The situation suddenly changed.
Luo Binhan changed from his original impatience to politeness and enthusiasm. He suggested that they find a place to sit down and chat. This sudden change in attitude may have frightened the burgundy ponytail, causing her to refuse to go alone to the wasteland outside the town with Luo Binhan, and instead chose a nearby bar.
"I didn't bring any money." Luo Binhan told her bluntly. He has no legal currency in this world at all. At most, he has a few gold coins in the gravity device for emergencies. That's obviously not suitable for paying for drinks directly.
The wine-red ponytail readily said that he could buy him a drink. It was good for Luo Binhan to have a local person lead him to familiarize himself with the community. He followed the other party cooperatively to the corner of the street and entered a shabby little door squeezed between a pet shop and an arcade. The door was so narrow that only one person could enter or exit, and a fluorescent board with the words "Night Owl's Den" hung on the side of the corridor.
After passing through the narrow corridor, the layout of the store is quite spacious. The dim environment with dark blue tones echoed with rich jazz-style music. There were not many customers in the afternoon. There was only a young bartender sitting in front of the table playing with his mobile phone. When he saw the burgundy ponytail, he said hello in a casual manner.
They were obviously old acquaintances, and there was no need to be polite to each other. When the bartender heard her ordering two drinks, he immediately glanced at Luo Binhan, lowered his head and whispered with a burgundy ponytail. Luo Binhan originally didn't want to know what they said, but the bartender didn't know how to restrain himself at all, and his hearing was much better than ordinary people now, so he was forced to listen to the words that were said about him: he looked too old, and he was too dressed. You are a foreigner, and you are a foreigner. You must have little money to come to a place like this, and just want to trick a few silly girls into sleeping together for a night.
The burgundy ponytail defended him a few words - according to the name of the bar, she was probably called "Qian Rui", but Luo Binhan felt that there was no need to remember this name. He had unilaterally decided to name the other party the burgundy ponytail.
He pretended not to hear the two people's gossip, and sat down in the corner to look at the layout of the bar. Although he has never been a fan of clubbing, he has considerable experience in appreciating the decoration and design of such entertainment venues. He could feel that this place was usually reserved for older people. From the bulky wooden tables and chairs to the pop paintings hanging on the walls, the impression this place gave him was like a middle-aged man trying to hide his old age. people.
Luo Binhan didn't find the atmosphere boring. On the contrary, he liked the overall tone. The dark blue of the wall reminded him of Migu La's hair.
When he quietly experienced the powerless feeling of emptiness, the burgundy ponytail sat opposite him holding two brightly colored glasses. She placed a glass of sapphire blue cocktail filled with crushed ice in front of Luo Binhan, while she drank a glass of orange wine with lemon slices.
Luo Binhan watched her swallow the drink roughly, her throat beating vigorously under the thin skin, like a restless worm. When she finally put the glass down, one-third of the liquid in the glass had dropped.
"You don't like drinking?" she asked Luo Binhan.
Of course, Luo Binhan was not taboo against alcohol, but he didn't know if there were other condiments added to this beautiful sapphire blue, and he didn't know whether his current body could resist some powerful anesthetic drugs. In order not to let this layer of suspicion ruin the atmosphere, he pretended to take a sip from the cup, and then went straight to the real topic.
"You just mentioned the savages in the mountains." He asked, pretending to be innocently curious, "What does that mean?"
The burgundy ponytail looked up at him. Her makeup was too thick, which even affected Luo Binhan's ability to judge her expression, and he could only tell her disapproval from her eyes.
"You don't have to pretend," she said bluntly, "I know you're one of them."
"who are they?"
"The wild people in the mountains. I woke up at that time and saw them standing behind you, surrounding you with special respect. Do you have a high status among them? You also look different from them because you accept Is the mission going to sneak into our midst?”
Her confident attitude once made Luo Binhan feel unpredictable. However, when he heard the next few sentences, he realized that the girl knew very little and had almost completely misunderstood the situation. He shook the ice in the cup and said, "I don't know what a savage is or not, and I haven't seen you before today. I'm here for a trip."
