Hibiskus als Gemälde

Kapitel 91

Nizi, you are my only family, I will never let anyone bully you... He whispered Nizi's name in his heart, stumbling and walking on. At dawn, a turbid river blocked his way, and he finally arrived at the Yellow River.

A benefactor is helping me? What kind of benefactor could it be...? Youliang couldn't figure it out. After Master Jia and Nizi finished dinner, it was completely dark. The two strolled back to the Yuxi Hotel near Sanmenxia West Railway Station.

Sanmenxia City was established in 1957, built with the completion of the Sanmenxia Reservoir. This area was once the central region ruled by the Xia and Shang dynasties. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, it belonged to the State of Guo. In the fifth year of Duke Xi of Lu (655 BC), Duke Xian of Jin borrowed a route through the State of Yu to launch an attack on Guo. After destroying Guo, he also destroyed Yu on his return journey. The idiom "borrowing a route to destroy Guo" refers to this place.

Instead of taking Nizi directly into the Yuxi Hotel, Master Jia led her into the Yellow River Hotel across the street.

"Sir, do you need a room?" A young female receptionist stood up and asked from behind the counter.

"Yes, I need a room facing the road," Master Jia replied.

"Accommodation referral letter," the waitress said, extending her hand.

Master Jia looked embarrassed and stammered, "Comrade, I lost my letter of introduction on the train. Could you please help me out? My child is still young..."

"This..." The waitress looked quite embarrassed.

Master Jia took out a ten-yuan note, gently pushed it across the counter, and said in a low voice, "This is just a small token, please make an exception."

The waitress glanced quickly left and right, then put away the banknote, took out the register, and asked, "Name?"

"Zhao Liansheng," Master Jia casually made up a name.

The waitress quickly completed the check-in procedures, handed Master Jia a room key, and said, "Room 203, the one on the second floor facing the road."

Master Jia smiled and nodded, then led Nizi upstairs and opened the door.

He walked to the window, looked across the street, and could clearly see the entrance of the Yuxi Hotel. He nodded in satisfaction and drew the curtains.

"Master, you've gone to the wrong place, haven't you? Aren't we staying at the hotel over there?" Nizi asked, pointing to the opposite side, puzzled.

Master Jia smiled and said, "That place isn't good. Master, let's find another place. Girl, go to sleep early. We might have to travel tomorrow morning."

Nizi, being sensible, hugged the big black cat and jumped onto the bed, then crawled under the covers without even taking off her clothes.

Master Jia gazed silently at the child, sighing inwardly. He hoped the director would keep his promise and not cause any unforeseen complications, but the officialdom was fraught with darkness, and even as a seasoned veteran, he had to be cautious. He gently turned off the light, lay down on the bed fully clothed. It was still early; even coming from the capital, they wouldn't arrive until dawn at the earliest.

Around three or four in the morning, Master Jia quietly got up, moved a chair to the window, and began to quietly observe the movements across the street through the gap in the curtains.

At this moment, Nizi was still fast asleep, only "Xiao Cui'er" heard the noise and silently watched him with her pair of eyes flashing green light in the darkness.

Outside the tightly closed gates of the Yuxi Hotel, a dim streetlamp illuminated the roadside. There were no pedestrians on the road, and the night was quiet and somewhat desolate.

Master Jia stared intently, his expression gradually growing serious...

Chapter 140

A dark green minivan slowly drove up from the street corner and quietly stopped in front of the Yellow River Hotel. The headlights were turned off, and no one got out of the vehicle; it simply sat quietly by the roadside.

"Hmm, here it comes..." Master Jia thought to himself, still sitting by the window, silently observing.

After a while, the middle door of the car made a "whoosh" sound, and then two short, middle-aged men in blue police uniforms got out. They looked around and then walked straight across the road towards the Yuxi Hotel.

They glanced up at the sign above the hotel entrance, nodded to each other, and then gently knocked on the door.

The lights in the hotel lobby came on, and someone peeked through the glass window before opening the door and letting two police officers in.

Master Jia frowned, sensing something amiss. Judging from the two policemen's gait, they were both skilled in martial arts, with strong, powerful legs and excellent lower body strength. Strangely, their walking postures were exactly the same, as if they were cast from the same mold. Everyone in the world has a different walking style, as varied as fingerprints, and this was something he could not hide from his eyes.

These two are twin brothers, Master Jia thought.

Inside the hotel, the duty officer was an old man in his fifties. Police night checks were a common occurrence, but the two police officers in front of him were completely unfamiliar, and their faces were exactly the same; it was obvious at a glance that they were twins.

"Officer, is there anything I can help you with?" the old man asked cautiously.

One of the police officers pulled out a red work ID from his jacket pocket and flashed it, saying, "We're from the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Please show us the guest registration book."

The old man could tell it wasn't a Henan accent, but he didn't dare to be negligent. He quickly pulled out a large notebook from behind the counter and put it on the table.

The police officers flipped through the register and found Jia Shiming's name on the last page of the accommodation registration. The time was 5:30 pm yesterday, and the room number was 201.

"Is this where you go up to room 201?" a police officer asked.

