan looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table and saw that it was already 8:30 in the morning.

Zhou Yuan noticed that a set of clothes and a pair of socks had already been placed on the bedside table. Zhou Yuan got up, changed his clothes, and was about to fold the sheets when he suddenly noticed a blood-red stain on the mattress. Zhou Yuan was stunned and remembered that a similar blood-red stain had appeared in the back seat of the car that night, and Xiao Mei had wiped it for a while.

Zhou Yuan was about to pull the mattress sheet out when he suddenly remembered something. He gave up on pulling it out, took out a few tissues to wipe the sheet, and then, showing an impatient expression, quickly pulled the sheet out, crumpled it up, and placed it on the bedside table. Zhou Yuan rummaged through the wardrobe in the master bedroom, found another mattress sheet, and re-lay it on the bed.

Zhou Yuan picked up the crumpled sheet and placed it in the laundry room next to the hall, on top of the washing machine, which was already running.

"Hey, baby, where are you?" Zhou Yuan called out.

“Honey, I’m in the kitchen,” Chu Xiaolu called out loudly.

Zhou Yuan walked into the kitchen, pushed open the door, and was greeted by a fragrant aroma.

"Honey, it smells so good! Is this breakfast?"

"Yes, that's right, the scallion pancakes you like."

Zhou Yuan thought to himself, "This scallion pancake is something the people of Risa like to eat. I, on the other hand, prefer chicken noodle soup and potstickers." Nevertheless, Zhou Yuan secretly praised Chu Xiaolu. The two of them had learned quite a bit about Risa during their ten days in Risa.

Chu Xiaolu was wearing an apron and flipping over some fried dough sticks when Zhou Yuan wrapped his arms around her slender waist from behind and kissed her cheek from the side. Chu Xiaolu tilted her head back, and their lips met, kissing for a few seconds.

"Honey, wait for me in the lobby. We'll start eating soon."

"Okay, honey, you've worked hard."

Zhou Yuan entered the hall and sat at the dining table. He casually pulled a book from a small bookshelf near the table, pretending to read, but in reality, he was pondering a series of questions: the home security cameras, the buzzing sound, how to meet his contact to exchange intelligence, how to ensure their continued secrecy, how to obtain more valuable intelligence in the Western Turks, how to perform at the Western Turks Academy of Sciences, and whether the domestic experts' research on his manuscript was progressing smoothly. Although Zhou Yuan had considered some of these issues beforehand, he still needed to consider every aspect. While reading, his thoughts were unrelated to the book, yet his brain still retained most of its content—a testament to Zhou Yuan's exceptional abilities.

"Honey, let's eat," Chu Xiaolu called out.

Zhou Yuan put down his book and looked at Chu Xiaolu across from him. Chu Xiaolu's face was beaming with a bright smile. "Baby, why are you so happy?"

Chu Xiaolu smiled and said, "This is our home."

"Yes. Let's eat."

The two knew that the hall might be bugged, so they simply ate and talked about how to arrange the day's activities.

"Honey, it's Saturday today, shall we go somewhere for a stroll?"

"Hmm, I checked the map on my phone. There's a pretty big park nearby, it looks nice. Shall we go for a walk?"

"Okay, okay!" Chu Xiaolu clapped her hands. Soon the two finished breakfast. Chu Xiaolu hung up the washed clothes and then threw the crumpled sheet into the washing machine for automatic washing.

After tidying up, Chu Xiaolu took her handbag, locked the door, and went out to take the elevator to the underground parking garage.

After the elevator doors closed, Chu Xiaolu immediately put down her handbag and began quickly searching Zhou Yuan's clothes, including pockets, cuffs, and edges, as well as his shoes. However, Chu Xiaolu did not find any listening devices in Zhou Yuan's clothes or shoes.

The elevator quickly arrived at the basement level. Chu Xiaolu pressed the button for the sixth floor of her apartment. The elevator doors closed and started moving upwards again. Chu Xiaolu quickly searched Zhou Yuan's clothes and shoes for a while, but still found nothing.

As the elevator descended, Zhou Yuan began to examine Chu Xiaolu's clothes and shoes, but found nothing unusual.

The two exited the elevator and walked towards parking area A on the basement level. They held hands and began communicating in Morse code as they walked.

Zhou Yuan first asked Chu Xiaolu, "We don't have any listening devices on us?"

"We can't be sure yet. We need to get a bugging device and thoroughly check our house and car. Even our cell phones, when we make or receive calls, will probably be tapped."

Zhou Yuan felt a chill run down his spine. If this were the case, it would be really inconvenient to move around, and the two of them would have no privacy whatsoever.

Zhou Yuan hardened his heart and lightly touched Chu Xiaolu's hand, "Let's not drive, let's take a taxi."

"what happened?"

"For safety reasons, we have to change all our clothes and shoes, and then we'll say we don't like them."

"Well, this is fine."

"Let's go, let's go to the mall to buy clothes and shoes first."

Zhou Yuan, holding Chu Xiaolu's hand, returned to the elevator entrance. At the elevator entrance, Zhou Yuan took out his phone, turned it off, and removed the battery. Chu Xiaolu did the same.

The two stepped out of the elevator and onto the ground. The sunlight outside was still quite strong. They walked towards the entrance of the residential area, which was the west gate. It faced a main road with cars coming and going and many pedestrians on the sidewalk.