Wang Zikai hung upside down outside room 601's window with a rope tied around his waist, taking a bullet square in the chest.
Qingling reacted instantly. She controlled a dagger to cut the rope, caught Wang Zikai, and hauled him toward the window. Turning back, she shouted at Gaoyang, "Don't just stand there! Help!"
One minute earlier.
After losing three ranked matches in a row in room 601, Wang Zikai grew more suspicious the longer he thought about it!
Gaoyang was famously hopeless with girls! He had known his childhood friend Li Weiwei for years and never gotten anywhere with her. Now, the moment Wang Zikai turned his back, Gaoyang had hooked up with the school beauty, Qingling, and gone straight to a hotel! That made no sense!
Those two were definitely hiding something!
Had they secretly come to the hotel to study?!
No, Qingling was an athletic recruit. Mediocre academic grades didn't matter when she could get guaranteed university admission anyway. Gaoyang's grades were decent, but he was so laid-back about everything. He didn't seem like the type to study in secret.
Wang Zikai lay on the floor and listened through it for a long time. It was far too quiet downstairs for them to be getting it on! Besides, they couldn't possibly keep going all night. Once they were done, Gaoyang could easily have called him back.
So there was only one possible explanation!
That bastard Gaoyang had definitely found a new partner to climb the ranks with. He thought I sucked and wanted to ditch me! He had to be grinding ranked matches with Qingling right now!
Damn it!
Unforgivable!
Gaoyang would never admit it if confronted, so Wang Zikai came up with a plan. He found a rope among the room's sex toys, tied it around himself, and decided to climb down from the sixth-floor window to catch them in the act!
He slowly lowered himself. Just as he approached the fifth-floor window, the curtains in room 501 parted on their own, leaving a narrow gap. Then something that looked like a gun barrel poked out.
What the hell was that?
Before Wang Zikai could think any further, his toes slipped off the air-conditioning unit, and he dropped. Then a sharp pain tore through his lungs, and everything went black.
Wang Zikai lay unconscious on the room's carpet, blood gushing from his chest.
"He's losing a lot of blood! Find something to press against it!" Qingling said.
Gaoyang rushed into the bathroom, grabbed a thick towel, and pressed it against Wang Zikai's chest. The underside quickly turned red.
A normal person hit by a sniper rifle at such close range would probably have a gaping hole in their chest, but Wang Zikai's injury looked like an ordinary gunshot wound.
There was no doubt he was a beast.
"What do we do?" Gaoyang asked.
"I don't know." Qingling hadn't expected this idiot to show up. Their entire plan was ruined.
"We have to save him," Gaoyang quickly concluded.
"Don't drag me into it if you want to die," Qingling objected.
"What else can we do? Leave his corpse here? There's a record of us checking in. We can't distance ourselves from this. We'll be exposed sooner or later." Gaoyang steadied his breathing and calmed himself. "He's... most likely an Infatuation Beast."
An Infatuation Beast, a Lost One, believed it was human. It might die without ever knowing it was a beast.
Qingling's gaze flickered, and for a moment, she seemed to waver. But her eyes soon turned cold again, and a dagger appeared in her hand. "No. We can't take that risk. If he isn't a Lost One, we'll both die!"
Her older cousin had died back then precisely because he had shown mercy to a Lost One.
Gaoyang knew he couldn't convince her. He couldn't even convince himself. Showing mercy to an enemy meant being cruel to yourself.
After three seconds of silence, he gritted his teeth and turned away. "Do it."
Knock, knock, knock- Someone was at the door.
Startled, Gaoyang immediately grabbed the quilt off the waterbed and covered the unconscious Wang Zikai.
Qingling stood up, hurried to the door, and opened it a crack. "Who is it?"
The man outside was the fat guy from the front desk.
Looking excited, he lowered his voice. "Miss, quick, let me in!"
"What do you want?" Qingling's eyes were wary.
The fat man glanced both ways and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I know everything that happened in your room. I'm Awakened too... let's talk somewhere private."
Qingling weighed her options for three seconds.
Between killing the fat man immediately and letting him into the room, she chose the latter.
The fat man pressed both hands over Wang Zikai's lungs.
Before this, Qingling had already "extracted" the bullet from his lungs. Green energy enveloped the fat man's hands, and a steady stream of green particles flowed into Wang Zikai's chest. The bleeding gradually stopped, and the wound torn open by the bullet slowly healed before their eyes.
