Chapter 159: Tong Yi's Debut

"Are they bad guys? Then I'll get up and get dressed first."

This was the first time Tong Yi had encountered such a situation. Although Jiang An was by her side, she still felt a flutter of nervousness in her heart.

"Well, put on your robe. Outside, there are three men and one who is neither a man nor a woman," Jiang An said with a smile. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, the surrounding situation became crystal clear. He had brought Tong Yi here precisely to let her experience the world and conquer her inner demons, and it might as well start right now, otherwise these petty scoundrels wouldn't even have the chance to appear before him.

"You mean a ladyboy? Hee hee."

Hearing Jiang An's amusing description, Tong Yi's nervousness vanished almost entirely.

Once Tong Yi was ready, the two of them sat comfortably in the living room without any intention of opening the door. Jiang An pointed into the void, the keycard swiped automatically, and the door clicked open.

The people outside had been frantically pressing the doorbell, and the moment the door swung open, their instinctive reaction was to put on their fiercest expressions. However, behind the door stood no one; it seemed to have opened by itself. Their hearts skipped a beat, and they felt a sudden sense of unease.

True to Jiang An's description, the leader was a graceful and alluring ladyboy. This person had a rather bold disposition; the moment the door opened, she rushed straight in, only to turn around and find her three subordinates lagging a beat behind. She immediately barked, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and get in here!"

Thus, the gang swarmed into the room, only to see the master of the suite sitting with crossed legs, looking at them expressionlessly.

"You must be Mr. Jiang An and Ms. Tong Yi from the country of Huaxia. I am Tak琳."

The glamorous ladyboy greeted Jiang An and Tong Yi very politely. This was the classic tactic of courtesy before force, meant to demonstrate absolute confidence.

Jiang An remained silent and left the matter to Tong Yi. Tong Yi stared up and down at the alluring ladyboy, thinking to herself that if Brother An hadn't pointed it out, she truly wouldn't have been able to tell this was a ladyboy.

"Alright, I speak Thai. Please put away your atrocious Huaxia language. What is the business?"

Tong Yi's words caught Taklin off guard. The rhythm didn't seem right; how could they be even calmer than she was?

"Aren't the two of you curious how we found out your names?"

Tong Yi blinked her big eyes and blurted out, "Is it strange for your own territory to know our names? For instance, by checking our passport information registered at the hotel, isn't that it?"

Taklin was instantly rendered speechless. This completely deviated from the script! Her lines had all been disrupted. No, she had to get down to business!

"Ms. Tong Yi is truly beautiful and smart. I happen to have something here that I'd like the two of you to look at." With that, Taklin fished a smartphone out from between her silicone-enhanced chest, tapped on a photo, and turned the screen toward Tong Yi with a cold sneer. "To be frank, we accidentally left a few cameras in this room, and they happened to capture the two of you. This is a photo, and we have the video as well. What do you suppose we should do about this?"

When Tong Yi looked at the screen, it indeed showed a photograph of the two of them when they had first entered the room. A flicker of anxiety stirred in her heart—didn't Brother An say all the cameras were blocked? Her instinct was to look at Jiang An for help, but then she thought better of it: whatever Brother An said could not possibly be wrong. Deeper contemplation brought instant clarity to her mind.

"What is a photo worth? If you have the ability, pull out the video! What's the logic in showing me a screenshot?" Tong Yi went straight for the jugular.

Sure enough, Taklin's face twitched. She hadn't expected Tong Yi to be so sharp. Where on earth would she find a video? For some reason, the moment the two of them walked in, the machinery filmed for two seconds before completely failing, leaving nothing visible afterwards. She felt a deep sense of regret, but figured that simply terrifying Jiang An and her companions would make everything fall into her lap. She had done this many times before; usually, she would break in at midnight, whip out her phone, and before the victims could even finish looking, they would immediately surrender and hand over whatever was demanded. How could tonight be so repeatedly thwarted?

"It seems the two of you don't know what's good for you at all. Originally, we just wanted to be gentle and borrow a little money to spend, but it looks like we have no choice but to be impolite now."

Taklin spoke with rising annoyance and shame, while the three hefty men behind her cooperated by baring ferocious grins and cracking their knuckles loudly.

"Are you going to make a move? Or are you just trying to scare me? Let me think: you wouldn't dare kill citizens of Huaxia—Thailand couldn't bear the consequences. So, you're going to beat us up? That's not right either. If you beat us up and then rob us, we would definitely file complaints and call the police after returning home. To say the least, the reputation of this star-rated hotel would be ruined, and it might even be forced to shut down. You'd lose big over small gains. Besides, if violence could solve everything, why would you go through so much trouble? Therefore, I guess that even if the hotel, or certain people within the hotel, are colluding with you, right here in the city center, they absolutely wouldn't dare to blow things up. Extortion is the absolute limit of what you can do. In other words, you don't dare to actually lay a hand on us, am I right?"

