This was Gao Yang's first time in a love hotel. To be honest, he didn't like it.
Red lights, red carpets, red walls, red furniture, red bed curtains... it was like the claustrophobic cave of a Spider Spirit.
Qing Ling locked the door, drew the curtains, opened the iron box, and after studying it for a moment, assembled the sniper rifle.
It was still early. There was nothing to do.
Qing Ling sat on the oddly shaped tantric chair, while Gao Yang sat on the soft waterbed. The two looked at each other, the atmosphere subtle and awkward—in fact, Qing Ling was perfectly calm; only Gao Yang didn't know where to put his hands.
Suddenly, Gao Yang's phone rang.
It was a call from Wang Zikai. "Brother! Impulse is the devil! Think clearly!! If you take this step today, you can never go back! You'll be dirty! A man who doesn't love himself is like a rotten cabbage! I spit on you! Pui!"
"Women are no good! She will only affect the speed of your R-Flash combo!"
"Come out quickly! Ranking up together is the only righteous path!"
"I'm in the E-sports room, 601! Big screen projection, high-end surround sound, super immersive! Hurry up! If you're a brother, climb the ranks with me till dawn!"
Gao Yang hung up.
"Are you very lonely?" Qing Ling asked.
"Huh?"
"Then why are you friends with an idiot?" Qing Ling looked baffled.
"It's... a long story." Gao Yang gave an awkward smile.
Qing Ling stood up and walked toward the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."
The bathroom was a standalone glass cubicle with semi-frosted glass. Although it was frosted, one could still see the general shapes.
Soon, Qing Ling took off her jacket and skirt, hanging them on the glass door. Next, her white underwear was also generously hung up there.
She really doesn't treat me as an outsider, huh!
Gao Yang hurriedly looked down. However, the bottom half-meter of the glass was transparent. Gao Yang could see Qing Ling's slender calves and smooth ankles. Amidst the sound of rushing water, hot water mixed with white foam from the body wash flowed down the lines of her calves to her ankles, finally washing away on the floor.
Gao Yang took out his phone and started scrolling.
Qing Ling finished washing quickly. When she walked out of the bathroom, she was wrapped only in a sexy bath towel.
She said to Gao Yang, "You go wash too."
"Do I have to?"
"In the eyes of outsiders, we are here to hook up. All traces must conform to behavioral logic and cannot arouse suspicion from any Beast."
As Qing Ling spoke, she walked to the nightstand, opened a box of condoms, took one out, tore open the packaging, wrapped the condom in toilet paper, and put it in her schoolbag, seemingly planning to take it away.
She thought for a moment and asked, "Is one enough? How many do you usually use?"
"..."
Gao Yang was choked speechless. He didn't even know what he was saying. "Just... one is fine."
After creating all the reasonable "traces" in the room, the two squinted and rested for a while. Of course, Gao Yang wasn't sleepy at all. He kept thinking about questions—serious questions.
At 5:30 AM, the alarm rang. Qing Ling opened her eyes and got out of bed.
Gao Yang hadn't slept at all. He got up too and asked impatiently, "I remember you said before that Beasts don't have reproductive systems."
Qing Ling nodded. She walked to the mini-fridge in the corner, opened the door, took out two bottles of drinks, threw one to Gao Yang, and opened one for herself, taking a sip.
"I have a question." Gao Yang spun the drink bottle in his hand. "Officer Huang... is married, right?"
Qing Ling nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"According to the one-in-ten-thousand ratio, his wife is most likely a Beast, right?"
"Should be."
"Then, as soon as they have sex... wouldn't there be a problem?"
Qing Ling took another sip. "Beasts don't lack reproductive systems; they lack real human reproductive systems. But they can mimic them. There are subtle differences between the two."
"Mimic? Differences?" Gao Yang pondered.
Qing Ling looked calm. "I awakened when I was very young. The first human I met was my cousin."
"Oh."
"He slept with many girls. Until one day, he slept with a human girl. He found that the feeling was different from before."
"And then he awakened?" Gao Yang had mixed feelings. This shows that scumbags are destined for a bad end. After all, if Qing Ling's cousin hadn't awakened, he wouldn't have died.