Five minutes later, the emergency treatment was over.
The fat man groaned and plopped down on the carpet. He was drenched in sweat, as though he had just taken a bath. Panting heavily, he felt half-dead himself. "Lucky this kid's a beast. If he were human, I really couldn't have saved him."
During the treatment, the fat man had already introduced himself.
His name was Han Yingjun, though everyone called him Pang Jun. He had become Awakened four years ago. His Talent was [Healing], serial number: 45.
Pang Jun's parents had died young, and his aunt had raised him. After she died, he graduated from high school without much in the way of prospects, inherited her inn, and made sweeping changes to turn it into a love hotel.
Qingling crouched down, checked Wang Zikai's heartbeat, then instructed Gaoyang, "Clean up the scene. I have some questions for this fat bastard."
"Heh, no need to be so affectionate. Just call me Jun Fat."
Qingling looked at Pang Jun. "How did you know what happened in this room?"
Pang Jun froze for a moment, then hurriedly offered an ingratiating smile. "Hehe, actually... I installed cameras and listening devices in the rooms..."
Before he could finish, a Tang Dao flashed into place against Pang Jun's thick triple chin.
Pang Jun shouted, "Spare me, miss! Hear me out first!"
"You have ten seconds."
"First of all, I absolutely did not put cameras in the bathrooms! I have standards!" Pang Jun wiped the sweat from his plump face. "Besides, I didn't install the cameras to satisfy my personal desires. I'm a man who's risen above vulgar pleasures..."
"Get to the point."
"Aren't you curious?" Trembling, the fat man nudged the blade a tiny distance away from his neck. "What are these beasts like in private?"
With a swish, the Tang Dao vanished from Qingling's hand. "You're observing the beasts?"
"Yes. After I awakened, my entire worldview shattered. It blew my freaking mind!" Pang Jun glanced at Wang Zikai on the floor. "Once I accepted reality, I kept wondering: do these beasts really spend twenty-four hours a day pretending to be human?"
"I can understand the Lost Ones. They're so stupid they've fooled themselves. But what about the other beasts? Do they play house with us every day too? Why do they do it?" Pang Jun looked at Gaoyang. "Aren't you curious?"
"I only awakened three days ago. I haven't thought that far ahead," Gaoyang answered as he mopped the floor.
"One reason I installed the cameras was to see what these beasts were like in private..." Pang Jun looked disappointed as he continued. "I never expected them to keep diligently putting on an act even when they were alone. All the stupid things humans do, they do too."
Gaoyang and Qingling fell into thought.
"The other reason was to find humans." Pang Jun sighed. "The guy who helped me awaken died. I've been all alone these past few years, and now I've finally found you! I'm so excited, so happy..."
Pang Jun spread his arms, hoping to hug Qingling.
Faced with Qingling's death glare, he turned and hugged Gaoyang instead. "I'm just so happy, boohoo... I thought I'd grow old and die alone..."
Overcome with emotion, Pang Jun actually began crying. "Brother, I've had it so rough... every day, the moment I open my eyes, I have to put on an act. Three years, then another three years. When will it ever end...?"
Gaoyang didn't know how to comfort people. He stiffly patted Pang Jun's fleshy shoulder. "There, there. It's okay. It's okay."
Knock, knock, knock- Another knock came from the door.
Everyone instantly fell silent.
Gaoyang and Qingling both looked at Pang Jun, who shook his head in confusion.
Qingling exchanged a glance with Gaoyang and silently drew her Tang Dao.
Gaoyang nodded, quickly stood up, and walked to the door. He called out, "Who is it?"
"Housekeeping." An older woman's voice came from outside.
"Housekeeping?"
"Doesn't it say room 501 has checked out?"
"No. Have you got the wrong room?"
"The wrong room? Let me check."
Pang Jun also approached the door. He patted Gaoyang's shoulder and said quietly, "It's fine. That's Aunt He, the cleaner I hired. She's a little muddleheaded."
"Oh, oh... sorry. It's room 401. I misread it. Hehe." Sure enough, Aunt He's apology came from outside.
"No problem."
As soon as Gaoyang said it, a chill suddenly ran down his spine.
He spun around and lunged at Pang Jun. "Get out of the way!"
Before you continue