Chapter Fifty: Below?
To be safe, Luxianbei immediately unleashed her mesmerizing ability to its fullest upon arriving.
It was capable of instantly captivating the consciousness of someone at the level of Miss Rabbit; even a Cataclysm Grade being caught off guard would feel a flicker of mental disturbance!
The Black Man was clearly an insider of Angel Rose, and the attire of the two burly men was identical to that of the attendants at the main entrance…
They were all staff of Angel Rose, making it unlikely they had any Spirit Energy Items to resist the charm.
After activating her mesmerizing ability for a second, she noticed the six people around her, their eyes tinted with a faint red hue, had already entered a state of enchantment. Luxianbei breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the Black Man, saying, “So now, can you help me open the door and take me inside?”
However, to her surprise, the Black Man did not immediately agree.
“Uh…” He opened his mouth, glancing at the two burly men, hesitating a bit.
Bringing someone in through the employees’ passageway of Angel Rose without permission was a serious matter. The fear of the consequences seemed to overshadow even her ultimate charm.
Noticing the Black Man’s hesitation, Luxianbei hurriedly said, “Don’t want to? But aren’t we good friends? Good friends should help each other, right? Alright, I get it. I must have misunderstood and thought of you as a good friend, while you see me as an insignificant passerby, right?”
“Alright then, I’ll just leave! Since you don’t consider me a good friend, staying here would be rather inappropriate… Hmm, let’s just end it here! Let’s not contact each other again in the future.”
People in a state of enchantment instinctively treat the charm-caster as an important figure, and if a request is hesitated upon, they should not let the other party think too much… Continuous psychological pressure should be applied using “soft knives” to force a choice!
After hearing Luxianbei’s words, the Black Man furrowed his brow.
While they could both lay down their lives for each other as close friends, he still felt something was off.
Didn’t we just meet?
They hadn’t exchanged contact information, so what was this about never contacting each other again?
However, before he could think it through, the other people around him began to speak up, interrupting his thoughts.
“I think what she said makes sense. Since we’re good friends, we should help each other!” said the boy in the red hoodie.
“Yeah! It’s just a small favor to bring a good friend in to watch a performance. What’s the problem? She’s just a fragile girl; how much trouble could she possibly cause?”
“Exactly! William,” a burly man clapped the Black Man on the shoulder, “I think you should take her inside.”
“……”
After being persuaded by several people, the Black Man finally gave up his doubts, smiled widely at Luxianbei, revealing a set of white teeth, “Sorry, I was overthinking it. I’ll take you in right now!”
As he spoke, he turned and quickly entered the electronic lock password.
With a soft beep, the door unlocked, and the back door of Angel Rose opened just like that.
Seeing this, Luxianbei shrugged expressionlessly.
This is the advantage of mesmerizing multiple people at once.
People inherently have a tendency to conform; as long as the vast majority are enchanted, the remaining few will also shed their doubts under the influence of the majority.
Even if one or two rare individuals manage to stay awake…
They would likely be seen as outliers and threats, completely excluded from the group.
Watching Luxianbei effortlessly control the thoughts of six people, with a glint of cunning and evil in her eyes, Nanling Yaohua expressionlessly raised her little notebook towards an empty area.
【Is it just my illusion? It seems she’s not doing anything wrong, but why does she come off so much like a treacherous villain…】
———
When the back door of Angel Rose swung open, revealing a narrow corridor leading deeper, reminiscent of a young girl opening her heart, even Luxianbei found it hard to believe.
She wasn’t doubting the level of her mesmerizing ability, but felt it was somewhat incredible to have so seamlessly mixed in with the grand scale of the Spirit Energy circuit arranged by Angel Rose.
The defense level could be compared to that of the Siye Society in a medium-sized city setting up a “mental asylum” for imprisoning Spirit Energy criminals.
This was likely precautionary against guests causing disturbances.
After all, in this ghostly place called Free City, the customers Angel Rose would receive, aside from some illicit characters, would also include many high-level Spiritual Ability Users, and even urban legends, who would be provided with special services.
The specifics of these special services were not elaborated upon in the materials provided by the Wordless Book, probably to avoid tainting her pure and innocent heart.
“……”
Speaking of which, could it be the kind that’s loose on the outside but tight on the inside?
Just like Big Sister…
Allowing easy access to the inside, lowering one’s guard, and then laying down heavy spell formulas within to trap people?
Luxianbei pondered, sneakily glancing at the three boys whose eyes sparkled with dreams coming true. She subtly gave them a sign, and they eagerly followed along the corridor deeper, with the two burly men leading the way.
At such a young age, learning to draw guns and frequent strip clubs, to others, they probably seemed like they’d become useless, but Miss Calamity was the best at utilizing waste.
Letting them explore the path ahead was fine!
