Chapter 43

Chapter 43

The bartender quickly prepared three Bloody Marys for them.

Looking at the three glasses of bright red liquid before him, Qin Nan felt a strange sense of dread. It wasn’t that he had never had a red drink before, but whether it was because of the Realm of Death or something else, he felt these three drinks were distinctly unsettling.

“Please enjoy, guests,” the bartender said, bowing slightly in a gesture of invitation.

Jian Fan picked up his glass and swirled it gently, then brought it to his nose for a light sniff. His face remained expressionless, making it impossible for Qin Nan to tell what he was thinking. However, seeing that Jian Fan was only swirling the glass without any intention of drinking, Qin Nan grew even more reluctant to touch the suspicious concoction.

“Are you not going to drink, guest?” the bartender suddenly asked, noticing Qin Nan’s lack of movement.

Qin Nan blinked, then replied, “I wanted to take a moment to appreciate it first.” He then picked up his drink and began swirling the glass as well.

The bartender, however, did not let it go. “A drink’s value can only be realized once it is consumed.”

The smile on Qin Nan’s face stiffened for a moment.

Why? Everyone had ordered a Bloody Mary. Qi Shuping hadn’t drunk hers, Jian Fan hadn’t drunk his, and Mu Xin hadn’t drunk hers either. The bartender wasn’t bothering any of them-so why was he singling out Qin Nan?

“You did say earlier that you wanted to taste it properly,” Jian Fan reminded him from the side.

Qin Nan froze.

Qi Shuping had asked for a Bloody Mary, but she never said she would drink it. The same went for Jian Fan. It was only him; in his attempt to strike up a conversation with the bartender and dig for information, he had tried to act friendly, using his usual social tactics for dealing with normal people. Now, the NPC had locked onto him and was insisting he drink.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t drink it, but the bartender’s smile was so eerie that it made his skin crawl. Qin Nan really wanted to refuse.

His hand holding the glass rose slowly. Just as Qin Nan began to wonder if he should pretend to accidentally drop and break it, the bartender seemed to see through his intent and issued a warning: “Be careful, guest. Don’t let it go to waste.”

Qin Nan felt like crying, but facing the bartender’s gaze, he had to maintain his smile. “Of course.”

He regretted his big mouth now. If he didn’t drink, he might be erased by the Realm of Death for failing to follow an NPC’s instructions. If he did drink, there might be something wrong with the liquid.

Both choices carried risks.

Qin Nan made his decision. Gritting his teeth, he lifted the glass and took a direct gulp.

The moment the liquid entered his mouth, a nauseating, metallic taste of blood exploded across his palate. Qin Nan nearly gagged right in front of the bartender. Forcing the impulse down and suppressing the wave of nausea, he managed to say, with a smile that was now barely holding together, “Not bad.”

Upon seeing this, a truly genuine smile appeared on the bartender’s face.

“There is a legend regarding the Bloody Mary. Would you like to hear it, guest?” the bartender’s tone became much more approachable.

Qin Nan paused, then immediately realized that his seemingly reckless act of swallowing that foul liquid hadn’t brought him danger. On the contrary, he had likely secured a clue because of it.

“Certainly,” Qin Nan replied.

“In Western folklore, there is a saying that summoning Bloody Mary allows one to foresee the future,” the bartender said. His voice was soft, but the content was far from pleasant. “Bloody Mary often appears as a corpse, a witch, or a ghost, drenched in blood. If the summoning ritual is performed incorrectly, Mary will subject the summoners to torture-she may even steal their bodies and souls, drink them dry of blood, and gouge out their eyes.”
Qin Nan: “…”

Qin Nan suppressed his emotions deep within, not daring to let anything show on his face. He asked with feigned composure, “Then how do you summon her?”

“A mirror in a dark room, and calling her name,” the bartender said.

Qin Nan wanted to ask more, but the bartender suddenly spoke up. “Alright, my guest, I have others to attend to. I wish you a wonderful night.” With that, the bartender left.

He didn’t stay behind the bar, but instead opened a door marked “Staff Only” and disappeared through it.

As soon as the man was gone, Qin Nan couldn’t hold it back any longer. He didn’t have the mental energy to think about legends or anything else; he doubled over right there at the bar and began to retch.

“What the hell was that? My whole mouth tastes like iron.” Qin Nan gagged violently. Once he felt a slight bit of relief, he sat up straight, finally finding the presence of mind to complain to Jian Fan.

Jian Fan held his own glass out toward Qin Nan.

Qin Nan quickly backed away. “What are you doing? You’re not making me drink that too, are you?”

Jian Fan looked at him, slightly exasperated. “Smell it.”

Qin Nan didn’t take the glass, but he leaned his head over and took a sniff.

“What do you smell?” Jian Fan asked.

Qin Nan spoke hesitantly, “There’s no smell of alcohol. There’s a scent of blood, though. Is that from my own mouth or is it the drink?”

“I smell blood too,” Mu Xin added from the side.

Jian Fan looked at Qin Nan with a hint of sympathy. “I suspect that wasn’t a Bloody Mary at all. It was-blood.”

A Bloody Mary is a cocktail; tomato juice makes the drink look like bright red blood, but that’s only how it looks. It should still smell like alcohol, and it should certainly taste like alcohol. A real Bloody Mary couldn’t possibly have the scent of actual blood.

And the answer to what looks like blood and smells like blood was, in fact, quite simple.

Although Qin Nan had already harbored a faint suspicion, hearing the word clearly from Jian Fan’s mouth was too much. He couldn’t help it; he doubled over again. This time it wasn’t just dry heaving-he was so revolted that he threw up until the world spun, as if he were trying to purge everything in his stomach.

Qi Shuping was sitting not far from them, so she naturally overheard everything. Jian Fan hadn’t intended to hide it. Qi Shuping was the one who had sought out the bartender in the first place; she must have found some clue to target him, and it was easy enough to guess the nature of a liquid with such an obvious scent of blood.

The only thing that had caught Jian Fan off guard was Qin Nan’s inability to keep his mouth shut. Fortunately, the outcome was positive. He was alive, and they had obtained a clue. The only downside was that the clue was now shared property, as Qi Shuping had heard the bartender’s words as well.

Jian Fan had used Qi Shuping to find the bartender, and Qi Shuping had used them to get the clue she really wanted.

Qi Shuping looked at Qin Nan with a gentle expression, her tone soft. “Young man, are you alright?” Before Qin Nan could answer, Qi Shuping smiled again and said, “You’re very impressive. This old lady thanks you.”

Qin Nan: “…”

He was the one who suffered, yet the clue belonged to everyone.

Heh, thanks for nothing.

Qi Shuping turned her gaze back to the large screen.

The time had reached 11:59 PM.

“It’s almost midnight,” Qi Shuping said.

Midnight. Pandora’s Box was about to be opened.