Molton International Holiday Inn’s comprehensive leisure and entertainment plaza, 3rd floor.
23:47.
Ningma leaned against the corner, gasping for breath. Compared to the tempered glass just now, the ground beneath his butt was solid concrete.
His entire body could almost be described as a “terrible sight.” His Jeep’s off-road Shock suit was torn in many places, his entire left arm was bruised purple from being strangled by the wire, and especially his wrist, which had been under constant pressure, had a ring of subcutaneous blood stasis.
The wound on his forehead, sustained in the morning, had reopened, blood mixed with sweat stained half of his face, his hair was soaked with cold sweat, and his entire face was pale. It wasn’t until after excessive breathing for a long time that his scattered eyes refocused.
His right leg had a not shallow cut from a sharp steel bar, but fortunately the bleeding had stopped. However, none of this was as serious as the injury to his right hand. So far, he had no sensation in several of his fingers.
Ningma pressed his palm. The fingernails of three fingers were completely black, and the blood had accumulated for too long, so he could only rely on the capillaries of the meridians to dredge it out little by little.
“Are you okay?” Luo Kang, who was beside him, was also panting heavily. A few minutes ago, even half a step later would have been completely too late. Fortunately, he arrived in time at the last moment.
“I’m… fine,” Ningma tried to adjust his breathing and finally calmed down slowly. The exhaustion after surviving a disaster surged like a tide, almost taking away the last bit of his energy.
[If you see this text, please exit reading mode, or go to the “source webpage” to read normally]
[Please go to the source webpage to read, the following content is automatically replaced to prevent collection] You – I, Big – Small, Many – Few, Up – Down, Left – Right….
“If you’re okay, then that’s bad,” Luo Kang glanced at Ningma from head to toe, confirming that the other party didn’t have any serious injuries, at least he looked alright.
“Do you have a cigarette?” Ningma managed to spit out a few words, his body drooping as if he was about to lie down completely.
“Yes,” Luo Kang twisted his body and took out a pack of crushed Hard Shell Blue Cat from his pants pocket. He pulled out two from the inside and handed one to Ningma. The latter subconsciously reached out to take it, but immediately hissed in pain as he raised his arm.
The tall guy simply lit both cigarettes and stuck one in Ningma’s mouth. The embers of the cigarette flickered in the breeze as he took a deep breath and exhaled a thick cloud of white smoke.
The stimulation of nicotine reached the hippocampus, and the pain in his body was relieved. After taking two more puffs, Ningma tried to raise his arm and wipe the blood stains on his face and said, “Thank you!”
The heavy rain pounded on the glass ceiling above their heads, “dong dong” sounded. Luo Kang turned his head and glanced, “It’s okay, luckily we made it in time.”
Ningma sat down a little lower, leaned against the wall to be a little more comfortable and asked, “How did you go?”
“What?” Luo Kang tilted his head. The other party’s voice was too low.
“Uh!” Ningma groaned softly as he pulled on the wound on his leg, and whispered again: “I mean, how did you know I was there?”
“Oh, it was ‘Little Thin Fish’ who ran to find me,” Luo Kang replied.
“Little Thick Fish?” Ningma didn’t react, “Fish?”
“Yeah, Little Thin Fish,” Luo Kang confirmed.
Ningma almost guessed, “You mean that girl? Is her name Little Thick Fish?”
“Yeah,” Luo Kang glanced at the stairwell, “Hey? Where’s she?”
“I thought she was scared away,” Ningma was also speechless, “She asked me to go up with her to take pictures. I didn’t expect that the red heart-shaped frame would fall over.”
“It’s good that she’s okay,” Luo Kang flicked off his cigarette butt, “Let’s go, this place isn’t even supposed to be up here.”
Ningma frustratingly propped himself up to stand up. Fortunately, except for the cut on his leg being a little unbearable, at least the right side of his body was slowly recovering to normal, including the burning pain in his fingers not being completely numb at the very end.
“She… Little Thin Fish has lived here with you for a long time?” Ningma dragged his injured leg, feeling the reassurance that the solid ground could bring with every step.
“Yeah,” Luo Kang walked a little ahead, illuminating the way with a flashlight, “She signed a contract as a client, booked a single room in the hotel, and has been living here for almost two months.”
“Two months?” Ningma was a little surprised, “She’s been living here for so long?”
“Yeah,” Luo Kang was a little unsurprised, “The hotel occasionally signs some contract clients. They almost all live here for a long time. After all, although this is a scenic area, the hotel is still very quiet. Some guests really appreciate this kind of environment.”
Except for the endless heavy rain… Ningma dragged his injured leg and followed all the way, “That girl – uh, Little Thin Fish, is she also here to escape the world?”
“Escape? Escape what?” Luo Kang, who was walking in front, didn’t even turn his head back, “Oh, no, well, it can be considered, but she’s escaping from her family. I heard her say that she’s running away from a forced marriage and doesn’t want to be found.”
…It seems the same as what I heard. Ningma didn’t overthink it and suddenly remembered something, “By the way, that heart-shaped statue is completely destroyed, including a glass floor…”
“It’s okay, sir,” the two went down to the first floor, surrounded by bright lights again. Luo Kang returned to his doorman identity and tone, “I’ll notify the colleagues in the maintenance department to take care of it tomorrow morning.”
“If compensation is required…” Ningma asked uncertainly, “The front desk can find my room number.”
“No need, sir,” Luo Kang replied politely, “It was caused by the hotel’s negligence – um, Mr. Ningma, can I walk back myself? I still have to go to the other side to inspect.”
“Oh, I’m fine,” except for the wound on his leg and the scratched clothes, “Go ahead and get busy.”
“Okay, sir, then I’ll go first,” he said and turned away.
Ningma only stared at the doorman’s hurried figure as he turned into the end of the corridor. The hotel’s main building and the two auxiliary buildings, namely the commercial area and the leisure area, are interconnected.
The empty corridor was instantly left with only Ningma alone. “Fine” was only relative. The wound on his leg had scabbed over, but it still throbbed faintly, especially when standing. But fortunately, after the blood circulation returned, half of his body wasn’t so numb, including the old wound on his forehead and the blood stains that had dripped onto his clothes.
If someone saw him at this moment, they would probably think he had fought with some wild beast, right?
Ningma laughed self-deprecatingly and dragged his injured leg towards the main building, limping. Compared to the white mess on the rooftop just now, his shadow was almost shrunk into a ball under the orange overhead lights.
Besides, there were still a few doubts that surged up along with the soft carpet:
Why would a girl named “Little Thick Fish” want to come to the closed platform of the hotel to take pictures?
How did she easily open the secret lock on the iron bar door? Where did she find the light switch for the glass terrace? In theory, the general power boxes are placed in relatively hidden corners.
And – why did the heart-shaped statue collapse as a whole? Judging from its appearance, it didn’t seem like it had been placed for a long time, especially the red velvet cloth covering it had almost no traces of fading.
Finally, there was the glass floor under his feet at the time. He always felt that it was a bit strange, a bit – “frail”?
Ningma moved slowly in the silent corridor. You could hear a pin drop around, especially near midnight, there wasn’t even a ghost.
However, at this moment, a slight noise came from behind –
He turned around and saw the tall doorman who had just saved him, his figure turning back and disappearing into the stairwell leading to the sunny glass terrace on the third floor.