Walking the length of the eighth-floor corridor and back again, Lu Zheng didn’t pause once.
Then he went up to the twelfth floor, checked his room, and made a quick round.
What followed was straightforward.
To keep up appearances, Lu Zheng returned home, grabbed some clothes, a phone charger, and toiletries, then headed back to Qingyu Hotel.
After settling his things, he noticed it was past five in the afternoon, so he sat on a lobby sofa, playing on his phone.
The folded qi-seeking talisman rested quietly in his hand, faintly guiding him.
Before the person he was waiting for appeared, a call interrupted his game.
“Lin Wan?”
As expected, with the culprit still at large, he remained a suspect, and the police could call anytime.
“Hello, Lu Zheng, are you at home? I’d like to have a chat.”
“Nope, at a hotel.”
“Hotel?”
“Yeah,” Lu Zheng explained, “The thought of a murderer sneaking into my place spooked me. What if they try to silence me next? So, to be safe, I’m staying at a hotel for a few days.”
Lin Wan, on the other end, couldn’t help but chuckle, “Is that really necessary? The murderer broke into your place to frame you and throw the police off.”
Lu Zheng was unmoved, “But the only evidence points to me. What if they stage a ‘guilty suicide’ next?”
Lin Wan paused. Though she wanted to call him paranoid, it made some sense.
“Which hotel? I’ll come to you!”
“Qingyu Hotel.”
…
Half an hour later, Lin Wan arrived.
It was after work hours, so she wasn’t in uniform, wearing a fitted short-sleeve top, three-quarter pants, and high-cushion trainers, accentuating her long, straight legs.
“What’s up?”
“Can’t I just visit?”
Lu Zheng blinked, caught off guard. Lin Wan paused, then teased, “You’re a martial arts master, yet you’re scared and hiding in a hotel?”
Lu Zheng sighed, “A martial artist fights head-on. If someone sneaks in silently at night, no amount of skill saves you. Ever wonder how Zhang Fei died?”
Lin Wan sat beside him, “I’m here to ask again: after your clash with Li Yanjie last weekend and when you left home the day before yesterday, did you see the same person?”
Lu Zheng thought hard but shook his head, “No.”
“What, with today’s tech, you still can’t find the culprit?”
“Tech isn’t foolproof,” Lin Wan said helplessly, “The culprit’s skilled, avoiding all cameras and leaving no traces.”
“So, the only evidence is that fruit knife?” Lu Zheng groaned, “That’s obviously a setup.”
“But it’s still a lead,” Lin Wan explained, “The more they do, the more mistakes they make. Since they involved you, they’d leave clues around you.”
“Found any?”
“Well… traces, at least,” Lin Wan thought, disguising as a delivery worker counts, right?
“You lot are pretty impressive!” Lu Zheng praised.
“Heh,” Lin Wan gave a half-hearted smile, then casually asked, “By the way, your fruit knife was missing for days, and you didn’t notice?”
“I only used that knife twice to peel apples,” Lu Zheng shook his head, “I regret eating those apples. If I hadn’t, they’d have stolen it for nothing!”
Lin Wan chuckled, “You’re really unlucky. You show off a bit, and the culprit targets you.”
Lu Zheng sighed, “Tell me about it. Things aren’t like before. Now, if someone plays victim, even a master has to beg for mercy.”
Lin Wan covered her mouth, laughing, then glanced at him, “True, but you hid it well. Never showed off in university? You could’ve charmed the girls.”
“Uh, never thought about it.”
“Didn’t peg you for the honest type.”
“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Nah, not hungry.”
“With all this going on, it’s understandable, but you’ve got to eat. Come on, let’s grab something nearby.”
Lu Zheng blinked, about to decline, when the elevator across the lobby opened, and a plain-looking middle-aged man stepped out.
The qi-seeking talisman in his hand quivered, pointing straight at him.
The man’s gaze swept over Lu Zheng and Lin Wan without reaction, then he strolled toward the lobby exit.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Wan noticed Lu Zheng staring and followed his gaze.
“His eyes…”
Lu Zheng muttered, “They seem familiar… no way, really?”
He stood abruptly and walked toward the man.
Lin Wan frowned and followed.
“Lu Zheng?”
But Lu Zheng was already behind the man. Without a word, he launched a lunging punch at the back of the man’s head.
The punch whistled through the air, fierce and forceful.
“Lu Zheng!”
Yet, the next moment, Lin Wan didn’t see the man’s head smashed. He tilted his head, dodging the punch, then bolted toward the hotel entrance.
“It’s you!”
Lu Zheng shouted, kicking off the ground, moving even faster.
The man glanced back, then flicked his hand, a glint of metal flashing.
“Lu Zheng, watch out!” Lin Wan cried, pale, as the glint was a sharp blade, now just thirty centimetres from Lu Zheng’s neck.
Despite his ordinary face, the man’s eyes burned with killing intent.
Lu Zheng twisted, throwing another punch.
“Thud!”
His fist connected with the man’s temple.
The man collapsed instantly.
Only then did the lobby erupt, half the onlookers crowding closer, the other half calling the police.
“Police!”
Lin Wan shouted, rushing to Lu Zheng’s side.
She looked at the man on the floor, rolling his eyes, half-conscious.
“Is he…?”
“What are the odds!” Lu Zheng’s tone was shocked, “You asked me to recall who I saw those days, and I remembered running into a delivery worker that night when I got home.
We were in the same elevator. I got off at the seventeenth floor, he pressed the top floor, and we locked eyes for a moment.”
Lin Wan was stunned, “He was wearing a mask, and you remembered his eyes and brows?”
Lu Zheng pointed at the man, “Didn’t I just get a second look? Reinforced the memory.”
Lin Wan was speechless, “That’s too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”
Lu Zheng grinned subtly, “What can I say? Just that lucky.”