Tong Yi felt her mind becoming clearer and clearer. She had managed to deliver a logical and well-reasoned deduction just like a detective, leaving Taklin and her accomplices dumbfounded.

When faced with trouble, some people feel their brains plunge into total chaos like headless flies, while others keep their composure, devising various strategies based on the circumstances. The difference between the two often boils down to confidence. With Jiang An backing her up, Tong Yi knew that even if things got messed up, it didn't matter, nor was there any real danger. Thus, free from any worries for the future, she naturally didn't panic, allowing her to analyze the situation calmly and independently.

Jiang An also smiled with gratification. Tong Yi truly had great talent; although her analysis and consideration weren't flawless, doing this well on her first try was already impressive. Thus, he made his move.

A single thought arose—*Facing the Heavens Gate!*

Taklin and her three subordinates were instantly pinned firmly to the ground by overwhelming gravity, unable to move or even speak. They could only use their eyes to express sheer terror, convinced they had been struck by some evil sorcery like black magic.

"Little Tong, not bad," Jiang An praised, and then pointed out her oversight: "However, there are some things you didn't take into consideration—for instance, the temperaments of these people or their gang rules. If you provoke them past a certain point, they might do things without even knowing it themselves. You also underestimated the cruelty of this world."

As he spoke, Jiang An stood up and nudged one of the men's clothes aside with his foot, revealing a black handgun tucked into his waist.

"Schemes are actually more useful against people of high status. These violent grunts at the bottom have no brains; reasoning with them gets you nowhere. Only by beating them until they are terrified will they back down."

Tong Yi nodded and smiled, "Ah, I understand. So how should we deal with these people now?"

"Very simple. What do you think would happen if these people started a massive riot right here in this hotel? For example, firing guns randomly, frightening away all the guests, and then setting a fire?"

Tong Yi was puzzled. "They are in collusion with the hotel, why would they do something like that? Wouldn't that mean they are fighting their own people, pleasing neither side?"

"They will do it, because there is a kind of magic in this world called illusion!"

One minute later.

Taklin and her three subordinates regained their freedom and walked out of the room with expressionless faces. Not long after, the quiet night was suddenly shattered by one gunshot after another—*bang, bang, bang!* The hotel guests were jolted awake in terror, and just as they were gripped by panic, the fire alarms began to wail. Instantly, the entire hotel plunged into complete chaos, filled with shrieks, shouts, and the sound of frantic running.

"Let's go. Since we can't sleep anyway, let's go check out the night market and find another hotel to stay in. This room is no longer clean."

Jiang An packed his things leisurely, turned around, and said to Tong Yi.

"Yeah! With the hotel in total chaos now, they brought this entirely upon themselves. Husband, your method of treating others by their own standard is truly formidable," Tong Yi said excitedly.

Feeling somewhat like he was corrupting a pure young girl, Jiang An smiled bitterly and said, "Alright, let's go."

The two of them vanished from the hotel, leaving the chaos to spread and the panic to fester. Dealing with the aftermath was entirely a matter for the Thai police.

The next morning.

Jiang An and Tong Yi emerged from another hotel full of energy, heading toward the pier, and flagged down a car.

"Oh, isn't that the kind-hearted fatty from last night?"

Not long after the car started and rounded a side street, Tong Yi caught sight of a figure walking ahead and said to Jiang An.

Jiang An smiled slightly and said, "Let's get out of the car here."

"Hey, fatty, do you still remember us?"

The chubby young man was walking down the street when he suddenly heard someone calling from behind. Turning his head, he saw the couple from last night standing safe and sound behind him.

"You guys are actually fine? Looks like you're a bit tougher than I imagined," the fatty stroked his chin in mild surprise, though it was only mild.

"My name is Jiang An, what is your name?" Jiang An addressed the fatty directly for the first time.

The fatty looked at Jiang An with a trace of guard, hesitated for a moment, and replied, "My surname is Hao, given name Ren. I'm a Chinese-descended Thai citizen, and I grew up in Bangkok's Chinatown."

"Hao Ren? Truly a good person." Tong Yi couldn't help but chuckle, covering her mouth with a light laugh. Seeing the fatty's displeased expression, she quickly explained, "I'm not mocking you; I genuinely think you're a good person."

"Forget it, good guys don't come to a good end these days," Fatty Hao Ren snorted coldly. "Spit it out, what do you want with me? It can't be just to say hello, right?"

"That's right. We are strangers in a strange land here in Thailand, so we'd like to hire you as our tour guide. The pay is negotiable."

Jiang An stated his objective.