novelPerplexed and Smitten (92)
| ← Ch.1031 | Ch.1033 → |
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
An Xiaoning scurried toward the house and pushed the door open. At the sight of her, the man who was smoking inside the house was about to flare up. An Xiaoning hurriedly said, "Sir, simmer down. Here's what happened. We came here on a motorboat, but there's no way for us to go back now. Does that boat along the river belong to you? Could you give us a lift?"
"You can make a turn at the road over there. It's not like there aren't any roads for you to walk on. You don't necessarily have to cut across the river, " said the man, who obviously didn't want to give them a ride.
An Xiaoning entered and negotiated with him, "Sir, how about this? We'll give you 300 dollars in exchange for a lift. Will that do?"
By rights, she was offering way too much for such a short distance. However, he still refused to give in."I'm not giving you guys a lift."
When An Xiaoning bent down to tie her shoelace, she stealthily stuck a small recording device behind the door before saying, "Alright, we shall leave on our own, then."
"Sis, what do we do next?"
"There are two-and-a-half floors in this house. We must think of a way to enter the house and hide ourselves in order to obtain the evidence easily."
"Enter the house? Sis, I don't think it'd be easy to do that, especially since there are three of us. Shall I go to the tourist attraction area to observe?" No. 5 said.
"No, we just beat those three people up earlier. They must be gathering help to retaliate against us. Wouldn't it be dangerous for you to go there alone? I'll think of ways to keep us concealed. It's safer for us to stay together."
No. 5 did not insist any further after hearing her words.
After observing the surroundings of the house, the three of them let out a sigh.
There was no way for them to enter at all. All the windows of the house were facing the front, and there were no windows at the back.
Thus, the only way to enter the house would be from the front.
However, it was impossible to enter stealthily since there were people inside the house at present.
"Sis, what do we do?"
"What else can we do? We have to barge in. Otherwise, it'd be even more impossible at night. I reckon they won't take action in the day and would probably wait until night."
No. 5 and No. 8 followed her instructions.
They heaved a sigh of relief after knocking the fifty-odd-year-old man unconscious and dragging him to the top floor.
After walking around the house, No. 5 and An Xiaoning discovered that there were other men in the house who were currently sleeping in their rooms. It seemed they were nocturnal and only took action at night.
No. 5 headed to the top floor with a few bags of instant noodles and some bottled water while An Xiaoning caught up soon after.
No. 8 tied the man's limbs and stuffed his mouth, so as to prevent any problems from occurring even if he came to.
There were lots of miscellaneous items on the second floor, which made it a safe place for them to hide in, for it would be easier for them to go unnoticed.
The three of them set their mobile phones to silent mode. Since the rest of the people were sleeping, it was a good opportunity for An Xiaoning to plant audio-enabled surveillance cameras in each of the rooms.
"Sis, now that they're sleeping, isn't it a good chance to hypnotize them?"
"Didn't you see that there are five to six people in each room? Perhaps an expert hypnotist would be capable of conducting a mass hypnosis, but I can't do it with my mediocre skills. Besides, some people are naturally strong-willed and resistant to hypnosis. It won't be ideal to alarm them unnecessarily."
"That's right. Let's not talk from now on."
"Okay."
The air was warm, stuffy, and humid. An Xiaoning drew the curtains open gently to allow the breeze to enter, making the air much cooler.
Waiting was the most arduous process.
The three of them sat on the ground while remaining silent. To make matters worse, there was nothing for them to do to kill time.
They continued to sit until noontime.
At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the bunch of men woke up one after another.
An Xiaoning stared at her mobile phone screen to watch the live feed from the surveillance cameras she had planted while listening to their conversation.
A man with a coarse voice left the house and entered again."I wonder where Old Liu went. I didn't see him around the house."
"Good that he's not here. He's always trying to foil our plans. I wish I could kill him, lest he gets in the way of us earning money."
An Xiaoning glanced at the man that they had tied up, thinking to herself that he must be the "Old Liu" the men were referring to.
Seems like he told us to leave for our own good.
"Shall we target a woman tonight? Women are easier to handle since most of them can't swim."
"One is not enough. We must get a few."
"Let's eat and drink something before getting to work."
"..."
The bunch of men exited the room while An Xiaoning hurriedly saved the recording before switching to another surveillance camera.
A group of men were playing cards in the living room. More than half an hour later, one returned with some food and beer, after which they began eating and drinking. There were roughly nine men in total.
They were boorish and had unpleasant table manners.
At this moment, Old Liu finally came to after being unconscious for several hours. Just as No. 8 was about to knock him out again, An Xiaoning grabbed his harm to stop him."Let me talk to him for a bit, " she said softly.
"Okay."
They switched positions and An Xiaoning walked toward Old Liu before saying softly, "You don't have to be so tense. We're not thugs or reporters or the police. We just have the ability to punish those evildoers for the crimes they've committed. Are you willing to cooperate with me?"
He looked at her in astonishment and shook his head profusely.
He did not mean that he was unwilling to cooperate by shaking his head, but rather, he was trying to tell her that there was no use in trying to punish them.
"I know they have a backer to support them, but I have a greater power behind me. Thus, you just have to assist us. You don't have to do much and we won't tell them that you were the one who helped us."
He continued to shake his head. An Xiaoning understood that he did not want to be embroiled into the matter.
Hence, An Xiaoning had no choice but to say, "Forget it, then, just keep quiet and lie here obediently. Don't try to make a single sound. If not, my men will try to knock you out again. Got it?"
He nodded in agreement.
An Xiaoning instructed No. 8 to keep an eye on him."Stay here to watch him while No. 5 and I take action later."
"Okay."
An Xiaoning continued to watch the live feed, only to discover that the three motorboat drivers had come forth with a few other men.
"Did you guys see these three people during the day?"
"What people?" the man with a coarse voice asked.
"One woman and two men. They're all rather young and the woman is really beautiful."
"No, we just woke up a while ago."
One of the motorboat drivers snapped, "Damn it! We've been searching for them for a long time. These three people seemed to have vanished into thin air. We didn't even see them at all. Where's Old Liu?"
"I don't know."
"Could it be that Old Liu had sent those three people out of here?" the man speculated.
| ← Ch. 1031 | Ch. 1033 → |