Agent: Intercepting Yu Manli at the start!

Top agents kill not by brute force, but by precision, timing, and absolute silence.

When he fell, not even the hem of his clothes was stirred.

Zhou Xiao quickly took off the Zhongshan suit and put it on, grabbed two packets of tea, and hurried out the door.

The corridor was empty, the lights dim. He walked along, scanning the room: three doors on either side were ajar, a vent at the end let in a faint light, and a faded "No Entry" sign hung at the top of the stairs—the layout of the third floor was instantly clear in his mind. He headed straight for Araki's room.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard voices coming from inside.

It's Araki Yui and Chida Eiko.

Chida Eiko: "Section Chief, that spy is acting normally; he's still lying in the hair salon."

Araki: "I never take these petty spies seriously. Although the mountain city is dangerous, seeing enemies everywhere will only throw us into disarray."

"Yes!" Chida Eiko paused for a moment, "I'll go down now."

Araki Yui: "No one is allowed to disturb my meditation without my permission."

He believed in meditation—that it was a way to cleanse the mind and concentrate the spirit.

Chida Eiko lowered her head and responded, "Understood."

Every word and phrase fell into Zhou Xiao's ears.

A moment later, the door opened. She walked out carrying her briefcase, her gaze sweeping over Zhou Xiao without pausing, as if he were nothing more than a potted plant in the corridor.

Once the sound of her high heels had completely disappeared around the corner of the stairs, Zhou Xiao, carrying tea leaves, slowly pushed open the door and entered.

The room was so simple and quiet it was almost deserted. On the tatami mats sat only a low tea table, its surface as smooth as a mirror, upon which were neatly arranged three teacups—one celadon, one black pottery, and one white porcelain. Clearly, they were prepared for Chen Xia, Chida Eiko, and Araki Yui himself.

Chen Xia is still in the mountain city, right in this building.

Araki is clever, but also arrogant.

Zhou Xiao placed the tea leaves on the corner of the table, then sat cross-legged opposite Araki, his voice calm: "Mr. Araki, would you like a cup of tea?"

Araki, who was pouring water, suddenly jerked his wrist. The water stream veered off course, splashing out two drops. He frowned slightly, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes, before lowering his gaze to continue brewing, his voice as steady as ever: "When guests arrive, how can one refuse them?"

The tea was clear and bright. He poured a cup himself and pushed it in front of Zhou Xiao: "I didn't expect you to be able to find your way here and sit so calmly."

To be able to silently infiltrate his lair and then sit down in front of him without making a sound—such courage and skill are truly rare.

"Thank you." Zhou Xiao took the cup, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing, without any hesitation.

Araki then looked up and examined him—at first glance, he was surprisingly young.

too young.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with a sharp, chiseled jawline, but his eyes were unfathomable, like two ancient wells, revealing no emotion, only a faint, eerie light.

This old spy, who had lived half his life, never imagined that he would be defeated by a young agent who hadn't even grown a beard yet.

"You dare to venture into my den alone? Aren't you afraid of dying?" Araki asked, staring at him.

"I'm afraid," Zhou Xiao chuckled, "but I'm even more afraid of failure. The more people involved, the more flaws there are, aren't they?"

Araki Yui paused for a moment, then slowly nodded: "That's right. So you're smart enough."

From the moment he stepped into the Old Paris Barber Shop, Zhou Xiao was acting—deliberately brandishing a gun and adopting a reckless and arrogant posture, making Araki mistakenly believe that he was just a hothead who bullied others by relying on his power.

Who would willingly expose their identity while carrying out a mission?

Chida Eiko even circled the barbershop twice, checking the doors and windows and watching the street corner. She also sent the tea server into the private room three times to "deliver water." Each time, she only saw Zhou Xiao lying with his eyes closed, holding a half-wet towel between his fingers.

The conclusion is straightforward: he was just an ordinary customer.

If he had truly led a group to ambush them, with Araki and Chida's keen eyesight, they should have already detected the clues. The more people there are, the easier it is to expose them; no matter how dense the net is laid, it may not be able to trap a slippery eel.

Araki dared to set up his base in old Paris, so there must be a way out, a secret passage, and backup behind him.

So when Zhou Xiao actually sat down opposite him, the old spy couldn't hide the momentary surprise on his face.

Deceiving the truth with falsehood, concealing cleverness with clumsiness—the most effective deception is never the lie itself, but the way the truth is deliberately distorted.

Araki picked up his teacup and took a sip: "Your presence here means Chen Shan is finished?"

"That's right." Zhou Xiao nodded. "Chen Shan has been captured, and the second 'Sakura' spy planted there has also been uncovered. Now, it's your turn."

Araki Yui's knuckles turned slightly white as he held the teacup.

Sakura Qiaoyu was Araki's most secret mole planted in the second location. He lay dormant for many years until recently when he was finally put into use to keep an eye on Chen Shan. But as soon as he showed his face, his life was cut off.

"Okay." Araki Yui's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, his voice as calm as a frozen lake, but his knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned white, and the veins under his sleeves throbbed faintly.

"You played this game beautifully, managing to mold Chen Shan into Xiao Zhengguo's image and send him back to the Military Intelligence Bureau as an undercover agent." Zhou Xiao slowly lifted the tea lid, letting the steam rise gently. "It's a pity, even the tightest net can't stop a draft—and coincidentally, that draft was me."

Araki raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife, scrutinizing Zhou Xiao's face for a full five seconds before asking in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you?"

"Hades." Zhou Xiao uttered two words, as softly as a sigh.

Hades—the supreme god of the underworld in Greek mythology, and also the embodiment of plague and destruction. He is the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, and the brother of Poseidon and Zeus, born with the vermilion pen of the Book of Life and Death in his hand.

