Chapter 144: Axi’s Hobby
Room 512
Han Xue put down her phone and looked at Axi.
Axi stared right back at her without blinking.
“So? What did the family say?” he asked in a deep, emotionless voice.
“The cops are still suspicious of our identities. They’ve contacted the relatives multiple times to verify. But the family has been handled. Our people took control of them and resolved the crisis for now.”
“Even if the cops still suspect us, they don’t have a valid reason to search or detain us. They won’t take action without evidence.”
Han Xue pointed at the suitcase in the bathroom as she spoke.
Axi followed her gaze to the black suitcase, a container that resembled a coffin—inside lay the mother and child they had murdered.
“We need to move faster,” Axi said, staring at the suitcase. “We have to take care of Fang Xiaocao before the cops catch on. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll have to abandon the mission.”
“No!” Han Xue shouted before Axi could finish. “Fang Xiaocao must die!”
Axi shot her a glare and snapped, “Keep your voice down! Do you want to get us killed?”
Han Xue flinched and shut her mouth, but her face still radiated frustration and resentment.
Axi’s voice remained cold and emotionless. “The bodies in that suitcase won’t last much longer. Soon, they’ll start to rot. You know how bad corpse stench can be, don’t you?”
“Once that happens, even with the suitcase sealed and the bathroom vent running, plus two doors separating it from the hallway, the smell will still leak out.”
Han Xue sat silently on the bed, her face unreadable. After a long pause, she finally asked, “How much time do we have?”
“Three days at most,” Axi replied.
“Then we leave in three days,” Han Xue said as she stood up.
“Where are you going?” Axi asked, watching her.
“Scouting the area.”
Without looking back, Han Xue grabbed her purse, swayed her hips, and gracefully walked out the door.
Axi frowned deeply as he watched her leave.
“She’s an unstable factor,” he muttered.
He pulled out his gun and carefully wiped it down.
“If she doesn’t listen… she’ll have to die.”
After some time, the hotel room fell into darkness as the power ran out. Axi’s low voice echoed in the silence.
In the pitch black, he turned on his phone’s flashlight and stepped into the bathroom, gun in hand.
Squatting before the black suitcase, he slowly unzipped it. As the zipper slid open, a bloodied, mangled face was revealed beneath a white plastic sheet.
Axi grinned cruelly.
“What a beautiful corpse… yet such a hassle to deal with.”
In the dim glow of his phone, he muttered to himself, admiring the lifeless body.
His eyes remained locked on the corpse’s open, unseeing eyes, even as he slowly zipped the suitcase shut.
Axi stood up. In the bathroom mirror, his reflection gazed back, eyes gleaming with excitement and bloodlust.
He licked his lips, left the bathroom, and grabbed a beer that Han Xue had bought earlier. With a sharp “pop,” he cracked it open and took a deep gulp.
Seated on the bed, beer in one hand, gun in the other, Axi’s eyes flickered uncertainly.
Who knew what was running through his mind?
Room 507
“Huh?”
Fang Xiaocao’s eyes lit up as she spotted Han Xue leaving Room 512 through the hotel surveillance feed.
She immediately switched her phone screen to single-monitor mode, her sharp gaze tracking Han Xue’s every move.
As Han Xue stepped into the elevator, Fang Xiaocao swiftly switched to the WeChat app and messaged Tom:
“Tom, the target has left her room. She’s in the elevator now.”
Then, she quickly returned to the surveillance feed, changing the camera view to the elevator.
Inside the elevator, Han Xue was applying her makeup.
Ding!
The elevator door opened. Han Xue snapped her compact mirror shut, put on her sunglasses, and swayed out with practiced grace.
At that moment, Tom’s message arrived.
[Tom: Received. Moving now.]
Fang Xiaocao responded:
“Be careful. Don’t act rashly. Your safety comes first.”
[Tom: Understood!]
Fang Xiaocao switched the surveillance back to the hotel lobby.
As Han Xue walked through the grand lobby, her gaze never wavered. But through the camera, Fang Xiaocao noticed subtle movements—Han Xue’s head tilted slightly from side to side as if she were searching for something.
Fang Xiaocao raised an eyebrow.
“What are you looking for, Han Xue?” she murmured, analyzing the scene.
Han Xue reached the hotel entrance just as Tom’s tall figure appeared in the surveillance feed.
Fang Xiaocao exhaled in relief. She had worried Tom wouldn’t keep up and waste this golden opportunity.
Tom discreetly nodded at one of the surveillance cameras before stepping out of the hotel first—positioning himself for an “accidental” encounter with Han Xue.
Hotel Surveillance Room
“Captain Song, the target has left. Should we follow?”
Officer Xiao Li’s voice crackled through the radio.
Song Lin hesitated for a moment before replying, “Follow her.”
He knew this order was technically against protocol.
Before, Han Xue and Axi had been suspects, and investigating them had been justified. But now, with their identities confirmed and their alibis verified by their supposed family members, there was no legitimate reason to continue tracking them.
Despite the lingering doubts in his gut, without solid evidence, keeping tabs on them was an unjustified use of police resources.
Still…
Something doesn’t feel right.
(End of Chapter 144)
