Chapter Six: Winning and Losing at the Gambling Table (3)
Shen Jiaming did not want this matter to spread. He walked out through the stairwell door, summoned two people, and instructed them to quietly clean this place up. When the lighting equipment was brought over, she saw blood-red marks from high heels on the floor.
Those who had been attacked must have done everything they could to leave blood on her.
But it was only here.
In other words, she might have taken off her shoes before leaving.
The fourth floor of the cruise ship was all casinos, theaters, restaurants, and swimming pools, all public areas, while the second and third floors were even more of a mixed crowd. A barefoot woman with blood on her body would probably not choose a public area and would naturally leave through the employee area on the first floor.
Nan Bei glanced at Shen Jiaming.
The people handling the injured and the bodies would probably relay the news to Zhousheng Xing very soon. And she wanted to get there before the Zhousheng family, to find some trace of what had happened and figure it out. After all, this had been a sudden loss of life, and with so many elders here, she did not want anyone close to her to be in danger.
Shen Jiaming was looking at her too. Understanding immediately, he said, “Give me a minute. I’ll have someone get me a clean shirt.”
She smiled. “Cold?”
“A little.”
As the two of them spoke, someone had already come in. Shen Jiaming took off his soaked-through shirt and, while putting on the new one, took a small pistol from that person. Then he went with her through the partition door into the employee passageway, making their way downward.
Shen Jiaming had looked over the floor plan before boarding. To avoid being seen by employees, the two of them went directly around the restaurant and entertainment rooms and into the engine room. Laughter and conversation from the crew came from the laundry room. The nearby pump room and electrical distribution room were locked. He hunched down and moved forward ten meters, then felt for the handle of Boiler Room No. 1. It was unlocked.
Amid the roar, he gestured to Nan Bei.
The laundry room door suddenly opened. She hurriedly pulled the door shut and retreated into the employee passageway.
In the darkness, footsteps gradually approached.
She held her breath lightly.
Soon, the footsteps gradually receded again.
She let out a quiet breath, pressed herself close against the cabin wall, and waited until the person in the passageway had completely left before quietly returning to the engine room. She saw Shen Jiaming also walking out of Boiler Room No. 1.
The entire cabin ultimately led to Boiler Room No. 6, and only that room had an exit. The two of them had come all this way without seeing the slightest clue. In theory, wherever that woman had passed, she should definitely have left some trace behind.
The two of them kept feeling along the door locks. When they passed Room No. 5, Nan Bei suddenly stopped.
There was light beneath the doors of every room along the way. Only this one had not the slightest bit of light. Under ordinary circumstances, Nan Bei would never have been this suspicious, but just now, before retreating into the employee passageway, she had clearly looked at the gaps beneath the doors of this row of rooms. There had been nothing unusual.
Which meant that the light in this room had only just been turned off.
She took a thin, narrow blade from her body and closed it in her palm. Seeing her movement, Shen Jiaming also took out his gun. The two of them looked at each other for several seconds, arguing over who would go in first.
On this point, she could never beat him.
Shen Jiaming twisted the handle, and the two of them slipped past each other from opposite sides and charged inside. Just as she was about to close the door behind her, someone violently shoved it open from within. By the last sliver of light, she saw the black muzzle of a gun pointed directly at Shen Jiaming’s forehead.
And the blade in her hand, taking advantage of the position of her arm, had effortlessly come to rest against someone’s neck.
There was no lighting at all. She could not see.
But the moment her hand touched that person’s skin, her fingers trembled. Of the three people, Shen Jiaming with a gun pointed at him, the person beneath her blade, and herself, it was somehow her breathing that was the heaviest.
“Cheng Muyang,” she said softly.
She did not know whether people who had once been skin to skin with each other could all have such a sensitive sixth sense when they touched. But she simply felt that it was him, even though she could not see her hand in front of her face here, with only the faint light from the corridor filtering through the gap beneath the door at their feet.
When she spoke, she could feel that person’s arm lower.
She did not withdraw her blade, but he had already lowered his gun.
“Don’t move,” Cheng Muyang’s voice told her. “We’re dismantling the bomb. The lights shattered too suddenly just now, so we still don’t know what’s on the floor.”
She gave an “Mm,” and put the blade away, the back of her hand brushing against his arm.
Her eyes had already begun to adjust to the darkness here, and gradually she could make out his outline.
He silently reached out and gently put an arm around her waist.
Nan Bei elbowed him away.
From the other side of the boiler came a voice, that of a completely unfamiliar man. “Boss, this is good stuff. How about we take it back and recycle the waste?”
Before his voice had even finished, two people had already walked out from around the boiler.
Using the faint light, Nan Bei saw clearly that there was a woman beside the man.
She looked strangely familiar.
One of them, his wristwatch catching the light, tilted the black box in his hand, then lowered what he was holding and took out something else from his person. He switched it on, and it gave off enough light to illuminate most of the boiler room. “Sorry, we were in such a hurry to dismantle the bomb just now that we didn’t have time to give you any light.”
