Chapter 176
Chapter 176
At that moment, a woman in a red cheongsam approached them.
A strip of white cloth covered her eyes, blocking her sight, yet she still came directly to them.
“Dining or staying the night?”
Xiao Huai said, “We just want something to eat.”
“Of course. This way, please. How many guests?” As she asked, the woman in the cheongsam produced a rope for them to hold.
“Two,” Xiao Huai answered.
The Red Mansion was livelier than expected. A resident singer even performed onstage.
The customers listened with broad smiles, applauding and cheering.
But strips of white cloth covered everyone’s eyes. Others wore sunglasses like Butler Yang.
Town of the Blind.
Perhaps everyone living here was blind.
But why could none of them see?
Xiao Huai told the woman, “We prefer somewhere quiet. Do you have a private room?”
She nodded. “We do. Please follow me.” She tugged the rope twice, signaling for them to continue after her.
She led them to a table on the second floor. It was called a private room, but only railings surrounded it, leaving everything below in plain sight.
Still, from the second floor, the customers’ conversations sounded much quieter.
The woman placed a menu engraved in braille on the table. Apart from the raised dots, it did not contain a single written character.
She stood beside Xiao Huai for a while. When he remained silent, she asked,
“Do you have a question? Forgive my asking, but where did you come from?”
Xiao Huai’s eyes flickered.
He remembered something Butler Yang had said: *Simply announce yourselves, and the Yang Residence will cover every expense.*
There would ordinarily have been nothing remarkable about those words. But with no writing at all on the menu, he had to consider them more carefully.
Were players from the Yang Residence treated differently?
At that moment, Lu Yuanshi took the menu, ran his fingertips across it several times, and said, “Lovesick Ribs, Parting Diced Chicken, Sweet-and-Sour Shredded Pork, and Love-and-Hate Boiled Fish.”
Xiao Huai’s brow furrowed faintly at the names.
Lu Yuanshi closed the menu. Beside him, the woman in the cheongsam broke into a brilliant smile. “Oh, a true connoisseur. You gentlemen certainly know how to order.”
“Not at all. We’re only average.” Lu Yuanshi waved a hand.
The woman collected the menu and bowed slightly. “Please wait. Your dishes will be served shortly.”
Once she left, Xiao Huai looked at Lu Yuanshi. “You learned braille?”
“A long time ago. I found it interesting.”
Xiao Huai raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the names of the dishes.
They were not traditional names. They held a touch more artistry.
But that was probably not their true purpose.
A sighted person might casually order common dishes such as sweet-and-sour ribs or fish-fragrant shredded pork. The woman would immediately notice something unusual about the customer.
What would happen then?
What if the visitors were players like them?
Perhaps Xiao Huai was so curious that even Heaven decided to answer him.
A familiar figure suddenly charged through the entrance.
The bald man in the suit.
He had been unhappy from the moment he saw the bridal decorations in the Yang Residence’s guest rooms and had suggested staying elsewhere.
Once the bald man entered, Xiao Huai watched him closely.
He noticed something wrong with the man’s eyes.
A pale blue-white light filmed them.
The bald man had been scratching his eyes since he entered. He also kept turning his head, as if his vision had blurred.
He shouted, “Is anyone here?”
The woman in the cheongsam soon reached his side. “Dining or staying the night?”
“What are you talking about? I came from the Yang Residence. Their food tasted disgusting. Who puts fish eyes inside pastries? Just bring me anything. I’m starving.”
“I see. Honored guest, please wait. Your meal will arrive shortly.” The woman pulled at the corners of her mouth, her smile faintly uncanny.
At the words *Yang Residence*, the once-lively Red Mansion fell silent for an instant.
Several people even turned vaguely toward the man.
They could not see, but sound was enough to locate him.
The bald man noticed none of this. He continued rubbing his eyes. When his vision only grew blurrier, he finally gave up.
Next, a large procession emerged from the kitchen bearing serving platters and arranged the meal across his table with the ceremony of a state banquet.
Before a single lid was lifted, the bald man smelled delicious food.
He could barely wait to uncover every dish.
But the woman in the cheongsam said, “Honored guest, the most important dish has not arrived. Please wait one more moment.”
“All right, all right!” The bald man was thrilled.
Then the head chef approached with an enormous platter.
He placed it at the very center of the table.
Xiao Huai’s nostrils flared. He smelled a corpse.
But the odor was buried beneath that of fried food and difficult to detect.
The woman clapped her hands, and every server removed the lids from the dishes.
When Xiao Huai saw what lay beneath them, his eyes widened slightly.
Every platter held a human body part.
Some held fingers, others feet.
At the center lay a human head.
And the face belonged to none other than the bald man seated before it.
How could this be…?
Xiao Huai frowned deeply. Yet the bald man seemed to smell some indescribable delicacy and began devouring the food like a pig, swallowing before he even had time to chew.
His mouth opened wide as he continually stuffed in more.
“Delicious! What kind of meat is this? It’s so tender. Incredible.” Unable to see clearly, the bald man perceived only the food’s fragrance.
The woman giggled. “The finest pork, naturally.”
The bald man lost himself entirely in the meal and ignored everything around him.
He did not even use chopsticks. His hands seized the food and shoved it into his mouth with loud, wet smacks.
“I’ve never eaten anything this delicious. Never!”
The woman bowed. “Thank you for the praise. Please enjoy your meal.”
She shook a small bell, and the servers who had delivered the food slowly returned to the kitchen.
Xiao Huai heard several people in the Red Mansion snickering.
They seemed to be mocking the sounds of the bald man eating.
“He can never go back now. He ate his own body! Hahaha.” Several people raised their cups and clinked them together.
Another said, “Isn’t that a good thing? No one who comes from the Yang Residence is decent.”
“Let him remain lost forever. He deserves it.”
The bald man’s stomach continued swelling. At last, he belched and patted it in satisfaction.
The woman in the cheongsam slowly climbed the stairs, carrying several dishes to Xiao Huai’s table.