America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 205 The Sudden Shooting
ding dong...

Soft moonlight spilled across the lake, a gentle breeze rippled across its surface, and ethereal sounds echoed from a two-story villa nestled by the lake, its rooms all lit up.

A short while later, the door opened, and the resort's food delivery worker finally saw the person inside. But when she looked up, she stared wide-eyed and froze on the spot.

"Humph?"

Li Xiaoen gave a light snort and reached out his hand.

"Oh……"

Realizing what was happening, the girl quickly nodded, handed over a large lunchbox, and when she took it back, she was holding the three hundred dollars the young man had given her.

The young man waved his hand and was about to turn around and close the door, clearly indicating that the meal fee and tip were inside and there was no need to give change. This was an exceptionally high amount even in a resort, but the girl still couldn't help but raise her hand and call out.

"gentlemen……"

When the young man turned around, she lowered her eyes, somewhat embarrassed, and pointed to an X-shaped piece of tape over his mouth. "What's wrong with you? Do you need help?"

"Well……"

Making muffled sounds, Li Xiaoen shook his head, pointed to the night sky, and hummed a few more times.

"Thank you for your concern, I will be careful."

The girl quickly smiled and nodded, pursed her lips, and refrained from asking the young man for his contact information. She bowed slightly and said, "Then take care and get some rest. I'm leaving now."

At any other time, he might have teased the hardworking girl, but he couldn't now. He was "sealed." Watching her ride away on her bicycle into the darkness, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but think to himself, then shook his head and closed the door.

After walking through the living room and upstairs to the master bedroom on the second floor, Li Xiaoen placed the lunchbox on the bedside table, sat down on the edge of the bed, and silently looked at Su Feier, who was sitting there.

The girl didn't react; she was wearing his T-shirt and looking down intently at the iPad he had recently taken from the car.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Xiaoen reached out and waved his hand in front of Su Feier, finally making the other person look up.

"You didn't cheat, did you?"

Sophie narrowed her eyes scrutinizingly.

Li Xiaoen shook his head.

"Right……"

Sophie nodded seriously, "You're back so quickly, you didn't even have time to flirt with the other person."

How did she know the delivery person was a girl?
Li Xiaoen was puzzled. He turned to look at one side of the room, at the window facing the front of the room. He saw that the curtains were tightly closed, which was obviously different from when he first came. His expression became even stranger.

Seemingly noticing his movement, Suffer lowered her head and looked at the iPad when Li Xiaoen looked at her.

Amused, but finding it difficult to speak now, Li Xiaoen stopped worrying and opened the lunchbox on the bedside table. He then moved a little further into the bed and pulled the girl's legs onto his lap.

Ignoring the glare that followed, Li Xiaoen reached for a slice of pizza and handed it to Suffer.

Meeting those amused, dark eyes, Suffer narrowed her eyes slightly, but still opened her mouth and took a bite.

Hey, woman.

With a defiant thought, Li Xiaoen raised his hand, tore off the tape stuck to his mouth, and put the half-eaten pizza in his hand into his mouth.

"You broke your promise?"

While still chewing, Sophie swayed her legs in dissatisfaction and bumped them against the young man's stomach.

"Hmph..."

Li Xiaoen calmly pointed to his mouth, still making humming sounds, which made Su Feier's face gradually darken.

“If you try to exploit this loophole, then I declare this doesn’t count, and your punishment will be carried out next time.”

Don't even think about it.

He gave her that look, chuckled, and ignored the girl's struggles. He squeezed past her near the bedside table, pulled her into his arms, and looked at the iPad in her hand. He then handed her the half-eaten pizza.

After struggling for a while and glaring at the young man with resentment, Suffer took a deep breath and took another bite.

On the iPad was a comic he hadn't seen in a long time, a comic modeled after himself. Looking at the villainous character who increasingly resembled him, manipulating various masks from traditional Chinese opera to wreak havoc, Li Xiaoen had a subtle and strange sense of déjà vu.

While feeding the girl and reading comics, Li Xiaoen gradually calmed down.

"I don't want these pizza crusts."

