Hearing that the General Store Master and Disciple had moved into the room next door, Duan Tianpeng cursed under his breath, but still relaxed. After all, this was hardly unusual at a hotel.
Besides, he had checked in advance. That general store was practically an old establishment, and nothing seemed unusual about it.
But before long, some irritating sounds passed through the poorly soundproofed wall.
"How was that? Isn't Master amazing?"
"Master, don't press there! Ah~"
"Then move by yourself."
Duan Tianpeng thought, Could these master and disciple even have brought tools with them? They're really playing wild, and screaming so loudly too. What a blight on public morals! But this "Lingerie Bandit" was hardly qualified to criticize them, so he could only lie on the bed by the window and rest with his eyes closed.
This hotel floor had originally been fairly quiet. Only his room and the room next door on the right were occupied, and that neighboring room had not been making such noises.
Now the entire floor had become rather noisy. The master and disciple were in the room directly to his left, far too close, and the sounds of "A Great Master Produces a Great Disciple" were simply too clear. Duan Tianpeng was even considering whether to go out for a walk.
But just then, an angry roar suddenly came from the room on the right. "Are you two fucking done yet? Are you not letting anyone sleep?"
It was a man's voice, and he sounded rather hot-tempered. Clearly, he had been infuriated by the "live audio broadcast" from the master and disciple on the left.
The master and disciple on the left were no pushovers either. The young Master's voice soon came from beside the window. "What the fuck is it to you? I'm just healthy and can last a long time. So what?"
His voice sounded slightly unfocused, as though he had been drinking.
The person on the right became even more furious. "Keep making noise in the middle of the night and I'll fucking cripple you!"
Then the master and disciple next door on the left fell silent. Duan Tianpeng thought they had finally been intimidated and decided to restrain themselves, but unexpectedly, he immediately heard a muffled bang.
Bang—
The master and disciple's door flew open, and the young Master stepped into the hallway, still cursing. "Come on, I'm right here! If you've got the guts, come out and fight me one-on-one!"
Duan Tianpeng frowned slightly as he listened. By the sound of it, the people in the rooms to his left and right were about to fight. But it had nothing to do with him, so he paid them no further attention.
Bang—
Yet to Duan Tianpeng's surprise, the next sound came from his own door. He could even hear the young Master outside cursing, "I'm here! Didn't you want to fight?"
That left Duan Tianpeng completely bewildered. He darted to the door and found that the young Master, swaying slightly as he leaned against the wall, had changed into black pajamas. His clothes were rather disheveled, making it clear that things had just been intense with his disciple.
He was currently kicking the door and cursing, apparently quite drunk.
It was obvious that he had mistaken the room. He thought Duan Tianpeng had been the one who scolded him earlier, which was why he had come to curse outside his door.
At first, Duan Tianpeng had planned to pretend no one was inside and wait for the big man in the room on the right to come out and argue with him. Yet the room next door on the right had gone quiet. The big man who had just declared that he would cripple this young Master did not make a single sound now.
The young Master outside apparently did not realize this and kept cursing. "Get the fuck out here! You yelled so loudly just now, but now you're acting like a turtle with its head tucked in?"
Helpless, Duan Tianpeng answered through the door.
"The one who cursed at you wasn't me. It was the person staying in the room next door on the right. You should go argue with him."
Yet whether he was truly too drunk, or the mood had already been built up to this point and changing rooms now would make him lose face, the young Master kicked the door again and cursed, "Quit spouting useless bullshit! It's so close, it has to be you! Get the fuck out here! Otherwise, I'm calling people! Do you know who I am?"
As the cursing outside grew more and more vigorous, Duan Tianpeng feared that the man might really summon hotel staff, or even the police, and bring him unnecessary trouble.
To avoid exposing his identity, Duan Tianpeng decided to first tell the young Master to find the person in the room next door on the right. If he still refused to let it go, Duan Tianpeng would directly take the lives of both master and disciple. In any case, he absolutely could not draw trouble from outside.
Click—
The door opened steadily. Instantly slipping into character, Duan Tianpeng put on the appearance of someone who had just woken up. As he sized up the young Master standing outside, he explained, "Brother, the person arguing with you wasn't me. You really did wake me up. The one who spoke to you just now was the person next door on the right. You should go—"
As Duan Tianpeng spoke, he raised his hand and pointed toward the room on the right. But before he could finish, the young Master before him suddenly raised a hand and fired at Duan Tianpeng's exposed right armpit. Bzzzt—
Duan Tianpeng knew the sound of a Taser all too well. His heart instantly tightened, but his reactions did not lag behind. Before the Taser could hit him, he withdrew his right arm in time and caught the electric dart.
Realizing something was wrong, he caught the dart and instantly leaped backward, opening distance between himself and the young Master.
In his line of work, he had encountered plenty of electrified traps and mechanisms. For safety, his entire right arm had already been modified into an insulator, so catching an electric dart like this caused him no harm.
Although the sound had been normal, the strange sensation of catching it and the faint sting at his fingertips made Duan Tianpeng realize something was amiss.
Looking down, he found that the electric dart was mixed with two tiny, sharp caltrops, which had clearly cut his fingers.
The damage from such tiny things was negligible, but hidden in a place like this, there was a ninety percent chance they had been coated in poison.
Wasn't that general store supposed to be an old establishment? He had chosen this place at random. He had neither exposed his identity nor drawn the police here, so how had they found him? And how had they laid such a deep trap? Could this place have been a black shop from the start?
Though he did not know whether they knew his identity, Duan Tianpeng understood that the person before him was targeting him. He suppressed the many questions in his heart and did not ask. Grabbing the backpack from the table, he prepared to flee.
Yet the young Master at the doorway said nothing. His body flickered, transforming into ghostly afterimages. He blocked the exit while launching another attack at Duan Tianpeng.
Also a master of movement techniques and lightness skill, Duan Tianpeng could tell at a glance that the other man's movement art was no weaker than his own. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and threw down a Poison Gas Bomb.
Smack—
Immediately afterward, Duan Tianpeng kicked through the hotel window and burst out. He thought that once he reached the vast open world outside, forget them—even if a grandmaster came, he could still escape.
But what he had not expected was that just as his body crossed out the window, two ropes swept in from both sides and wrapped around his body just as it was about to soar into the air.
Then the sound of something slicing through the air came from behind his head. Duan Tianpeng turned back and saw a graceful black figure rush out from next door, driving a kick straight at him.
The cold moonlight spilling from above dispelled the murderous aura of the move, but he could still recognize it as the final move of Treading Snow to Seek Plum Blossoms.
Have a great weekend, everyone.