"Yes, it's the first room after you turn the corner in the corridor," the old man replied.

"Is the guest a tall, thin old man in his sixties?" the police officer continued to inquire.

"I'm sorry, I'm on the night shift and I'm not at the hotel during the day," the old man said apologetically.

The two police officers nodded and turned to walk towards the stairs.

"Officer, shall I take you up?" the old man on duty said warmly.

The police officer waved his hand and said, "No need, we can go by ourselves." With that, he walked up the stairs and arrived at room 201 on the second floor.

"Knock knock knock..." They knocked lightly on the door.

After knocking several times, there was no response from inside the room. The two men looked at each other and understood each other perfectly. One of them quickly went downstairs and brought the old man on duty upstairs. Using the spare key for room 201, they opened the door and turned on the lights inside.

There was no one in the room, and the bedding on the bed hadn't been opened...

"Where are the guests?" a police officer asked curiously.

The old man shook his head and said, "I don't know. I'll go wake up the day shift staff." With that, he hurriedly ran downstairs.

A short while later, a middle-aged female waitress rushed over, wearing a coat, and said rather nervously, "Last night, the guests in room 201 said they were going out for dinner, but when I finished get off work, I didn't see them return to the hotel. It's strange, could something have happened?"

"Them? Wasn't the guest in room 201 just an old man?" the police officer asked in surprise.

"It wasn't just an old man; he also had a little girl of about six or seven years old with him, and they were holding a big black cat," the waitress replied.

The two police officers looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing this.

Just as the two police officers entered the Yuxi Hotel, the driver's door of the van opened, and a short, middle-aged man, also dressed in a blue police uniform, jumped out. After looking around, he impatiently unbuckled his belt and began urinating under the vehicle, apparently having held it in for a long time. To Master Jia's surprise, the urinating police officer looked remarkably like the two officers from before. Were they triplets?

Master Jia began his operation. He quickly grabbed his travel bag, took out the goose-egg-sized "Feng Hou" head, placed it beside Ni Zi's pillow, then swiftly pushed open the door and left the room, closing it behind him. At the corner of the first and second-floor stairs, he opened the window, leaped out, and landed silently on the ground. Last night, he had already identified this spot as a suitable passageway, as the inn locked its doors at night, and the noise of people coming and going would be too loud.

After urinating, the policeman let out a long, comfortable sigh, then opened the middle door and prepared to get in.

In that instant, he suddenly felt a tightness around his neck, and was then forcefully pushed into the car, after which the car door slammed shut.

A large, iron-like hand pressed down on the back of his neck, two steel fingers pinching the left and right carotid arteries, instantly cutting off blood flow. His brain suddenly became confused due to lack of oxygen.

"Are you sent by the director to make contact?" Master Jia asked in a low voice, slightly loosening one of his right fingers, allowing a small amount of blood to flow through his carotid artery to his brain.

The man regained some composure and nodded slightly, saying, "You...you are Jia Shiming?" His voice clearly carried a Sichuan accent.

"Are the three of you twins?" Master Jia ignored him and asked again.

"Yes," the man said with difficulty.

"After receiving the goods, what are the director's orders on how to deal with Jia Shiming?" Master Jia suddenly asked.

“This…” The man was taken aback, suddenly speechless, as if he had something difficult to say, and stammered out the words.

Master Jia already understood that the officialdom was always cruel and treacherous. He had previously suspected that he would not be able to leave safely after the deed was done, and tonight it was indeed proven true. Once he handed over the "ghost pot", he would inevitably be silenced.

These three were sent by the director after all. If he killed them, he would be in even greater danger in the future, since it was their territory. For now, it seemed that only by having the "Ghost Pot" in hand could he and Nizi be safe... Thinking of this, Master Jia's hand gradually loosened.

"Comrade Jia Shiming, hand over your belongings, and the three of us brothers will let you go privately, how about it?" The man slowly raised his arm and offered his hand in a friendly manner.

Jia Shiming suddenly noticed a large diamond ring on the ring finger of his right hand and couldn't help but think that wearing a diamond ring while wearing a police uniform was so conspicuous. They couldn't possibly be police officers, or even government officials. It was unbelievable that three brothers worked in the same department. It seemed that the director had hired someone from the underworld.

Just then, the man was about to grasp Master Jia's left hand...

Master Jia saw it clearly with his hawk-like eyes. Suddenly, he flipped his hand, grabbed the man's wrist, and twisted it sharply. With a crisp "crack," he broke the man's wrist bone and dragged him to the window. Under the dim light of the street lamp, a sharp steel needle was visible in the center of the huge diamond ring, reflecting a cold light.

"You're from the Tang Clan of Sichuan!" Master Jia exclaimed in surprise.

