Chapter 1454: Chapter 571: Strange and Peculiar (2)

Qu Peining took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to use a grappling move to pin Jiang Mubai down on the spot, and silently shook the dice cup.

The three of them continued to play a modified version of "Liar’s Dice."

But what annoyed Qu Peining was that Jiang Mubai seemed to have some advanced dice-rolling skills. Previously, it was okay; she would often roll "single dice," but now, she was frequently rolling "leopard."

She didn’t break her promise; she didn’t kiss on the mouth—but... is kissing the neck normal?

Seeing her bury her head and press her lips against Zhou Wang’s Adam’s apple, even sticking out her tongue for a lick, left Qu Peining both furious and unsure how to react.

Jiang Mubai played many such ambiguous little games.

For example, things like the knightly face-to-face dance, using the mouth to tear beef jerky, blindfolded hide-and-seek, and such nonsensical things.

In Qu Peining’s eyes, it was Jiang Mubai trying all sorts of ways to flirt with Zhou Wang, forcing Qu Peining to step in and participate in those games to stop her.

However, even though Jiang Mubai restrained herself a bit, Qu Peining still couldn’t bring herself to dance while straddling Zhou Wang.

...Although she had learned martial arts since she was a child, her dance foundation wasn’t bad either; otherwise, she wouldn’t have entered the Cultural Troupe after changing careers.

So, for the games Qu Peining couldn’t complete, she could only drink frequently, her previously clear mind seeming to become hazy again.

Until Zhou Wang stood up to go to the bathroom, the game paused.

Qu Peining glanced at the nearly empty bottle of alcohol and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

No matter what, this night, which had tormented her a bit, was finally ending.

"Sister Peining, have some water. It’ll help you feel better..."

Jiang Mubai handed a bottle of warm water over with concern. Qu Peining looked up at her, nodded slightly, and took the bottle.

"I wonder why Mr. Zhou hasn’t returned yet. Could he have gotten lost?"

Qu Peining’s mind was still a little groggy and didn’t respond to Jiang Mubai’s question.

No matter how well-behaved Jiang Mubai appeared to be at the moment, Qu Peining found it hard to have any good feelings for her.

...Qu Peining realized that this girl had no sense of shame. Even though she had heard she was some kind of nightclub star with many fans, it seemed she didn’t care about her image at all.

She was willing to do almost anything to flirt with Zhou Wang.

After taking a few sips from the water bottle, Qu Peining rested her head for a while. Drowsy from the effects of alcohol, she unknowingly closed her eyes.

Until a moment when she suddenly awoke, looking around at the still bustling environment, a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes before she realized where she was.

But... why was she the only one left at this booth?

Qu Peining’s eyes regained some clarity, remembering that Zhou Wang had gone to the bathroom, but hadn’t Jiang Mubai been right beside her a moment ago?

Qu Peining couldn’t help but stand up and ask the diligent guard nearby. When she learned Jiang Mubai had left over twenty minutes ago, she was at first shocked that she had dozed off for so long, and then she realized something was amiss...

Wouldn’t that mean Zhou Wang had been in the bathroom for over half an hour?

So where was Jiang Mubai?

Qu Peining couldn’t believe that girl had just left like that.

Though she couldn’t think clearly, her heart suddenly tightened with a bad premonition.

"Where’s the restroom?"

Qu Peining inquired of the security guard.

"Uh, the regular restroom is over there, but if Mr. Zhou went to the bathroom, he should have gone to the VIP restroom, over in that direction..."

Once she had the location, Qu Peining, holding her still-dizzy head, began to walk outside.

She first glanced at the public restroom but stopped at the entrance because both the inside and outside were crowded with people, and there was even a line at the women’s restroom.

From the looks of it, neither of them seemed likely to be here...

Next, following the directions, Qu Peining arrived near the VIP restroom.

There were security guards stationed at the entrance of the corridor, but after learning Qu Peining’s seat number, they let her pass.

As she approached the tightly closed restroom door around the corner, Qu Peining’s heart started beating faster.

She didn’t know why she was nervous, but she was.

As she reached the restroom entrance, Qu Peining took a deep breath, then grabbed the door handle and gave it a forceful twist.

Click!

The door opened easily, and the restroom’s crystal chandelier was lit, but Qu Peining was relieved to find it empty.

Switching to a feeling of emptiness, she wondered where the two could have gone?

Could they have really left without saying a word?

Just as Qu Peining was about to turn and leave, something caught her eye.

She approached the sink and picked up a metal lighter from it. The black lighter had a small bear on its surface and displayed the "Zippo" logo.

Qu Peining didn’t recognize the lighter brand, but she knew it belonged to Zhou Wang because she had seen him use it earlier.

Why would Zhou Wang’s lighter be left here?

Out of the corner of her eye, Qu Peining suddenly noticed the small piece of fabric beside the sink’s trash can.

Since there was no other trash inside, the small piece of cloth was quite conspicuous.

Normally, Qu Peining wouldn’t have such keen eyes to instantly recognize what it was, but the style and color of the fabric looked uncannily like the halter top Jiang Mubai was wearing earlier.

Having just relaxed a moment ago, Qu Peining’s heart tightened again. She quickly pushed open the restroom door and exited, her eyes scanning the surroundings. That’s when she noticed that around the corner, there was another relatively hidden room.

A plaque hung beside that room, inscribed with "VIP Lounge."

The door was tightly closed, with no light visible through its gap, but some instinct seemed to tell her that the missing Zhou Wang and Jiang Mubai were there.

Thump, thump, thump!

As she slowly approached, Qu Peining could almost hear her own heart beating out loud.

Here, far from the noisy lobby, as she moved forward step-by-step, she thought she heard some faint rustling noises.

Yet those sounds weren’t distinct, and Qu Peining wasn’t sure if they were just her imagination.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she reached the door.

She stood silently for a few seconds, then finally mustered all her courage, grabbed the door handle, and twisted.

Click!

The unlocked door opened effortlessly, but it appeared as though there were no lights on inside. Most of the space was pitch black.

But... aided by the light penetrating from the hallway, Qu Peining immediately saw Zhou Wang.

He was leaning against the wall near the door, with a flickering flame at his mouth.

Zhou Wang... was smoking here?

A hint of confusion flashed in Qu Peining’s eyes; she didn’t understand why Zhou Wang would hide in such a dark room to smoke.

As soon as she saw Zhou Wang, Zhou Wang clearly noticed her too.

A momentary expression of bewilderment passed over Zhou Wang’s face before he suddenly reached out and pulled Qu Peining inside.

Qu Peining wasn’t alarmed, just puzzled as to why Zhou Wang reacted so strongly; just as she was about to ask, her feet, which had become unsteady, suddenly seemed to bump into something.

In a haze, Qu Peining heard a muffled exclamation.

Curiously, she looked down and saw someone crouching on the ground, right in front of Zhou Wang.

It wasn’t easy to discern, but the person crouched down could only be Jiang Mubai.

"?"

Qu Peining felt even more bewildered.