Chapter 481: Take Me There

Under the dreamy, hazy lights, the air was thick with the scent of smoke and alcohol, mingling with perfume.

The dynamic music was so loud and intense it seemed to disturb the very rhythm of one’s heartbeat.

Men and women moved their bodies to the beat in the dance floor, releasing their stress.

Jiang Li glanced around the environment inside The Underground World club, shaking her head lightly.

She didn’t really like this place, just as she didn’t really like Bai Kai.

However, after this field investigation, she finally understood why nightclubs had become one of the favorite gathering spots for hauntings. Compared to pictures and videos, this was a much more direct realization.

Dim lighting could cover up suspicious behavior.

The smell of smoke, alcohol, and perfume could mask one’s own scent.

The blaring music could drown out the low chanting of spell formations.

And those men and women who were high as a kite had much lower vigilance toward strangers than usual.

Taking all these factors into account.

Whether it was a haunting looking for a hunting target, or one trying to complete its core entity by collecting negative emotions, or a special kind of haunting that nourished itself through unspeakable interactions with humans, they could all easily blend in here, like fish in water.

Just like those three gamblers from Fortune Star Mahjong Room–if they wanted, they could come here and trick some Young Master Zhang, Young Master Li, Young Master Wang, and have them pay for the whole place.

Anyway, those three guys didn’t care how much money they had. As long as they could make others lose money and ruin their luck, they could achieve the goal of completing the haunting’s core entity, Jiang Li thought.

As she pondered, the revelry in the dance floor suddenly reached a small climax.

The music grew even more intense, and the hype crew set off confetti cannons. Amid the deafening blasts, cheers, and screams, a golden rain fell from above the dance floor.

In the chaos, a few young men strolled over to Jiang Li, trying to invite her to join the party, but with just a glance, she managed to send them scurrying to the other end of the dance floor.

Looks like it’s better not to stay here any longer… Jiang Li thought to herself, rubbing her forehead. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the center of the dance floor, locked onto a few hauntings mingling in the crowd, memorized their psychic energy fluctuation signatures, and then headed toward the corridor leading to the private rooms.

She wasn’t sure if it was because of the restraint imposed by Lu Yibei, the King of Hauntings, or because The Underground World was on Bai Kai’s turf, but those hauntings were behaving themselves.

But if they dared to trigger any haunting incident, Jiang Li wouldn’t mind hunting a few hauntings while she was at it.

Crossing the dance floor and arriving at the entrance to the corridor, she fished out the VIP card she had borrowed from those three “gamblers” and calmly handed it to the attendant.

“Excuse me, I’d like a private room.”

The attendant glanced at the VIP card in Jiang Li’s hand, then at the girl before him.

Tall figure, sexy wheat-colored skin, flamboyant golden waves, tight jeans and a cropped T-shirt outlining an alluring curve.

This girl was obviously the nightclub queen type–the kind who really knew how to have fun.

“Please follow me.”

A meaningful smile appeared on the attendant’s face as he made a gesture of invitation and led Jiang Li toward the private room area.

Sneaking a glance at the attendant’s back, Jiang Li frowned slightly.

Why did it feel like his smile just now was a little strange?

It was oddly unsettling.

Ten minutes later, inside a certain private room.

Looking at the row of young men standing before her, all with the same style as Bai Kai, Jiang Li suddenly realized why the attendant had smiled so strangely earlier.

Do I look like the kind of lonely girl who comes here for drinking companions?

These guys… not even as good as Lu Yibei.

Jiang Li thought helplessly, looking at the manager enthusiastically introducing the male escorts, and interrupted with a blank expression, “Excuse me, do you have any guys here who can play the suona?”

Although she hadn’t seen Lu Yibei lately, and it was highly unlikely he’d come here for a side job,

Still, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that Bai Kai had led him astray.

After all, with that guy’s personality, if he could make money lying down, he might really give up on his dreams.

No harm in asking, Jiang Li thought.

Honestly, with Lu Yibei’s delicate and fair looks, if he wanted to make a living off his face, he might actually attract a wave of mommy fans.

“Yes, of course we do!” the manager replied enthusiastically.

“And someone who can trash talk,” Jiang Li added.

“We have that too, absolutely!”

Jiang Li frowned, “……”

Even trash talk, that useless skill?

The male escorts here really were quite versatile.

“Is it Mudan Street Yanzu?”

“Uh… no.”

“Then forget it,” Jiang Li said flatly. “Just bring me some drinks, I’ll drink alone.”

The male escorts at The Underground World only provided entertainment and drinking companionship, so it was legal, and their main income came from the highly marked-up drinks.

Jiang Li knew this well, so after she asked for drinks, the manager didn’t pester her further and soon left with the group of male escorts.

A moment later, an attendant on roller skates brought over a set called “First Love Memories.”

Once the waiter had set down the drinks and fruit platter of unclear significance, Jiang Li made her move.

“Pop—-!”

The champagne cork popped with a soft sound.

