The Moonshade woman, who'd been all but shouting at Evan Lin over the phone to get him to join their crew, spun around, fired off a couple calls, and before long, had a bunch of eyewitnesses from that night delivered straight to her.
"Seriously, officer, I'm not making this up! At first, I thought the guy was the Teenage King of the Ring, but right before the fight, he said he was actually Master Lin from Seacrest!"
"Then that so-called Master Lin from Seacrest got up on stage and—boom!—blew the ring sky-high. I figured maybe he'd stashed a bomb!"
No joke—flames shot up outta nowhere, a pillar of fire just exploded, nobody saw it coming. Doesn't matter which Master Lin from Seacrest was the real deal, the younger one was way tougher—he just walked out, totally unscathed. The other guy? Lost big time.
She grilled a bunch of people back-to-back. Their stories didn’t totally match up, but together, they pretty much pieced together what happened that night.
The Moonshade recruiter rubbed her temples, already feeling a migraine starting. This mess was getting complicated.
She’d figured he was just a fourth-grade Pointing-to-Mystery, maybe a bit stronger than Blake Rowe. But a regular Pointing-to-Mystery couldn’t have pulled off this kind of chaos.
"What, did this guy have a bomb hidden in his underwear or something?"
She wasn’t totally sure, but her resolve to rope that kid into Moonshade just got stronger. If we don’t pull him in, he’s gonna be a menace running wild out there.
While the Moonshade recruiter was busy digging for details, outside Walnut Lane Bar, a whole new crowd rolled up.
Right outside Walnut Lane Bar, young men and women passing by couldn't help but stop and stare. Their eyes were glued to Mason Shang and his crew—this whole scene felt straight out of a gangster flick, with the big boss making his entrance.
The big guys in black uniforms stood guard, and inside Walnut Lane Bar, the party crowd got forcefully cleared out—everyone was shoved out the door, no questions asked.
Joy Huang, the owner, wasn't around tonight. The manager rushed over, feeling pretty bold thanks to Joy's reputation and their prime university town location—plus, the police station was right nearby, so he usually had nothing to worry about.
But the moment he saw Mason Shang standing at the entrance, the confidence drained out of him. He felt a chill deep in his gut and instinctively bent at the waist—this guy's aura was terrifying.
"Uh, is there something I can help you with?" The manager tried to sound calm, but his voice was shaky.
He asked, but it was clear he was nervous as hell.
Mason Shang stayed silent. One of his men walked up and handed over a card.
"There's a million yuan in here. We're booking your place for an hour. Everyone out."
The guy's voice was sharp. The manager hesitated, thought it over, and didn't dare refuse. He nodded, "Anything else you need me to do?"
Normally he'd check with Joy Huang first, but lately Joy was holed up in the Gong family villa with Ivy Gong, looking like she'd gotten into some trouble. The manager didn't have much say, and definitely didn't have the guts to say no, so he just swallowed his nerves and agreed.
Mason Shang's guy asked for recent surveillance footage. But the last clip of Brandon Rowe showed him walking into Walnut Lane Bar—after that, nothing. Nobody matching his description ever appeared on any camera again.
"Also, has anything weird happened here lately?"
Mason Shang's guy kept asking, while Mason himself stayed silent, just staring at Walnut Lane Bar, his mind racing.
The staff lined up in two rows, nervously sizing up the man in front of them.
This time, Mason Shang had burned through a ton of favors just to track down Brandon Rowe from the Rowe clan. He'd even put off dealing with Old Man Liu and that random student who'd popped up out of nowhere.
Of course, he still had people quietly making moves to keep Old Man Liu and Evan Lin from leaving Beijing.
"Something unusual...?"
The manager looked awkward: "Nothing special, really. We just serve drinks, get people to dance, make a little money."
"My place is clean—none of that shady stuff."
He was nervous, worried these people were here to wreck the place. Most shady business pops up in bars and KTVs like this.