Chapter 29
Sure, here's the translation:
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Li Yan shone his flashlight upwards, illuminating the unlit houses on the surrounding floors. After a while, likely making the security outside suspicious, he finally heard a response from Yu Xiaodi.
"I see it... You're on my left, I'm higher up..."
Li Yan quickly asked, "Which direction do you see my car lights coming from?" The left side of different buildings could be exact opposites.
"Left, more to the left..."
Li Yan immediately understood; it should be the building on the edge. He quickly directed his flashlight towards the unilluminated rooms over there, room by room, at a fast pace.
"I'm shining the flashlight over now. If it hits your window, make a sound!"
"Okay."
Just as Li Yan was using this method of elimination by shining on each room, the security guard from the post finally approached. Seeing him busy, and looking over that way, he politely asked, "Sir, what are you doing here?"
Li Yan estimated that if he drove here in a small QQ car tonight, the questioning might not be so polite but direct. He had to stop, pull out his wallet, and handed over a hundred-dollar bill.
"I'm having some romantic fun with my girlfriend. Brother, have some tea on me! I'll be heading up in a moment." Li Yan pointed to his earphone.
The security wouldn't suspect a thief driving a Mercedes to scope out. Seeing his demeanor, he immediately got the hint, accepted the bill with a smile, and walked away grumbling internally: No harm in taking it. Girlfriend?
With this interruption, when Li Yan continued his elimination process, he heard some noise through the earpiece but didn't hear Yu Xiaodi's soft voice. He slightly adjusted the volume higher, focused on the sounds in the call, and kept an eye on the most likely a few rooms that hadn't been confirmed yet.
By this time, most who were supposed to be home were already home, and it was about the time when ordinary people would be preparing to rest, so most of the bedrooms near the exterior had their lights on. Coupled with her saying she was high up, the lower floors could be ruled out, significantly narrowing the range. Earlier, he received no response from Yu Xiaodi in several places he checked, and the range was now down to a few.
Observing carefully, he noticed a slight light from one window, less bright than a normally lit room, and it wasn't related to the window paper or curtains. It seemed to be light shining through from an open door.
Recalling that Yu Xiaodi said she was locked in a dark room, Li Yan estimated that the lights in that room were damaged. Coupled with her sudden silence, indicating she couldn't even utter a word, he roughly confirmed it was that room; someone must have discovered her and opened the door!
Locking the car, Li Yan quickly headed towards that building. The security guard still eyed him from afar, seeing Li Yan exchanging signs and then hurrying upstairs. Misinterpreting the situation, he suspected Li Yan wasn't visiting a woman but meeting a married woman, with the recent signals meant to confirm the household's situation; why else be so secretive?
...
One minute later, Li Yan was at the door of that room. He knocked heavily and then lowered his head to fumble through his wallet at the peephole.
After a while, a voice inside asked, "Who is it?"
Li Yan was slightly astonished; why was it a woman's voice? Could he have come to the wrong place?
"The sanitation management fee has increased, and we're collecting the additional ten yuan now, which you haven't paid." Li Yan replied in a low voice.
After a moment, the door opened. A woman in her thirties or forties, with exquisite makeup and an elegant demeanor, appeared. She only opened the door a few inches and handed over ten yuan. She also asked, "Do you have a receipt?"
Li Yan smiled, "Yes, I can give it to you inside!"
Her attitude already dispelled his doubts! It should be noted that an ordinary housewife is most sensitive about family finances, questioning any increase in electricity, water, or sanitation fees thoroughly. Such a sudden sanitation fee would normally make them come out and dispute rather than pay up so quickly.
Though Li Yan found the voice strange, seeing the person immediately led to different suspicions. Her makeup was unusual, not like what an ordinary wife would wear at home at this hour, nor like someone working night shifts, more like a wealthy lady, making her seem out of place in this residential area and at this time. Her quick payment and no intention of opening the door wider revealed her desire to get rid of him fast. The casual question about the receipt was just a cover.
"What do you want?" seeing Li Yan pushing the door, the woman's face changed, and she raised her voice.
How could her power resist Li Yan? With just one motion, he pushed the door open another two feet, squeezed inside, and closed the door behind him.
"Oh dear! Be careful, don't hit her!"
As soon as he entered, a man hiding behind the door swung a power tool aiming for Li Yan's head! But Li Yan had already grabbed the woman, pulling her to cover behind him.
Seeing the tool about to hit the woman's head, the attacking man was shocked; so close up, and not a Martial Arts master, he couldn't stop it in time, and it had to go down. Instead, Li Yan, not wanting anyone dead, moved her slightly, causing the power tool to hit her shoulder instead of the head.
A heavy power tool is still quite formidable when hitting people, and its slight elasticity added a softness steel poles lack, driving the injury deeper. Intended for Li Yan, just that hit had the woman emitting a hoarse moan before she passed out.
While the man stood shocked, Li Yan had already grabbed the other end of the power tool, pushed the unconscious woman towards the man, and snatched the tool away.
At this point, two men came out of a room, clearly hearing the commotion outside, and rushed into the living room with knives. Seeing the woman fainted, they glared angrily at Li Yan.
"Disable him!" The man supporting the unconscious woman gave a cold and angry order.
"OK!"
Li Yan, having snatched the power tool, wielded it as a club, immediately hitting the commander over the head, knocking him out, the two men falling together!
Neither the man who was hit nor the other two expected Li Yan to fight back with three against one! In a moment, another one went down, and the two left only had small knives, feeling apprehensive of Li Yan's power tool.
Watching them, Li Yan's lips curled in a hint of disdain, "Kidnapping isn't done like this! Trying to run back and use a hostage to threaten me? Oh, did I guess it right? How uninspired!"
As he spoke, his hands casually bending the power tool and playing with it, an air of ease, while casting a glance at one man retreating towards the room, continued his leisure babbling, his hand suddenly flung the power tool. The throwing force plus its elasticity quickly propelled it towards the man's back of the head!
Meanwhile, Li Yan didn't idle, moving swiftly up, grabbing the arm of the man wielding a knife intending to hold him off, then directly pouncing down on the man momentarily paused from being hit on the back of the head. Before they could react, Li Yan had seized his small knife!
(Friends reading to this point should still find it engaging, right? Add it to your bookshelf and keep it in your collection. Old La will strive to update it and write even more gripping stories.)