Qing Ling nodded. "My cousin told me that if you've never had a relationship with a human, then no matter how many times you do it with a Beast, you won't notice. But as long as you do it once with a human, you can sense something is wrong."
"So... do you have experience in this area?" Gao Yang swore he was asking with a serious spirit of academic inquiry.
"No." Qing Ling shook her head. "My cousin told me that males are easy to distinguish. Because male Beasts mimic the human reproductive system, their bodies complete the reaction instantly. But male human bodies complete the reaction slowly."
Gao Yang thought of the "test" that night and couldn't help blushing.
"As for female Beasts, my cousin said it can only be understood, not explained in words." Qing Ling suddenly looked at Gao Yang. "How about we try it once? That way, we'll both have experience."
Pffft—
Gao Yang sprayed his drink.
"What, is it funny?" Qing Ling frowned.
"N-no. If there's a chance... we'll talk about it later." Gao Yang hurriedly changed the subject and glanced at his phone. "It's almost 6:00."
Qing Ling took out the note from her pocket, a glint of cold determination flashing in her eyes.
"Is it to kill someone?" Gao Yang had already guessed. "Who?"
Qing Ling handed the note to Gao Yang. "See for yourself."
—6:00 AM. Observation Deck No. 2 on the riverside scenic belt outside the window. Kill the woman beside me. Aim for the head or heart.
Gao Yang looked at the note and fell into thought:
"The woman beside me" implies that Officer Huang will also appear later. The target must be his colleague, friend, or family member. Officer Huang isn't killing her himself; instead, he's staying with her and entering the surveillance range. He must want to create the perfect alibi and borrow our knife to kill, clearing himself of suspicion.
This is no simple matter.
Qing Ling pulled open the curtains, pushed the tantric chair to the window, set up the sniper rifle, tilted her head, and pressed her right eye to the scope. It had to be said—the image of a tall beauty wrapped in a bath towel using a sniper rifle on a tantric chair was simply too crazy.
A moment later, Qing Ling spoke. "Target spotted."
Gao Yang quickly leaned over. "Let me see."
Through the scope, Gao Yang looked at Observation Deck No. 2 on the riverside scenic belt.
The morning sunlight was clean and soft. A woman with an artistic and intellectual aura stood on the deck. She wore a long red dress and a white shawl, gazing out at the shimmering river.
Before long, Officer Huang appeared. He wore sportswear and running shoes, a towel draped over his shoulder. He stopped at the observation deck. The woman turned around and handed him a bottle of mineral water, her smile gentle.
Officer Huang took the water. The woman naturally picked up the towel to wipe his sweat, her movements intimate and affectionate.
After a brief conversation, Officer Huang took the towel and continued running, seemingly planning to do another two laps. The woman watched Officer Huang leave with loving eyes, then turned back to admire the river.
"His wife?" Gao Yang asked.
Qing Ling nodded; she shared the same view. "His wife might have sensed his identity as an Awakened, or at least become suspicious of him. Officer Huang decided to eliminate her just in case, so he wants to use our hands."
Click—
Qing Ling readied the gun. "I'll do it."
Gao Yang didn't speak. His feelings were a bit complicated.
He wasn't a saint, and he certainly wasn't qualified to judge Officer Huang's decision. But he put himself in those shoes—if the person under the sniper rifle right now was his grandma, dad, mom, or sister, could he pull the trigger?
He was filled with mixed emotions and felt agitated.
"Target is stationary." Qing Ling took a deep breath. "Three, two, one..."
Pfft—
Qing Ling fired. Although there was a silencer, the gunshot sounded wrong—muffled and short, as if it had misfired.
Gao Yang also sensed something was wrong. He looked up and was dumbfounded.
Qing Ling frowned deeply, caught completely off guard.
It turned out that the moment she pulled the trigger, a black shadow had fallen from the sky, blocking the muzzle. The bullet hit the shadow.
Soon, Gao Yang and Qing Ling saw clearly.
This shadow... was Wang Zikai.