The man who spoke wore a pair of glasses and looked very refined.
All around them was the deafening roar of the boilers operating.
She finally saw the people around her clearly. Shen Jiaming’s gun was still raised, pointed at Cheng Muyang’s head, while behind him, the person sitting in the corner with a long gun in his arms, pointing it at Shen Jiaming, was Xiao Feng.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
She did not even dare imagine what the final outcome would have been if the person here had not been Cheng Muyang.
Cheng Muyang, however, was completely unfazed by Shen Jiaming’s gun pointed at him. He waved at Xiao Feng, who hesitated a little, but still obeyed.
“We’re tracking a woman,” Cheng Muyang held out two fingers and gently pushed Shen Jiaming’s gun muzzle aside. “How did you two get here?”
Shen Jiaming looked at his face. “We’re also tracking a woman.”
The two of them had just finished a huge gamble.
Yet by a twist of fate, they had ended up pointing guns at each other. Naturally, neither was particularly friendly.
Nan Bei looked around. There were no other people or bodies. “You just said someone smashed the lights. Where is she?”
The bomb disposal man’s face went pale. He glanced at the boiler.
Thrown into the furnace? She found that hard to believe too.
“Up there,” Cheng Muyang answered her.
Nan Bei followed his gaze. He was clearly referring to the top of the boiler. There was absolutely no exit up there, yet the temperature was high enough to roast anyone’s flesh. She looked back at Cheng Muyang in disbelief.
Cheng Muyang seemed to understand what she was thinking. He gave a slight nod and said, “She should be dead.”
“You threw her up there?”
“She climbed up there herself.”
……
Cheng Muyang’s cousin, Oman, seemed unable to stand listening to the two of them idly chatting. She cleared her throat. “She came into the room and saw us, then smashed the light herself and climbed up there.” She thought for a moment. “She was probably afraid we would damage the explosive device. Smashing the light was meant to buy time. As for why she climbed up there……” She shrugged, indicating that she could not understand it either.
Cheng Muyang laughed. “Only three minutes until detonation. Smashing the light really was a good method. Unfortunately, we happened to have a bomb disposal expert with us.”
Three minutes?
Nan Bei was somewhat surprised and looked at the refined-looking man.
She did not doubt what they said. She raised her head and examined the ceiling and the surrounding walls above the boiler. If she did not go up now, by the time she went up again, that person might already have been roasted. But clearly, there was no opening anywhere that she could make use of.
Just as she was lost in thought, her vision suddenly went dark. She reached out instinctively and caught a pair of black gloves.
“Fireproof, heat-resistant.” Seeing how eager she was to try, the refined-looking man explained with a smile.
Nan Bei did not stand on ceremony either. She quickly put them on, walked over to the boiler, turned her back to the ladder beside it, and reached up behind herself to grab the higher part of the ladder.
Because she was wearing a skirt, everyone very consciously turned their gazes away, including Shen Jiaming.
Only Cheng Muyang was still looking at her.
Nan Bei quickly swung herself up, planted her feet against the top of the cabin, and ended up upside down on top of the boiler.
A strange, rotten fragrance drifted into her nose…… Nan Bei lightly furrowed her brows and focused on the person in front of her.
The woman before her was naked, curled into a ball, clutching her own clothes in her arms. The skin pressed against the boiler was completely charred black.
She reached out and pushed aside the woman’s hair. It was Zhousheng Xing’s younger wife. Nan Bei supported herself with one hand, bit the glove off with her mouth, then reached out and gently lifted the woman’s upper eyelid. Fatal poisoning by asphyxiation. Fortunately.
Dying from poison was much better than being roasted to death.
She carefully checked her over once and, finding nothing else, turned over and jumped down.
“What did you see?” Shen Jiaming looked at her expression, which seemed somewhat off.
She shook her head. “Zhousheng Xing’s younger wife. And after she climbed up there, she took off all her clothes.”
“There’s a fire alarm here. She was probably afraid of attracting attention.” Cheng Muyang reached out and gently brushed the bangs away from her forehead. “That bomb was a small one. Its power wasn’t particularly great, but it was enough to disable this boiler room.”
“Why did she want to blow this place up?”
She had not expected anyone to actually use the methods of a terrorist attack, but if she wanted to blow something up, why not do it more directly?
“This happens to be the power boiler room.” Shen Jiaming was far too familiar with the entire layout here. “She may have wanted to detonate the bomb quickly after being discovered, destroying the cruise ship’s power.”
“Probably.” The refined-looking bomb disposal man nodded toward Cheng Muyang. “When that woman came in just now, she picked up the box and threw it straight into the fire. Luckily, the young boss was quick. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had anything to dismantle either.”
Only after hearing this did Nan Bei notice the burn marks on Cheng Muyang’s hand.
The identity of the person who had died was far too special.
Cheng Muyang instructed someone to notify Zhousheng Xing. Soon, the Zhousheng family’s head steward and second steward hurried over, only saying that the master had said he knew.
