Chapter 19
Bone-eating nest.
The dark blue neon tubes twisted into these words, like the tentacles of some deep-sea monster, entwined above the heavy metal door.
This is the most secretive and expensive underground entertainment venue in City B, a den of debauchery where the upper class can release their untapped desires and power.
Without an invitation and specific identification, you can't even get through the door.
Qin Mu swiped his ID card, and the heavy metal door slid silently open. Deafening electronic music, mixed with psychedelic light and shadow, instantly surged out, like an invisible hand pulling people into another world.
Inside was the ultimate extravagance and twisted revelry. The air was filled with the mixed scent of high-quality tobacco, strong liquor, and sweet fragrances, so strong that it was almost suffocating.
In the center of the huge circular space is a sunken stage, surrounded by private booths and glass boxes suspended in mid-air.
Well-dressed men and women were sunk into the soft sofas, their eyes blurred and their expressions intoxicated, some laughing out loud, some cuddling lazily together.
Waiters walked around carrying jewel-encrusted trays, the drinks and food on them emitting an unusual glimmer of energy.
Everything here exudes an apocalyptic carnival atmosphere of living for the moment and living a life of drunkenness and dreams, as if the pollution, resource scarcity and survival pressure outside have nothing to do with them.
Lin Yao frowned slightly. His mental perception was filled with a lot of chaotic, greedy, and indulgent emotional energy fields, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
But his face showed a bit of confusion and uneasiness as he was shocked by the noisy scene, and he followed Qin Mu closely.
Qin Mu was clearly familiar with the place and walked straight to a suspended private room with the best view. He put his arm around Lin Yao's waist and sat down. A waiter immediately brought in expensive drinks.
"How about it? I'll bring you out to relax and broaden your horizons." Qin Mu leaned close to Lin Yao's ear, his voice carrying a subtle sense of oppression. "It's better than quarreling in the room, isn't it?"
Lin Yao forced a smile, but his eyes were fixed on the scene in the center of the stage.
The stage was bathed in cold white spotlights. A young girl in a thin silver dress was dancing.
She has a beautiful face and a flexible figure, and every movement she makes is full of thrilling temptation.
However, her eyes were empty and numb, like two tarnished gems. A formulaic smile hung on her face, but it revealed a deep despair.
The audience's eyes wandered over her unscrupulously, as if they were evaluating a piece of art waiting to be sold.
There was no appreciation in those eyes, only naked possessiveness, amusement and a hint of condescending charity.
Several people sitting in the front row, dressed in luxurious attire, even pointed at the stage in a frivolous manner and laughed in ambiguous ways.
Lin Yao's blue eyes instantly turned cold, like a frozen lake.
This scene of complete objectification and trampling of human dignity reminded him of the warm-up performances in some dark arena in the Old World. The upper class in the New World was no different in its deep-seated rot.
"She... who is she?" Lin Yao's voice was filled with just the right amount of panic and confusion, and he turned to look at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu shook his wine glass, a cruel yet playful smile on his lips: "She? She used to be the favorite nightingale of an old man in City A. She had a good voice and was pretty. It's a pity that she didn't know how to appreciate it."
He deliberately emphasized the last four words, staring at Lin Yao with a pointed look, "That old guy doted on her in every way, giving her everything she wanted, but she always thought about freedom and dignity, and blindly rejected the old guy's kindness."
He scoffed, "And what happened? They got tired of it, and abandoned it, and just tossed it here, like a piece of old clothing. It's just left to fend for itself."
He put down his wine glass and reached out to touch Lin Yao's cheek, but Lin Yao subconsciously dodged. Qin Mu's eyes instantly darkened.
"Yaoyao," his voice was filled with naked threat and coaxing.
"See? This is what happens when you don't know the current situation. How have I treated you? I've been open-hearted and willing to help you whenever you ask! I'm a hundred times better than that Lu Cheng who sold you for resources! But what about you? You won't even show me an ounce of sincerity."
He twisted his fingers in the air, the hint was self-evident.
Lin Yao's eyes quickly filled with tears, his body trembled slightly, and he clutched Qin Mu's sleeves tightly with both hands. His voice was filled with tears and pleading: "Qin Mu... don't do this... give me a little more time... please... I... I'm just not ready yet..."
He acted with real emotion, but in his heart he was calmly evaluating: Qin Mu's patience had been reduced to zero, and the last bit of indulgence was gone.
"Time?" Qin Mu violently shook off Lin Yao's hand, and the last trace of disguised gentleness on his face was completely torn apart, leaving only cold brutality. "I have given you enough time. Lin Yao, it seems that I have been too good to you and made you forget your identity."
He stopped talking nonsense and snapped his fingers.
Two waiters wearing black uniforms and with a stern aura immediately appeared at the door of the box.
"Take him down." Qin Mu pointed at Lin Yao and said in a cold voice, "Let him feel the atmosphere of the stage."
"No! Qin Mu! Don't!"
Lin Yao retreated in fear, tears welling up in his eyes. He tried to struggle, but two waiters easily held his arms, one on each side. They were extremely powerful, clearly enhanced psychic bodyguards.
