"No need, if there are other people inside, they should come out for now," I politely said to the waitress.
The waitress nodded and spoke a few words into the walkie-talkie.
The nightclub staff, who were making preparations, all filed out.
The three of us walked in; the interior was rather enclosed.
There was a large dance floor and a stage. For more chapters visit novel·fire·net
The ventilation fans spun, the outside sunlight flickering through intermittently.
Ye Jiqing introduced, "This is the public area, and there are highly private VIP rooms inside."
"To the VIP room, this area seems quite clean," I scanned with the Spiritual Eye and detected nothing unusual.
Ye Jiqing led Beichen and me in search until we reached the dilapidated door on the third floor.
The needle of the compass in Beichen's hand suddenly stopped and pointed steadfastly in that direction.
The surrounding Demon Qi was dense, making it oppressive even to breathe.
The three of us exchanged glances, seemingly understanding the complexity behind that door.
Beichen was the first to ask Ye Jiqing, "Ye Jiqing, what is behind this door?"
"It seems to be a storeroom," Ye Jiqing pulling out his phone, "Let me call the boss."
Beichen looked at Ye Jiqing as if he were a fool, "In a place filled with Demon Qi, there's no cell signal."
Sure enough, Ye Jiqing's phone had no signal at all, displaying 'no signal' as he tried to dial.
"Then how do we open the door? It has two locks," Ye Jiqing murmured.
Beichen glanced at me and asked, "Can you give me your hairpin?"
"Sure." I had two thin hairpins in my hair to manage stray hairs after tying it up.
Beichen rubbed the hairpin on the step, bending it into a handy shape, and inserted it into the keyhole.
With both hairpins working simultaneously, it took only two minutes to unlock one of the locks.
Ye Jiqing and I both displayed admiration; we truly hadn't expected Beichen, a Taoist, to know how to pick locks.
Then he moved to the other lock. Just as I focused intently on the movements of Beichen's hands, a chilling, cold laugh came from behind, "Hehehe, the three of you, are you here to die?"
In an instant, my entire spine stiffened abnormally.
I felt a cold wind strike the back of my neck, pouring down inside my collar.
The hands Beichen used to pick the locks, formerly stable, now trembled.
He cursed softly, "Damn."
"Are we screwed? Is Xia Xi behind us?" Ye Jiqing blurted out.
Beichen grabbed my hand and shoved me against the wall, "Don't ever look back, and don't call out that woman's name."
I huddled against him on one side.
That left Ye Jiqing alone and isolated, and he seemed to have called out Xia Xi's name just now; at this moment, Ye Jiqing was terrified to the extreme, "Beichen, why didn't you say so earlier…"
The temperature in the corridor plummeted as if entering an ice cellar.
Behind us were bursts of cold laughter and footsteps approaching step by step.
"Save me... don't ignore me, save me!" Ye Jiqing cried for help as something fiercely gripped his neck, "No... don't... kill me..."
Before my very eyes, a living person was hoisted by the neck by a woman in a blood-colored dress.
Ye Jiqing's legs initially kicked a bit in struggle, but gradually they grew weaker.
I said to Beichen, "We can't just ignore him; if Ye Jiqing dies, we're done for."
"This is indoors, the Thunder Summoning Garment isn't effective!" Beichen continued picking the lock, but his actions were frantic, now lacking the earlier speed, his temples completely drenched.
I too was scared stiff, but Beichen had come to this place because of me, and I had to protect him, "Listen to me, stay calm, and unlock the door as fast as you can! Did you bring the Money Sword when you left home?"