Chapter 28 Bird of Paradise 13

The night in Donglan City is quiet, except for one corner, which becomes bustling with people at night. That is the bar street in the center of Donglan City.

As night fell, thousands of young men and women from all over the city flocked here. Fueled by alcohol, love, business, the flesh trade, and even drugs—both good and bad—brought forth from this clamor.

M5 was at one end of the street. When Luo Siwei and Ni Xiang arrived, the bar district was bustling. As they approached the door, they heard the muffled sound of drums coming from inside.

Ni Xiang felt as if the drumbeats resonated with her chest, causing her heart to beat muffledly. She wore a short skirt and followed Luo Siwei, constantly pulling her skirt down.

Luo Siwei put on makeup and wore a high-slit skirt, with shorts underneath for easy exercise.

They walked to the door of the bar and looked up at the glowing sign of the bar.

Luo Siwei's expression was serious. She reached out to touch the small hairpin on her head and adjusted her hair. Normally, she wore her hair in a ponytail or bun at the Municipal Bureau, but for today's unannounced visit, she had let her hair down and curled the ends, giving her a lazy look that belied her usual sharpness and efficiency.

At the door, Luo Siwei instructed Ni Xiang, "We'll sit separately at the bar when we get in, and keep in touch via text messages."

"Also, I'll call you Xiangxiang, but you can call me Luoluo or Sister Luo."

"You can order a drink later as a disguise, but don't drink or eat anything in it."

"Find information from regular customers or staff at the bar and approach suspicious individuals."

"The most important thing is to stay safe. If you encounter something you can't solve, contact me and call for support."

"I understand." Ni Xiang carefully wrote down everything Luo Siwei said. She had rarely been to such occasions, and felt both novel and nervous about this mission.

The two pretended not to know each other and quickly separated. Luo Siwei let Ni Xiang go in first, and she entered two minutes later.

As soon as she entered the lobby, someone came over for a security search. Two security guards waved a metal detector over her, checked it, and then stamped a fluorescent stamp on the back of her hand to let her in.

Further in was a long corridor, the lights gradually dimmed, and the bar was dark with a gray-blue light.

As soon as Luo Siwei walked in, she heard deafening music, the smell of perfume and alcohol everywhere, and the laughter of men and women.

When she arrived at the new environment, she observed it out of habit.

The center of the bar is a high-ceilinged, semicircular bar. Next to the bar is a large, bustling dance floor. Surrounding the dance floor are several U-shaped booths. The sides of the bar and the second floor are divided into smaller private rooms. On the right side of the first floor, there's a sign for a safety exit.

Ni Xiang, who arrived earlier than her, was already sitting on one side of the bar. Luo Siwei walked over and sat opposite her.

Luo Siwei did not choose a man to question, but ordered a Long Island Iced Tea for herself and sat at the bar watching a female bartender make drinks.

She chatted briefly with the woman, and after getting to know her, she showed her a photo of He Jin. Luo Siwei said that her sister had lost her phone here and wanted to see if she could find it.

The music in the hall was so loud, deafening, that it was difficult to speak.

The bartender looked at the photo and said, "I've seen her before. She was sitting at the bar last week. A few men approached her to chat, and I warned her to be careful. But I didn't see any cell phones or anything."

Luo Siwei asked, "Who are those men?"

"I don't know her." The female bartender looked at her warily. She paused, wanting to speak again. The two of them had a tacit understanding between women. Luo Siwei understood that some girls might have lost more than just their phones when they came here. She said sincerely, "My sister is really pitiful. Can you help me? I won't tell you that you told me."

The female bartender seemed to have been annoyed with those men for a long time. She secretly pointed her in the direction: "They are regular customers of the private room on the second floor. They like to bring young girls to drink." At this point, the female bartender looked around warily and whispered in her ear, "They are the ones across from you."

Luo Siwei glanced over and saw three men sitting next to Ni Xiang, chatting with her. Ni Xiang had a youthful air, like a college girl. She had never dealt with men like that before, and she was a little overwhelmed by them. This reaction made those men even more unscrupulous.

Young and green girls, alone, these characteristics are exactly what they are prey for.

Luo Siwei asked: "How many people are there in total?"