We can't use mental manipulation on a large scale here! Lin Yao made an instant judgment.
The bar has a complex staff, including many high-level psychics, especially the VIPs in the private rooms, who may have very strong mental defenses.
If he rashly tampered with the memory, the risk of being exposed would be extremely high if the abnormality was detected. It would also provoke Qin Mu's even more frantic revenge, disrupting his plan to approach Qin Feng and explore the core.
He immediately abandoned the idea of a head-on confrontation and allowed the waiter to lead him out of the box and drag him toward the steps leading to the stage. With a calm mind, a backup plan instantly formed: Qin Feng!
The moment the waiter pushed him toward the stage steps, Lin Yao's spiritual thread, like the most sophisticated probe, silently penetrated the noisy music and chaotic energy field, instantly locking onto a cold energy core on routine patrol outside the bar - Qin Feng!
An extremely strong mental suggestion was instantly implanted: "At the main gate of the Bone-Erosion Nest, there are strong spatial disturbances, suspected illegal jumps."
As a city defense patrol officer, this was the alarm that Qin Feng could not ignore.
At the same time, just as Lin Yao was half-pushed and half-shoved to stand in the center of the cold stage, exposed to the glaring spotlight—
"ah--!!!"
A shrill, desperate cry filled with fear and humiliation cut through the deafening music.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
All the noise, all the intoxication, all the clinking of glasses came to an abrupt end with this cry that pierced the soul.
Under the spotlight, Lin Yao stood alone.
Silver hair shone with a broken luster under the strong light, like pouring moonlight. That face that could outshine the stars was now covered with crystal tears, and the sapphire eyes were filled with panic, helplessness and heartbreaking vulnerability.
His slender body looked so small and fragile against the huge stage backdrop, as if it would be torn into pieces by the greedy eyes around him in the next second.
He was like a little beast that had strayed into a pack of wolves, stripped of all its protective colors, leaving only the purest, most maddening beauty and despair.
The entire Bone-Erosion Nest fell into an eerie silence. Countless gazes, like physical shackles, were fixed on the figure at the center of the stage.
The astonishment in those eyes was even greater, but what followed was an even more naked, even more burning desire for possession and destruction. The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the sounds of heavy breathing and swallowing.
"Bang--!!!"
A loud bang broke the silence, and the heavy door of the bar was violently blown open from the outside.
The broken metal door panels flew everywhere, and the cold night wind, carrying a murderous aura, poured into this decadent place.
A tall, straight figure, emitting a biting chill, appeared in the backlight at the door like a sharp blade breaking through the darkness.
It’s Qin Feng!
He was wearing the black uniform of a city patrol officer, and the emblem on his epaulettes gleamed with a cold, hard luster in the broken light and shadows.
There was no expression on his handsome and cold face, only a chill that could freeze a thousand miles.
Those sharp eagle eyes, like the most accurate scanner, instantly penetrated the chaotic light and shadow and the crowd, and firmly locked onto the silver-haired figure in the center of the stage who was trembling and tearful under the spotlight.
Seeing Lin Yao's current state, being forcibly pushed onto the display stand, exposed to countless malicious gazes like a lamb to be slaughtered, his always clear blue eyes were filled with only fear and helplessness... An indescribable rage, like a dormant volcano, suddenly erupted violently from the cold lake of Qin Feng's heart.
He ignored everyone, including his younger brother Qin Mu, whose face changed drastically in the box on the second floor.
His figure flashed on the spot, ripples appeared in the space, and the next second, he appeared in the center of the stage, in front of Lin Yao.
The tall figure was like an indestructible mountain, completely blocking Lin Yao behind him and isolating him from all greedy and malicious gazes.
"Come with me."
Qin Feng's voice was low and cold, without a trace of emotion, but it carried an unquestionable command.
He didn't even look at Lin Yao, but simply extended a hand. That hand, with distinct joints and light calluses, was a warrior's hand, but it was now firmly placed in front of Lin Yao.
Lin Yao raised his tear-stained face, looked at the hand in front of him, then looked at Qin Feng's cold, tense, yet inexplicably reassuring profile.
He seemed to have grasped the only life-saving straw, and tremblingly placed his hand carefully into Qin Feng's broad palm.
The hand was cold and powerful, instantly wrapping around his slightly cold fingers.
Qin Feng didn't hesitate at all. He held Lin Yao's hand and turned to leave.
His powerful spatial ability formed an invisible barrier, pushing away anyone who tried to approach or block his path. His steps were firm and swift, carrying a determination to sever all filth.
Under the gazes of countless astonished, angry, jealous, and inquiring people, Qin Feng, like a knight leading away his humiliated princess, forcibly took Lin Yao away from the garbage dump called the Bone-Eroding Nest.
Just like what is written in the book, a hero saves a beauty.
Lin Yao was led by Qin Feng, stumbling behind his tall figure. Tears were still wet under his drooping eyelashes, but the corners of his mouth curled up in a cold, triumphant arc.
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