Chapter 54

Chapter 54

The three of them stepped out of the Private Room into the darkness.

It was pitch black inside the room, and the corridor wasn’t much better. Even though the sun had already risen outside, the Bar was insulated from the light. With the lights off, it was shrouded in total darkness; it wasn’t until they neared the main entrance that a faint glimmer of light appeared.

Given the situation, there shouldn’t be any employees left in the Bar.

In other words, they were safe.

“How are we supposed to find clues like this? We’ll be lucky if we can even walk out of here smoothly,” Qin Nan complained. The walk through the corridor hadn’t been too bad since it was a straight path, but once they reached the main hall, they kept bumping into the legs of tables and chairs.

Jian Fan’s gaze slowly swept across the darkness.

“Find the switch,” Jian Fan said suddenly.

Qin Nan froze for a moment.

Wouldn’t turning on the lights expose them? That was the first thought that popped into Qin Nan’s head, but he quickly realized that you can only be exposed if there are people around. If there’s no one here, what was there to expose?

The three continued to grope around in the dark.

This time, they walked along the wall.

They found the switch not far from the main entrance. When Jian Fan flipped it, the entire Bar hall lit up. Having grown accustomed to the darkness, the sudden brightness made all three of them blink involuntarily.

Once their eyes adjusted to the light, they began to survey their current surroundings.

It was still the same Bar as before, but without the lively bustle and the complex lighting, the state of the place was presented more clearly before their eyes.

It was clear, yes, but it looked no different from any ordinary Bar.

Qin Nan turned to look at Jian Fan.

Mu Xin was examining the environment. Although she was an adult, she was still just a high school student, and this was her first time in a Bar. Not long ago, she had witnessed how lively it could be, and now, she was seeing what it looked like after the party was over.

The Bar was quite large. For a moment, Mu Xin didn’t know where to start.

After looking around without any inspiration, she wanted to turn and ask for her teammates’ thoughts. When she saw Qin Nan staring at Jian Fan, she followed his gaze.

Being stared at by two sets of eyes from both sides, Jian Fan frowned slightly.

“Are there clues on me?” Jian Fan asked.

Qin Nan chuckled. “Aren’t we just waiting for you to give the orders?”

Jian Fan: “…”

“Bloody Mary,” Jian Fan finally mentioned.

A Vampire world, Vampires, and then, blood. They had realized this was a Vampire world because of the Bloody Mary, and if they wanted to find clues now, they still had to start with the Bloody Mary.

“Back then, the Bartender mixed the drink right in front of us. Two Bartenders used the same technique and the same ingredients, yet the results were worlds apart,” Jian Fan pointed out a key detail.

Qin Nan suddenly understood. “So that’s why you had the other Bartender make a Bloody Mary back then. Besides asking for information, you had that intention in mind as well.”

“A Vampire world doesn’t equal a fantasy world. He couldn’t have turned a glass of Bloody Mary into a glass of blood out of thin air. Therefore, there’s something wrong with the ingredients,” Jian Fan shared his discovery.

In other words, there was one point they could start with now-the ingredients.

The three divided the work.

Qin Nan went to one side of the Bar, while Mu Xin followed Jian Fan to the other.

The ingredients for a Bloody Mary were limited, and the three of them quickly dug them out and placed them on the same table.

“I found this from the bar counter over there. This tomato juice doesn’t smell like blood,” Qin Nan said.

Jian Fan frowned. “It’s also tomato juice here.”

“Could it be that the daily supply of blood is limited? Maybe the blood at the bar has already been used up, and what’s left was originally just tomato juice. Or perhaps the leftover blood has already been cleared away, and the tomato juice won’t be swapped for blood until that specific Bartender who mixes the Bloody Mary shows up at night?” Qin Nan suggested a few possibilities.
“It’s very likely. If tomato juice is actually blood, then the juice specifically used to mix a Bloody Mary must be kept separate from the rest. Someone would probably be assigned to handle that. Qin Nan’s guess makes a lot of sense,” Mu Xin said.

In that case, it would be difficult for them to find blood at this moment.

“Put everything back. Let’s go check the Staff Passage,” Jian Fan decided quickly.

The game had to continue, so the three of them couldn’t just leave things scattered about. They returned all the ingredients to their original positions, meticulously restoring the area to how it was before.

Once they finished, the three met at the Staff Passage next to the bar.

They maintained their formation: Jian Fan leading the way, Mu Xin in the middle, and Qin Nan bringing up the rear.

Jian Fan opened the door to the Staff Passage. Behind it was a Corridor. At the moment, the lights from the main hall spilled inside, allowing them to see the first half of the path.

Jian Fan searched nearby and found a switch. When he flipped it, the entire Corridor lit up.

It was a narrow passage with walls on both sides, only about two or three meters long.

Jian Fan scanned the surroundings before stepping inside.

They reached the end of the short passage quickly, where the path branched off to the left and right.

Jian Fan paused at the intersection and asked his teammates for their opinion. “Left or right?”

“Either is fine with me,” Mu Xin replied.

Qin Nan thought for a moment and said, “Right. There’s another Staff Passage behind the bar on the left side, so one of these directions probably leads back to that same area. I think the right side is more likely to be where we want to go.”

Jian Fan didn’t say anything, choosing instead to show his agreement through action.

He chose the path to the right.

This Corridor was much longer, about ten meters or so, and it included a turn. Eventually, they were faced with a door. There were no signs or labels on it.

Jian Fan reached out and placed his hand on the doorknob.

Qin Nan’s heart suddenly leapt into his throat. If this was the place they were looking for, then whatever was inside might be terrifying.

He had to brace himself to avoid being scared out of his wits.

Qin Nan stared intently at Jian Fan’s hand on the doorknob, holding his breath.

Jian Fan pressed down firmly, but the handle didn’t budge.

The door seemed to be locked.

Jian Fan tried a few more times before finally telling his teammates, “It seems to be locked.”

Qin Nan deflated instantly, but at the same time, he felt that a locked door suggested something. It likely meant the room wasn’t simple. Otherwise, why lock it?

Now that they were certain there was something suspicious about the room, they faced a new problem: where would they find the key?

“Let’s go. We’ll check the other side,” Jian Fan said.

Staying here wouldn’t accomplish anything. Perhaps there would be clues in the other direction.

The other two had no objections.

But just as the three of them turned around to leave, a sudden “click” echoed through the air.

The three turned back simultaneously, their eyes landing on the doorknob as it suddenly turned downward.

Someone was inside? And they were opening the door right now?

Realizing this, all three held their breath. They were stuck in the middle of the Corridor with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Qin Nan felt as though the only thing left in his world was the sound of his own heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump.