Chapter 51: Situation Back at the Hostel
Tang Mu immediately made the worst assumption, especially since he couldn't rule out the possibility of the couple being in cahoots with the two mysterious men who had kidnapped Ning'er and the others. He readily hid behind a tree and summoned his death's whisper bow while continuing to monitor the two individuals with his spiritual sense.
A minute passed, and his nerves remained taut as he observed the youthful man holding hands with the equally young woman while traversing through the forest. He was so focused, and he felt as if everything was beginning to move in slow motion when he noticed them gradually approaching the clearing beside the small stream.
Without any more dawdling, he summoned an arrow and nocked it onto the bowstring to prepare for the worst possibility. He pulled the string back and readied himself to unleash his most lethal attack on the two individuals if they dared to harm Ning'er and the others.
A few more seconds passed, and the moment finally came when the couple walked out of the dense stand of trees and into the clearing.
Tang Mu pointed the arrowhead straight at the man's head and waited. He also began feeding traces of his psionic energy into the runic longbow as he remained just a snap away from launching the attack. But the next instant, he relaxed and let out a heavy breath when he witnessed the faces of the two individuals, who had just laid eyes on the two corpses turning abnormally pale.
The woman even let out a sharp and almost inhuman scream filled with terror before diving into the man's embrace. She couldn't face the corpses and immediately hid her face in the man's chest while sobbing. Panic had already surged through her.
The man was similarly in a state of hysteria, with a face plainly contorted with dread and his Adam's apple constantly bobbing up and down. It was as if he was continuously swallowing empty air as he glanced at the bloody scene highlighted by the two grotesque corpses with raw fear. Fortunately, he was still calmer than the woman and didn't waste much time before operating his smartwatch to call the police.
Judging by their reactions, they shouldn't be related to kidnappers in any way.
They've also saved me the trouble of calling the police myself. I can now be rest assured that Ning'er and others will soon be in safe hands.
Tang Mu breathed a sigh of relief and stowed the runic bow and the special arrow back into the Star Orb storage space upon catching the man's actions. But he remained hiding behind the tree, unwilling to draw the couple's attention.
From their reactions, he could confirm that they were just ordinary people who had wandered to the battle scene by sheer coincidence.
Nonetheless, he still continued monitoring them out of caution. He waited patiently, and only after hearing the sounds of police sirens coming from the distance and confirming that the men in uniform were about to arrive did he pick an opposite direction and carefully make his way out of the forest.
He stayed away from the surveillance cameras and soon mixed in with the morning crowds on the streets.
Without relaxing his cautiousness, he eventually headed towards a nearby public washroom, where he washed his face and changed out of his dirty combat gear.
Lastly, he donned the fresh set of casual jeans, a shirt, and sneakers he usually kept in the Star Orb storage space before storing away the dirty gear and leaving like any other ordinary person just from using the restroom.
About ten minutes later, he veered off the street and headed into a deserted alley just 800 meters away from the hostel.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
He quickly extended his spiritual sense into his room, hoping to expend his already scarce psionic energy to teleport directly to his room. But then again, his brows immediately creased into a frown when he couldn't readily find any visible shadow to target with his Mentifery superpowers.
The morning sunrays streaming through the open window had long illuminated the entire residence. Even the tiny space of the bathroom was no exception, and Tang Mu couldn't find any apparent dark shadow that could allow him to perform the shadow teleportation successfully.
Damn it! All this sucks!
Tang Mu let out an inward curse. But not willing to be deterred by the small problem, he decided to go with the obvious option.
He swept his spiritual sense around to ensure no one was observing him before lying supine on the stone-cold pavement in the alley. He then extended his perception ability into his room again and used his Mentifery powers to manifest the shadow teleportation array within the dark space under his bed.
With just a thought, he triggered the runic arrangement, and his body instantly flickered out of existence from the alley. Everything turned dark for a moment, and then he teleported to the narrow space under his bed while still lying supine on the floor.
I should remember to keep my curtains closed from now on.
Such a thought flashed through his mind. He crawled from under the bed and glanced at his watch. It was already coming to eight in the morning. He sighed at how time had passed quickly and immediately triggered his spiritual sense ability to investigate the scenes around the hostel.
At first glance, everything appeared calm, without any left-over signs of forced entry into the building. But Tang Mu still felt like there was an abnormality as everyone, including Aunt Wanjing and the other often early birds, were still in deep slumber in their beds even that late in the morning.
What was even weirder was that a boy who usually liked gaming through the night seemed to have fallen off his chair before collapsing on the floor and dropping his virtual headsets to the side. He was still breathing as his chest was rising up and down. But like the others, he was deeply asleep and oblivious to anything around him.
Could the intruder have used a severely restricted type of knockout gas or something with similar effects?
Tang Mu was even more alarmed. Dread twisted in his guts, and he thanked Lady Luck for allowing him to escape calamity.
Even with his rank-one powers, he wasn't confident enough to disregard the effects of potent incapacitating agents like knockout gas.
He feared he would have faced a fate similar to that of Ning'er and the other victims if he hadn't been away and adventuring in the painting world when the man took action. Like his other hostel mates, he would have most likely fallen into a deep slumber and lay there helpless, waiting for the men to kidnap him at their own discretion.
That was a close call.
Since I now have some wealth in the form of the eight psionic crystals from the painting world, maybe I should think of leaving the hostel and finding a more secure place. But I would have to exchange the crystals for money first.
Unlike the hostel, guesthouses, inns, and apartments usually had security personnel (who were, at times, powerful psionics) manning their premises. They also had installed burglar alarms, meaning it was difficult for anyone to intrude on them and threaten their residents.
Tang Mu wouldn't have to worry about anyone threatening his safety if he started residing in such places. He would spend the two months before the commencement of his university education without any fears. He would even totally ignore the danger of the woman who had threatened him by staying indoors within the safety afforded by the residences.
Well! I'll wait and see how the police react to this incident before deciding.
Tang Mu sighed and shook his head. He then extended his spiritual sense into Hu Ning's residence and scanned the small space for signs of forced entry.
But there were no abnormalities, meaning the men had most likely gained access to the place without damaging anything. They could have used an access card replica or even straight out hacked the lock on the door before entering the girl's room and abducting her.
The next order of business after inspecting Ning'er's room was to find out about Gong Qing's situation. Tang Mu had seen her kissing the plain man who was involved in kidnaping Ning'er and the others. There was something peculiar about her, and he had to ensure that she wasn't up to any tricks that could cause him more harm in the immediate future.
He readily and calmly triggered his spiritual sense to scan through the peculiar girl's residence. Yet, the next instant, feelings of terror and panic stabbed deep into his soul as his perception ability caught the visage of Gong Qing's body lying lifelessly in a pool of blood with her wrists and neck slit on her bedroom floor.
He suppressed a shiver and keenly checked the girl's body for any signs of life. However, his worst fears were quickly proven true as she wasn't breathing and was already deader than dead.