The body was carried down, carefully covered with black cloth.
She suddenly thought of that little boy.
This woman’s death was extremely gruesome. Perhaps she had still held onto a small hope that after destroying this room, she could also destroy her own remains, so that her horrific appearance would not fall before everyone’s eyes.
Unfortunately, she had died, yet this power boiler room remained completely intact.
But what exactly had her intention been? Why had she suddenly been willing to fight to the death just to bring this cruise ship to a standstill?
As guests, once the host had intervened, all they could do was wait quietly for the outcome.
Perhaps Zhousheng Xing would not let them know the truth.
“Everyone,” just as several people behind them were carrying the body away, the Zhou family’s second steward gave a slight bow and held out invitations to them. “My master would like to invite all of you to lunch tomorrow, as a farewell banquet before the return journey.”
Shen Jiaming accepted his first. “You’re too kind. Even after we leave the ship, there will still be plenty of opportunities to visit each other in the future.”
“Later tonight, the eldest young master will board the ship,” the second steward explained evenly. “The master’s meaning is that the eldest young master is a young man and should make more friends of comparable standing.”
That was unexpected.
She found that more and more unexpected things were making everything slowly become no longer unexpected.
The Zhousheng family had just withdrawn from the gambling game, yet that so-called “eldest young master” was boarding the ship before the final round. What for? What did he want to do? What could he do?
The invitation was still a color-registered woodblock print with a watermark.
Meticulous as ever. Even for a last-minute invitation, it was still a woodblock print.
She accompanied Cheng Muyang back to his room and watched as his cousin brought him medicine for his injury and applied it to the wound. He sat in the single armchair, and because his legs were so long, sitting there with one hand resting on his knee as he looked at her was enough to give him an overwhelming sense of pressure.
“Oman,” Cheng Muyang suddenly said, “go out. I’ll do it myself.”
Oman’s gaze shifted slightly from him to Nan Bei.
She quickly smiled and handed the things that needed to be bandaged to Nan Bei. In the instant their hands passed the items between them, Nan Bei finally saw the back of Oman’s hand. Just like Cheng Muyang’s, the joints on the back of her hand were exceptionally smooth, and when she bent them, the curve was beautiful.
The traces left by more than ten years of boxing practice.
Many thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant. She remembered that Zhousheng Xing’s younger wife had delicate hands, with prominent joints. She did not look like someone skilled in boxing. Oman noticed something strange about her, withdrew her hand, smiled, and said softly, “My younger brother, he likes you. He’s already fallen for you to the point of having no principles.”
After saying that, Oman turned and left.
It was only after the door closed that Nan Bei turned around and crouched down in front of Cheng Muyang. Using two fingers, she gently spread the medicine over his wound, applying it evenly, just as the older auntie had applied medicine to her at Qiandao Lake, patiently and carefully. Then she wrapped it with white gauze. After everything was done, she finally raised her head to look at him.
“What do you want to say?” Cheng Muyang naturally lowered his head and looked at her too.
“Back at the casino, why did you say ‘Qingcheng Pai Gow’?”
“You think I did it just to beat him?” Cheng Muyang directly asked her in return. His right hand, wrapped in white gauze, touched her cheek. “I don’t care about winning or losing. I just wanted to make him jealous, to make him uncomfortable.”
Nan Bei smiled. “Excuses.”
“I won’t lie to you.”
With his uninjured left hand, he reached around her from behind and pulled her into his arms. He lifted her hair and top, turned her around, and pressed her down onto the sofa, kissing slowly along her spine. Her body gradually grew hot, yet her mind was filled with the sensation she had felt just moments ago when she had held a knife to his carotid artery.
And at that time, he had held a gun to Shen Jiaming’s head.
It was not a pleasant memory.
Yet her body could not lie, just as in the darkness, she had been able to know it was him through touch alone. An attraction they could not escape meant they did not even need to speak to recognize each other.
Cheng Muyang held her tightly. The two of them slid down from the sofa, her knees coming to rest on the carpet, as one of his hands reached beneath her skirt. Though layers of clothing still separated them, the most intimate parts of their bodies had long since pressed tightly together. He wanted her, and she wanted him just as much.
But there were too many questions caught in her throat. “Just now, the people I saw, were they your sister……” Her voice abruptly stopped. Cheng Muyang gripped her waist and suddenly entered her from behind.
The sudden movement caused a moan to spill from her throat.
“Does it hurt?” he asked softly.
She gave a quiet “Mm.”
Her abdomen pressed against the sofa as she gripped his shirt tightly, until even that movement was noticed by him.
Cheng Muyang forcibly pried her tightly clenched hand apart and held it in his palm. “It was Oman who did it,” he began to move slowly inside her. “That woman wanted to kill me. I chased her to the first floor. Everything else was beyond my expectations.”
Her cheek rested against the sofa, so she could not see behind her.
Only her peripheral vision could catch Cheng Muyang.
He watched her almost obsessively, then leaned down and touched her face with the tip of his nose. “Do you believe what I’m saying?”
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