PS: Thanks for the tips, 'xpc000000' and 'galencl'.
￥￥￥￥￥The Main Story Follows￥￥￥￥￥
Ren Ziling planned to have a proper heart-to-heart talk with Luo Qiu. The twenty-nine-year-old deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper began by saying that she had been busy with work lately and had been negligent, failing to fulfill her duty as a mother. Her voice was so soft and gentle that it could instantly slay most men.
Then box after box of pastries instantly killed everything Ren Ziling was about to say. By the time she came to her senses, Luo Qiu had already closed the door to his room.
Listening to the old CD player Old Luo had given his son playing Eagles' "Desperado" inside the room, Ren Ziling silently nibbled on a pastry.
And that was the end of it.
"Brat, did you really have to be so sentimental..."
Actually, there was no one inside Luo Qiu's room.
After returning to his room, he turned on the CD player and directly traveled back to the club.
Who knew what the hell it was playing...
Sitting behind the club's counter, Luo Qiu said it was too late and he did not want tea. His thoughtful Maid opened the liquor cabinet beside the bar for the first time in front of him.
There was a bottle of vodka, a bottle of black-bottled cocoa liqueur, and a bottle of fruit-flavored gin. You Ye looked at Luo Qiu with a faint smile, then filled a cocktail shaker eight-tenths full with ice. She used a small cup to measure out portions of the three liquors and poured them into the shaker. After sealing it, she began to shake.
There were no flashy tricks. From beginning to end, You Ye's eyes never left Luo Qiu.
As the saying went, beautiful women and fine liquor complemented each other. This was probably exactly what such a scene looked like. The longer Luo Qiu watched, the more relaxed and cheerful he felt.
You Ye only stopped when a thin layer of white frost had formed on the outside of the shaker. She poured the resulting light-brown liquor into a cocktail glass. Accompanied by the rhythmic clacking of high heels against the wooden floor, the prepared drink was delivered to Luo Qiu.
Luo Qiu teased, "I think I might have to invade the kitchen again next time."
You Ye looked at Luo Qiu in confusion. Luo Qiu smiled and said, "Because watching you prepare food or mix drinks really is a pleasure."
Only then did You Ye's faint smile turn into a proper smile. She slowly walked to a corner of the club's lobby. An old gramophone made of aged pine had always been placed there.
You Ye set down a record and lowered the stylus. As it slowly turned, a gentle, slightly mysterious melody began to play. Only then did You Ye return to Luo Qiu's side and sit across from him.
The Maid wore a languid expression. Her legs crossed beneath her skirt, while she rested her elbow on the round table and propped up her face.
Luo Qiu took a sip of the cocktail. He had assumed that mixing vodka and gin would make it extremely strong, but he had not expected it to be so fresh and sweet. Perhaps that was because of the addition of the black cocoa liqueur?
He toyed with the White Jade Token he had obtained from Pianxian and suddenly asked, "Does this world really have past and present lives? Reincarnation, and the Ten Palaces of Hell?"
You Ye said softly, "The East has many ancient legends passed down through the ages. People believe because they choose to believe. But who can say? After all, this is not something people can witness with their own eyes."
Luo Qiu asked, "Then how would Su Houde explain it?"
You Ye replied, "People have thoughts, and thoughts are the soul. Therefore, the soul not dispersing is the same as thoughts not dispersing. It is not that ghosts, vengeful spirits, and fierce ghosts do not exist in this world. But in You Ye's view, they are all masses of concentrated mental energy. They have left the vessel of the flesh, yet because they retain intense emotional obsessions, they have not simply dissipated."
Hearing this, Luo Qiu hummed and said, "I've read some strange-news magazines. They said that the human mind is like a kind of wave. When the wavelengths of two people's minds are similar or almost identical, perhaps one side can receive the other's thought waves. In other words, there are no past and present lives at all. Su Houde merely found a vessel capable of receiving his thoughts?"
You Ye smiled. "How you choose to believe it is up to you, Master."
Luo Qiu shook his head and took another sip of the cocktail. He lightly furrowed his brow, savoring the rich fragrance lingering between his teeth. "It is strange when you think about it. If reincarnation really exists, there were very few humans at the beginning, yet now the population has exploded. If the dead can be reincarnated, where did the original people come from?"
But perhaps it did exist. Perhaps the existence of the soul could not be explained through the mind, and perhaps there was some unknown system of management capable of explaining the phenomenon without reincarnation.
