LABMY CH60

“Whatever happens between the guest and Qingniang, our establishment will not interfere. If you’re willing to pay enough chips, perhaps Qingniang will be willing to do anything for you.”

A highly suggestive sentence slipped from the mouth of the hunched man. The stiff, carved lines on his wooden mask, under the flickering candlelight, seemed to curve into a sinister smile.

“Then, to give the unchosen Qingniang a chance, and allow the guests to get a better understanding of them, next, the Qingniang will present a grand dance performance.”

The two girls who came along let out a soft “Ah.” One of them mumbled in complaint, “Dancing again? I have zero coordination…”

Since they were here for the script-killing game, she couldn’t just back out and ruin the mood for everyone. So, when she went up on stage, she deliberately slowed her steps and tried to stay in the corner.

Suddenly, music from an unknown source began to play. The Qingniang on stage removed the outer layer of their gauzy skirts, revealing their fair arms. Their veils gradually fell as they danced, and one by one, their eyes brimmed with seductive charm.

Each of them danced flawlessly, hitting the beats with precision. Tiptoeing, spinning, and gracefully bending backward to showcase their soft waists — every move was perfect.

A soft cough echoed, and the hunched man, with his coarse and unpleasant voice, lowered his tone and said, “If you don’t want your guest to be stolen away by other Qingniang, perhaps you should do something.”

Liu Hong and Liu Zhuqing held their wine cups and pretended to pour drinks for Qiu Leshan and Wang Songwen. But since they were here for the game, after pouring the wine, they joined in to watch the performance with interest.

Jian Yuanbai also watched intently, his gaze sweeping over each Qingniang on the stage. They were all heavily made up, with fair skin and eyes filled with affection. Their rosy lips seemed to tempt one to take a taste.

In the dim light, under the sinister gaze of the hunched man, Tang Tang anxiously stared at Jian Yuanbai, who couldn’t take his eyes off the stage.

Tang Tang stretched out his hand, but hesitated and pulled it back. He deliberately shifted his body, yet failed to draw even a glance from Jian Yuanbai.

As the gentle music flowed and the scent of incense grew stronger, the Qingniang on stage gracefully brushed their faces with orchid-shaped hands. Then, as the music reached a dramatic climax, they leaped into the air, revealing a slender waist.

At the moment when Jian Yuanbai let out a soft gasp of admiration, Tang Tang finally couldn’t hold back any longer. He bit his lip lightly and placed his hand on the guest’s shoulder.

This movement only earned him a fleeting glance from the guest, whose eyes quickly returned to the stage.

“Guest…”

Tang Tang held back his grievance and called out softly.

Only then did the guest, with the mercy of a king, spare him some attention. Even as he asked, he kept glancing at the stage, “What is it?”

Tang Tang stammered, struggling to find an excuse. His eyes lowered to his own feet as he mumbled, “My feet are cold.”

Jian Yuanbai inwardly scolded himself for forgetting about this, but his tone revealed nothing of his emotions, only teasing and mockery: “What, you want the guest to warm your feet?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant…”

Tang Tang shook his head in a panic. He didn’t know what to say, but he remembered the guest had mentioned this earlier.

His icy, flushed feet were suddenly tucked into the warmth of the guest’s clothes. The man pressed down the hem of his garment to keep the cold from seeping in.

Tang Tang was stunned. A wave of warmth rushed through his cold heart, and his eyes trembled, on the verge of tears.

“Guest…”

Jian Yuanbai teased, “What? I warm your feet and you start crying?”

Poor little thing, what kind of memory was implanted in him?

Tang Tang bit his lip in embarrassment and whispered, “It’s not that… It’s just… You’ve been staring at them the whole time.”

Recalling the awkward flirting tricks he had been forced to learn, Tang Tang clumsily attempted to use them.

With his feet warmed, he bent his knees and leaned slightly against Jian Yuanbai’s shoulder, speaking in a soft, aggrieved tone, “Stop looking at them, okay? I’m prettier than all of them.”

“Oh?” Jian Yuanbai let out a meaningful sound, turning to look at him. “But you’re still wearing a veil. How would I know you’re prettier than them?”

Hearing this, Tang Tang reached for the hook behind his ear to remove the thin veil. But before he could take it off, his hand was stopped by Jian Yuanbai.

Jian Yuanbai said, “If you want to please me and stop me from choosing others, simply removing the veil isn’t enough sincerity.”

Tang Tang’s eyes drooped pitifully at the corners, terrified that if he couldn’t keep the guest, he would face unimaginable consequences. Just the thought of it made him shiver.

“What should I do…”

Before he could even finish the word “do,” his guest had already leaned in and kissed him.

Through the thin red veil, his lips were captured and sucked on. The silk veil, disturbed by the other person’s lips and tongue, rubbed repeatedly against his tender lips, causing a faint stinging sensation.

The veil was soft, yet on his delicate lips, it felt rough and icy cold. In contrast, the other person’s lips and tongue were warm and soft, making the kiss feel even more intense due to the stark difference between hardness and softness, cold and heat.

The veil, pressed against Tang Tang’s lips, was slowly pushed inside by the other person’s tongue, along with the invasive tongue itself, entering Tang Tang’s warm mouth.

The sensitive and fragile membrane inside his mouth couldn’t withstand the friction of the veil. The faint stinging pain made Tang Tang’s eyes quickly fill with tears. His weak resistance seemed powerless at this moment.

