Chapter 823 - 791: Backlash
Chunliang had already retreated to the curved bridge, with more than a dozen poisonous snakes slithering at his feet, raising their heads and flicking their tongues, but none attacked him.
Chunliang shook his head as he moved backward, since he had to perform the whole act.
The elderly woman had a sinister smile on her face while the Lama’s chanting became increasingly urgent.
Chunliang sighed inwardly; this Huang Youlong did have some skills, having gathered so many experts under his command. Not only did he have someone skilled in controlling poisonous creatures from Miaojiang, but also a Lama who could manipulate minds with sound—if it were someone else here, another jumper would have been added to the list.
Chunliang looked at the Lama, whose eyes were flickering with a strange pale green light. It turned out he not only mastered using sound to control minds but also used his eyes to attract attention, even inducing sleep.
This person was definitely a menace. Chunliang could conclude that Liu Haiyu’s men must have died by his hand, and Chen Jianxin’s death was likely related to him as well.
Chunliang kept backing up to the edge of the rooftop when the Lama’s low voice said, "Go ahead, take a leap and fly to freedom."
Chunliang repeated, "Yes, a leap forward, flying towards freedom."
The Lama stared intently into his eyes, ready to use his Enchanting Skill to lead him to walk into death himself.
Chunliang said, "If I jump, will I be free of worries forever?"
The Lama nodded and said, "Yes, jumping off will grant liberation." Upon saying this, a thought suddenly crossed his mind: if I jump, wouldn’t I also achieve liberation? To no longer struggle and sink in this sea of suffering.
Chunliang continued, "Since Paradise is so wonderful, why doesn’t the master go first?"
The Lama faintly sensed something was wrong, trying to withdraw his gaze from Chunliang’s face, but it was already too late. He felt as if Chunliang’s gaze had tightly entwined his own eyes like cobwebs, making it impossible to shift his gaze. A thought ceaselessly echoed in his mind: Yes! Paradise is so beautiful, why should I let him have it? I should be the one to go.
The Lama walked toward Chunliang step by step, muttering, "Jumping will rid me of all worries."
The elderly woman noticed the Lama’s strange behavior and realized something was wrong. She hurriedly shouted, "Living Buddha! Living Buddha!"
At this moment, the Lama was fully under Chunliang’s control and remained deaf to the elderly woman’s voice.
The elderly woman was horrified. Now, only by stopping this masked intruder could she help the Lama break free. Not caring about much else, she simultaneously manipulated bats and controlled snakes, ordering them all to attack Chunliang.
In her anxious attempt to save the Lama, the elderly woman forgot about the treachery of the vampire bats earlier.
Chunliang, having gained control over the Lama, now had his hands free to deal with the old witch. He waved his hands, making strange noises from his throat, causing the vampire bats to flutter into the night sky.
Over a dozen poisonous snakes also turned to slither toward the elderly woman; she had never imagined anyone could control the poisonous creatures she had trained single-handedly.
Looking up, she saw dozens of vampire bats diving down with her as the target. Terrified, the elderly woman turned to flee, but after just a few steps, her feet were entangled by snakes.
By this time, the bats had descended from the sky and enveloped her frail body, covering her completely.
The elderly woman let out a mournful cry and fell into a pool of blood under the dual attack of the bats and snakes. Only then did she realize that the intruder was much stronger than her in controlling poisonous creatures.
The Lama had climbed onto the guardrail of the rooftop, standing there with his robe flapping loudly in the night wind. Suddenly, he took a step forward, and his tall body plunged straight down from the rooftop, feeling an unprecedented sense of freedom. However, the whistling wind soon woke him up. As he realized what had happened, his heart was overtaken by boundless fear...
Chunliang shook his head as alarms sounded around him. It turned out to be the backup alarm. The rooftop security system was extremely thorough; if a security guard did not check in at a designated location within the stipulated time, the emergency plan would be activated.
All doors and windows would temporarily close, and the emergency alarm would be triggered.
Originally, Chunliang wanted to seize the time to explore inside, but he had to abandon the idea and climb down along another route.
Chunliang quickly left the Jingfu Building, walked to another block, and then took a taxi to leave.
When Chunliang left the hotel, he did not choose to exit through the main entrance to leave behind an alibi. When he returned to his room, he re-entered through the window. After turning on the light, he first checked the marks he had made behind the door. He had taped a piece of adhesive tape on the top edge of the door and found that someone had moved the door.
