The corridor was deathly quiet.
In Mandohai, the temperature difference between night and day was significant. Even inside the hotel, a gentle, cool breeze seeped in.
Lu Yuan sneezed. She stared intently at the masked woman in front of her, extremely curious about her.
But for Shen Jianyi, this was far from a good thing. Any identity would do, but definitely not Lu Yuan's.
Beneath the mask, the woman frowned slightly. Just as she was about to knock Lu Yuan out, a phone rang inside the room. She closed the door and went back to answer it.
Shen Jianyi heaved a sigh of relief and shifted her target to the next person.
At the far end of the corridor, in the left - most hotel room, lived the female CEO of a relatively inconspicuous company in the business circle.
Shen Jianyi knocked on the door, and there was an immediate commotion inside.
The woman opened the door. She was only wrapped in a bathrobe. As soon as she poked her head out, she felt a sharp pain in her neck. Then, her vision went black and she fainted. She tilted backward and fell to the ground. Shen Jianyi took the opportunity to walk in.
On the coffee table, she saw the invitation. It said that the woman's name was Qu Mengyue.
Shen Jianyi decided to use Qu Mengyue's identity to sneak in. After all, masks were required at this banquet, so no one would notice who was who.
She rummaged through her pocket and found a syringe. After being injected with this drug, a person would fall into a short - term coma that could last up to forty - eight hours. After the drug wore off, the person would wake up without any side effects.
Without hesitation, Shen Jianyi injected the drug into the woman's vein, placed her on the bed, and then rushed out.
From start to finish, Shen Jianyi's movements were clean and efficient. The only unexpected thing was accidentally knocking on Lu Yuan's door when she was first looking for someone.
She returned to her room, took off her mask and cap, and lay lazily on the bed. Looking at the invitation in her hand, a rare smile appeared on her face.
As long as she could get into the banquet, she would be able to meet Xu Wenji. Then she would naturally know the authenticity of the chip and his real purpose.
Just then.
There were sudden footsteps in the bathroom. She was stunned for a moment. She was the only one in the room. How could there be extra footsteps? She immediately became vigilant.
Shen Jianyi got up and walked lightly, making almost no sound. The person inside probably didn't notice.
Looking at the transparent bathroom door, Shen Jianyi frowned slightly, and the dagger in her other hand was ready at any time.
At this moment, the person inside clenched their fists. Both of them seemed very tense.
The moment the bathroom door opened, Shen Jianyi's dagger immediately slashed out. It was so fast that it seemed to cut through the wind.
But compared to her speed, the other person clearly had the upper hand. Their movements were very agile. They simply turned around and dodged it without any hesitation.
Then, the person waved their arm and grabbed Shen Jianyi's wrist that was holding the knife.
The dagger slipped from her hand and fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.
Shen Jianyi looked up and saw the familiar mask in front of her. She was immediately stunned. After such a long time, this person had appeared again today.
"Gun?" Shen Jianyi stared at the other person.
The person didn't let go. Only after making sure that Shen Jianyi wouldn't attack did they relax their guard.
"Let me go," Shen Jianyi tried to break free from his restraint, but was held even tighter. "Gun, let go of me!"
She exerted a little more force and finally pulled her wrist out of his hand. The man in front of her seemed to deliberately lower his voice. "After all this time, you're still as hot - tempered as before."
Hearing this, Shen Jianyi frowned. "Why are you in my room?"
Speaking of this, Shen Jianyi suddenly remembered that Lu Yuan had mentioned before that she saw a figure scurrying past outside the window. At that time, she didn't believe it, but now it seemed that the figure was probably Gun. So, he had been following her all along.
Gun said in a cold tone, "My purpose is the same as yours. I'm interested in Mandohai too, so I want to team up with you to investigate."
Hearing this, Shen Jianyi was a bit disdainful. She turned around and sat on the bed, tucking the invitation under the quilt as if she didn't want the other person to see it.
"Why should I team up with you?" Shen Jianyi lifted her eyelids, looking impatient.
Gun was patient. Regardless of her tone, he simply sat down beside her. His voice carried a hint of a smile. "Because if we team up, we'll be more efficient than if you work alone."
"What a joke," Shen Jianyi scoffed. "You can't even get into the Mandohai banquet hall. How do you plan to team up with me? One inside and one outside?"
As soon as she said this, she looked up and saw the man take out a black object from his bosom. When he handed it over, she saw that it was an invitation.
Shen Jianyi was immediately stunned. She didn't expect that Gun had the same idea as her and had also found someone to impersonate his identity.
"Can I now?"
As soon as the words were out, Shen Jianyi couldn't figure it out. "Are you here in Mandohai to investigate... the chip?"
Generally, people who received the invitation were interested in the chip. Don't be fooled by those who seemed insignificant. They still wanted to use the power of the chip to consolidate their position in the business circle.
Shen Jianyi also knew the owner of the invitation that Gun had. This person had once cooperated with the Lu Group but was later abandoned by it because of their incompetence.
"Of course. It's a request from one of my employers." Gun proposed, "Well, let's team up. In the end, we'll compete fairly for who gets the chip."
Shen Jianyi had long wanted to have a fair fight with him. Moreover, Gun often snatched her tasks before. So, she had no resistance to the request that Gun had just made.
"Okay!" Shen Jianyi immediately agreed.
Now that the two of them were teaming up as powerhouses, they were bound to succeed today. As for the end result, Shen Jianyi didn't think her strength was inferior to his.
If it weren't for Gun often snatching her tasks, she wouldn't have been outshone by him.
Now that Shen Jianyi thought they had discussed everything, she planned to rest and conserve her energy. She was about to go to bed when she turned around and saw that the man didn't seem to be leaving.
She frowned slightly. "Why aren't you leaving?"
Gun sat on the sofa, looking nonchalant. "It's more convenient for us to discuss strategies if we stay together. Moreover, the whole hotel is full. I can't get a room."
It would be awkward for a man and a woman to stay in the same room, even if nothing happened. Moreover, Shen Jianyi was a married woman, so naturally, she didn't want this.
"No way. How do I know if you'll take advantage of me?"