Chapter 111: Fang Xiaocao Takes Action
At this moment, surrounded by danger, Tom was undoubtedly an excellent ally.
Just earlier, if not for Tom, Fang Xiaocao would have had to face three assassins herself. No matter how well she calculated, stepping into the hotel lobby would have meant being targeted by all three killers. Tom had drawn their attention, saving her life.
She understood this very well.
The assassin likely did not yet know what she looked like.
“If I pretend to be a hotel guest and walk past Room 508, I shouldn’t be in any danger,” she murmured after some thought.
With that in mind, she decided to head to the fifth floor.
Of course, she held little hope that Tom was still alive.
If he had survived, he would have messaged her immediately. By now, nearly half an hour had passed since he was cornered by three assassins in the elevator.
In a battle between experts, victory or defeat was often decided within minutes, let alone half an hour.
Since there had been no word from Tom, his chances of survival were close to zero.
Fang Xiaocao took out a pair of sunglasses from her bag and put them on, followed by a face mask. Only then did she carefully ascend to the fifth floor via the stairwell.
Emerging cautiously, she first checked the elevator area. It was empty.
Taking a deep breath, she adopted the posture of a normal guest and proceeded down the hallway.
Everything outside Room 508 looked normal.
There was no one there.
There were no signs of a struggle or bloodstains on the floor.
Tom had not returned.
“It looks like his chances really were slim,” she sighed inwardly.
She didn’t stop at Room 508. Without pausing or glancing around, she walked past it naturally, maintaining a steady pace.
She couldn’t be sure if anyone was secretly watching the room.
Instead, she stopped at the door of an unoccupied room at the end of the hallway and knocked, putting on an act.
“Strange, still not back?”
“That bastard took the key card and disappeared somewhere.”
She spoke loudly on purpose, then turned and walked away, heading straight for the elevator.
Pressing the button for the first floor, she waited.
Once the elevator reached the third floor, she hit the second-floor button.
When the doors opened on the second floor, she stepped out and made her way to the stairwell.
Descending cautiously, she waited in the stairwell on the first floor for a while, observing the surroundings.
After confirming there were no suspicious people nearby, she finally walked out, exiting the hotel lobby without looking back.
She hailed a taxi.
“To the car rental place,” she told the driver.
“Got it!”
The taxi rolled forward.
Since Tom had the Wuling Hongguang’s car key, it was now useless to her.
To remain unnoticed, she needed a new car—one she could use to follow people discreetly.
“What a hassle,” she muttered, sighing as she thought about the Wuling Hongguang.
If Tom really was dead…
Once his body was found, it would bring her a lot of trouble.
The car key, their chat records on WeChat, Tom’s secret identity—these could all make her a suspect.
She needed a plan.
If she couldn’t explain these things properly, the police might list her as a suspect.
“Such a pain…”
The driver’s voice pulled her back to reality.
“We’re here, Miss.”
After scanning the QR code to pay, she stepped out and entered the car rental shop.
It wasn’t the same one she had visited last time.
Clearly, the driver had taken a longer route.
But she didn’t care about that.
A few extra bucks didn’t matter right now.
She headed straight for the SUV section.
Renting another Wuling Hongguang would be too conspicuous. An SUV would be more practical and versatile.
Thirty minutes later…
She drove out of the rental shop in a white Volkswagen SUV, circled around to pick up some food, and returned to the hotel’s underground parking lot.
She wanted to check if the Wuling Hongguang had been tampered with.
She also needed to confirm if her red convertible Land Rover was still there.
Driving into section D of the parking garage, she immediately noticed that the Land Rover was gone.
No surprise there—Su Wanqing must have taken it.
That was actually a good sign.
It proved that Su Wanqing and Zhi Qi were not working together.
Fang Xiaocao maneuvered the SUV into the spot where the Range Rover had been.
It was close to the Wuling Hongguang, making it easier to observe.
She didn’t turn off the engine.
Taking out her phone, she pretended to make a call while secretly watching the Wuling Hongguang.
The key was with Tom.
She didn’t know if the assassins had searched his body.
If they had, then the key was now in their hands.
That would be ideal.
If she confirmed the key had been taken, she could simply report the car stolen.
Then, everything would make sense.
She could claim her key and hotel keycard had been stolen together, leaving no room for suspicion.
There would be no evidence linking her to Tom.
Only their WeChat conversations posed a problem.
She could only hope the assassins were greedy enough to take Tom’s phone as well.
If they did, all her troubles would disappear.
It would be as if she never had any connection to Tom in the first place.
The Wuling Hongguang remained untouched.
There were no signs of tampering.
This made Fang Xiaocao anxious.
(End of Chapter 111)
