Before Xie Ruolin could react, Wang Xu smashed an ashtray heavily onto his head.
Xie Ruolin was completely off guard and never expected Wang Xu to suddenly attack him.
Struck heavily on the head by the ashtray, he couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, instinctively raising his hand to block.
But Wang Xu's movements were continuous, one after another, like a pile driver, holding the ashtray high and smashing it down repeatedly.
After three consecutive strikes, he felt Xie Ruolin's hand grab his wrist.
But by this time, Xie Ruolin had been dazed by the blows; his hand was soft and weak, and Wang Xu broke free with a gentle tug.
Taking advantage of his weakness to end his life, Wang Xu didn't dare give Xie Ruolin a chance to breathe.
Xie Ruolin was an agent; although his abilities were more focused on intelligence gathering, he wasn't someone an ordinary person could handle.
In a head-on confrontation, he believed that even three of himself would be no match for Xie Ruolin.
But then again, no matter how high the martial arts, one still fears a kitchen knife; no matter how good the kung fu, a single brick can lay one low.
Despite being an ashtray, this thickened version weighed at least a few pounds and was as effective as a stone.
It was true that Xie Ruolin was an agent, but he wasn't a Terminator robot. Having sustained continuous heavy blows to the head, he quickly lost the strength to struggle and slumped onto the sofa.
"He's dead!" Looking at the motionless Xie Ruolin, Wang Xu's breathing was ragged.
Killing someone was simpler than he had imagined; a flower of life had withered from full bloom in less than twenty seconds.
Just to be safe, he still didn't stop, smashing it down another dozen times before viciously tossing the ashtray aside.
"Don't blame me for being ruthless; blame yourself for knowing too much!" Wang Xu wiped the blood off his hands, took a few staggering steps forward, and slumped onto the adjacent sofa.
The luxury suite at the Spindrift Hotel featured a living room layout with four sofas surrounding a coffee table.
Glancing at Xie Ruolin's corpse, Wang Xu felt his mouth go bone-dry. He picked up the teapot from the table and gulped down several mouthfuls directly from the spout.
The ice-cold tea flushed down his throat, quenching some of the fire in his heart.
Wang Xu just sat there, motionless, letting time slowly slip away.
It wasn't until he had sat for over ten minutes that his blank mind regained the ability to think, making him realize that this matter was far from over.
The man was killed and his secret was kept, but what about the body?
Wang Xu looked at Xie Ruolin's corpse and surveyed the layout of the room.
There was a wardrobe in the room that could be used to hide the body, and a bathtub in the bathroom that could also be used for concealment if filled with water.
However, these methods were not long-term solutions.
This was a major hotel. While hiding Xie Ruolin's body here for a few days or even half a month might be easy, it couldn't be hidden forever.
The next second, Wang Xu suddenly smiled; he didn't need to hide it forever.
This was the republic of china era, a time of war, not the peaceful modern era. Dead people were more than common.
In this era without fingerprints or networked ID cards, as long as he delayed things for ten days or half a month, who could possibly find him?
If all else failed, he could hide in the real world for three to five months; the police station wouldn't be able to go to the real world to catch him.
Furthermore, the police station in the French Concession had no authority to enforce the law outside of the French Concession.
Xie Ruolin wasn't some big shot; who would go to great lengths for him?
Having thought this through, Wang Xu's mood improved greatly, and he began the task of hiding the body.
If he hid the body in the wardrobe, the scorching summer heat would inevitably cause an odor to leak out.
Ultimately, he decided to hide Xie Ruolin's body in the bathtub in the bathroom, using water to mask the smell of decay.
Before moving the body, Wang Xu searched Xie Ruolin's person and found six Silver Dollars, a wristwatch, and a Colt 1911 pistol.
Seeing the gun, Wang Xu felt very fortunate that he had launched a sneak attack instead of a head-on confrontation; otherwise, he wouldn't even know how he had died.
"Renew the lease for my room, 302, for another month. Remember, there are important documents in my room, and no one is allowed to enter without my orders, or I'll hold you responsible for anything lost." After hiding the body, taking a shower, and changing his clothes, Wang Xu took the gold bars Xie Ruolin had brought and went to the hotel front desk.
The front desk supervisor was a Frenchman, and he naturally would not refuse Wang Xu's request.
He vowed solemnly that the Spindrift Hotel was the safest; even if the police came to search, they wouldn't dream of breaking down a guest's door.
And all Wang Xu paid was a month's rent plus five Silver Dollars as a 'care fee.'
"After paying a month's rent and five Silver Dollars for the fee, I have one large gold bar, seven small gold bars, plus 26 Silver Dollars left. Now, I can't stay in the French Concession; I need to find another place to live." Thinking of moving, the first place Wang Xu thought of was Qingyu Street, where the shuttle gate was located.
When he first arrived, he thought the security in the French Concession was good and suitable for him to live in, but he had forgotten that the truly safe place was near the shuttle gate, which would allow him to evacuate at any time.
Thinking back now, he had been inconsiderate; if he had directly bought the house where the shuttle gate was located, perhaps this incident with Xie Ruolin wouldn't have happened.
Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world; all Wang Xu could do was mend the fold after the sheep were lost.
Sitting in a rickshaw, Wang Xu pondered secretly whether there were any other areas where he had been careless.
There shouldn't be; during his time in the republic of china era, he had only come into contact with Yu Zecheng and Xie Ruolin.
Now Xie Ruolin was dead, and Yu Zecheng was busy procuring supplies for the Underground Party while also dealing with the newly established Political Security Bureau; even if he had suspicions, he wouldn't have the time to act on them.
Furthermore, he was in a cooperative relationship with Yu Zecheng; penicillin was a life-saving medicine for the Guerrillas, and this stage was a honeymoon period for both parties. Privately, they might investigate his identity, but they wouldn't act rashly on the surface.
Thinking this way, Wang Xu concluded that he was temporarily safe, and he would be even safer once he moved near the shuttle gate.
"Brother Shi, so this is Tianjin City. It looks so grand, much more than the White Yang Lake area..."
"Ga Zi, don't talk nonsense!"
As the rickshaw passed an intersection, two peasants—one older and one younger—carrying shoulder poles approached from the opposite direction.
The older one was in his twenties, and the younger one was thirteen or fourteen; they were carrying two loads of lotus seeds, looking like country folk entering the city.
The two parties passed each other. Initially, Wang Xu didn't pay much attention, but once the name 'Ga Zi' reached his ears, he instinctively took a look.
This look startled Wang Xu immediately.
What's the situation? Isn't this Xie Mengwei?
Yes, it was Xie Mengwei, who played Ga Zi in 'Little Soldier Zhang Ga.'
"Brother Shi, I'm not talking nonsense. We have nothing in the White Yang Lake area, not even medicine..."
"Ga Zi!"
A reprimand came, and the boy called Ga Zi pouted and stopped talking.
By then, the rickshaw had already sped past. Wang Xu sat in the vehicle and looked back slightly at the figures of Ga Zi and the other man, his eyes full of shock.
Ga Zi, White Yang Lake area, Guerrillas, Special Commissioner Shi, Tianjin City, medicine... Wasn't this the world of 'lurk'? What was 'Little Soldier Zhang Ga' doing here?
Moreover, judging by the conversation of the two, they had come to Tianjin City to receive medicine.
Could it be that the medicine Yu Zecheng bought from him was intended for the White Yang Lake area Guerrillas? But did Yu Zecheng know that Special Commissioner Shi's identity was fake and that his true identity was an agent of the Plum Blossom Agency?