"Cash or card?"
After booking a room for them, the middle-aged woman commonly asked as she made sure they could see the bill entered before pressing the final button to proceed with the transaction.
Seeing the numbers entered by that woman, Gong Chou frowned. The cost of the room is approximately twelve thousand yuan, and there are an additional six thousand yuan for food.
"No! We aren't going to pay that much for just a single night, miss! Just give us four separate rooms with an ordinary meal that will come as a compliment."
Even before Gong Chou said anything, Xia Lan shouted a bit louder. She thought it would cost around six or seven thousand at best, and then she would divide the bill with Gong Chou, which would further reduce their burdens.
Most importantly, she believed she could extract a thousand or two from Deputy Chief Wang, reducing the amount of money they spent on this by another thousand or two.
But seeing the bill entered by this woman made her frightened. All her initial calculations went downhill from there, and nine thousand yuan is almost 80 percent of her entire month's salary.
"Alright! We have single bedrooms that are only 1300 yuan per night with a complimentary meal--"
The middle-aged woman smiled a bit, satisfied by her wit, and calmly explained about the normal bedroom's options. She didn't try to diss them, as she is also a person like them, even though she is working here.
But just as she was about to finish her explanation, she got cut in half by Kang Xuan and Shen Yue at the same time.
"No!"
"No! We are going to take the same room that you have already billed."
Kang Xuan said this while looking at Xia Lan and Gong Chou strangely. He wanted to enjoy the luxury on the one hand, and most importantly, it is better if they all stay in the same room to discuss their plans easily and not need to bother moving around every time.
"Shameless!"
Xia Lan cursed a bit meekly. But Gong Chou hurriedly stopped her, even though he felt like his heart was bleeding.
"Here miss! Let's proceed with the first one."
Gong Chou painstakingly pulled out his card and said as he attempted to hand it to the woman.
Even that woman looked at these two other 'police officers' a bit weirdly.
'It's not good to be that prideful. One must know when to back down. Sigh!'
That middle-aged woman muttered to herself and was about to take the card to proceed, as it is their choice in the end.
"Here! Take my card, miss. Young man, you still have time to spend in the future. Let me do it this time."
Kang Xuan finally gets what's happening in this young one's head. He sighed inside a bit, as he was even worse than them before.
He would have never dared to set foot inside this building. There was a time when he took Kang Mei out to play in the city. They passed by a large restaurant, and Kang Mei began pestering him to go eat there.
Initially, Kang Xuan didn't agree, which made her cry on the road itself, finally making him nod. He estimated that it would cost at most double or triple what it would in a regular restaurant.
But right after they sat in a 'private room' and saw the menu, he quickly stood up and walked away from there. He neither listened to Kang Mei's pleas nor stopped for the staff's request on 'why' they were leaving, and some of them even laughed at him.
He felt so embarrassed for an entire week, and that became a joke in their house. Everyone will reminisce about it once in a while to laugh.
But today he felt sad about it instead of embarrassed. That is also the reason he chose his words wisely, not wanting to make Gong Chou uncomfortable.
He felt pretty good about this calm young man, who is willing to suffer instead of making the people around him suffer.
Gong Chou and Xia Lan's eyes went a bit wide with surprise. They never thought about it from this angle. Even the middle-aged woman was a bit surprised by this. She then took the card from Kang Xuan's hand, as both of them held their hands out with the cards.
Soon, they checked into their rooms, and a hearty meal with exclusive dishes was served quickly.
"I never thought that you were this rich uncle... " Xia Lan said as she began munching on the food without thinking about manners.
Shen Yue also started eating a bit hurriedly, as she felt a bit competitive. Gong Chou and Kang Xuan looked at each other for a moment before smiling at each other.
"It's not that I am rich. It's just that the sect master gave us some money to spend on daily expenses."
Kang Xuan explained as he served Gong Chou one plate first and then one for himself.
"Oh! Does that guy even give money for daily expenses? I thought he took some money from you guys as joining fees or something."
Xia Lan said, as she still felt a bit of unknown irritation towards Ning Qi.
"You may have some bad impressions of the sect master, sister Lan. But the sect master is the most joyful and easygoing person of all. Most importantly, he always tries to give us the best and treats us like friends rather than mere sect disciples."
