The hotel room was filled with a deadly silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone's heartbeat had its own rhythm, each person's thoughts were different.
Jiang Xia: It seems I guessed right, this woman is here for Director Huang's wife. To negotiate with her, I must keep Director Huang's wife under control! A head-on fight won't work, I have to use my wits!
Director Huang's wife: What's happening? What's happening? I don't want to die, I don't want to die! The hand gripping my throat doesn't feel like a normal human hand.
Awakened: I was careless, letting him get my sister under control. I should have killed him first! He must be the guy from the villa the night before last!
Yang Jie: The Awakened controlling me seems to be a woman? Hmm... to die under a peony flower, even as a ghost, it's worth it!
The woman in black spoke with her usual coldness: "Let her go, and I can let you two live."
Jiang Xia wouldn't be intimidated. He and Yang Jie were in danger, but she was in even more danger.
"I should be the one saying that. We might not be your match, but there are at least dozens of Demonspawn in this hotel. Once they know there's an Awakened here, you're the one with no way out!"
The woman in black was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, we'll release them at the same time, exchange hostages!"
"No way!" Jiang Xia flatly rejected the proposal. "Simultaneously exchanging hostages puts us at a disadvantage. To ensure a safe escape, you'd definitely kill us to silence us!"
"Then what do you propose?"
"You release him first!"
"No way!"
The woman in black naturally wouldn't agree to a plan that was disadvantageous to her.
She knew she was in a dangerous place, and barging in here in broad daylight was foolish.
But she had no choice; to save her sister, she couldn't afford to waste a single minute!
She had watched the hotel's surveillance and knew that besides her sister, there were only two people in this room.
Her original plan was to come in, quickly kill these two guys, and immediately leave with her sister.
But things didn't go as she expected.
The guy holding her sister was a bit too clever.
He didn't fight with his companion, nor did he immediately flee. Instead, he controlled her sister right away.
Jiang Xia was about to speak when the phone on the bed rang. He glanced at it; the caller ID was unmarked, but the number belonged to Li Sitong.
"I'm going to answer the phone now, don't make any rash moves," Jiang Xia said in a deep voice.
"Don't move!"
The woman in black pressed the tip of her knife against Yang Jie's throat.
Any action from the opponent was a threat to her.
"I have to take this call. If you want to kill him, then go ahead, but I guarantee, if you kill him, neither you nor the woman in my hands will get out of here!"
Jiang Xia stared straight at the woman, one hand gripping Director Huang's wife's throat, the other reaching for the phone.
Seeing the woman in black make no move, he relaxed and picked up the phone.
As soon as the call connected, Li Sitong's cold voice came through: "Eat the woman, leave no trace. If you can't do it, let Yang Jie handle it!"
Jiang Xia asked, "How's it going on your end?"
"It's taken care of, no problem. I'll be there soon."
From the sound of it, Director Huang was likely in grave danger.
"Alright, for now, that's it."
Jiang Xia didn't tell Li Sitong about the situation here, for their own good.
At this point, they couldn't corner the Awakened with no way out.
Only by letting her feel there was still hope of escape would she not think of going down together.
Jiang Xia looked at the woman holding Yang Jie: "I have a compromise. You put away the knife, and the four of us walk out of this room together, leave the hotel together!"
"No way!" The woman in black still found the plan unacceptable.
Jiang Xia said seriously, "This is the best plan. If any of us make a move, you can kill us immediately. If you make a move, you won't get away either! Once we're outside the hotel, on the street, with people around, we'll all be safe!"
The woman in black thought carefully and didn't answer immediately. Instead, she asked, "First tell me, why did you capture her?"
She was sure these Demonspawn didn't capture her sister just to satisfy their appetite.
"No comment!"
"Alright, then as you said, we'll go out together!"
The woman in black couldn't think of a better plan for now.
Every minute she stayed here, her situation became more dangerous.
If more Demonspawn found out there was an Awakened here, she really wouldn't be able to leave.
Even if this plan had some risks, she had to try it!
In the hallway, two boys with hoods, a woman wrapped tightly, and another woman with her eyes covered.
This combination was particularly eye-catching!
Especially when they came downstairs to the lobby, they directly attracted everyone's attention.
The two Demonspawn at the front desk stared at this oddly dressed group, their eyes filled with confusion.
They had seen many people coming to the couple's hotel covering their faces, afraid of being recognized, but not like this.
It felt like these guys had just finished filming a small movie in the hotel room upstairs.
Only when they stepped out of the hotel and saw the bustling street did both sides breathe a sigh of relief.
In broad daylight, neither Awakened nor Demonspawn dared to act rashly.
Jiang Xia pushed Director Huang's wife towards the woman in black: "Alright, you can leave now."
She didn't speak, waved for a taxi, and quickly left with her sister.
Director Huang's wife had already recognized that her rescuer was her younger sister. Once she was sure she was safe, she tore off the black satin covering her face.
Looking at the woman in black sitting beside her, though she was wrapped tightly, she recognized her as her sister at a glance.
"Your brother-in-law might be in danger!"
The woman in black looked at her sister, shook her head, and signaled her not to speak for now, to wait until they were completely safe.
...
Back in the hotel room, sitting on the bed, Yang Jie exclaimed excitedly.
"An Awakened, it was an Awakened, thrilling, so thrilling, it's my first time encountering one!"
He had only heard about Awakened before, but now he finally met one. Compared to lingering fear, Yang Jie was more excited.
But before the excitement passed, Yang Jie gasped, his face turning pale as he collapsed onto the bed, cold sweat the size of soybeans appearing on his forehead.
Jiang Xia then remembered Yang Jie had been stabbed, quickly went over to lift his coat.
The wound was long, stretching from his shoulder to the other side of his chest, at least twenty centimeters, but it hadn't bled much. The cold from the curved knife was astonishingly chilling.
The blade had cut open the flesh, and the blood had barely started to flow before the cold lingering in the wound froze it, a red ice crystal hanging like a red crystal stone on the wound.
But as the cold gradually dissipated, the blood seemed ready to break through the ice crystal.
Gasping for breath, Yang Jie stood up from the bed, with Jiang Xia's help, tore a piece of the bedsheet to wrap around the wound.
"No problem, no problem." He waved his hand, downplaying it: "Just a small wound, nothing serious."
Jiang Xia clicked his tongue, for an ordinary person, this wasn't a small wound.
But fortunately, Yang Jie was a Demonspawn, it would just hurt for a few days. In at most two days, the wound would heal, and within a week, there might not even be a scar left.
After treating the wound, Yang Jie leaned back on the sofa, lit a cigarette to ease his nerves.
He seemed extremely excited on the surface, but in truth, facing the recent crisis, he was scared to death inside.
He always thought he wasn't afraid of death, but having almost died once, it was just like that.
Jiang Xia mused: "That Awakened risking her life to save Director Huang's wife shows their relationship is definitely not simple!"
Yang Jie paused, then grinned at Jiang Xia: "You mean, they're... les?"