Sundering Nature

Book 3 Chapter 16 – Hotel Room for Couples

"Where to now?" Liu Meng looked around. The sound of the gunshots was already attracting the attention of the most daring onlookers, some of which had opened their windows and cast down a look of curiosity.

"Let’s go back. What happened to the mobsters?"

"They all ran away. I was worried about you so I ignored them."

"It’s okay," Li Yiming answered, in a slightly low-spirited voice.

"It’s a domain, you shouldn’t overthink it." Liu Meng knew that Li Yiming still had Yang He’s words in mind.

"Poor kid." Li Yiming sighed. He turned around and quickly left the scene with Liu Meng.

* * *

"Li Yiming’s calling us." Eyeglasses noticed the window on his screen. He turned around to look at Qing Linglong for her say in the matter.

"He’s looking for you?" Qing Qiaoqiao suddenly sat up.

"Answer it. See what he wants." Qing Linglong nodded, a little surprised.

"Yiming? It’s me, Eyeglasses. What is it?"

"There’s something... I need help with," Li Yiming said, a little hesitant.

"It’s okay, just say it. We’ve been through too much for that kind of formality." Eyeglasses’ affability reassured Li Yiming.

"Could you make two ID cards for me? Just like the ones we used back in Hangzhou."

"Oh, those?" Eyeglasses did not expect such a sudden request.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"We bumped into one of the beasts, a monkey, and I had to use my gun," Li Yiming answered truthfully to reciprocate Eyeglasses’ generosity. He had immediately thought about seeking help, since the mobsters who had escaped would no doubt provide testimonies about them when the police would investigate the death of one of them. He could not afford to spend the next twenty-nine days of the domain hiding from the authorities.

Eyeglasses turned around and looked at Qing Linglong. The latter nodded after considering the matter summarily. "Alright, how should I give the stuff to you?" Eyeglasses said.

"Where are you right now? Maybe I can come to meet you?" Li Yiming was not so brazen as to ask for a delivery on top of the favor.

"We’re around the Jingming skyscraper, but we’re leaving soon. How about I leave them in a storage locker for you?" Eyeglasses looked at Qing Linglong again. It was one thing to help each other out, but for prudence’s sake it would be best to hide their exact whereabouts.

"Alright, thanks!"

"It’s nothing. I’ll contact you soon." Eyeglasses ended the call.

"They fought with a beast?" Grandma Wang asked.

"Is he okay?" Qing Qiaoqiao was a little worried.

"The monkey they fought against is a low-level beast. With Li Yiming’s abilities, he should be able to take care of it easily, even with that newcomer. I’m just surprised that he didn’t prepare something beforehand for the authorities." Qing Linglong was perplexed.

"It’s probably because of that girl." Eyeglasses analyzed.

"That’s what I think too," Qing Linglong agreed.

"So it hasn’t been long since they’ve met each other then." Qing Qiaoqiao suddenly. Grandma Wang smiled at her quick wits and nodded as encouragement. Eyeglasses shook his head with an amused smile. Qing Linglong facepalmed and turned around.

"Alright Eyeglasses, let’s get this done quickly. It’s good that we’re able to buy a favor from him, but our target is on the move. We can’t afford to lose it." Grandma Wang closed her eyes to maintain the tracking link she created and urged Eyeglasses.

"Right away." Eyeglasses glanced at the surveillance feed from one of the cameras they had set up and started typing.

* * *

Fang Shui’er closed the door behind her slowly after she entered the hotel room. She glanced Zeng Qian, and the latter immediately stood up from her seat and crouched down right by the door. A thread of green vapor disappeared into the floor as Zeng Qian swept across the carpet with one of her fingers.

"They’re being very careful. I tried baiting them with a feigned weakness. They didn’t fall for it." Fang Shui’er walked to the window and peeked from the corner of the curtain she lifted.

"Well, I don’t sense any reinforcements. I wonder if they have hidden backup." Zeng Qian sat back down on the sofa.

"What about the others?" Fang Shui’er dropped the curtains and sat down facing her sister.

"I lost contact. Haven’t received anything from them since almost an hour ago."

"Then they’re not done yet. Is the fox really that strong?" Fang Shui’er picked up the cup from the table and took a long sip.

"If only Xiao Hei was here. We wouldn’t be in such a predicament." Zeng Qian stared at the ceiling expressionlessly.

Fang Shui’er stayed quiet and looked away.

Back inside the hotel, Li Yiming quickly realized that something was off. The staff in the lobby had all been replaced, and the janitor seemed completely absent-minded and unfocused in his work. A man reading his journal was looking at the entrance furtively, as if he was awaiting his arrival. He seemed very nervous when he saw Li Yiming. Shortly after Li Yiming walked through the entrance, two cars arrived at the front of the building, but the doors remained shut. ’Wow, who is it that said that the police efficiency in the country is terrible?’ Li Yiming thought.

The man was visibly surprised by such a confession, but he still hesitantly put the handcuffs on Li Yiming’s wrists. Liu Meng also raised her hands over her head. The woman who was cleaning the floor behind her quickly walked up and cuffed her as well. The two were then body-searched. ’Looks like everyone here is a concealed agent.’ Li Yiming thought. Seven or eight more people came out of the cars, all looking very nervous.

"Captain!" The man who had searched Li Yiming gave the ID card he had found to one of the men who were in the car. The woman did the same for Liu Meng.

"National Security?" The captain frowned. "Go check it," he ordered as he gave the two IDs to someone behind him. ’That’s a little different from what I thought.’

"I wouldn’t think that you can just fire shots like that here, even if you’re from National Security," the police officer asked.

Li Yiming kept quiet but moved his head to hint at the wish for a more discrete environment.