The female bartender pointed her finger under the table and made a four sign at her.

Then the female bartender separated from Luo Siwei, stood up and said loudly: "I don't know, go ask someone else."

Luo Siwei looked at the female bartender gratefully and turned towards Ni Xiang.

The three young men have begun to move their hands and feet to the rhythm of the music.

Luo Siwei observed for a while, then quietly moved over with her wine glass and sat in an empty seat about four or five meters away. The lights in the bar were dim. She pretended to check her phone, turned on the video recording function, and faced the three people.

The men were all seasoned at chatting up people, and the atmosphere wasn't awkward at all. One of them was about to perform a magic trick, and while Ni Xiang's gaze was averted, the other man's hand passed over her glass. With a pinch of his fingers, a slightly unidentified liquid dripped from the wet tissue in the man's hand into the glass, instantly dissolving into it.

The whole process took only a few seconds. The coordination between the people was so skillful that the sound of the dripping liquid was completely drowned out by the music in the bar.

At this time, Ni Xiang was unaware of this.

Luo Siwei, who was not far away, filmed the entire scene. She knew in her heart that these people used these methods to bully girls who were alone.

After preserving the evidence, Luo Siwei stopped recording. She saved the video in the cloud, put her phone back in her schoolbag, and went to buy bottles of soda water.

Luo Siwei went to the bathroom, poured out the water in the bottle, and put the empty bottle in her schoolbag.

The bathroom was relatively quiet. When she came out, Luo Siwei found a cleaning lady and asked her about He Jin and showed her the photos.

The aunt frowned and said, "Alas, it was just a few days ago. This girl went to the bathroom and felt dizzy and could barely stand. I even helped her up."

These people's words proved that He Jin was indeed in the bar that night. If she drank the drugs those men gave her, it would explain why the alcohol content in her blood was not high but she had no memory.

After returning from the bathroom, Luo Siwei sat back in her original seat.

During this time, the three people at the bar had been trying to persuade Ni Xiang to drink in various ways. Ni Xiang still remembered what Luo Siwei had said. Before she even touched her glass, the people grew impatient and surrounded her, seemingly refusing to let her leave until she touched her glass.

Luo Siwei had seen enough of the drama, so she walked over and heard the men persuading Ni Xiang: "Who comes to the bar and doesn't drink?"

"Give me some face, beautiful lady."

"The reason we go out to play is to have fun. Look, I did it first."

Luo Siwei pretended to have just arrived and helped Ni Xiang out. "Xiangxiang, you're here today too?" She looked at the men present. "Are these your friends?"

"Sister Luo..." Ni Xiang was not used to lying yet. She stammered, "They and I... just met not long ago."

The leader of the three was a man with short spiky hair. He glanced at Luo Siwei and saw that she was also a beauty. He smiled happily and said, "Since you two know each other, you are all friends. It's a pleasure to meet each other. I'll buy you a drink, beautiful lady."

Luo Siwei did not refuse: "Okay."

The troublemaker ordered her a glass of Red Beauty.

When Luo Siwei arrived, even Ni Xiang became more natural.

The man quickly called the bartender to make drinks, and the two of them sat at the bar. The men took the initiative to chat with them and asked about the two beauties' well-being.

Luo Si smiled slightly as she looked at the men and listened to them carefully. She took the opportunity to inquire about their information, such as how old they were, where they were from, what they did for a living, what they had studied, and what their relationship was with each other.

The truth was revealed in just a few words. These people were junior high school classmates who had played together since childhood and had similar interests. The leader was a wealthy second-generation man, and the three of them were his younger brothers.

Luo Siwei listened to the gossip, pretending to drink, her lips touching the rim of the glass, leaving a lip print. Taking advantage of the dim light, she spilled half the glass onto the floor. The men didn't see these little gestures, but Ni Xiang did, and she followed suit, pouring half the wine down the drain.

The group sat there for half an hour. The two policewomen didn't drink a single sip, but the men were forced to drink several glasses of wine.

When the three men asked Luo Siwei a question, she started to pretend to be confused: "Ah? What? The music is too loud and I can't hear it clearly." When she said this, she also winked at Ni Xiang.

Ni Xiang understood and held her head up: "I feel a little dizzy. I want to find a quiet place to sit for a while."