It wouldn’t work to have only Nanling Yaohua scout a place like the back passage of Angel Rose.
The potential traps and mechanisms would likely be well concealed and could very possibly require specific triggers of Spirit Energy, temperature, and weight. Nanling Yaohua couldn’t completely eliminate all of them…
And the Black Man along with the two burly men were insiders; many traps and mechanisms likely wouldn’t trigger against them…
So sending the three delinquent boys to set off the traps as scouts was just perfect.
Absolutely brilliant!
Thinking this, Luxianbei waited in place for a moment, and when the three boys and the two burly men had walked about three meters ahead, she then stepped forward to follow them. After walking out about a meter, she turned back and gave a look to the waiting Black Man, signaling him to follow up.
Thus, Lady Calamity and her protectors embarked on their grand adventure in the Angel Rose theater…
———
As they proceeded through the back passage, soon enough, the sound of boisterous rock music and electronic beats reached them.
Reaching the end of the corridor and turning a corner, Luxianbei saw the three boys and two burly men gathered in front of another heavy metal door equipped with a password lock. Luxianbei raised an eyebrow, turned around, and patted the shoulder of the approaching Black Man.
“Good friend, it’s your turn now!”
“No problem, leave it to me!” The Black Man smiled, took a few steps forward, and swiftly entered the password, opening the door.
However, when the door opened, Luxianbei did not see the scenes she had imagined—distracting lights and mesmerizing sights of a strip club.
Instead, behind the door was a slightly larger space.
From the glimpse she caught, it seemed to be a large “回”-shaped corridor.
The corridor was carpeted in dark tones, and retro-style iron lamps cast bright light. On either side, there were tightly shut wooden doors, from behind which faint sounds of conversations and women’s laughter could be heard.
The overall atmosphere reminded one of a small hotel’s guest room area, but the ceiling was somewhat low; the two burly men, nearly two meters tall, had only a palm’s distance to the ceiling, making it feel somewhat oppressive.
This was the waiting area, situated between the first and basement levels, divided into a small mezzanine space.
“Friend, what is this place?” Luxianbei asked the Black Man softly, “Aren’t we supposed to go watch a performance?”
“No rush, no rush!” The Black Man smiled ingratiatingly and explained, “The performance that’s about to start is ending soon, and I have work to do during the intermission. Once I’m done with my work and the show starts, I’ll take you to see it, otherwise…”
“Otherwise what?” Luxianbei cocked her head.
“Otherwise…”
“And those security guys have good memories! They’re nearly as good as surveillance footage. Anyone who attended on that night, just looking once at their faces, they pretty much won’t forget.”
The Black Man succinctly explained the consumption mechanism of ticket voting at Angel Rose to Luxianbei, and upon listening, she immediately understood his intention.
Wasn’t it obvious?
In the entire dance floor, everyone was spending heavily on their favorite dancers, while she and the three boys sat there motionless, looking like opportunists. Plus, their unfamiliar faces would surely get them “invited” to leave.
Thus, it was better to wait until the intermission started to mix in and then leave before the second break began.
That would be fine! With a few hours left, if Zhipianxian was inside, it would be enough time to find him… Luxianbei thought, hearing footsteps approaching from afar, and hurriedly said to the Black Man, “Good friend, hurry and take us to your waiting room!”
“We can’t just stand in the middle of the road; if someone bumps into us, it won’t be good!”
“Exactly, exactly!” The Black Man clapped his head and quickly led everyone into the waiting room marked with “William Nord.”
The wooden door gently closed, and a few seconds later, two figures walked past the door.
“I thought I heard someone talking over here; where did they go?”
“You must be mistaken.”
“Oh? Perhaps…”
———
Luxianbei pressed her ear quietly against the door, and after hearing the footsteps outside fade away, she let out a quiet sigh of relief. However, just as she turned around, she was stunned.
At some point, the three boys and two burly men had once again taken up a standoff with guns pointed at each other’s heads, and the Black Man was standing there with his hands on his hips, eyeing her with an unfriendly expression.
Immediately, four voices rang in her ears.
“d*mn! What did you do? How did you all get in here!”
This was the Black Man’s voice.
“Don’t waste time with them, William. For these guys sneaking into the theater, I’ll just sh**t one by one and toss them into the canal; otherwise, if they get found out, we’ll be the ones tossed in!” This was the voice of one of the burly men.
“Come on! If you dare to sh**t, I’ll sh**t too. If anyone outside hears gunshots, do you really think you’ll be able to escape?”
This was the voice of the boy in the red hoodie.
“…Exorcise the plague, dispel illness and calamity…”
This is…
Where the hell is that voice coming from?
Luxianbei was stunned for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the people, finally slowly looking down at the ground.
It seemed like… it was below?
