Spy Wars: Strong Agents Who Are Ruthless and Talk Little

Su Ming pushed open the door, and the doorbell rang out a crisp jingle. The shopkeeper looked up at him with a professional smile on his face. "What can I do for you?" His voice was hoarse and a little careless.

"Two loaves of bread." Su Ming's tone was calm, but his eyes scanned the shop's interior with a calm gaze. From the old goods on the shelves to the curtains stacked in the corner, not a single detail escaped his gaze. Zheng Yaoxian had taught him that even seemingly ordinary places could harbor danger.

The shopkeeper picked up two fairly fresh loaves of bread, wrapped them in a paper bag, and handed them to Su Ming. As Su Ming took them, his eyes strayed to a small wooden box beside the counter. The lid was slightly ajar, revealing what appeared to be some yellowed envelopes. His gaze lingered for a moment before he quickly shifted away, naturally pulling out a few coins and placing them on the counter.

The shopkeeper took the money and casually placed it in the drawer, then lowered his head and continued working. Su Ming left the shop with the bread in his hand, but a sense of unease welled up inside him. The envelope in the wooden box, seemingly ordinary, reminded him of the secret code used in certain missions. He couldn't be sure if it connected to him, but his intuition told him that this shop might not be as simple as it seemed.

"Could it be a coincidence?" Su Ming pondered as he walked, but he quickly dismissed the idea. "There are almost no true coincidences in this world."

Instead of going back directly, he turned into a secluded alley and hid himself in the shadows. The aroma of bread filled his nose, but he didn't take a bite immediately. Instead, he stared intently in the direction of the bakery. As expected, not long after, the shopkeeper emerged from the shop, carrying the wooden box in his hand, and hurriedly walked towards another alley.

Su Ming frowned, his mind racing with thought: Should I follow or not? If this was a trap, he might be exposed; but if he missed this opportunity, he might lose all clues to the truth.

He took a deep breath, bit off a small piece of bread and swallowed it quickly, then stuffed the paper bag into his pocket, lowered his head to straighten his collar, hid in the shadows, and followed quietly.

The shopkeeper walked quickly, his expression a bit anxious. He passed through several winding alleys and finally stopped in front of a rusty iron gate. Su Ming hid in a corner not far away, holding his breath, observing the other party's every move.

The shopkeeper took out a bunch of keys from his pocket, quickly opened the iron door, and walked in. The creaking sound of the iron door was particularly harsh in the quiet alley. A faint light was faintly visible behind the door, which seemed to be the entrance to some kind of basement.

Su Ming didn't act rashly, but waited quietly. He knew he couldn't rush in, as that would only expose his whereabouts. He quickly searched the nearby terrain for alternatives, and soon found a pile of discarded wooden boxes stacked together nearby, just enough to climb up to the window next to the iron gate.

He quietly moved to the wooden box, stepped on it, climbed up to the window sill, and peered cautiously through the glass. He saw a low basement, lit by a few dim lights. The shopkeeper was placing the wooden box on a wooden table. Two men stood beside him: one was thin and dressed in black, the other wore a hat, his face hidden in the shadows.

"Everything is here." The shopkeeper whispered with a bit of panic in his tone.

The man in black reached out and opened the wooden box, flipping through it casually a few times before whispering something to the shopkeeper. Su Ming couldn't hear their conversation clearly, but he could tell the shopkeeper seemed a little nervous. His hands were shaking slightly, and beads of sweat were beading on his forehead.

Su Ming frowned, countless possibilities flashing through his mind. "What exactly is in this wooden box?" He suppressed his curiosity and didn't easily reveal his whereabouts. He knew that at a time like this, the most important thing was to observe and wait.

Suddenly, the man in the hat turned and looked toward the door, as if he had noticed something unusual. Su Ming's heart tightened, and he immediately ducked under the window sill, holding his breath. His heart was pounding, cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and his palms felt slightly cold. "Have we been discovered?"

However, a few seconds later, he heard the voice of a man in a hat coming from inside the house: "Everything is fine outside. I was just worried."

The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief and asked cautiously, "So...what's next?"

Su Ming lay on his narrow bed, gazing out through the tattered curtains at the pitch-black night sky. The faint twinkling stars in the night sky seemed to remind him of some unsolved mystery. The unspoken anxiety within him intensified, troubled not only by the truth behind the wooden box and pocket watch but also by Zheng Yaoxian's sudden disappearance.

Ever since Zheng Yaoxian told him that night, "Don't trust anyone," he had felt a surge of unease. Zheng Yaoxian hadn't given him any explanation or offered any further guidance. Instead, he seemed to deliberately avoid Su Ming's questions and even disappeared a few days later.

"Disappear..." Su Ming muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. Whenever he tried to recall Zheng Yaoxian's last appearance, that look that once filled him with awe, it always became blurry. The image of Zheng Yaoxian in his mind gradually became less real, like some kind of illusion, or a mystery beyond his reach.

He didn't dare to trust himself completely, and even began to doubt some of his memories. "Is he really disappearing? Or am I... abandoned?" A chill ran down his spine.

For the past few days, Su Ming has been asking around for news of Zheng Yaoxian, but everyone he reaches out to seems strangely indifferent and unfamiliar with the name. Even in the words of some of his closest old friends, Zheng Yaoxian seems long gone. Those familiar faces are beginning to blur, and Su Ming's heart is filled with emptiness and fear. "Could it be that Zheng Yaoxian never existed?"

He stood up quickly, the uneasiness in his heart threatening to consume him. He had to find the answer, no matter what. He had to find Zheng Yaoxian.

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door. The sound wasn't particularly urgent, but rather carried a helpless rhythm, as if waiting for Su Ming to open the door. Su Ming hurried over and opened the door. Standing outside was the owner of the bakery, holding a letter in his hand.

"What is this...?" Su Ming was slightly stunned, and a hint of alertness flashed through his mind.

"This is what the master asked you to take." The shopkeeper had a kind smile on his face, but the flicker in his eyes made Su Ming feel uneasy. The shopkeeper's eyes were too calm, as if he saw through something, even knowing something more clearly than Su Ming.