"Bring them inside." The captain told his subordinates and led the way to the manager’s office.

The polite treatment the two received once they were inside showed that Eyeglasses’s forged pieces were enough for intimidation, to say the least. After bringing Li Yiming and Liu Meng to their seats, they left them alone with their captain. The latter used the time to scrutinize the two. ’Hmmm, very young. That girl’s beauty is remarkable. Are they agents?’

Li Yiming remained silent and prepared an explanation in his head while waiting. It was not long before someone knocked on the door. The ID cards were brought back to the table and a few words were whispered into the police captain’s ears. It produced in him an obvious change of countenance. Thea captain nodded and signaled for his subordinate to open Li Yiming and Liu Meng’s cuffs. Li Yiming let out a sigh of relief: Eyeglasses was reliable after all.

"Is there anything you need from me?" An unexpected question came out of the mouth of the captain.

"Not for now." Li Yiming answered calmly. ’Wow, what kind of background did Eyeglasses come up for me this time?’

"Well, I’ll call the operation off then. Please keep contact if you need anything. We’ll take care of the eyewitnesses and of the mobsters. But I’ll have to beg you to change your plans for accommodations, since this location has been compromised. I apologize, it was per protocol procedure." The captain left after saluting Li Yiming.

Li Yiming stood where he was, a little shocked by the treatment he received. What he did not know was that not only did Eyeglasses produce authentic ID cards from National Security, but he was also able to add a passage about their having the highest privileges for the mobilization of local law enforcement for the sake of their mission. All other information regarding them had been inked out. Eyeglasses really sought perfection in his gift.

"Wow. I didn’t expect that." Liu Meng’s eyes glittered with excitement as the officer walked out of the room. "So we’re agents now?" She picked up the two ID cards from the table and scrutinized them.

"I trust his expertise. We should hurry up and leave. We can’t stay here." Li Yiming shoved the objects back into his pocket. He was a little amused by Liu Meng’s childish question.

They found another hotel three streets away. Li Yiming hesitated when asked about the kind of room they required. ’One or two? We don’t need to save money anymore, and I think Liu Meng has shown that she can defend herself... Wait, but this is a domain, it’s safer to stay together. I’m doing this for her sake.’ He gritted his teeth and decided. "Two... Make it one standard room."

The employee at the front desk noticed Li Yiming’s hesitation and glanced at Liu Meng. After seeing that she kept playing her games on her cell phone and did not seem to object at all, the employee gave a single card to Li Yiming and even nodded to him as a sign of encouragement.

"How about you take a bath first? You’re faster." Liu Meng jumped on her bed and stretched her legs. She shrunk back a slight bit when she noticed Li Yiming’s stare and fixated her eyes on her phone, but from time to time she would peek at Li Yiming to see what he was doing.

"Alright." Li Yiming looked away awkwardly. He entered the bathroom and took a quick shower. He dressed back up, even putting on his socks before pushing the door open after two deep breaths. He found Liu Meng still on the bed, watching a new live show that aired on the television. The actress was performing a stunt of inserting a fist down her throat.

"You should take a bath too. It’s been a long day." Li Yiming said with his eyes glued to the television. He did not dare to look at Liu Meng in the eyes, since no matter how long their friendship had been, "going a hotel" was always going to be a somewhat delicate thing. With Bai Ze’s absence, the atmosphere took a turn for unnaturalness, and both of them were somewhat embarrassed.

Liu Meng went into the bathroom without saying anything. As the sound of water hitting the floor reached Li Yiming’s ears, his emotions had also run wild: anticipation, nervousness, hesitation. He glanced at the bathroom and what he saw almost brought blood out of his nose. Since Li Yiming did not think about renting a suite, the room they stayed in being an ordinary one. However, the employee, in his immense "appreciation" of the situation, actually offered a room destined to couples. Although the beds were split and everything else was identical, the wall of the bathroom, from the bed’s side, was transparent.

This little detail has escaped Li Yiming and Liu Meng’s observation when Li Yiming went into the shower, since they were each preoccupied by their own thoughts. However, as Li Yiming glanced across the room, he saw Liu Meng, half-hidden by the misty moisture that climbed onto the glass. Her body and its beautiful curves swayed left and right as she scrubbed her body. Her fingers slid smoothly across her pale skin smooth as a piece of jade, and Li Yiming found himself unable to get the scene out of his mind.

Li Yiming clenched his fists. He felt a sudden dryness in his throat and his heart thumping. Just as Li Yiming was about to jump out his bed and do something unreasonable, he suddenly heard a screech so loud that he brought his hands to protect his ears. He looked outside, and, to his surprise, he saw a veil of blue light fall from the clouds, shrouding a significant portion of a neighborhood nearby. Li Yiming walked closer to the window to stare at the light curtain, whose brightness was increasing by the minute.

"Did you hear anything?" Li Yiming could not believe what he saw.

"What did you say?" Liu Meng closed the water and turned around. "AH!!" She yelled when she looked at the wall between Li Yiming and her. She covered her chest with her arms and squatted down.

"Wait here, I’ll be back right away." Li Yiming was too preoccupied with what he saw to notice Liu Meng’s embarrassment. He opened the door and rushed to the exit. ’This has to be a guardian.’

Liu Meng stood up slowly after hearing the door close. She peeked at the empty room through the mist on the glass. ’Did he just ask me about having ’that?’ Wow, how could he ask me such a question? What kind of girl would carry ’that’? Did he just go down to buy some? I thought there would be some in the room.’ Liu Meng looked at a small box on top of the nightstand with flushed cheeks. Her heart beat faster and faster, and she redoubled her efforts of cleaning every corner of her body.

This chapter is actually like an anime. Also sorry for being late 🙁