"Yes! Miss Xia, you may have misunderstood him a bit there, or else how would you be still alive if the sect master isn't an easygoing person? Not many people in this world may be able to bear the sect master's anger."
Kang Xuan also spoke with a bit of respect and admiration for Ning Qi in his tone.
"Oh! Is sect master Ning that powerful? I mean, there are many powerful people in the normal world. Not to mention there may be a lot of other people like you too..."
Gong Chou finally couldn't help but ask, as he felt that this uncle may be boasting a bit over there.
"I don't want to describe the sect master's strength in detail, and I may not even know what it is. But I can tell you that the sect master can fly in the sky, punch a mountain into a broken mountain, and most importantly that even nukes won't be able to harm him."
Shen Yue said, even though she has never seen all of those done by Ning Qi. But the strength analysis chapter in the astral qi technique has a detailed power description up to the void realm.
Their initial skepticism about Ning Qi in the soul transformation realm has now progressed to the True Qi condensation realm cultivator. Those things that she said above are all pretty easy to do for those that have reached the realm of true Qi condensation.
"Are you kidding me?"
Xia Lan hurriedly stood up as she felt thunder booming in her heart. Surviving a nuke and punching a mountain? What are those damn concepts?
Even though she knows these people in front of her can live a bit longer than normal humans, what Shen Yue explained is a bit too much for them to take.
Even Gong Chou felt his limbs go weak and almost drop the food that he was holding onto.
"That is the reason that I said that you are lucky to be alive, Miss Xia."
Kang Xuan added from the side, satisfied with this missy reaction.
"T-Then? Will he take me as a disciple in the sect? He can't be that petty, right?"
Xia Lan calmed down and asked as she again started munching, as though she wasn't the one that got gobsmacked a moment ago.
"N-no! The sect master will never bother with those things. He is just like any other normal young man who is willing to help whenever he can, particularly those close to him."
Kang Xuan wryly observes how quickly this girl can revert to her original self before explaining.
"Alright--"
Xia Lan wanted to say that she would show Ning Qi more respect the next time they met, but Shen Yue cut her off.
"Let's discuss the important matters first. We don't have much time left, and doing it as soon as possible will be the best for us and the captives."
Shen Yue as she hurriedly finished her meal. Kang Xuan also nodded his head as he eyed them, as though waiting for their 'plan'.
"Y-you don't have any plans?"
Gong Chou was taken aback by the sudden question. He was just thinking of helping them with meager things like showing badges or warding off the police officers of this city.
Both of them just looked at him without saying anything, making it so obvious that even Gong Chou himself felt embarrassed on their behalf.
"Hm! Then the first thing we should do is look at the video footage to see how many people went inside that building on the day of the wedding and how many came out, not to mention the staff and unnecessary people."
Xia Lan turned serious quickly as she started talking, surprising both Kang Xuan and Shen Yue a bit. They have never seen her being serious, not even on the day she came to their sect.
"Yes! That will not only let us have an approximate number of captives inside, but we can also find out who the suspects are."
Gong Chou nodded his head and further explained, as he also started thinking about what to do after that step.
"How are we going to know the suspects? They must have disguised themselves before entering, right?"
Shen Yue inquired, perplexed as to how they distinguish between the guests and the "criminals." It's not like they will enter the function hall with black clothes and black masks, as shown in the movies, right?
They wouldn't probably be that dumb, or else the police here would have already been dealing with this mess.
"I have already memorized the face of that fake 'receptionist'. So we just need to check those who accompanied him to find out who the culprits are."
Gong Chou again surprised both Shen Yue and Kang Xuan, who looked at each other for a moment and felt it was the best decision that they made by asking for the help of the police officers.
On the other hand, Xia Lan did not quite agree with how easily Gong Chou made it.
"Chou! You are making it look very easy. But have you thought that those guys may not have come as a 'gang' but separately? I don't think these people are that simple, or else they would have already been caught."
Xia Lan said it seriously, making everyone's face turn a bit ugly.
"It's alright! As long as they looked suspicious, they would be our targets in the building. And probably those people may be holding weapons, so it will be easy for the both of us to recognize who is the enemy and who is not."
After a brief moment of thought, Kang Xuan stated. He just felt that it would be good to make it inside first.