This was exactly what the troublemaker wanted. He said, "It's too noisy here. How about you come with us to the private room upstairs?"

Luo Siwei asked, "Which private room are you in?"

The thorny man was a little drunk and said, "Twenty...Private Room 2."

It was really stupid. Luo Siwei's eyes swept over the three young men. If there were only four of them, they would not be her match. With the addition of Ni Xiang, they had a great chance of winning. It would not be risky to follow them upstairs.

She smiled and said, "Okay, it's too noisy here, the box is just quieter."

Ni Xiang stood up, and Luo Siwei took her own glass and took the glass in front of her: "Such good wine cannot be wasted."

There is a drug in this cup, and it is to be taken back as evidence.

The prickly man laughed at this scene and said, "I'll ask my brother to order a few more drinks later. Let's drink tonight and let you drink as much as you want."

Luo Siwei and Ni Xiang followed the three men upstairs. They walked through a long corridor and entered a private room in the corner. The room was also very dim. In the center sat a young man on a black circular sofa. He was the rich second-generation young man the three had been talking about. His hair was dyed pink, and on the coffee table in front of him were several empty bottles of wine and some fruit plates and snacks.

As soon as she entered the private room, Luo Siwei smelled cigarette smoke.

The sound insulation here is very good, and the music sounds suddenly become faint, allowing people to have a normal conversation while still having the ambiguous atmosphere of a bar.

The troublemaker pointed at them and introduced them to the boss: "We met downstairs, new friends."

Pink Hair patted the sofa beside him and said, "Please sit wherever you want and drink as much as you want. Today is our treat."

Luo Siwei walked over and sat down half a meter from the man. Ni Xiang sat beside her, somewhat reservedly. The prick ordered another round of drinks from the waiter and pointed at the cards and props on the table. "Let's play dice, Truth or Dare!"

Luo Siwei became interested and picked up a few dice to play with. "Okay. How do we decide the winner?"

The pink-haired man crossed his legs, took out a Zippo lighter, lit another cigarette, and said, "Whoever has the highest score gets to decide what to play. The loser has to answer questions and drink a penalty."

This game is not important to them. The real business is to get women drunk and drink more liquor spiked with ingredients.

Luo Si smiled slightly and said, "Then I'll go first. Is that okay with you?"

Pink-haired girl blew out a smoke ring and gestured to her to invite her in. Luo Siwei didn't hesitate and put the dice in an empty cup and started shaking them. Her posture was handsome, and she shook the dice in the shape of eight, and several dice clashed in the bottle.

The thorny man clapped his hands with a smile: "You are an expert."

Luo Si smiled at him. She had just found out that these people had tampered with the dice to facilitate cheating.

A few years ago, Donglan City cracked down on gambling, and the Third Branch was also involved, confiscating a lot of related gambling equipment. Luo Siwei learned these dice-playing techniques from Han Zhaoming.

In old kung fu movies, there's a story about cheating by filling dice with mercury. Many people have seen similar scenes, but don't know the underlying principle. Mercury has a high specific gravity, so after being fixed on one side for a few seconds, it maintains its center of gravity. Then, like a tumbler, it always returns to that side. Understanding this principle and practicing a little, you can achieve the desired result.

When Luo Siwei was playing with the dice just now, he had already turned over all the sides with higher numbers.

At this time, she shook it a few times, and with a snap, put the cup back on the table.

As soon as she opened it, the dim light shone on the number on the dice, which was three sixes.

The four men present had not expected this sudden change. They stopped drinking for a moment and looked at the dice on the table in surprise.

Even the pink-haired girl leaning on the back of the sofa was so surprised that she sat up straight.

They often play with this dice. Even with the addition of mercury for cheating, it is not that easy to operate. They can usually only shake it roughly, and two sixes is the limit.

Now this woman just shakes her hand and it reaches the maximum point.

"I win this round." At this point, Luo Siwei had already confirmed that these people were the men He Jin met a few days ago. Just now when they were downstairs, they had almost gathered the basic information and were ready to take the next step.

"I choose truth, so just answer my questions." Luo Siwei didn't waste any more time talking to them. She took out her phone and flipped through He Jin's photos. "Have you seen this girl?"