◎To Hold Her Was Wrong, Not to Hold Her Was Worse.◎
Even without the explanation, Liang Shi could have guessed. Russian roulette was a drinking game: six glasses of liquor, with players taking turns rolling a die. Whatever number came up, you drank the corresponding glass. You kept going until you rolled a number whose glass was already empty. At that point, your turn ended, but you had to refill that glass first. If you were lucky, you barely had to drink. But with terrible luck, one person could end up draining all six.
Liang Shi had seen this game once before, at a dinner after auditions for a film crew. Over twenty bottles of beer were polished off in under half an hour. Several girls from the acting program were plied with drinks. The director and producers couldn’t keep their hands to themselves around those girls. Liang Shi eventually couldn’t stomach it and left. She also called the girls’ teachers. She never found out if those men got what they wanted. She’d landed the role through the audition, but given the culture of that crew, she chose to turn it down. Even though it had been a good script.
Now, judging from the photo, those glasses weren’t small. Bottles littered the table in disarray, not just beer but also cheap wines and other liquors. Beer bottles were the most numerous. Men and women filled the private room, some looking extremely hyperactive.
Liang Shi checked the message, confirmed the location, and headed out immediately. Xu Qingya happened to step out of her room and, seeing Liang Shi rushing around, couldn’t help asking: “Sister Liang, where are you going?”
Without looking back, Liang Shi grabbed a comfortable pair of sneakers from the shoe cabinet. “To find your sister.”
Xu Qingya’s eyes widened. “She hasn’t come back yet?”
“At Huayue International,” Liang Shi said. “She and Bai Weiwei are trapped there.”
“Damn,” Xu Qingya swore, shoving her phone into her pocket. “I’m coming with you.”
“You know Huayue International?” Liang Shi asked.
Xu Qingya casually pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Who in Haizhou doesn’t know it? It’s a notorious money pit. The people who go there are the kind who’d rather party themselves to death. Sometimes they’d drink too much, lose all restraint. There was even a murder case a few years back.”
“How is a place like that still in business?” Liang Shi muttered in frustration. She hadn’t even noticed that the photo had completely thrown her off balance.
“It won’t close down,” Xu Qingya said. “They just provide the venue, not the goods. Most of the stuff those scumbags use, they buy from the black market themselves. And do you know who backs Huayue International?”
“Who?” Liang Shi asked.
She hadn’t realized she was relying on a fifteen-year-old girl for background information. But it was clear Xu Qingya knew a lot. Probably more than Xu Qingzhu. Maybe because Xu Qingya often hung around with a bunch of useless second-generation wealthy kids, she knew the ins and outs of these places.
“The Shen family.” Xu Qingya shrugged. “Who’d dare touch Huayue International? Doing so would be openly defying the Shen family.”
Liang Shi had no idea what the Shen family’s background was, but now clearly wasn’t the time to ask. She tucked her curiosity away. “Let’s find your sister first.”
Xu Qingya called Xu Qingzhu several times from the car, but the phone remained off. Thinking of Bai Weiwei, Liang Shi pulled up Zhao Xuning’s contact information. Luckily, she’d been smart enough to grab Zhao Xuning’s phone number from the hospital’s information board, thinking it might come in handy in an emergency. And here was that emergency.
She called Zhao Xuning. The other woman sounded like she’d been sleeping, her tone slightly impatient: “Who is it?”
Liang Shi said gently: “It’s Liang Shi.”
Zhao Xuning paused, reining in her impatience a little, though her tone was still far from warm. “What do you want this late?”
“Sorry,” Liang Shi apologized first.
Zhao Xuning was straight to the point. “If you’ve got business, speak. If not, I’m hanging up.”
“I do,” Liang Shi said. “Bai Weiwei is at Huayue International right now.”
“Just her?” Zhao Xuning said. “She goes there all the time.”
“Playing a drinking game with people,” Liang Shi explained. “For some reason, she also called Xu Qingzhu there. Someone just sent me a photo. They’re both drunk.”
“Damn it,” Zhao Xuning cursed under her breath. “These inhuman bastards.”
“Huh?” Liang Shi happened to be making a turn, and Zhao Xuning had spoken too quietly to hear. “What did you say?”
Zhao Xuning snapped: “Nothing.”
Rustling sounds came through the phone. She was probably getting dressed.
“Which room number?” Zhao Xuning said. “I’m closer to Huayue International. I’ll head there first.”
“…”
Liang Shi froze, then said with considerable embarrassment: “I didn’t ask.”
Zhao Xuning: “…?”
Even over the phone, Liang Shi could practically imagine what Zhao Xuning wanted to say. You called me and you don’t even know the damn room number?
Liang Shi coughed. “Let me call and ask.”
She hung up and dialed the number that had sent the photos. But that number no longer answered. At the same time, Zhao Xuning sent a text: Send me the photo.
Liang Shi asked Xu Qingya to forward the photo. After sending it, Xu Qingya zoomed in. Almost at the same time as Zhao Xuning, she recognized it: “This is Room 7588.”
Zhao Xuning’s text came through too. She’d also guessed 7588.
Liang Shi was stunned. They could identify it just like that?
“How can you tell?” Liang Shi asked.
Xu Qingya turned off the phone screen and put Liang Shi’s phone back in the storage compartment. “Every private room at Huayue International has a signature item or design element. Rooms one through twelve are themed after the Chinese zodiac, each decorated to match its sign. The numbers after that are random. Room 7588’s motif is the deer. There’s a deer on the table in the photo, the light projected on the wall is also a deer, and there’s a deer figurine in the bottom right corner.”