At one point, Sophie, displeased, bumped into him again.

"Ok."

Li Xiaoen nodded helplessly, casually stuffing the pizza in his hand into his mouth. Su Feier, who was in his arms, turned around and cupped his head in her hands.

Shifting my gaze from the iPad, I was greeted by Suffer's bright and smug smile.

"Sean, you fouled."

"..."

"Ok?"

Li Xiaoen blinked.

"I heard you, don't pretend!"

Sophie glared at him and said, "We'll do it again next time. I'll decide the duration of the punishment."

After saying that, she picked up the iPad again and leaned into the young man's arms, saying, "I want to eat steak."

Accepting defeat without dwelling on past failures, Li Xiaoen shrugged and reached for the steak in the lunchbox.

Based on previous experience, this time the takeout was ordered medium-rare. Li Xiaoen took a look with his fork, picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. He could roughly tell that it was between medium and medium-rare, and then he felt relieved.

On the other side, Sophie had already knelt down and pressed forward in dissatisfaction.

I'm checking your ripeness.

Li Xiaoen rolled his eyes, but unfortunately he couldn't speak in order to avoid further punishment, otherwise he would have definitely given the other person a good talking-to.

Looking down at a box of steaks, Li Xiaoen had a subtle thought. He first forked a piece of garlic, then a piece of steak, before handing it over.

"Hmm... Hmph..."

While chewing, Suffer suddenly let out a few groans, quickly leaned over, pulled out a few tissues from the bedside table, spat out the food in her mouth, and without a moment's hesitation, gritted her teeth and used both hands to scoop up the young man.

"Hum..."

Li Xiaoen couldn't help but chuckle, and then his hands and feet on him became even more aggressive.

Just as he was about to reach out to calm the girl down, a loud, sudden sound outside shattered the peace and tranquility of the lakeside area, and both of them tensed up instantly. Bang.

It was gunshot; judging by the volume, it was nearby.

Their gazes suddenly froze, both revealing the same meaning. The next moment, Li Xiaoen reached out and hugged Su Feier, then squatted down by the bed.

"That's gunfire, be careful."

He quickly looked at the girl in his arms and warned her warily.

"I know."

His expression quickly turned serious. Suffer nodded, reached out and pulled down his bag from the bedside table, taking out a small pistol from inside. This startled Li Xiaon, who was just activating [Eye of Insight].

Noticing the young man's reaction, Sophie blinked and handed him the pistol.

"It's okay, I have it too."

Nodding helplessly, Li Xiaoen reached for his coat hanging on the chair, took out his Glock 19 from the [Containment Space], and then carefully checked the surrounding scenery in his mind.

Excluding the countless fish, birds, insects, and beasts in the lake and surrounding bushes, Li Xiaoen quickly spotted a thin figure running away at a distance of about four hundred meters. With wide eyes, Li Xiaoen memorized the man's clothing, build, appearance, and posture.

"Sean, someone doesn't want us to investigate!"

Once the man was out of the 500-meter control range of the [Eye of Insight], Li Xiaoen had just come to his senses when Su Feier looked over with a serious expression. After easing her initial tension, she finally realized what was going on.

"If there are no unexpected circumstances, that should be the case."

After checking again and finding no one, Li Xiaoen smiled and reassured everyone, "Judging from the situation, that gunshot was probably just a warning. At least for now, we're still safe."

Even so, Li Xiaoen, carrying Su Feier, still moved to a dead corner of the room.

His surveillance range was only within a radius of 500 meters. With a specially made pistol, or even a sniper rifle, the maximum shooting range would be much greater. Li Xiaoen still did not intend to take the risk.

"call……"

As the danger gradually subsided, Li Xiaoen let out a long breath and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Su Feier, who was frowning and deep in thought. "The fact that they don't want us to continue investigating means that we are endangering their interests. If we follow this line of thinking, there aren't many people who would suspect us."

"You mean...my uncle?"

Sophie looked up and gave him a puzzled look. She shook her head and lowered her head. "Although we don't spend much time together, Uncle has always been very good to us."

