Chapter 198: Underground Bar
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Her restrained palms were covered in cold sweat. After confirming that the noise outside had faded into the distance, Ji Nuan carefully twisted the folded knife in her hands.
The truth proved that the five hundred million yuan she had spent was not completely in vain. The man who restrained her had tied her arms well and had indeed kept his word.
She forcefully twisted her wrist, gradually loosening the rope so that there was some s.p.a.ce for her hands to move. She then carefully opened the knife. She recalled the instructions she had received and sawed the sharp knife against the rope between her index and middle finger.
Her restrained hands made it difficult to move. She spent a lot of time and strength on these few motions. As her body was covered in a layer of sweat, she could not gather much strength and could only gradually cut the rope.
After more than two minutes, the rope finally broke. She did not dare to relax, carefully undoing the ropes. When it was finally undone, and her hands were free, she quickly tore the tape off of her lips.
Right now, her lips were most likely red from tearing off the tape. She resisted the pain, held in a breath, and bent down to cut the ropes binding her legs.
Finally, she regained her freedom. She then carefully stood up. Her legs were already numb from being restrained. She stumbled to the door with light and slow steps, pressing her ear against the door to listen for any movements outside.
It seemed like these people were certain she would not be able to escape and did not arrange for anyone to keep watch.
Earlier, when she was brought in, she noticed that the path was extremely narrow and dark. They had pa.s.sed through a corridor at the end to climb down the staircase. They had then approached a door concealed by the audio equipment in the corner.
Ji Nuan attempted to push the door and discovered that it was locked; no wonder there was no one guarding the room.
She rushed to pluck a thin hair pin out from her hair. This was the first time she was grateful for those difficult, dangerous situations she had been placed in her previous life. Those experiences taught her a lot. At the very least, she would be able to open a simple door like this with a bit of time.
Ji Nuan directed the pin toward the keyhole and pushed the thinner end of the pin in with force. She did not dare to make too much noise and could only make several careful attempts in the keyhole.
This underground room only had a simple wooden door; the lock was also a simple single lock.
Time gradually pa.s.sed by. Ji Nuan began to feel more and more fl.u.s.tered. Every time she heard the sound of footsteps pa.s.sing by, she would retrieve the pin to hide behind the door in a wary stance. This happened several times. Finally, the pin found the right position in the keyhole, which released a soft sound when the door was unlocked. She softly released a breath and placed the pin back in her hair.
The moment the door was opened, the ear-splitting rumbling noises of the music the bar was playing entered her ears.
Ji Nuan poked her head out, surveying her surroundings before carefully closing the door. She pressed herself against the wall and kept her head low, trying her best to avoid being captured by the surveillance cameras in the corners. She finally approached the staircase when she suddenly saw a silhouette approaching her. She was startled and swerved around to see that there was a door by the side without any locks. She quickly entered the room, pressing her back against the door. Her heart skipped a beat as she carefully listened to the noise outside.
The room she was in was not lit. However, when she first opened the door, she saw that it was almost identical to the room she had been in. It seemed like every room in this corridor was the same.
She was considering how to escape. This bar was filled with people, and there was no way to recognize who were the customers and the bar employees. How was she going to avoid them?
The sound of footsteps suddenly approached the door. After listening to the sounds, Ji Nuan’s body was covered in gooseb.u.mps.
Those footsteps appeared to be headed in the direction of the room she was in. There was a moment of silence, causing her heart to be fl.u.s.tered.
As expected, after that suspicious silence came an angry, suppressed voice. “She shouldn’t have ran too far. Go and look for her right now. She actually had something sharp to cut the ropes with? Which b.a.s.t.a.r.d tied her up? f.u.c.k! Quickly go look!”
What followed was the sound of flurried footsteps gradually increasing. At the same time, doors were opened one by one.
Ji Nuan knitted her brows and carefully hid behind a black shelf. She knelt down and held in her breath.
“Check every single room!” Those footsteps approached. Abruptly, someone slammed the room door opened and turned the lights on. As though he had done so the whole way, he only quickly scanned through the room before turning the lights off and slamming the door close once more. He then left to check another room.
Perhaps they did not expect that Ji Nuan would hide in a place close to where she was locked up. The large and burly men were also hurried when they were looking and did not notice Ji Nuan hiding under the desk.
Ji Nuan released a breath and climbed out from under the table. She carefully listened to the noise outside and approached the door, pressing her ear against it.
She did not know what time it was. She heard the sound of footsteps fade away; the men seemed to have left to search and did not continue staying in the corridor. She waited for a long moment inside the room before carefully pus.h.i.+ng the door open. She then slowly approached the staircase.
This bar was filled mainly with those men; how was she going to escape?
After climbing up the stairs, she saw the neon lights in the bar. Ji Nuan bent her waist and carefully pushed open the door behind the audio equipment and glanced outside. There were all sorts of people in the crowd.
She lowered her head, using her hair to cover her face. She then pressed against the corner and moved along the door. When a waiter approached, she hurriedly knelt down and hid behind a couch.
That waiter held a tray of alcohol and was currently speaking to another waiter by the side. The bright neon lights made it difficult to have a clear view of the surroundings, so the waiter did not notice Ji Nuan.
Ji Nuan turned, maintaining a kneeling position and ran toward the back of another sofa. The lights in the bar kept flas.h.i.+ng and flickering. She took the opportunity when the lights turned dark to leap over and did not catch anyone’s attention.
Finally, she moved along the back of the couches and gradually approached a more isolated area. She glanced outside and planned to run out with all her might.
After all, this was a bar. There weren’t any morally upright people here, nor would there be anyone interested in helping her. Ji Nuan rubbed her aching and numb feet. When the lights abruptly turned dark, her footsteps became hurried. When she saw the entrance nearing, she charged out of the door.