She poured the champagne into a tall glass, then casually took an ice cube from the bucket, held it in her hand, and with slender fingers, molded it into a cone before dropping it into the glass.

Gu Xiliu’s approximate location… Jiang Li silently recited in her heart, then infused it with psychic energy.

Disturbed by the psychic energy fluctuation, the wine in the glass immediately began to swirl slowly with the ice cube.

This was an ancient method of divination, said to originate from Country Z in the 3rd century AD. At first, it was a ritual using the dregs in roughly brewed wine to divine fortune and misfortune, and by the 6th century, it evolved into a method using tea leaves instead.

In the culturally rich Country Z, similar divination methods were countless. Initially, this method was not mainstream, until the mid-17th century when the Gypsies revived and popularized tea leaf divination.

After the nights grew longer, The Midnight Watchers Society further improved this divination method, making it a universal emergency divination technique.

However, because this method was too simplistic and easily disturbed by external forces, Jiang Li did not choose Bai Kai as the divination target.

That guy was already an old hand among psychics, extremely sensitive to the effects brought by curses and divination-type spell formations.

Gu Xiliu was different; compared to Bai Kai, she was a blank slate. Making her the divination target, not only would she not notice, she might even be sound asleep.

After a long while.

The ice cone in the glass stopped spinning, and under the influence of psychic energy fluctuation, pointed straight toward the west-southwest.

Staring at the gently trembling ice cone in the glass, Jiang Li’s gaze sharpened slightly. She rose and walked out of the private room.

Following the guidance of the divination result, Jiang Li quickly walked down the corridor of the private room area, carefully avoiding passing male escorts and waiters, and soon stopped in front of a double-door private room.

Is it here? Seems like there’s a soundproofing spell formation…

She examined the wooden door before her, and upon sensing the faint psychic energy fluctuation coming from behind it, she frowned slightly and softly chanted the incantation for a soundproofing-blocking spell formation.

“Never mind the moon, never mind the flowers, never mind the mountains and seas, speak my wish…”

As the spell formation chant ended, a faint glow appeared at her fingertips.

Like those scenes in period dramas where someone pokes through paper windows to spy, she raised her hand and tapped lightly on the door, and a conversation drifted into her ears.

“You really can’t go in anymore…”

The speaker was a young girl, her voice somewhat familiar, tinged with a sob.

Jiang Li, “…?” Was that Gu Xiliu?

“If I can’t get in, I still have to go in!” Bai Kai growled.

“No… you won’t be able to handle it…” Gu Xiliu said weakly.

Jiang Li, “?” Why does this conversation sound so weird?

“Qi Dong, give me a hand, I’m going to force my way in today!” Bai Kai roared.

“Alright! You go first, I’ll be next!” Qi Dong boomed.

“Ah—-!” Gu Xiliu screamed.

Imagining the possible scene inside the room, Jiang Li’s cheeks flushed slightly, but she quickly returned to normal.

Just listening to their conversation, although it was a bit strange, she couldn’t jump to conclusions. Generally, in such situations, just opening the door and seeing for herself would reveal it was all a misunderstanding.

So, she increased the psychic energy output to the sustained spell formation at her fingertips, letting the spell cover her entire palm, then grabbed the door handle, pushed the door open, and froze in place, her face quickly turning crimson.

Inside the room, the large tea table had been arranged like a bed. Qi Dong’s big hands were firmly pressing down Gu Xiliu’s wrists, which were bound by a belt. Gu Xiliu was frantically kicking her legs, Bai Kai was kneeling on one knee beside her, his face less than a palm’s width from hers.

Jiang Li stood expressionless and silent for two seconds, then quietly took out her phone, unlocked it, snapped a photo, the flash lit up, “click!”–evidence of the “crime” was captured.

The three people in the room, almost in perfect sync, looked at Jiang Li, then at the phone in her hand, suddenly snapped back to reality, and shouted in unison.

“Wait, don’t misunderstand, it’s not what you think!”

——–

A moment later, in the luxurious private room.

After listening to the three of them explain the whole story one after another, Jiang Li sat on the sofa, arms crossed, legs elegantly crossed, giving the three a sidelong glance, her eyes cold enough to shoot daggers at any moment.

Opposite her, Bai Kai, Gu Xiliu, and Qi Dong stood in a row according to height, heads bowed, like schoolchildren who had made a mistake and were waiting to be scolded.

After a long silence, Jiang Li sighed quietly and asked, “So, you’re saying that Lu Yibei is now in a rather dangerous place, and you were just performing some kind of ritual, trying to use Gu Xiliu’s Spirit Pattern to send Bai Kai to that place?”

“That’s right, that’s right!” Gu Xiliu nodded firmly.

Jiang Li glanced at Gu Xiliu, “You think I’ll believe your nonsense?”

“Hey—-! You damn cripple, don’t push your luck… mmph!” Bai Kai hadn’t finished speaking before Qi Dong, acting tough, covered his mouth.

“Unless…” Completely ignoring Bai Kai, Jiang Li changed her tone, “You send me!”