Chapter 114: A Great Commotion

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The violent knocking snapped the heavily made-up woman out of her daze, and she hurried to open the door.

"Have you seen any suspicious people around here!?"

The woman shook her head at the man questioning her. The intruder stepped inside and paced around the room. Throughout this, Liu Sheng and Ren Xiadong gripped their guns tightly, prepared to fire at the first sign of discovery. Liu Sheng possessed many abilities, but he could not afford to let others know about them, and he refused to let Ren Xiadong come to harm. All he could do was pray they wouldn't be found.

"What's this? No business, yet you keep the door closed? Don't you know the rules? You’re supposed to keep the door open when you aren't with a client."

The woman stammered an excuse: "The wind... I'm sorry. I'm on the top floor; usually, people just wander into the wrong room."

The man looked her over, then ripped her short skirt to shreds, shoved her onto the table, and forced her to lean over it. Pointing his gun at her, he began to have his way with her from behind.

The woman bit her lip, tears streaming down her face, too terrified to speak. She looked toward the space under the bed, her eyes filled with desperate pleas for help. Watching her weep, Liu Sheng felt a surge of uncontrollable rage; it reminded him of Xiao Ya, who had also been humiliated right before his eyes in the past.

Liu Sheng started to move, but Ren Xiadong pulled him back. Liu Sheng looked at him, and Ren Xiadong shook his head. Liu Sheng pulled his hand away.

He crawled quietly from under the bed and crept up behind the man, who remained completely oblivious. Ren Xiadong kept his gun trained on the man from under the bed, ready to fire if anything went wrong. Just as the man’s movements grew more frantic, Liu Sheng struck the back of his head hard with the butt of his pistol. The man went limp instantly, and Liu Sheng caught him, slowly lowering him to the ground.

The woman glanced at the body on the floor, then at Liu Sheng. She hurriedly pulled up her underwear, looking at him with fearful eyes.

"Come out," Liu Sheng whispered to Ren Xiadong.

After crawling out, Ren Xiadong asked, "What now?"

Liu Sheng smiled thinly. "Things have reached this point. There’s no turning back."

"Damn it," Ren Xiadong said, pointing at the man. "If this bastard hadn't been so lustful, we could have easily slipped past them."

The woman, feeling that she had brought this trouble upon them, started to speak, but Liu Sheng fired his gun.

"Bang!" The bullet struck the man on the floor.

"Ah!" The woman screamed.

Ren Xiadong quickly covered her mouth, but Liu Sheng said, "Let her scream. I’m worried the people downstairs won't find us otherwise. Stay here and protect her. Don't open the door for anyone but me!"

With that, Liu Sheng walked out and shut the door behind him. He chose not to freeze time; he didn't want anyone to know about his ability. If he killed them silently, people would certainly be suspicious. If they merely guessed, it was one thing, but if they spoke of it, he would surely die!

He activated his enhanced hearing, pinpointing everyone's location and movements.

"Twelve people in total. I have seven bullets left. I need a plan," he thought while reloading.

He heard an armed man heading up the stairs. He could hear every movement the man made. Liu Sheng sat on the top step, lit a cigarette, and waited. However, the man stopped on the floor below. Losing patience, Liu Sheng froze time, walked up to the man, took his gun, and muttered to himself, "I was overthinking it. I can freeze time, shoot, and then resume. People inside will hear it but see nothing. No one will suspect I have superpowers!"

He resumed time. The sudden appearance of Liu Sheng, coupled with the fact that his own gun was now in Liu Sheng's hand, left the man stunned. Before he could react:

"Bang!" Liu Sheng shot him dead.

Liu Sheng felt that if he fired continuously and they all died in different places, it might raise suspicion, so he sat down to light another cigarette. In this way, he killed one person at a time, pausing to smoke, making the timeline seem reasonable.

Inside the room, Ren Xiadong flinched at every gunshot. He knew that some of those shots were fired by the enemy at Liu Sheng. Even knowing about the superpowers, he feared Liu Sheng might get hit by a stray bullet. The woman, though terrified, began to comfort Ren Xiadong, who was even more nervous than she was.

"Your friend is a good man," she whispered. "Good people will be fine."

"He’s my brother!" Ren Xiadong gritted his teeth. "A brother through life and death!"

"Trust me, he’ll be okay."

Ren Xiadong fell silent. Just then, there was a knock at the door. The woman instinctively hid behind Ren Xiadong, who raised his pistol toward the door.

"It's me."

Hearing Liu Sheng’s voice, Ren Xiadong relaxed instantly. "I knew it," he said while opening the door. "Liu Sheng is capable of anything. Nothing can ever stop him."

Liu Sheng entered with a smile. "Not a single one left. All taken care of."

"How do we handle the aftermath?" Ren Xiadong asked.

