The wooden stairs creaked under his weight as if it was going to fall apart soon. The staff downstairs did not even notice He Juan bypassing them, too caught up by the sight of three men terrorizing the area with their guns.

He Juan reached into his pocket and quietly pulled off the trigger of his gun, his senses alert as he took in his surroundings. He had expected people to come running out upon hearing the chaos downstairs but... it was silent. So silent that it was getting eerie. His Alpha was on full alert now, lips pulled back into a snarl as he prepared for the ambush that would soon descend.

His feet softly stepped onto the highest flight of stairs and stopped. Nothing happened.

He sniffed the air and took in the pungent odor of cheap beers, wine and perfumes, reminiscent of the hubbub last night. Aside from that, there was also a mix of strange smells that was both foul and appalling, but right now he just could not put a finger on it. Grimacing, He Juan rubbed his nose and tried to breathe in as lightly as possible.

He observed the hallway in front of him – two closed wooden doors on each side with one being the bathroom and the others private rooms. So far, no signs of activity could be detected within. It was so silent that all He Juan could hear was his own heartbeat and the monotone sound of a ticking clock.

It was as if... there was no one here at all.

But how was it possible? His men had said that Blue Lotus had not come out yet. They had guarded the front and back entrance all night and saw no one coming out. There was no way Blue Lotus could disappear into thin air so the only possibility was – he was hiding in one of these rooms.

He Juan pulled out his gun and held it in his grip as he quietly moved to the room nearest to him – the public bathroom. He plastered himself to the wall and strained his ears toward the door.

Just then, the stairs gave a loud creak behind him and He Juan turned around in reflex, muzzle pointing forward, only to come face to face with Old Liu who had a shocked look on his face.

"Boss?" He mouthed soundlessly, his gaze darting between He Juan, the bathroom and the empty hallway in front of him. "What’s going on?"

He Juan gave a signal to be alert then pointed at the bathroom.

Face turning serious, Old Liu also took out his gun and nodded.

On the count of three, He Juan kicked open the door and rushed in together with Old Liu, back to back, but all they found was an empty space. They glanced at each other, then wordlessly moved to the opposite ends to push open the cubicle one by one.

"Boss," Old Liu said in a hushed voice. "This one’s jammed."

He Juan turned to find him standing on the innermost cubicle – the last one they had not checked yet. He frowned and commanded, "Break it down."

Nodding, Old Liu retreated a few steps, took a deep breath and rammed into the door with his shoulder!

Bang! Bang!

The loud collision echoed in the air and He Juan peeked outside to find that the doors to the private rooms were still closed with nary a person in sight. The uneasiness in his heart brewed stronger and stronger. Just what was going on? Where was Blue Lotus? What did he want to achieve by playing this hide-and-seek game with him?

In the end, it took Old Liu four attempts to break down the door and the sight he found inside caused him to suck in cold air. "Boss," he called out, his voice grim.

He Juan withdrew his gaze and walked toward Old Liu. His heart skipped a beat as the gruesome scene inside the cubicle unfolded in front of his eyes.

Crimson dominated his vision. The walls were splattered with blood akin to a bottle of ink that had toppled on top of a white piece of paper. Now that the door was opened, the familiar metallic scent rushed outward, almost overpowering the foul odor in the bathroom. Slumped on the toilet bowl was a dead body, still with his lifeless eyes wide in shock.

So this was the source of the strange smell he had detected earlier. Sure, He Juan was already no stranger to the scent of blood, but now that it was mixed with the pungent odor of urine, cheap air freshener, perfumes and smoke, it almost became unrecognizable. He Juan resisted the nausea churning in his stomach and forced himself to scrutinize the corpse.

His brows furrowed deeper when he caught sight of the bloody hole on his forehead.

A clean head shot, he noted. But why would there be a corpse in the locked bathroom cubicle?

"He’s one of Blue Lotus’ men we saw last night," Old Liu said, causing He Juan to blink in surprise. He watched as Old Liu carefully bypassed the half-dried puddle of blood on the floor and bent forward to inspect the body. "Judging from the stiffness of the body, it seems like more than six hours have already passed since his death."

Old Liu gulped and asked him nervously, "What’s going on here, Boss?"

He Juan could not give an answer either. At first, he had suspected that Queen of Spades had become Blue Lotus’ secret hideout, but then he was suddenly slapped by the death of one of his men. Who killed this person? What about Blue Lotus himself? Was he still alive or...

As soon as this question crossed his mind, He Juan’s expression sank and he told Old Liu, "Let’s go and check the other rooms first."

Old Liu looked like he still wanted to say something, but looking at He Juan’s somber face, he sensibly swallowed his words and followed He Juan out of the bathroom.

Next, they went to the first private room. He Juan wasted not even one more second to break down the door, only to find an empty room littered with many bottles of beers, ashtrays packed with cigarette butts to the brim and a few used condoms strewn over the sofa. With a disgusted grimace on his face, he stepped aside and let Old Liu enter to examine the room.

Old Liu shook his head, "Clear."

"Let’s go to the next," He Juan said.

Once again, they found another empty room. This time, it was clean without any signs of garbage. It seemed like this private room was not used last night. Not finding anything notable, they shut the door and finally moved to the last private room.

He Juan and Old Liu exchanged a glance and nodded. Taking a deep breath, He Juan raised his leg and kicked the door open!