Thinking of this, Luo Qiu felt that if he continued, he might fall into some unknown dead end.
He had never intended to become a philosopher. With a self-mocking shake of his head, he ended his wild speculation.
Then the bell hanging by the main entrance began to ring.
Zhong Luochen had arrived, travel-worn.
On his way there, Zhong Luochen had used his phone's map to check the information on the street. He could not find the club on the map at all. Instead, another store was marked there—even the street-view images showed it.
Yet the club had somehow replaced the store's existence.
He had once stood outside the club and seen one passerby after another walk past him and enter the club he could see. Yet they soon came back out, carrying only ordinary goods.
Clearly, the club he saw and the store the passersby saw occupied the same location, but they were probably in different spaces.
This marvel filled Zhong Luochen with deep awe. After taking a deep breath, he pushed open the club's door once more.
He still saw the man wearing the Clown Mask, along with the beautiful woman dressed as a Maid. Zhong Luochen had no interest in lingering over such beauty. He went straight to the point. "Mr. Clown, I've brought my grandfather. He's staying at a hotel nearby."
Luo Qiu raised a hand to stop Zhong Luochen from speaking. He then lightly swept his black cane through the air, and an even more wondrous and unimaginable sight suddenly appeared before Zhong Luochen's eyes.
A corridor filled with gentle lights and covered in carpet appeared before him. Zhong Luochen said, somewhat terrified, "This is... a hotel?!"
With his hands behind his back, Luo Qiu walked ahead and said, "Guest, take me to see your grandfather... But I have one request. I hope there won't be any outsiders besides you and your grandfather."
Zhong Luochen immediately said, "My family refused to let me come alone this time and insisted on following me. But don't worry, Mr. Clown. I've had them all wait on the floors below... However, we don't have much time."
Luo Qiu said indifferently, "Understood."
Inside a suite, Luo Qiu finally saw Zhong Luochen's grandfather.
The old man lay on the bed, an IV needle inserted into his arm and connected to a fluid bag, with a large number of machines arranged beside him. His expression was haggard and pale, nearly bloodless.
He lay there like that, already not far from death.
Luo Qiu walked to the old man's side and suddenly wondered whether he had seen an unusually large number of old people that day. But the distraction did not affect what he had to do.
Luo Qiu reached out and pressed his hand lightly against the old man's face. Specks of black light slowly began to emerge from the forehead of Zhong Luochen's grandfather, drawn into Luo Qiu's palm.
Just then, someone suddenly pounded on the suite door, and a man's voice came from outside. "Luochen! I heard something. Are you back? Open the door! Open the door! What do you mean by not letting us stay with Grandpa?"
The pounding grew louder, clearly backed by considerable force. "If you don't open the door, don't blame me for breaking in! Is someone else in there?"
Zhong Luochen looked anxiously toward the door. From the voice, he knew it was his elder brother, Zhong Luoyun. That man was suspicious by nature and must have used some method to keep watch. Otherwise, it was far too coincidental that his elder brother had come looking for him right after he returned.
"Mr. Clown, I don't know..."
Zhong Luochen hurriedly turned around, but where could he still see Luo Qiu? The sight before him nearly made his heart leap out of his chest.
The old man lying on the bed had somehow opened his eyes and sat up. Although his face was still haggard, his gaze was clear.
"Where... is this? Luochen?" the old man slowly asked.
At the same time, Zhong Luochen heard a sentence.
—Guest, the item you requested has been delivered. The transaction is complete.
For an instant, Zhong Luochen felt as though he had been plunged into a pitch-black world. A scroll of parchment floated and burned before his eyes, then vanished. He felt as if something had been pulled out of him and subconsciously touched his body.
His vision cleared at that moment, and he returned to the suite.
Perhaps because he found Zhong Luochen's expression strange, the old man slowly asked again, "Luochen, what are you looking for?"
Zhong Luochen jolted violently. He stopped moving his hands and looked up at the old man before suddenly collapsing onto the floor.
He felt no trace of the joy he should have felt.
It was as though he were looking at a complete stranger.
"Luochen?" the old man said for the third time.
Zhong Luochen swallowed, then stood up. He did not know what his expression looked like. He only knew that he had done his utmost to force his face into an expression of ecstatic joy.
"Grandpa! You were able to wake up. This is... wonderful, wonderful!"
Before you continue