Chunliang quickly checked his personal belongings; nothing was missing or added. He turned off the light again, sniffed in the dark, and detected a faint fragrance, likely the scent of a bath gel, but different from the hotel’s complimentary ones.
After retraining himself to a state where his senses were heightened, Chunliang’s sense of smell improved again. It should be a woman; a man typically wouldn’t have such a smell.
The hotel staff wouldn’t enter the room at this hour. Someone entered the room but didn’t touch his belongings—what exactly was their intention?
This person must have rung the doorbell first, made sure I wasn’t there, then opened the room and entered, and left without a trace. Logically, the hotel’s surveillance footage should have recorded the hallway images.
At this time, Xu Chunliang couldn’t access the surveillance footage, so he decided to wait until the next morning.
Early the next morning, Liu Haiyu called, asking Xu Chunliang about his whereabouts the previous night. Xu Chunliang had already guessed Liu Haiyu would call him, and yawning, he replied that he had slept in his room all night and was still in bed.
Liu Haiyu was skeptical. He told Xu Chunliang that two people had died last night at Jingfu Building. An old lady was bitten by something, covered in blood, and a bald Grand Lama jumped off the roof of Jingfu Building, his brains splattered because he jumped in the middle of the night and was discovered by a sanitation worker.
Xu Chunliang laughed after hearing this: "There are strange things every year, and this year is especially so. A few days ago, I saw a news story about a man and woman having an affair. In the middle of it, the woman’s husband came back, and the lover had to flee in a hurry, without even putting on clothes, and ended up falling naked from a high building."
Liu Haiyu said: "The incident at Jingfu Building definitely wasn’t an affair. The two of them together were over a hundred years old, and one of them was a monk."
Xu Chunliang said: "Old but young at heart, you really shouldn’t look down on elderly people, and especially not monks. Lao Liu, are you suspecting that I have anything to do with this?"
"No, how could I suspect you?" Liu Haiyu replied, sounding insincere.
Xu Chunliang said: "I can’t be bothered to argue with you. If you suspect me, then go investigate. I didn’t leave at all after I returned last night."
Liu Haiyu laughed: "How could I possibly not believe you? Alright, let’s stop chatting, I have other things to do."
After hanging up, Xu Chunliang thought to himself that there was indeed someone who knew he had left for a while last night, and that was the uninvited guest who had snuck in.
Xu Chunliang took a trip to the surveillance room. Since he had come before regarding footage of his punctured tire, he was familiar with the staff there. He discreetly slipped two boxes of cigarettes to them in exchange for their help in checking the hallway footage from 11:20 PM to 2:30 AM last night.
The staff, seeing the two boxes of cigarettes, helped him search the footage for his floor during that time. To Xu Chunliang’s frustration, the surveillance video had malfunctioned last night. From midnight to three o’clock, nothing was recorded.
It seemed too coincidental.
Xu Chunliang remembered something and had the staff check Bai Lan’s floor. It turned out to also be out of order. There were seven floors that malfunctioned last night, including the ones with their rooms.
Xu Chunliang left empty-handed and ran into Bai Lan while getting breakfast.
Bai Lan gave him an apologetic smile: "Good morning, Mr. Xu!"
Xu Chunliang said: "Are you feeling better?"
Bai Lan said shyly: "It’s not really an illness, just a physiological issue."
Xu Chunliang said: "Menstrual pain?"
Bai Lan teased slightly: "Don’t concern yourself with women’s issues."
The two of them took their breakfast and sat together.
Bai Lan said: "I’m sorry about last night. You helped me so much and even invited me to dinner, but I stood you up. I hope you can forgive me."
Xu Chunliang said: "It’s okay, I actually hadn’t planned on inviting you to dinner, it was my friends who wanted to chat with you. They’re your real fans."
Bai Lan said: "I should be the one treating you. You helped me a lot yesterday. If you hadn’t called so many friends, my book signing would have ended up a joke."
Xu Chunliang said: "Your organizers were a bit underprepared. For a normal signing event, who wouldn’t arrange thirty to fifty people to increase the turnout?"
"Imposter?" Bai Lan’s Chinese wasn’t good enough to understand everything.
Xu Chunliang explained: "It’s like boosting the atmosphere."
Bai Lan gathered he was criticizing Peninsula culture.
Bai Lan said: "It might be due to cultural differences. Why is it that our culture is recognized worldwide, but here it faces cold reception?"
Xu Chunliang said: "Worldwide? Why don’t you say the whole universe?"