To control the underworld is to hold the lifeline of everyone.

Araki Yui, you can't even get close to his real name.

In fact, he had been waiting all along—waiting for an opening to draw his gun, or for a cry of alarm. But he soon realized that even blinking felt like walking on a knife's edge.

Chida Eiko and her men were outside the door; any slight movement would attract reinforcements. But Zhou Xiao's gaze remained fixed on him, like two red-hot nails; the slightest movement would bring a searing pain that would explode between his brows.

Their escape route had already been silently sealed off.

"Pluto?" Araki suddenly smiled, a brief, cold smile, like a blade slicing through glass. His clenched hands suddenly shot up, the gun already drawn, the muzzle pointed directly at Zhou Xiao's forehead!

He was a sharpshooter with a fast gun and a deadly accuracy; he was one of the best marksmen in the Kwantung Army.

But Zhou Xiao was faster—so fast that the trigger had been pulled before the gun was even fully raised.

boom!

The muffler suppressed the explosion, leaving only a dull thud, like a ripe persimmon hitting a brick wall.

*Pfft... Sizzle—*

Less than three steps away. The bullet tore through flesh, penetrated the skull, and the scorching bullet shattered the brain, killing instantly.

Araki's pupils dilated suddenly, spiderweb-like blood vessels appearing in the whites of his eyes. A thin stream of blood meandered down from his brow, across his nose, and dripped onto the rim of the teacup. Without even swaying, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, spilling tea everywhere.

According to the original plot of "Awakening of Insects", Araki should have survived to the end - being dragged into hell by Chen Shan with bombs and marbles.

But now, he has passed away before he could even finish his final act.

The script was completely rewritten.

"The head of the Special Affairs Section of the Shang Mansion?" Zhou Xiao bent down, scooped up Araki's limp body, quickly straightened the corpse, turned it away from the door, placed his right hand on the rim of the cup, and assumed the posture of carefully sipping tea.

He used a silenced gun not because he was afraid of making noise, but because he was afraid of alerting Chida Eiko—and even more afraid that she would use Chen Xia as a hostage to force him to surrender.

Araki died so quietly, without even a ripple.

After tidying up, Zhou Xiao got up, pushed open the door, closed it behind him, and walked steadily toward the depths of the barbershop.

The place wasn't big, with only five or six rooms, and he quickly located Chen Xia's location.

The door wasn't locked, and no one was guarding it.

Chen Xia is a blind girl; she cannot see, and her mind is as clear as day. Araki tricked her into believing he was there to help the young man make shoes, but in reality, he used her as a tool to control Chen Shan—she was completely unaware of this, so Araki was completely unprepared.

This gap became Zhou Xiao's wedge for breaking through the defense.

He slipped inside, his movements as light as a falling leaf.

Inside the room, Chen Xia was sitting by the window sewing shoes. The needle and thread moved back and forth between the coarse cloth, and her fingertips were so nimble that she didn't seem like a blind person.

Hearing footsteps, she paused, listened for a moment, and whispered, "Did you fire the gun?"

—You can hear that?

Araki's room was separated by two walls and a corridor, and the silenced gun was already almost inaudible...

But she heard it clearly.

The foreshadowing in "Awakening of Insects" was already there: Chen Xia's hearing was far beyond that of ordinary people. Later, she was chosen by Araki and specially trained to identify radio signals. At this moment, Zhou Xiao finally experienced firsthand what it meant to have "ears that are brighter than eyes".

Sure enough.

"I'm a friend of your older brother Chen Shan." Zhou Xiao stepped forward quickly and took out a shiny key pouch from his pocket. "He asked me to take you around the mountain city."

It was a keepsake made by Chen Shan himself; the edges of the copper clasp had been worn smooth and shiny from being rubbed.

He gently placed the pouch clasp into Chen Xia's palm. The moment her fingertips touched it, she immediately clenched it, as if she were grasping a piece of her life that she had lost and then regained.

"Did the young man really send you?" Her voice trembled, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"Hmm." Zhou Xiao glanced at his watch—11:12.

Three minutes left.

At 11:15, Chen Shan will lead the Military Intelligence Bureau's action team to launch a strong attack on this place.

Everything hinged on the precise second hand he struck.

"Wait a little longer," he said gently. "Your brother will be here soon, let's go together."

"Okay." Chen Xia nodded, her eyes vacant, but a long-lost smile appeared on her lips.

Three minutes later.

Outside the old Parisian barbershop, a few more idle people have "occasionally" appeared on the street: a newsboy squats under the plane tree flipping through old newspapers, a woman carrying a basket to buy vegetables always lingers at the shop entrance, and two young men in long gowns lean against a telephone pole smoking, their cigarette butts glowing and their eyes scanning the barbershop's doorway inch by inch.

This unusual occurrence did not escape Chida Eiko's notice.

She strode down the corridor, stopped in front of Araki's door, knocked three times, and said in a tense voice, "Section Chief, it's an emergency! The entire area outside is swarming with Kuomintang agents!"

The room was deathly silent.

Chida Eiko called out again, "Section Chief, retreat immediately! We can't wait any longer!"

There was still no response, not even the slightest sound.

Her heart sank, and disregarding etiquette, she pushed open the door—only to see Araki sitting upright at the tea table, his back straight as a pine tree, facing inward, motionless, like a cold, hard stone statue.

"Section Chief, please forgive my rudeness!"

She hurried forward, but only dared to stop to the side and slightly behind, her feet together, her head bowed low, her voice strained: "A large number of Kuomintang troops have suddenly appeared outside and have surrounded the entire street! If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"