Liu Sheng patted his shoulder. "They won't dare make a scene. None of the business they conduct here is clean."

Liu Sheng looked at the woman. She panicked. "I know nothing! I haven't seen you!"

Realizing she had misunderstood, Liu Sheng pulled a stack of cash from his wallet, shoved it into her hand, and pointed at the man on the floor. "Consider that the tab he left behind."

As they were about to leave, the woman spoke up. "Please, take me with you. If I stay, they won't spare me—especially since their people died in my room. I have no family. I can wander the world with you, I can even help you kill!"

Liu Sheng paused at the door. He realized she was right; if she stayed, she was as good as dead. His sympathy flared, and he gestured for her to follow. She quickly changed, packed her belongings, and hurried out with them.

Back at their hotel suite, Liu Sheng told her, "There are two bedrooms. Mine is on the left, his is on the right. Sleep wherever you like."

The woman looked between the two men and walked into Liu Sheng's room.

"Damn it!" Ren Xiadong looked at Liu Sheng with disdain. "How is your luck with women so good? They all just throw themselves at you!"

Once she was inside, Liu Sheng said, "Rest well. We're going home tomorrow. If you want to follow, fine. If not, I’ll leave you some money as thanks for your help."

He and Ren Xiadong headed to the other room.

"Aren't you coming in?" the woman asked.

Liu Sheng turned back with a smile. "I'm easygoing, but I don't like to force things. You might have thought I brought you here to take advantage of you, but you're wrong this time."

He went into Ren Xiadong's room. The woman began to cry. Every man she had ever met wanted to strip her, but Liu Sheng was the first to treat her with kindness and respect. She made up her mind then and there: she would follow him, even if it meant killing for him.

In the other room, Ren Xiadong asked, "Hu Yinghe has so many dirty dealings. What do we do?"

Liu Sheng smoked, saying, "The only reason Hua Yong ignores Hu Yinghe is because he manages things well and there's never any trouble. It seems I need to do something that forces Hua Yong to pay attention to him."

"How?"

"I'm going to set off a big firework for him." Liu Sheng smirked.

"You mean..." Before Ren Xiadong could finish, Liu Sheng vanished into thin air.

"Impatient bastard! Couldn't you have taken me with you?" Ren Xiadong grumbled. He picked up some tissues and opened a movie on his phone; the scene under the bed had been too much for him. Even though the woman was just across the hall, Ren Xiadong didn't want to force anything. Regardless of her past, now that she was out of that place, he had to respect her. He took care of himself quickly.

Just as he finished, Liu Sheng reappeared. "Not bad," he remarked. "That didn't take long."

"You... you weren't gone?" Ren Xiadong asked, surprised.

"Oh, I froze time, blew up the shipyard, and came back. I didn't resume time until just now. I was thirsty, so I drank some water in the living room, and then I heard you having some 'me time,' so I waited outside for a minute."

While time was frozen, Liu Sheng had gone to the shipyard, planted crates of grenades in every corner, and soaked the place in gasoline. He had tossed a match inside, but because time was frozen, nothing happened until he resumed it. Once he returned, a massive explosion rocked the shipyard by the sea.

Liu Sheng looked at the distant glow through the window. "How about that? Pretty, isn't it?"

"Pretty doesn't mean anything! Hu Yinghe has so many dirty businesses, blowing up one shipyard won't do much!" Ren Xiadong said, annoyed—partly because his privacy had been compromised.

Liu Sheng patted his head. "Is your brain filled only with naked women? Think! The shipyard might not be important to him, but this explosion will bring his weapons and drugs to light. Do you think Hua Yong will just sit back and watch?"

"Right! Hua Yong ignored him because there was no trouble, but now that there is, he has to investigate. That means Hu Yinghe is finished!" Ren Xiadong said happily.

Liu Sheng looked at his friend. "Sleep. We head back tomorrow morning."

*I don't believe Old Man Hu won't deal with you now,* Liu Sheng thought.

The next morning, Liu Sheng ordered breakfast for three. As he and Ren Xiadong ate, the woman walked out. Both men dropped their jaws; without the makeup, she was a pure, stunning beauty with a tall, elegant figure. If she were back at school, she would undoubtedly be the most sought-after goddess.

On the road back, Liu Sheng asked her name.

"Guan Xin."

"Guan Xin. A nice name, easy to remember."

Fortunately, he had taken his own car. If he had been in Ren Xiadong's, they wouldn't have been able to bring her along.

Back in Yunhai City, Hu Yinghe roared at an old man, "What!? Find out! If you can't, none of you are keeping your jobs!"

"Young Master Hu, now is not the time for anger," the old man, his strategist, said calmly. "We must find out who did this, but we must suppress the news first. We cannot answer to Old Man Hu if this blows up. The most important thing is to keep the peace. Make big problems small, and small problems disappear. Do not act on impulse."