The Tang Clan of Sichuan has resided for generations in the Daba Mountains of Chengdu Prefecture, Gongzhou, Sichuan. They were not a martial arts sect or a secret society, but a family that dominated Sichuan for centuries, their martial arts primarily based on concealed weapons. In the past, Tang Clan disciples were secretive and elusive, traveling the martial world alone, giving them an air of enigma and ambiguity. The Tang Clan's concealed weapons were unparalleled; anyone struck by any Tang Clan concealed weapon could only watch their wound fester and slowly await death—a truly gruesome end, feared by all in the martial world. The Tang Clan also possessed a mastery of poisons, their poison being colorless and odorless, hence the name "Shadowless Poison." After the liberation, the Tang Clan gradually disappeared from society, leaving only legends circulating in the martial world.

The man, enduring the excruciating pain from his broken wrist, nodded and said, "Jia Shiming, you are indeed insightful. My brother and I are the third young masters of the Tang family. I am the third oldest. You should know that if you offend the Tang Clan, you will never have a peaceful day in this life."

Master Jia had heard that the Tang Clan was always ruthless towards their enemies, and would find and eliminate them no matter where they hid. In the past, people in the martial arts world would often avoid the three types of enemies and never make enemies with the Tang Clan.

"You are just following orders. I have no grudge against the Tang Clan and have no intention of making enemies. But now, in order to protect myself, I can only ask you to make do for the time being." After saying this, Master Jia pinched down with two fingers of his right hand, blocking the blood flow to the man's carotid artery, and watched as he slumped limply into the chair.

At this moment, the door of the Yuxi Hotel opened, and the two Tang brothers walked out with puzzled expressions, looking around.

"Brother, did Jia Shiming realize something was wrong and slip away early?" Tang's second son guessed.

"The director said that this old Taoist priest is very shrewd and cunning, but it would be reasonable to at least meet him. Perhaps something really did happen?" the eldest brother said thoughtfully.

"Why would he be with a little girl? Could he be involved in child trafficking?" the second brother chuckled.

“Let’s wait in the car until dawn. If Jia Laodao still hasn’t returned, we’ll have to call Beijing right away,” the eldest brother said, as he and the second brother crossed the road without warning and headed towards the van.

The second son of the Tang family opened the car door and glanced at the third son, who was lying on his side in the middle row of seats with his head down. He chuckled softly and said, "Third son, you've been driving all night. You look tired." As he spoke, he got into the car.

At that moment, a dark shadow suddenly sprang up from under the back seat of the van and stabbed Tang's second son in the chest with a "plop." Tang's second son let out a muffled groan and fell back into the van, one leg still sticking out.

The eldest son of the Tang family was suddenly stunned, and then saw a figure rush towards him from inside the car...

Everyone says that the Tang Clan's hidden weapons are the best in the world, but little do they know that the Tang Clan's lightness skills are also unparalleled in the martial arts world. The eldest brother reacted in an instant, lightly tapped his feet, and leaped out diagonally, just dodging Master Jia's finger.

"You are Jia Shiming!" the eldest son of the Tang family exclaimed in a low voice.

"It is indeed I, the humble Taoist." Seeing that his first attack had failed, Master Jia simply stood in the middle of the road, confident that his Quanzhen School's "Innate Qi Gong" was more than enough to deal with the Tang Clan.

"Master Jia, we were ordered by the director to pick up the goods. Why did you launch a sneak attack?" the eldest son of the Tang family asked coldly.

Master Jia chuckled and said, "Don't you even understand this, Young Master Tang? I only seek to protect myself; I have no desire to be silenced."

"I don't know what you're talking about. My brothers and I rushed here from the capital overnight to pick up the goods and go back. How could we possibly hurt you?" the eldest son of the Tang family said with an innocent look on his face.

Master Jia's mind raced. He pretended to hesitate and ponder, while secretly activating his "innate qi cultivation."

"Old Jia, you've gone too far with that joke, but I can understand. We're both people in this world, so it's always good to be cautious. Alright, it's almost dawn. The director also asked us to bring you 100,000 yuan for your future settlement." The eldest son of the Tang family said with a friendly smile.

"Is this really true?" Master Jia asked, staring into his eyes.

"Of course it's true. We've become friends through a fight. The Third Young Master of the Tang family has long admired Master Jia's reputation but has never met him. If there's an opportunity in the future, we can have more exchanges." The eldest brother said with a chuckle, extending his hand enthusiastically.

Master Jia caught a glimpse of the diamond ring on that hand, which also gleamed with a chilling, sinister light…

Chapter 141

Master Jia chuckled coldly twice, but instead of shaking hands with him, he said indifferently, "I'll trust you for now. Go and take out the money and let me see it."

Tang nodded awkwardly, thinking to himself, "This Jia Shiming is indeed cunning and treacherous. Hmph, 'Even the wisest man can make a mistake.' We'll see."

He walked to the car door, bent down and pulled a small black briefcase from under the seat, then carried it back and handed it to Master Jia.

“Open it,” Master Jia said.

With the suitcase in hand, Tang Laoda pressed the switch, and with a "click," the combination lock suitcase opened. Under the streetlight, one could clearly see stacks of old banknotes inside, including ten-yuan, fifty-yuan, and one-hundred-yuan notes.

Master Jia nodded. This was the rule. People in this line of work generally preferred to keep old, circulated money because new banknotes with consecutive serial numbers were easier to trace.