Li Xingkong had only just arrived in Prisoner Continent, and he had already suffered several setbacks in a row. He really didn't know where to vent his anger.
"Forget it, forget it. I'll find a place to stay in Prisoner Continent first, then settle the score later."
With that thought, Li Xingkong found a highly rated hotel on his phone and prepared to make do there for the night.
By the time he reached the hotel, it was already evening. Li Xingkong hurriedly made do with a few bites at the roadside, then went into the hotel to check in.
The receptionist was a young blonde woman, considerably prettier than the average person. When she saw Li Xingkong arrive, she hurried over to the computer at the front desk to check him in.
The check-in process was quick, and Li Xingkong's room was on the sixth floor.
After taking his key card, Li Xingkong walked straight to his room without saying much.
Once inside, Li Xingkong locked the door and inserted the key card, but he didn't rush to turn on the lights. Leaving them off, he went farther into the room and carefully looked around.
Since Li Xingkong had great control over his body, he adjusted his sensitivity to light as he looked, checking for any so-called cameras in the hotel room. After inspecting the place, he indeed found something amiss in a corner and inside the air conditioner.
A fall into the pit, a gain in wit. After finding them, Li Xingkong took the black tape he had bought just before coming upstairs out of his pocket and taped over every spot he had discovered. Only then did he turn on the lights.
After washing up, Li Xingkong lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. The day's journey hadn't been all that long, but it had been tiring enough.
In the middle of the night, Li Xingkong was awakened by noises at the door. He couldn't help it; his senses were so sharp now that he could perceive the slightest disturbance with perfect clarity.
The rustling at the door continued for a while. When there was still no sound from inside the room, the door clicked softly and someone pushed it open from outside.
Li Xingkong stayed in his sleeping position, except that his eyes were narrowed to slits as he watched the door. He wanted to see just what this person intended to do.
Before long, the door opened halfway, and a figure stealthily slipped inside. Though it was night, Li Xingkong could see the newcomer clearly. It was the receptionist from downstairs.
She made no sound after slipping in. She merely glanced slowly toward the bed and saw that Li Xingkong was still asleep. After waiting a while and seeing no movement, she crept farther in, looked around, and went straight to his bedside.
Li Xingkong had originally thought she was only there to steal, and Guan Zhenzhen had already stolen everything he had brought with him, so there wasn't much to take. His phone was in his hand, too, so she certainly couldn't get it. But after another look at the woman, he noticed something strange.
The woman had come upstairs to steal at night, but her clothes were far too skimpy. She wore only a tube top above the waist, and only underwear and stockings below.
Could she have seen how handsome I am and come to steal herself a man?
That was Li Xingkong's first thought, but he quickly pushed it aside. He understood perfectly well that he simply didn't have that kind of charm. The woman's purpose in coming was clear, then. This had to be a honey trap.
Having figured that out, Li Xingkong immediately sprang to alertness. The woman had already crept to his bedside, and it was a little too late for him to get up and expose her. In a few minutes, she would probably start calling for help, and if she got a shout out, he would be in more trouble than he could handle. With that thought, Li Xingkong immediately made a decision.
The woman continued to approach slowly, and from the look of it, she was heading for the window. Taking care not to make a sound, Li Xingkong adjusted his position so he could pounce at any moment.
Just as the woman was about to push the window open, Li Xingkong moved. Taking advantage of her attention being elsewhere, he lunged and jabbed forward with one hand, striking her mute acupoint. This mute acupoint could be described as a nerve node controlling vocalization. After Li Xingkong struck it, she would temporarily lose the ability to make a sound.
Li Xingkong followed up with a knife-hand strike to the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.
It took time to describe, but the whole sequence happened in an instant. Only after knocking the woman out did Li Xingkong breathe a sigh of relief. It was his first time attacking someone, and he had been afraid something might go wrong.
A patch of bruising had already formed on the back of the woman's neck. It was hard to say whether she had fainted because he had struck a vital spot or had simply been knocked out by the sheer force.
With the woman dealt with, a small part of his problem was temporarily resolved. Li Xingkong crept over to the window, pulled aside a corner of the blinds, and looked down.
A police car was parked below, and two police officers were leaning against its window, chatting.
Li Xingkong knew this was probably the woman's next move. As soon as she gave the signal, the two officers downstairs would rush up and take him into custody. By then, even a hundred mouths couldn't clear his name, and who knew how much they would extort from him?
The question now was what to do with the woman. If he just left her in his room and the two officers never got their signal, they would surely come up to investigate.
Li Xingkong thought for a moment, then moved away from the window and helped the woman, still unconscious beside his bed, to her feet. He took her out of the room, looking to anyone else as though a drunk woman were leaning against him.
After helping the woman out of his room, Li Xingkong looked both ways and took her down one floor.
The hotel had many rooms, but it wasn't the peak tourist season, and only a few people were staying there. Li Xingkong picked an empty room at random, dumped the woman inside, and pulled shut the door, which had been left open for ventilation.
Now the woman was dealt with, but if nothing happened for a long time, the two accomplices downstairs would surely come up to check. Li Xingkong went back upstairs, took his phone, and came out again. He wanted to make it look as though he weren't in the room.
Besides, after suffering so many setbacks in this single short day, Li Xingkong had been suppressing his frustration for a long time. If he didn't make them pay a price, his thoughts wouldn't flow freely.
Instead of taking the elevator, Li Xingkong crept downstairs by the stairs. When he reached around the second floor, he heard the elevator start up. It seemed the two accomplices had run out of patience and were going up to see what had happened.
Li Xingkong gave a cold smile and walked into the first-floor lobby.
There was no one in the lobby now. Li Xingkong first checked the positions of the cameras, then began to act.
Keeping out of the cameras' view, Li Xingkong didn't simply slip out. Instead, he turned into the hotel staff quarters. Staff quarters or not, from what Li Xingkong saw after entering, there were signs of only one person living there. It looked as though the woman was usually the only one there.
Li Xingkong didn't stand on ceremony. I can't beat them while they have guns, so why force a confrontation?
Since they came after my money, it's not too much for me to rob them too, is it?
He glanced around and found a small safe under the bed.
With his enhanced hearing, he easily opened it. Inside was a stack of cash, along with quite a lot of gold and silver jewelry, watches, and the like. Li Xingkong didn't stand on ceremony. He grabbed the cash and valuables and stuffed them into his pockets.
After taking everything from the safe, Li Xingkong put it back just as he had found it. Then he looked around the room and found a small-caliber pistol in the bedside table against the wall. It was a woman's model, but Li Xingkong didn't mind. He could use it for self-defense, after all, and whether it was a man's or woman's style made no difference to him. He also found dozens of bullets in the drawer below and took them all.
With a weapon in hand, he felt much safer.
Although he had never used a gun before, he could draw a tiger by copying a cat. He had watched plenty of TV dramas, and with a little tinkering, he could surely learn how to fire it.