Upon reaching the second floor of the hotel, it felt like stepping back in time to the last century. From the corridor to the rooms, the floors were covered with smooth, grayish-white carpets, pale green floor mats, and wallpaper with beige and brick-red patterns. It was far less modern than the first floor; it seemed the second floor hadn't been renovated since then.
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The room was so small it could only fit a compact double bed. The bedside table was an old-fashioned wooden one with drawers, and a landline telephone sat on it—it was unclear whether it still worked. Li Haojun tested the cone-shaped lampshade; it still lit. He glanced back at Maria behind him and smiled.
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"How is it? Is it alright? There aren't many other options around here," Maria asked, since she had booked the hotel.
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"No, no, no, I mean you've suffered with me, coming to this wretched place," Li Haojun quickly explained upon hearing her words.
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"I'm an old man; a little hardship is nothing to me, but you..."
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Mariya smiled, interrupting him before he could finish,
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"Am I a born princess or something?"
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Only then did Li Haojun realize his subconscious affection for her, his preference for young women—perhaps for everyone. He thought about it; no, it wasn't just for those he cared about.
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Maria smiled at him without speaking. She looked around the room, then took out her small buttons and placed one near each of the doors and windows. Then she said,
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"The accommodations are settled. What do you plan to do for dinner? Order takeout or go to a nearby restaurant?"
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"Are there any restaurants nearby?"
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"Yes,"
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"Let's check out the surroundings," Li Haojun felt uneasy. Perhaps it was his nature, but he was always wary of unfamiliar places, especially such remote and impoverished ones.
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Leaving the hotel and stepping onto the street, Li Haojun sensed something was amiss. The houses on both sides of the street were dilapidated, and the residents were mostly elderly, seemingly uninvolved in social activities. The majority were men, their eyes fixed on the two strangers with blank, almost vacant stares.
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Li Haojun immediately realized he shouldn't have brought Maria out in public. These people, lacking material resources, also faced a lack of romantic partners, and the young and beautiful Maria was the perfect target for their tastes.
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"Let's go back to the hotel and order takeout," he said, pulling Maria's hand and leading her back, explaining,
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"Takeout from reputable businesses is safer."
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"Okay," Maria readily agreed.
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After dinner at the hotel, it was already getting dark. The sunset was stuck on the western ridge of the city, leaving only half of its light reaching the city, illuminating the walls of the high-rise buildings and the rooftops of the low-rise houses in the neighborhood. A few dim, yellow lights shone from the windows under the eaves; the streets were already dark.
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Looking back into the room, the light was warm. Maria was sitting beside him. Li Haojun leaned close to her ear and whispered,
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"I want to block the doorway with furniture because I don't really trust this place,"
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"Hmm, I agree,"
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"Hehe, maybe I just lack a sense of security," Li Haojun explained with a self-deprecating laugh,
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"No problem, I understand your caution,"
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Under Maria's watchful gaze, Li Haojun blocked the doorway with the sofa, bedside table, and shoe cabinet, and even placed the old-fashioned CRT television on top of it. After finishing all that, Li Haojun pondered if he could use any heavy objects. Scanning the room, he found Maria watching his performance with a smile.
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"Are you here to protect me?"
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"Yes, for our safety,"
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"Do you do this when you're with my sister?"
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Li Haojun thought for a moment and said,
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"No, we mostly went to military bases back then, so safety wasn't a problem. Here, my biggest worry is impulsive crimes."
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"Oh," Looking at Maria sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him, Li Haojun wondered, what to do next? If it were with her sister, it would be who goes to shower first, but today it's his sister, what to do?
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Maria seemed to sense his thoughts and said softly,
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"Ethan, I need to meditate now. You don't need to wake me; I'll finish naturally."
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"Oh, okay. Your sister mentioned you sometimes do this."
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"Well, you can do whatever you want now."
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"Okay," Li Haojun replied, thinking that in such a small room, if she was in a meditative state, it wouldn't be too awkward for him to shower in the small bathroom next door. With that in mind, he asked,
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"Do you want to take a shower first?"
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"No, I need to meditate now."
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"Okay," he agreed, and Maria propped herself up on a pillow and lay down on one side of the bed.
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Li Haojun observed her curiously. She lay there flat, her hands on her chest, no longer moving. Upon closer inspection, her chest was rising and falling gently; she was still breathing. This reassured him; he could do his own thing now.
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He turned off the bedroom light and took a quick shower in the small bathroom. Suddenly remembering his sweaty shirt, he washed it too, followed by his underwear and socks.
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After shaking them dry and hanging them to dry, Li Haojun went to Maria. She was lying motionless with her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling slightly; it seemed the only thing that could help clean her was her socks.
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Li Haojun gently rolled one of her socks off the top without waking her, then did the same with the other. Li Haojun figured that not wearing socks at night would allow for better circulation in the extremities of the feet. Then he casually covered Maria's feet, calves, and knees with a blanket.
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While washing Maria's socks in the bathroom, Li Haojun recalled the first time he did this for Kashia. He wondered if his younger sister also needed care, though she had never mentioned it to him.
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He hung the washed socks to dry by the window, gazing at the starry sky, a cool breeze blowing through the desert night. Looking back at Maria, lying on the bed, the night softly illuminating her face, Li Haojun couldn't tell if she was meditating, sleeping, or if her meditative consciousness had already soared into the stars.
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Across the night sky, in low Earth orbit, Leanna was listening to an interstellar video conference. She wasn't participating in the discussion because her race wasn't deeply involved in factional activities on Earth, but the actions of those actively involved in the power struggles on Earth did indeed influence the course of reality, thus affecting everyone involved.
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Leanna simply listened quietly to the speakers, trying to understand their intentions. Sometimes, she could even trace the speakers' thoughts and the stakeholders involved. Different races possessed different natural abilities or technological aids for this kind of conscious tracking and countermeasures.
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Beyond Earth, consciousness seemed to be a larger, intertwined entity. And at this time, Lydia would be in another dimension helping her sister trace and verify the sources of those true, false, or deceptive consciousnesses.
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and then Add to home screen.