“Huh.” Liang Shi hadn’t expected a single room to come with so much detail. Even though she wasn’t exactly unworldly, it still surprised her. Whoever came up with this design scheme was no ordinary person.
“But this room…” Xu Qingya frowned, pausing briefly.
Liang Shi caught the shift in her tone. “What is it?”
“Drive faster.” Xu Qingya grabbed the handle on her side of the car. “My sister is in danger.”
Liang Shi: “…What do you mean?”
Xu Qingya’s eyes were already red. She squeezed them shut and said in a choked voice: “After ten o’clock, the scent blocker stops working for everyone in that room.”
Liang Shi: “?”
“They’ll go into heat. And it won’t be a normal heat.” Xu Qingya said. “I heard this from someone. The last drink they have before ten has something in it…” She was too embarrassed to say what kind of drug, so she skirted around it. “After ten, the room gradually becomes an Alpha and Omega paradise. People call it the Gentle Nest.”
“This room is rarely opened, and normally only operates until ten,” Xu Qingya said.
“Then it should be fine, right?” Liang Shi said. “Why advertise it at all?”
“But every Saturday night, it stays open.” Xu Qingya let out a shaky breath, nearly crying with anger. “Who the hell did this? Are they insane? Dragging Xu Qingzhu to a place like that? When I find out who it is, I’ll kill them!”
Xu Qingya’s voice grew agitated, trembling by the end of the sentence. A teenager who’d never faced anything like this, the mere thought terrified her. She clenched her fists and pleaded: “Sister Liang, please hurry. If Xu Qingzhu goes through this, she’ll lose her mind.”
In her panic, she’d even dropped the honorific and used her sister’s name outright.
“When she’s drunk, her senses become even more heightened. If someone forces themselves on her…” Xu Qingya felt like she was suffocating, her heart wrung out and punched. She couldn’t hold back a tearful shout: “She has PTSD!”
Liang Shi was swept up in the raw grief. She floored the accelerator. Traffic was light. On the open road, the white Porsche thundered past, leaving pedestrians nothing but a glimpse of its tail.
“Don’t panic,” Liang Shi said, keeping her voice steady. “We’ll make it in time. Your sister will be fine.”
“I hope so,” Xu Qingya said through gritted teeth. “When I find out who took her there, I’ll cut them in half.”
Liang Shi said nothing. Who would have guessed? This was a full-blown sister-protecting fiend.
A chill suddenly ran down Liang Shi’s neck. If Xu Qingya ever found out what the original host had done, she’d probably be the first to storm the villa with a knife. Sneaking up behind her for a stab. Liang Shi shrank her neck, though her foot never eased off the pedal.
Just thinking that Xu Qingzhu might be having a PTSD episode made her chest ache. The scene of Xu Qingzhu’s PTSD episode was still vivid in her memory. Back then, her screams had sounded like a helpless, lost child. It was more than Liang Shi could bear.
Parking near Huayue International was difficult, but Liang Shi couldn’t care less. She parked right at the entrance, jumped out in a rush, and ran straight into Zhao Xuning, who had just arrived. Xu Qingya had already bolted toward the entrance but was stopped by security at the door.
Liang Shi and Zhao Xuning skipped all pleasantries. One look was enough to understand each other.
Xu Qingya was already arguing with the guard at the entrance. “I’m going in to find someone. We’re running out of time. Damn it, if someone dies, can you afford to compensate us? Let me in or I’m calling the cops! I’ll report this place for prostitution!”
“Miss, how can you speak like that?” A man in a black suit walked over. “We run a legitimate business here. We never do anything illegal. You can’t just throw accusations around. If you’re looking for someone, please call them, or give us the room number and we’ll help you find them. But if you make trouble, don’t blame us for getting physical.”
“Don’t call me that! If I’m a ‘miss,’ then so is your entire family!” Xu Qingya screamed. “Go ahead, try touching me! I’ll report this place every single damn day!”
Liang Shi: “…”
So this girl had a fiery temper too?
Two guards had grabbed Xu Qingya, pinning her in place, but she kept struggling. Liang Shi strode over. “Let go of my sister.”
The moment the guards recognized her, they released Xu Qingya and bowed their heads. “Miss Liang.”
Liang Shi: “?”
The original host actually had name recognition here? Looked like a regular.
The man in the black suit also approached, bowing respectfully. “Miss Liang, it’s been a while. What brings you here today?”
“I’m here for my wife,” Liang Shi said. “Room 7588.”
“7588?” The man’s brow furrowed, then quickly smoothed out into a smile. “Room 7588 is very lively tonight. And… it’s already 10:01. By the rules, the door to 7588 won’t open after ten.”
So the scent blocker would wear off, Omegas’ and Alphas’ pheromones mingling together. Through the mutual attraction of pheromones, the deepest instincts would be awakened. Strangers, Alphas and Omegas alike, spending a chaotic, unforgettable night here. Weren’t they afraid of vice crackdowns?
The man said: “The guests in 7588 have already entered their respective rooms. We don’t disturb our clients’ rest.”
“And what if I insist?” Liang Shi raised an eyebrow, her aura instantly overwhelming. Her long hair fanned out in the wind. Brown eyes locked onto the man, brow slightly furrowed. A stunning face flickered through a storm of emotions before settling on something razor-sharp. Those eyes were like shards of ice, piercing right through him. “You still want to stop me?”
