Chapter 281: The Mysterious Woman

Chapter 281: The Mysterious Woman

The bar’s nighttime scene is so eerie it can leave your eyes glazed in wonder.

The music is explosive, cascading like a waterfall that fills you with exhilaration.

The red wine, seductive in its allure, tempts with every glance.

The gentle waitstaff and dashing bartender add the perfect charm to the place…

The Criminal Investigation Team spent the entire day tracking down this bar.

Xiao Yu isn’t fond of spots like this.

The vibe here easily pulls people into debauchery and indulgence.

It lures both acquaintances and strangers alike into various misadventures.

He scans the bar, taking in the mix of debauchery among the crowd.

An old tale from a past life flickers through Xiao Yu’s mind.

“Even though I drink, smoke, have tattoos, hit up nightclubs, racked up over fifty boyfriends, and even got sick, I know I’m a good girl!”

Surely, that’s a line only a girl would say.

But the backlash was so harsh she nearly questioned her entire existence: ‘120’.

Most netizens commented, ‘Where’s your face? Oh, sorry, forgot you don’t have one!’

Ha… Xiao Yu’s lips curled into a smile.

Thankfully, his sister despises places like this too—she’s never been here, thank goodness!

Xiao Yu takes a seat at the bar.

“What’ll you have?”

The bartender asked with a smile.

“Just some juice,” Xiao Yu replied warmly.

Bartender: ???

A nutcase coming to a bar for juice?

Could you be the legendary ‘juice hard-man’?

Though bubbling with inner sarcasm, the bartender maintained his professional composure and said, “Sorry, all we have here are alcoholic drinks and various non-alcoholic beverages. We don’t even have any freshly squeezed juice!”

“Ha!”

Xiao Yu nearly laughed out loud. “Alright then, just bring me any drink.”

An iced beverage was set in front of him.

Xiao Yu handed over a hundred-yuan note.

While the bartender fumbled for change, Xiao Yu produced a photograph, “I heard you’ve seen this person?”

“Huh?”

The bartender paused, glancing at the photo, and looked at Xiao Yu with evident puzzlement.

“A cop.”

Xiao Yu sipped his drink, “A colleague dropped by about an hour ago.”

“Oh.”

The bartender’s eyes lit up as he nodded with a complex expression. “I remember him—he used to frequent our bar a few years back, though his visits dwindled. Lately, though, he’s popped in a few times.”

“Do you recall which nights?” Xiao Yu’s eyes sparked with interest.

“How could I possibly remember?”

The bartender shook his head, “I remember this customer because a few years back he caused a scene and had to pay up. But something’s odd…”

“What’s odd?” Xiao Yu frowned.

“On his recent visits, he always booked a private room.”

The bartender recalled, “It’s strange because he doesn’t seem rich, yet our private rooms cost around 3000 yuan a night.”

That’s right; the victim, Jiang Xiuran, wasn’t exactly wealthy.

After the incident, the police found his bank balance was under 2000 yuan.

Yet, he managed to reserve an entire private room for 3000 yuan?

Isn’t that peculiar?

“Show me those private rooms,” Xiao Yu declared as he stood up.

The bartender, unable to leave, called over a server.

When Xiao Yu reached the second-floor private room area and entered a room,

he murmured, “So this is what it’s all about!”

He squinted, appraising the room carefully.

These private rooms are unique—reminiscent of those you’d find in a KTV lounge.

However, the front isn’t walled off; it’s entirely transparent glass.

Two enormous windows above can be opened or closed as needed.

When closed, the room becomes exceptionally quiet with decent soundproofing.

In such a setting, employing psychological suggestions, inciting empathy, and offering solace—

Could that really work?

The answer is… yes!

Returning to the bar, Xiao Yu asked the bartender, “Do you remember if that customer came alone or with someone?”

“Alone,” the bartender responded firmly.

He added, “Precisely because he came alone and booked the whole room, I remembered him clearly and found his behavior rather odd… no, downright strange.”

Strange indeed.

If a person were to drink alone, why bother booking a room?

If one wanted to experience the bar’s vibe, why not just sit outside instead of reserving a room?

Xiao Yu’s mind raced as he pieced things together.

Could it be that the victim, Jiang Xiuran, booked the room alone, and the suspect later entered his room to commit the crime using psychological manipulation?

The theory held up!

Soon, surveillance footage from the bar over the last month was retrieved.

However, there were no cameras inside the private rooms; only the corridors in that area were covered…

So how do we find the culprit?

Even if we capture the perpetrator on camera, is that enough to ID him?

Can we really know who he is?

Yes, we can!

If Jiang Xiuran visited the bar five times in the past month,

then wouldn’t the culprit have been there five times as well?

Moreover, did he also visit the second-floor private room area on all five occasions?

Appearing with Jiang Xiuran in the same place for five consecutive times—easy to trace, right?

It couldn’t be simpler.

Three hours later, Xiao Yu frowned deeply.

After a thorough review of the surveillance footage,

it turned out the victim had only been to the bar three times in the past month.

Each time, he was alone in his private room.

There were not three coincidences of another person appearing with him in the room.

Spooky, isn’t it?

No, wait… Xiao Yu frowned, repeatedly scrutinizing the footage.

Until finally…

Xiao Yu’s eyes fixated on the surveillance video of the victim, Jiang Xiuran.

He still spotted something off.

For instance, the footage revealed that

whenever Jiang Xiuran arrived at the bar, his face was dark and pained, hinting at inner agony.

But after spending the night in the private room, leaving around 3:30 AM,

his face would light up with a frenetic excitement, almost euphoric.

He left the bar in high spirits…

What on earth was happening?

A barrage of questions raced through Xiao Yu’s mind.

Could it be that the culprit was a ghost? 1.4

Did he drift into the victim’s room and reach some unspoken agreement?

No, that wasn’t it… Xiao Yu shook his head.

Something undoubtedly occurred in that private room after the victim entered.

But what could it have been?

Suddenly, a possibility flashed in Xiao Yu’s mind.

He rewound the footage to take another look.

This time, he focused not on the moment the victim entered the bar,

but on the period before Jiang Xiuran’s arrival.

He began analyzing the footage for a solid two hours.

“Huh?”

The surveillance froze on one person’s figure.

Xiao Yu was stunned into silence.

A woman?

“…”