In panic, he tried to push the man away, but his feet brushed against the man’s firm abdominal muscles. After years of not eating enough, Tang Tang’s strength was weak, and he didn’t dare to resist too forcefully.

Because of this, Tang Tang’s cold feet accidentally rubbed against the man’s defined, muscular abs, occasionally brushing against a certain part that was burning hot.

Jian Yuanbai reached out and firmly pressed down on his restless feet. He loosened his grip on Tang Tang slightly and whispered against his lips in a hoarse voice, “Are you seducing me on purpose?”

“Hmm?”

Tang Tang didn’t understand, but felt so ashamed he wanted to die. “Guest, please don’t…”

His long hair cascaded down, and his beautiful eyes shimmered with watery mist. The thin veil covered his face, unable to hide his delicate features, instead adding a mysterious and hazy beauty to him.

Jian Yuanbai stared at him, completely captivated. Unable to resist, he reached out and gently pinched Tang Tang’s soft, flushed earlobe.

“Not letting me kiss you?”

Tang Tang was flustered and embarrassed. “There are other guests here…”

“Don’t worry, they can’t see us.”

From the beginning, Qiu Leshan and Wang Songwen had been fixated on the performance on stage. Jian Yuanbai lowered his voice even more, “The incense your shop uses, aren’t you responsible for it?”

Before the panicked Tang Tang could respond, Jian Yuanbai kissed him again.

Because of the veil, the kiss always felt like there was a layer between them. Dissatisfied, the man became more aggressive, deepening the kiss. Tang Tang’s timid and soft tongue was entangled by the veil and the man’s tongue, as he licked and tasted every inch of Tang Tang’s mouth without restraint.

This was too much.

It was really too much. The saliva that couldn’t be swallowed dripped down the corner of his lips, soaking the red veil and making Tang Tang’s already rosy lips appear even more seductive.

Jian Yuanbai finally let him go. He wiped away a tear from the corner of Tang Tang’s eye with his calloused thumb and asked with a teasing smile, “Crying just from a kiss?”

As he spoke, he removed the now damp veil that was pressed against Tang Tang’s lips and waved it in front of him with a smirk.

His voice was low and seductive, “It’s soaked. Now, I can finally take it off.”

Tang Tang, overwhelmed with shame and anger, snatched the wet veil from him and crumpled it in his hand. “It was the veil that scraped my mouth… It hurt.”

That’s why he cried, not because of the kiss.

He was already so flustered he wanted to run away, yet he still stubbornly tried to find an excuse for himself. Jian Yuanbai gently brushed his wet eyelashes and chuckled, “So delicate.”

Tang Tang held the crumpled, damp veil in his hand, not saying a word. For some reason, he felt as though there was a hint of affection hidden within those two words.

But… he wasn’t really a Qingniang, nor was he a woman.

Tang Tang clutched the veil in his hand and looked at the man in front of him, who wore a half-face mask. In his heart, he quietly whispered an apology.

Because of the heavy guilt he felt inside, the anger from being forcibly kissed and losing his first kiss faded away. Instead, he leaned closer to Jian Yuanbai and softly asked, “Do you… still want to kiss me?”

Jian Yuanbai was genuinely a little surprised this time. The amnesiac Jiang Tang was so obedient that it made his heart itch.

But…

His gaze subtly shifted to the hunched man hiding in the dark corner, then glanced at the faint white smoke rising from the incense around them. He let out a helpless sigh.

Jian Yuanbai reached out and grasped Tang Tang’s slender, pale ankle. His calloused thumb gently rubbed the protruding bone on his ankle, “No.”

He looked at Tang Tang’s face, flushed with shyness and filled with unease, and smiled with a deep, suggestive meaning, “If we keep kissing… I might have to use you to extinguish the fire.”

Tang Tang only half-understood, “If you want to extinguish the fire, shouldn’t you use chrysanthemums?”

“Guest, are you craving flower tea?”

Jian Yuanbai: …

He couldn’t help but laugh and rubbed Tang Tang’s head.

Before they could say more, the Qingniang on stage had finished their performance. One by one, they walked past Jian Yuanbai and the others, introducing themselves.

Except for Jian Yuanbai, whose cold gaze seemed sharp enough to kill, the six Qingniang were bold and flirtatious toward Qiu Leshan and Wang Songwen.

One of them even grabbed Wang Songwen’s hand and pressed it against her chest. “This guest, my name is Qing Shiyi. Don’t forget me.”

Wang Songwen’s face flushed red, yet as Qing Shiyi moved aside, his eyes couldn’t help but follow her.

Among the Qingniang, Jian Yuanbai also spotted the woman in the trench coat who had joined them for the audition earlier. That was why he had been watching the stage from the start.

As for staring without blinking later on… that was just to tease Tang Tang.

“Alright, stop staring.”

Liu Zhuqing spoke up, “Let me be straightforward about my mission. I’m here to investigate the strange incidents happening in this Fengqing Inn. Let’s share what we’ve discovered.”

She wasn’t the type to hide things. After getting this mission in the murder mystery game, she chose to be direct.

Qiu Leshan scratched his head, “I just feel like… this murder mystery shop is really rich.”

“We bought the tickets at a group discount, but the dance performance and atmosphere are top-notch.”

“And,” he paused, “the staff even let Old Wang’s hand rest on her chest. That’s some dedication to the role.”

Wang Songwen was a bit annoyed, “Maybe she actually likes me and wants to get to know me outside of the game.”

“You’re just jealous.”

He clicked his tongue twice and playfully punched Qiu Leshan.

Qiu Leshan didn’t say anything but couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off.