4 THE BLACK KNIFE (1/2)

Su Yang made her way over to the reception at Yangguang hotel. At the counter, she slipped the receptionist a black coin with an inscription of a knife on it.

The receptionist bowed slightly and handed her a key card.

Su Yang retrieved the coin and slipped it into the front pocket of her jacket. After taking the key card from the receptionist, she stepped into an elevator. Stopping at the second floor, she strode along its corridor and halted at the front of a room with the number 111 on its door.

She tapped the key card the keycard reader then opened the door.

The room looked like every regular room on the second floor of the hotel. It had one king-sized bed to the north and a television opposite it. Its wall was a motif of cream, mint, and dark-green circles, while its floor was covered in black marble with a reflective surface. There was a bookcase to the west of the room and a closet to the east.

Su Yang inspected the handle of the closet. If she just pulled it open, she would see a stack of clothes neatly arranged, but that wasn't what she was after.

Taking a closer look at the handle of the closet, Su Yang saw a slot that resembled a keyhole. She pulled out the black coin from earlier from the pocket of her black leather jacket and put it in the slot.

On hearing an expected snap, she retrieved the coin from the keyhole and took one step backward.

Su Yang watched as the closet door opened on its own. The racks of clothes retracted to the far end of the closet so that nothing was standing in her way. The floor then opened up to reveal a spiral staircase.

Su Yang followed the staircase until she got to the level ground of what seemed like an underground tunnel. Instinctively, she looked up. The floor had closed back up on its own.

As she took a step forward, a motion sensor light came on, brightening the tunnel. Following a pathway she seemingly knew too well, Su Yang walked until she saw another set of spiral staircase that seemed to lead up to another secret door.

Su Yang climbed the staircase, and as she got closer to its top, a wall opened up on its own, the opening, only the size of a window.

Crouching so she could fit through the opening on the wall, Su Yang stepped through the wall and came out of the fireplace of a luxurious cream-colored sitting room.

As she emerged, she noticed two pairs of eyes watching her wearily. One belonged to a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties while the other belonged to a girl who was anywhere between fifteen and fifty.

”Why did Lu Qihao call?” Su Yang asked in a voice that held no warmth.

The girl with the indeterminate age had an open laptop sitting on her lap. She stared at Su Yang coldly but said nothing, her eyes expressionless.

”Ask him when he gets here,” the man who looked as if he were in his mid-twenties said. His white shirt, gray tie, and black leather Italian shoes gave him the air of a serious businessman.

Su Yang plopped herself into an armchair and sighed.

Bored, she dipped her hand inside her jacket and brought out a knife. She flung it at the girl with the laptop.

The girl with the laptop stared at the knife coming towards her and turned her attention to the computer on her lap, staring at its screen like it was more important than her life.

The knife flew past her, barely avoided her ear and landed on the sofa behind her.

”Zhu Daniya,” Su Yang sat up and called the name of the girl with the laptop.

Zhu Daniya looked up, still wearing the weary look from earlier on her face.

”This isn't fun if you aren't scared,” Su Yang explained to Zhu Daniya.

Zhu Daniya gave her one last glance before turning back to look at the PC on her lap.

Su Yang sighed in frustration and threw another knife at her. Like the previous one, this knife also flew past her and landed on the sofa.

The man in his mid-twenties sat on an armchair beside Su Yang. With a newspaper opened in front of his face, he took a sip of coffee from a mug.

***

Like Su Yang had done, Lu Qihao stepped through the fireplace and froze at the sinister aura lurking in the room.

Su Yang was clad in black from head to toe and was throwing knives at Zhu Daniya as if they were paper planes.

Zhu Daniya was speechless and ignoring the knives like they wouldn't dare hurt her. Not even by mistake.

Yun Peng, the man who looked like a businessman, was reading a newspaper and sipping coffee from a mug. Seemingly unperturbed by the scene in front of him.

Lu Qihao couldn't tell which was more disturbing between the one throwing the knives without worry, the one who didn't react to having knives thrown at them, or the one who acted like he seemed unperturbed by the scene. It didn't matter how long he's known these people. Lu Qihao believed he would never get used to this kind of scenery.

Lu Qihao briefly contemplated leaving before anyone noticed him. Perhaps, by the time he returned, the aura here would be friendlier.

Before he could make his escape though, Su Yang acknowledged his presence.