"Lie," said the burgundy ponytail, "you are one of them. I have never seen you before, and I bet there is no record of your stay in the hotel in the town."
"Where's the evidence? Can't I stay at my friend's house?"
"Which friend? My father knows all the residents in the town. There are only a few hundred people here."
Her paranoia made it difficult for Luo Binhan to respond. So he shrugged and said, "Okay, just treat me like I am. Are you going to hand me over to the state?"
"I want to meet them." The burgundy ponytail demanded, "Not a scout like you. Take me to the mountains, to where they live."
"What are you doing there?"
"I want to escape everything here and live with them."
This sentence made Luo Binhan deeply shocked. He was vaguely aware of some very serious fallacy, but could not clearly identify it. In order to find out what happened to this girl, he lowered his voice and said: "Yes, I am one of their people and was sent here to patrol the world outside the mountain. But we will not just let ordinary people join, you have to pass Auditing is the way to go. Tell me how you heard about us?”
The burgundy ponytail replied obediently: "I have seen you when I was very young. Dark-skinned savages, and ordinary-looking scouts like you. At that time, my mother told me that you are a sacred clan and cannot be treated by mortals. He found me, so he hid me in the grass. Your people took my mother away, and I knew then that you would come back again. Last time I went to the mountains to look for you, and you wanted to take me away then? But Why did you throw me back in the end? I have made enough preparations, can you take me to the mountains immediately now?"
The music in the store had been changed at some point. Luo Binhan held the cup, his palms a little wet and cold. He felt that he might have heard a rather bloody story.
"You are too young." Luo Binhan said, "They can't take someone of your age back. And do you know what will happen if you go back with them?"
"It will keep you away from all worries. That's what my mother told me. At that time, she also said that I was too young. Am I not old enough now?"
This answer aggravated the ominous feeling in Luo Binhan's heart. He asked calmly, "Does everyone in the town expect this? Or is it just you?"
"Of course this is a secret of a few people. People in the town don't believe that you exist, and they won't go into such deep woods. But I am different. I have seen you with my own eyes and know that you live in the mountains. All this time I've been looking for you, but you hid it too well."
The burgundy ponytail became eager. She grabbed Luo Binhan's wrist and asked: "How can I join you? I miss my mother, I don't belong here."
Luo Binhan gently pulled her hand away and said, "What should your father do?"
"He's going to be fine. He belongs here."
"You're better suited here, too."
These were completely well-intentioned remarks, but the other party's eyes immediately became wet.
"I don't fit here at all!" She lowered her voice, but still showed excitement, "Do you know what kind of life I live every day? I can't stand it anymore. If you refuse to take me to find them, then I Just expose your identity to everyone, and then go to the mountains to find them yourself. I have succeeded once, so I will definitely succeed a second time."
"Calm down." Luo Binhan said, "I didn't say I couldn't take you there, right? But I have a mission here. If you can help me complete the mission, I can also let you meet my savages. friends."
He felt that he was saying something very absurd, as if he had promised a white rabbit that he would put it into the tiger's mouth. But these words made the wine-red ponytail smile instantly. She suddenly stood up from her seat and kissed Luo Binhan hard on the cheek.
The action came without warning, so that Luo Binhan didn't react at all. When he realized what had happened, the soft lips had lost contact with his skin, leaving only a light cocktail scent. He discerned liquor and lemon juice, which smelled sweet and bitter at the same time.
Luo Binhan looked at the other party a little blankly. The burgundy ponytail said suggestively: "I don't mind giving you some reward, as long as you are willing to take me to find them. In fact, I can give you more."
"You're doing nothing." Luo Binhan said gloomily, "I don't like your style."
"Why? You don't think I'm pretty enough?"
"You're not a village girl enough, and you're still young. Stop fucking sexually harassing adults."
The burgundy ponytail shrugged, grabbed Luo Binhan's sapphire blue cup, and exchanged it with his own half-cup of residual wine.
"You can always drink it now, there's nothing in it." She pointed at the orange wine and said, "Come on, tell me about your mission."
Luo Binhan lowered his head and saw a dark red lip mark on the edge of the cup. He turned the cup around, took two sips from the clean part, and then felt even worse.
