It was Gao Yang's first time at a love hotel, and to be honest, he didn't like it.

Red lights, red carpet, red walls, red furniture, red bed curtains—it felt like a cramped spider's lair.

Qing Ling locked the door, drew the curtains, and opened the metal box. After a bit of study, she quickly assembled the sniper rifle.

There was still plenty of time and nothing to do.

Qing Ling sat in the oddly-shaped love chair while Gao Yang sat on the soft waterbed. They exchanged looks, the atmosphere turning awkward—though Qing Ling was perfectly calm, Gao Yang didn't know where to put his hands.

Suddenly, Gao Yang's phone rang.

It was a call from Wang Zikai. "Bro! Impulse is the devil! Think it through!! Once you take this step, there's no turning back! You'll be tainted! A man who doesn't respect himself is like rotten cabbage! I despise you! Ptooey!"

"Women are no good; they'll just mess up your R-flash!"

"Come out! Let's play ranked matches together, that's the true path of righteousness!"

"I'm in Room 601, the gaming room! Big screen, high-end surround sound, it's awesome, come on up! If you're my bro, let's rank up till dawn!"

Gao Yang hung up the phone.

"Are you lonely?" Qing Ling asked.

"Huh?"

"Why else would you be friends with an idiot?" Qing Ling looked puzzled.

"That's… a long story." Gao Yang chuckled awkwardly.

Qing Ling got up and walked into the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower."

The bathroom was a separate, semi-obscured glass enclosure. Although it was frosted glass, the outlines were still visible.

Soon, Qing Ling took off her coat and skirt, hanging them on the glass door. Next, her white underwear was also boldly hung up.

She's really not treating me like an outsider!

Gao Yang quickly lowered his head, but the glass below half a meter was transparent. He could see Qing Ling's long legs and smooth ankles. In the sound of rushing water, hot water mixed with foamy body wash flowed along the curves of her legs down to her ankles before dispersing on the floor.

Gao Yang took out his phone and started browsing.

Qing Ling finished quickly and walked out of the bathroom, wrapped only in a sexy towel.

She told Gao Yang, "You should take a shower too."

"Do I have to?"

"To the outside world, we,re here to get a room at a love hotel. Every trace must align with this behavior to avoid any suspicion."

Qing Ling walked to the bedside table, opened a box of condoms, took one out, tore open the packaging, then wrapped it in a tissue and put it in her bag, apparently intending to take it with her.

She thought for a moment and asked, "Is one enough? How many do you usually use?"

"…"

Gao Yang was speechless, not knowing what to say. "Just… one."

After leaving all the necessary "traces" in the room, they closed their eyes for a short rest. Naturally, Gao Yang couldn't sleep; he kept thinking about serious matters.

…

At five-thirty, the alarm went off. Qing Ling opened her eyes and got up.

Gao Yang had been awake the whole time. He got up too, eagerly asking her, "I remember you said before that beasts don't have reproductive systems."

Qing Ling nodded and walked to the small fridge in the corner. She opened the door, took out two drinks, tossed one to Gao Yang, and opened one for herself, taking a sip.

"I have a question." Gao Yang rotated the bottle in his hand. "Officer Huang… he's married, right?"

Qing Ling nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"According to the one-in-ten-thousand ratio, his wife is probably a beast, right?"

"Most likely."

"Then if they ever… wouldn't that cause problems?"

Qing Ling took another sip. "Beasts don't have true human reproductive systems, but they can mimic them. There are subtle differences."

"Mimic? Differences?" Gao Yang pondered.

Qing Ling remained calm. "I awakened when I was very young. The first human I met was my cousin."

"Oh."

"He slept with many girls. One day, he slept with a human girl and realized it felt different from before."

"Then he awakened?" Gao Yang felt conflicted. This indicated that a scumbag like her cousin was destined for a bad end. If he hadn't awakened, he wouldn't have died.

Qing Ling gave a nod. " My cousin told me, no matter how many times you've been with a beast, if you've never had a relationship with a human, you wouldn't notice anything wrong. However, after spending even a single moment with a human, you will realize the difference."

"So, you've done this before?" Gao Yang maintained that he inquired out of genuine scholarly interest.

Qing Ling shook her head, refusing. "My cousin informed me that it's simple to discern in males. A male beast's body responds immediately as it imitates the human reproductive system. However, the body of a male human reacts gradually.

Recalling the "test" from that evening, Gao Yang reddened.

"My cousin said that there are things about female beasts that you can understand but cannot describe." Abruptly, Qing Ling turned to face Gao Yang. "Why don't we give it a go? We'll both have experience that way."

Gao Yang spat his beverage out.

"What, is that funny?" Qing Ling frowned.

"N-no, if there's a chance… we'll talk about it." Gao Yang hurriedly changed the topic, glancing at his phone. "It's almost six."

With a glaring sparkle in her eyes, Qing Ling removed the note from her pocket.

"Will someone be killed by us?" Gao Yang had made a guess before. "Whom?"

Qing Ling gave the note to him. "Observe for yourself."

——6:00, at the No. 2 Viewing Platform along the riverfront, kill the woman beside me. Aim for the head or heart.

Gao Yang looked at the note and fell into thought:

"The woman beside me" indicated that Officer Huang would also appear, and the target would be one of his colleagues, friends, or family members. Officer Huang didn't want to kill her himself; he wanted to be with her and enter the surveillance range to create a perfect alibi, using someone else to commit the murder and clear his own name.

This is more complicated than it seems.

Qing Ling pulled back the curtains, moved the love chair to the window, set up the sniper rifle, and leaned her right eye to the scope. It must be said, a tall beauty wrapped in a towel, sitting in a love chair and using a sniper rifle, was a wild scene.

After a while, Qing Ling spoke. "The target has appeared."

Gao Yang quickly leaned over. "Let me see."

Through the scope, Gao Yang looked at the No. 2 Viewing Platform along the riverfront.

In the clean, soft morning light, an elegant and artistic woman stood on the platform, dressed in a red long dress and wrapped in a white shawl, gazing out at the shimmering river.

Soon, Officer Huang appeared. He wore a tracksuit and running shoes, with a towel over his shoulder, and stopped at the platform. The woman turned and handed him a bottle of water, smiling gently.

Officer Huang took the water, and the woman casually picked up the towel to wipe his sweat, her actions intimate and natural.

After a brief conversation, Officer Huang took the towel and continued running, seemingly planning to do a few more laps. The woman watched him leave with affectionate eyes, then turned back to admire the river.

"His wife?" Gao Yang asked.

Qing Ling nodded, sharing the same thought. "His wife might have suspected his identity as an awakener, or at least been suspicious. Officer Huang decided to eliminate her just in case, using our hands."

"Click—"

Qing Ling readied the rifle. "I'll do it."

Gao Yang didn't say anything, feeling conflicted.

He wasn't a saint, nor did he have the right to judge Officer Huang's decision. But he put himself in the scenario. If the person under the sniper rifle was his grandmother, father, mother, or sister, could he pull the trigger?

He felt a mix of emotions, distressed and troubled.

"The target hasn't moved." Qing Ling took a deep breath. "Three. Two. One…"

"Thunk—" Qing Ling fired. Though there was a silencer, the sound was still off, muffled and short, like a misfire.

Gao Yang noticed something was wrong and looked up, stunned.

Qing Ling was also frowning, taken aback.

In the moment she pulled the trigger, a dark figure descended from the sky, blocking the shot. The bullet hit the figure. Soon, Gao Yang and Qing Ling saw clearly.

The figure was Wang Zikai.