Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Thoughts immediately began racing through Qin Nan’s mind.

Even Mu Xin’s gaze shifted back and forth between Jian Fan and Qian Xing several times.

Jian Fan had a grudge against Xia Zeqin, yet Qian Xing called Jian Fan “Brother Jian.”

How interesting.

Jian Fan, however, ignored Qian Xing. He walked straight to the bar and sat down, raising a hand to signal the bartender. “Hello. I’d like a Bloody Mary, please.”

Seeing this, Qian Xing silently sat back down. He no longer had any desire to chat with the bartender as he had before, sitting there stiffly as if on pins and needles.

Qin Nan stole a glance at him before withdrawing his gaze and taking a seat next to Jian Fan. Mu Xin sat down beside him.

Upon hearing Jian Fan’s request, the bartender looked toward the other side of the bar before pulling out a walkie-talkie. After a brief exchange, he turned back to Jian Fan. “I’m sorry, sir. The bartender who prepares our Bloody Marys has already finished his shift. Would you like to try something else?”

“Only one person in this Bar knows how to make it?” Jian Fan looked up, his tone turning cold.

The bartender seemed a bit conflicted. “This…”

“We can make it too, but the Bloody Mary is the signature drink of our other bartender. Most guests who order it come specifically for his version,” the bartender explained.

Jian Fan gave a curt nod. “Since you know how to make it, please prepare one for me.”

“Make it three,” Qin Nan added quietly from the side.

The bartender didn’t move, a troubled expression on his face.

“If you know how, why won’t you make it? Is this how your Bar treats its guests?” Jian Fan’s voice was flat, lacking any aggressive edge, yet that was precisely what made it unsettling to hear.

The bartender thought it over and nodded. “Very well. Please wait a moment, guests.”

The bartender took out the ingredients and prepared three glasses of Bloody Mary in front of them. He then placed the drinks before them one by one. “Please enjoy, guests.”

Jian Fan picked up his glass and brought it to his nose to sniff it.

Qin Nan did the same.

There was no scent of blood. This meant the drinks these bartenders prepared were indeed just normal alcohol; only that specific bartender made the version supplied to the Vampires.

“Is your colleague’s Bloody Mary very famous?” Qin Nan asked.

Seeing Qin Nan take the lead, Jian Fan immediately stepped back and left the stage to him.

The bartender smiled. “It’s not exactly famous, but it’s very popular within a small circle. Actually, not many guests order the Bloody Mary, but those who do are usually here for him.”

“Interesting. Next time, I’ll have to…” Qin Nan paused, forcing himself to swallow the word ‘taste’ and changing it to: “…see it for myself.”

Holding her glass, Mu Xin pursed her lips and suppressed a smile.

“But the Bar is quite lively right now. Did he really finish his shift this early?” Qin Nan asked, sounding puzzled.

The bartender replied, “I’m not sure. He’s a bit special.”

“Special? Does he have connections?” Qin Nan asked, as if merely making small talk.

The bartender chuckled. “I wouldn’t know about that. We have strict working hours, but as for him, his start time is quite punctual-he usually shows up around ten every night-but his clock-out time is unpredictable. Sometimes it’s early, sometimes it’s late. There’s no set schedule.”

Ten o’clock every night.

That was a key piece of information.

“Leaving whenever he wants? If he doesn’t have connections, he must be the boss, haha.” Qin Nan joked with a laugh. However, upon hearing this, Jian Fan suddenly turned to look at him.

Qin Nan was a bit confused. “What is it?”

Jian Fan shook his head.
The Bartender didn’t chat with Qin Nan for long. Once new customers appeared, he left to serve them. After he was gone, Jian Fan spoke up slowly: “You always manage to, for no reason at all, hit the nail on the head.”

“What?” Qin Nan was momentarily stunned.

He recalled what he had just said and then whispered, “So, that Bartender is actually the owner of the Bar?”

Qin Nan looked a bit dazed; he really had just been speaking off the cuff. But after Jian Fan mentioned it, he thought about it again-hey, it really did seem like that was the case.

If he wasn’t the owner, how would he dare to sell blood to Vampires in this Bar?

Even if he wasn’t the owner, he definitely had a very close relationship with whoever was.

This was another piece of information.

Jian Fan didn’t answer Qin Nan. Instead, he looked at Qian Xing and asked, “What did you find out?”

Qin Nan and Mu Xin hadn’t expected Jian Fan to suddenly address Qian Xing. Even if they had been teammates before, Qian Xing had already had a falling out with Xia Zeqin. If Jian Fan just asked like that, would Qian Xing actually tell him?

Qin Nan felt that Jian Fan’s emotional intelligence was truly a bit low.

However, Qian Xing suddenly straightened his posture and replied briskly, “No major clues, just a few small points. The Bar clears out all customers and closes at 6:00 every day, then reopens at 7:00 every night. Also, I looked into some information regarding the regulars.”

Qin Nan and Mu Xin were shocked by Qian Xing’s sudden compliance.

Wait, Jian Fan asked, and you just… answered?

Jian Fan remained calm, as if Qian Xing’s response was the natural course of events. He looked up at the time on the screen.

“4:53,” Jian Fan said.

Once he said that, Qin Nan finally focused on the key issue.

If the Bar closed at 6:00, then it was highly likely that the Vampires’ hunting activities would also end at 6:00. But Qian Xing had said they “clear out customers,” which meant they would be kicked out of the Bar by the staff at 6:00.

Leaving the Bar… wouldn’t that be…

Qin Nan’s gaze fixed intently on the time, as if he wanted to stare the clock into stopping.

They only had an hour left, and the flow of time in this Bar was clearly faster than normal. This meant that according to real-world time, they might not even have half an hour left.

They had to find a way to stay in the Bar when it cleared out.

“Are you still sitting here?” Jian Fan glanced at Qian Xing.

Qian Xing blinked, replying, “Uh, I was planning to go find Xia…” He swallowed Xia Zeqin’s name back down and simply shut his mouth.

“Mm,” Jian Fan grunted in response. He stood up and walked toward the dance floor.

Qin Nan and Mu Xin hurried to follow him.

Jian Fan stopped at the edge of the dance floor. It was packed with people, and he didn’t want to squeeze through. Qin Weiyi, who was currently on the dance floor, quickly spotted Jian Fan. Without needing a word, he understood Jian Fan’s intent. He grabbed Lu Jing and began to slowly push through the crowd.

“Found an important clue?” Qin Weiyi asked.

“The Bar clears out at six,” Jian Fan said concisely.

Qin Weiyi paused, then rolled his eyes. “The malice in this world is quite high this time. Is it aimed at our whole group, or is it trying to kill someone in particular?”

When Jian Fan heard that last sentence, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

“What did you say?” Jian Fan asked.

Qin Weiyi was puzzled. “What’s wrong? Is something not right?”

No, there was nothing wrong with what Qin Weiyi said. On the contrary, it was-exactly right.

The Realm of Death was trying to kill someone. As for who that person was… Jian Fan whipped around to look at the bar counter.

Qi Shuping, who had been by the bar counter earlier, was now nowhere to be seen. Xu Tian and Wang Hao were gone as well.