Zhang Heng returned from the grocery store, carrying his backpack as he walked through the lobby of the Gilman Hostel.
The grumpy-looking male waiter didn't say a word. It was as if he didn't see the backpack on Zhang Heng's back, even though the muzzle of the rifle was already poking out from the backpack.
Zhang Heng walked up the dilapidated stairs to the guest room on the top floor. The wooden boards creaked under his feet, as if protesting the sudden increase in weight on his body.
The electric lights in the corridor weren't any better than the ones outside. Although they were still on, the range of light they could reach was limited, and the shadows cast on the wall were terrifying.
Zhang Heng noticed that someone was walking in Fabericotte's room across from him. From his footsteps, he could tell how agitated the young traveler was. After a while, he sat down again and seemed to have taken out a book from his luggage. Zhang Heng heard the sound of paper being flipped. Fabericotte seemed to be trying to calm himself down.
So Zhang Heng did not continue to stand in the corridor. Instead, he reached out and pushed the door open.
After returning to his residence, Zhang Heng did not rest. Instead, he began to sort out the things he brought back. Using the method that the Finnish guerrillas taught him during the Soviet-Finnish War, he tried to make a few Molotov cocktails. Of course, he used those bottles of whiskey. However, the alcohol content of whiskey wasn't high, and it was difficult to ignite. Zhang Heng distilled some high-purity whiskey and added tinder to it as a fuse.
After that, he loaded all three guns with bullets and tied a claw hook to the end of the rope so that he could climb the wall. In the end, Zhang Heng even picked up the fishing line. Soon, the room was filled with fishing line. The fishing line was so thin that it was almost impossible to see it under the current dim light, let alone in the darkness after the lights were turned off.
Only Zhang Heng knew where the fishing line was.
He did not expect these fishing lines to kill anyone. After all, their sharpness and toughness were limited. As long as they could block the intruders, it would be fine. Especially if the intruders thought that they did not know where the fishing lines were. That way, the intruders would naturally be hindered.
Zhang Heng paid special attention to the positions of several doors and windows. After leaving an escape route for himself, he sealed the other places with the fishing line.
After doing all this, he used the chair to block the doorknob and lay down on the bed.
He did not fall asleep. Firstly, he could not tell whether he was in a dream or somewhere else. Secondly, he did not feel sleepy, so he just lay there and checked the four Shadow-series items.
Zhang Heng could not explain why. After coming to this place, he could clearly feel that the power contained in the Shadow Set had recovered to a certain extent. However, it felt different from when he used it before. Zhang Heng took out his favorite Shadow Moment and thought of Crow in his heart.
However, the next moment, he did not see the crow in the dark. He tried to use the remaining Shadow Foot, but it was to no avail.
Just as he was about to try the Shadow Key again, his ears twitched.
There was a squeaking sound coming from the stairs and corridors, which meant that someone was walking up the stairs. It was not a new tenant, nor was it a staff member of the hostel. Other than the fact that the only bus that had contact with the outside world was out of service tonight, it was also because the visitor deliberately walked very softly.
This meant that the person sneaked up the stairs and did not want anyone to know.
Zhang Heng spent a lot of time distilling the whiskey and setting up the traps. It was already past midnight, and most people must have gone to bed by now. As if to confirm his speculation, the old light in Zhang Heng's room suddenly stopped working, plunging the room into darkness.
This was not because it had finally reached the end of its useful life and had endured until the day of its glorious retirement, but because someone had cut off the power.
Zhang Heng knew that the show was about to begin.
The townspeople kept saying that there would be a celebration in the evening, but there was still no one on the street outside the house. Those people had been busy preparing for the celebration for so long, and it made no sense that they would all go home to sleep.
But Zhang Heng was not in a hurry. He lay on the bed and did not move. He wanted to see what the person in the corridor was going to do.
To Zhang Heng's surprise, the intruder went to Fabericotte's room 428 first. He stayed in front of the door for a while, probably listening to the movements inside. After that, Zhang Heng heard the sound of a key being inserted into the lock.
Fabericotte was not completely unprepared. His previous anxious attitude had explained a lot of things. Although he did not agree with Zhang Heng's plan to arm himself, he seemed to have made some preparations after he came back. The intruder tried to open the door with the key for a while, but to no avail. So, he went around to the next room.
The rooms in the Gilman Hostel were very interesting. Take Zhang Heng's room for example. Although it was only a single room, it had a main door and two side doors. The two side doors were connected to the rooms on the left and right. Zhang Heng guessed that Room 428 should be similar.
Apparently, the intruder wanted to find another way after finding out that the main door was blocked. However, after trying both side doors for a long time, he still could not find a way to enter Room 428.
Zhang Heng initially thought that the intruder would temporarily give up on Room 428 and sneak into his room. To his surprise, the sound in the corridor faded away, and the intruder seemed to have gone back downstairs.
After that, Zhang Heng heard footsteps coming from Room 428. Fabericotte was obviously not asleep. The poor young man was probably scared out of his wits, but he did not allow himself to be immersed in fear. He knew that this was a rare opportunity. Since the intruder had decided to attack him, he would not give up so easily. Staying in the room any longer would only lead to his death. He had to make use of this opportunity to escape.
Fabericotte did not dare to go out and escape down the stairs. Doing so would be tantamount to throwing himself into a trap. So he thought of the window first. Unlike Zhang Heng's room, his room faced a dilapidated patio and some low and abandoned brick buildings around it. To the west was a rural swamp.
The window was too high from the ground. Fabericotte wanted to jump to the roof of a brick building, but he estimated that he would not be able to reach the nearest brick building from this distance. He might be able to reach it if he walked through two more rooms. So he tried the side door on the south first and found that something was stuck behind it. Given this situation, he could only turn to the north.
At this time, the creepy footsteps came from the stairs again, and Fabericotte's hair stood on end. Soon, there was a violent knocking on his door. The intruder seemed to have given up pretending and decided to use force on him.
Just when Fabericotte was trembling involuntarily because of fear, Zhang Heng, who was opposite the door, had a strange look on his face.
Up until now, no one had come looking for him. It was as if those guys outside had forgotten about him.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
