“Do you want to go down and greet her?” Diana asked with a smile.
“Why?”
“To show you’re not a coward.”
That was true. My previous behavior had been rather cowardly, and the one time I tried to show off, Sima Xingkong saw right through me.
I straightened my clothes, put on my shoes, and went down to the first floor, standing at the entrance of the hotel lobby. The second floor had a good vantage point, but I couldn't see her from the first. I lit a cigarette and was halfway through when Sima Xingkong rode up on her bike, a cheerful smile on her face. She didn't look like she was here for a chess match, but more like she was meeting an online acquaintance for the first time.
Not sure if she minded the smoke, I extinguished it in the quartz sand above the trash can by the entrance and took a few deep breaths.
Sima Xingkong rode her shared bike right up to the entrance. A security guard immediately stepped forward: “Excuse me, miss, this is a high-class hotel, and shared bicycles are not allowed to be parked here.”
“Oh,” Sima Xingkong nodded and let go of the handlebars. The security guard instinctively reached out to steady the bike.
Sima Xingkong walked directly towards me, greeting me warmly, “Hello, Mr. Wu.”
“Good evening, Miss Sima.”
“Hey, hey, miss, your bike…” the security guard said anxiously.
I pulled out a pink banknote from my pocket and tucked it into the security guard’s uniform pocket: “Please find a place to park it for me, thank you.”
The security guard’s attitude immediately changed. He held the bike with his left hand and saluted with his right: “It’s my duty!”
I led Sima Xingkong into the lobby. Under the dazzling lights, Sima Xingkong, without her hat and even without makeup, was still radiant. Indeed, she was a demon; humans might not be perfect, but demons could possess perfect appearances, and there were quite a few of them!
“Why did you ride that thing here?” I asked with a smile.
“Environmental protection and emission reduction are everyone’s responsibility,” Sima Xingkong replied with a smile.
“Where did you ride from?” I pressed the elevator button and asked again.
“Old Turtle Bay.”
She had indeed come from the direction of Old Turtle Bay. However, she hadn’t stayed there for a long time previously. I could monitor the Old Turtle Bay area from this hotel and hadn’t detected Sima Xingkong’s presence. Perhaps she had passed by Old Turtle Bay, sensed the demon energy of the fox demon and her companions, and was now deliberately saying this to scare me.
“I’m familiar with Old Turtle Bay; we have a post there too,” I explained.
“Is that so?” Sima Xingkong didn’t pursue the matter. The elevator quickly reached the second floor, and Sima Xingkong got out on her own, walking directly to my room.
She must have seen Diana’s aura there.
I opened the door with my room card. Diana rose from her chair and bowed slightly. Her disguise had worn off, and she had returned to her original appearance. Sima Xingkong looked at her with a slight surprise: “So the Whale God is a white person? Geeliyudulu…”
She began speaking Russian at a rapid pace, which I couldn't understand at all. Diana’s native language was also Russian, and she began conversing with Sima Xingkong.
I cleared my throat lightly, indicating my presence.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Wu. It’s just that seeing a fellow countryman has made me lose my composure,” Sima Xingkong said with a laugh.
“Fellow countryman?” I asked, confused.
“I was born in Hanhai, which is Lake Baikal. There are many ‘Screw people’ there, so I grew up speaking Russian.”
Since she was a native of Lake Baikal, she naturally knew that the Northern Sea was not Lake Baikal, but Hanhai was. The Northern Sea was the area of the Bering Sea today. However, many domestic scholars still didn't understand this, as they couldn't believe that ancient Yanxia people could have traveled so far. They truly underestimated their ancestors. The *Classic of Mountains and Seas* was a world map, encompassing all regions except Oceania. The reason Oceania wasn't mentioned was that it was an barren land with nothing much to write about.
Just then, the antique wall clock struck midnight.
“Your timing is impeccable,” I said with a smile.
“Mhm,” Sima Xingkong glanced at the balcony, “Everything is set up? Then please.”
The three of us went to the balcony. Sima Xingkong took the initiative to sit on the black pawn’s side. But after I sat down, to express my hospitality as the host, I rotated the sandalwood chessboard 180 degrees: “You are the guest; you go first.”