The Mohe's main troop from Longyue was expected to arrive in forty-five minutes, which was ample time.
Chen Ke spent three minutes completing the "disguise surgery" for Lin Xi and Ya Nan. I even considered whether to do the same for Whale God in the next room.
However, considering we weren't too familiar with her, I decided against it. Observing through Qi-sensing, Whale God had already returned to bed and was sound asleep. Her hotel room fee was indeed worthwhile; a hotel room, if occupied alone, was simply a place to sleep, wasn't it?
When there were two people, it was also sleep, but this sleep was no longer a static state but rather a verb with ever-changing variations.
Four new faces walked downstairs, causing the young lady at the front desk to freeze, thinking her memory had malfunctioned.
The four of us left the hotel and headed straight to a nearby Wanda Plaza. We all bought new clothes. The three of them even went into a hair salon and briefly changed their hairstyles. I didn't need it; my hair was neither too long nor too short. A dab of styling gel completed my transformation. A greasy slicked-back hairstyle, paired with Gu Tianle's handsome face, a small mustache around my upper and lower lip—I never used to have a mustache, but I hadn't shaved since coming to the Northeast, so I had the hairdresser style it—plus a gray suit and a ridiculously flashy gold tie, made me look exactly like an obscure third-tier male celebrity.
After all the fuss, the four of us returned to the alley where the hotel was located and entered the coffee shop opposite the hotel, right at the window seat from which we had previously spied on Whale God, waiting for Longyue and her group to arrive.
Lin Xi's efficiency was astonishingly fast. Or rather, Shabiya, with its unconventional approach, took Chen Ke's ID, license plate, and uploaded her details. In less than ten minutes, she had completed Shabiya's hiring process for her and also applied for an employee number for her, 9530. This was just two digits apart from 9527 that I applied for in the morning. It seemed Shabiya had gained two new members in the past half-day. It appeared my 9527 was indeed a coincidence, and I was quite lucky.
While waiting, we chatted, getting to know our new friend Chen Ke better. During our conversation, I noticed her eyes kept darting around.
"Ke, you're one of us now. If something's bothering you, tell us," I said earnestly. "If we can help you resolve it, we certainly will. If we can't, you'll understand our difficulties."
"Uh..." Chen Ke pursed her lips and hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Actually, the main troop of the Mohe organization... I'm the one who led them here..."
Lin Xi and I exchanged a look. Could it be, we'd been tricked again?
"Don't misunderstand! I'm not a traitor!" Chen Ke quickly explained. "Here's what happened..."
This morning, on our way to the Second High School with Little King of Hell, Chen Ke accidentally discovered us. My photo was already widely circulated within the Mohe organization, and moreover, I was the murderer who "harmfully injured" Chen Ke's sister. Therefore, Chen Ke recognized me at a glance and tracked us all the way to the school gate, then back to the hotel. Because she was just an ordinary Red Qi user, I hadn't noticed this "tailgater." When we got to the hotel, Chen Ke tricked a cute young female service staff member from the catering department into the restroom, knocked her out, took her clothes, and disguised herself as her. However, her shoe size was different, and she couldn't change that. So, Chen Ke could only wear her own high-heeled leather boots. It was precisely this flaw that made me suspect her identity as soon as she entered the room. This was because all the other female hotel staff wore those old-fashioned black cloth shoes, with a low heel and a strap across the instep. I had noticed the discrepancy but hadn't thought much of it.
Before entering my room, Chen Ke had reported my whereabouts to her superiors, and the information had been passed up layer by layer to Longyue, who then led the main troop to capture me.
"No wonder they arrived so quickly," I nodded. I had escaped last night without using any transportation; the Eagle Demon had carried me away, leaving no clues. Longyue could only find me through the Mohe information network. It was also my fault; if I hadn't gone with Ni Taimi to the Second High School to see the high school girls, I wouldn't have been discovered.
"I'm so sorry!" Chen Ke stood up and bowed deeply to me and Lin Xi. "How about canceling my position? I'm not qualified!"
Lin Xi waved her hand magnanimously. "Then and now are different. At that time, you were part of the Mohe, and reporting Wu Chengfeng's information was your duty. This shows you were conscientious and dedicated. Now that you've defected to Shabiya and are able to reveal this matter, it demonstrates your open-mindedness and integrity!"