"Even if it's just to compete for the family's interests, he probably wouldn't do anything to harm me."

"Well, let's exclude him for now."

Li Xiaoen nodded and hugged the girl who had become worried. Even so, he still harbored the suspicion that she was the prime suspect.

Sophie might have reservations because of family ties, but he wouldn't, especially since it involved the safety of both of them.

Just imagine, his good mood for the trip was ruined by such a sudden gunshot. Li Xiaoen looked up at the ceiling helplessly, feeling a mix of emotions. Because of the young ladies, especially Suffer, he seemed to be getting more and more involved in the power struggles between the American elites.

The sudden gunshots from the open field also caught the attention of the other people at the resort. Just fifteen minutes later, two vehicles carrying a group of people arrived in front of the villa.

After getting dressed and tidying up, the two of them saw a team of security personnel from the resort in front of the house. Their gazes lingered for a moment on a middle-aged man who was partially surrounded by several people.

"I need an explanation."

Li Xiaoen took a deep breath, his face darkening as he looked around at the group. "I remember, I didn't come to some kind of war experience resort."

"I'm so sorry that the gunshots startled you; it was indeed our fault."

The captain, a tall man with a buzz cut, nodded solemnly. "But rest assured, as soon as the gunshot rang out, we quickly launched an operation, surrounded and searched the area, and captured the shooter."

As he spoke, the captain turned to the side and gestured to the middle-aged man who was being held hostage by several team members.

"It wasn't anything serious, really. He went crazy from the poison and hallucinated that his wife had abandoned him and left him alone. He angrily shot her to vent his anger."

"is it?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing as he carefully examined the middle-aged man who was barely able to stand, his mind hazy, his clothes tattered and stained with dust and water. The man's appearance and clothing were indeed consistent with what he had previously memorized using the [Eye of Insight].

"Do you think it's reasonable to let such a drug addict roam freely in the resort, especially one who even has a gun on him?"

Yes, we know.

The captain nodded solemnly. "Ultimately, it was our negligence that threatened the safety of you tourists. Please rest assured, we will confiscate all his firearms, restrict his movements, and call the police to handle the situation."

"Furthermore, to ensure the safety of this resort area, our team will patrol the vicinity overnight."

The attitude and remedial measures taken in handling the matter were quite thoughtful. Even Li Xiaoen, who had not placed much hope on the other party at the beginning, was surprised and nodded to let it go.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Only then did the captain finally smile and extend his hand.

He clasped hands and spoke in a relaxed tone.

"It's not too late yet. There's a song and dance celebration going on in the garden behind the main reception building of our resort. You can sing, dance, and even have a barbecue. If you're interested, you can go and take a look."

"Please rest assured, the tickets to participate are free; consider it our apology."

After the matter was explained, the security team drove away.

Do you want to participate?

Turning his head to look at Su Feier, whose expression had finally softened considerably, Li Xiaoen couldn't help but tease, "Now that your uncle is out of the picture, are you finally relieved?"

"If it were you, you might not perform as well as I did."

Suffer glared at the young man, rolled her eyes, turned and went back into the house, but her voice came out as she agreed, "We were disturbed before we finished dinner, let's go take a look, and see if there are any shops where we can buy clothes."

"can."

Li Xiaoen nodded, but couldn't help but ponder the girl's earlier words.

In the same situation, he probably wouldn't be able to accept that his uncle, who had taken good care of him since childhood, would harm him for personal gain.

By the way, his parents must have already told them about his earnings; he should buy his uncle a new car.

Thinking to himself, Li Xiaoen followed Su Feier's footsteps, put on his shoes, and went out together.

On the way to the town center, Li Xiaoen spotted the security team patrolling at an intersection. He was about to discuss something with Su Feier when he saw the girl's relaxed and serene expression. After thinking for a moment, he stopped talking.

He had a vague feeling that he was falling into a trap and scheme deliberately woven by someone.

The man the guards brought in to shoot was indeed the only figure he saw with his Eye of Insight, but he remembered clearly that the man was clearly conscious at the time and was not, as the guards claimed, hallucinating from poisoning.

(End of this chapter)