Chen Yang's mind immediately began to race. The Golden Years bar was in a good location and had ample space. Now that it was difficult to sell, if he bought it, the price would surely be cheap.
However, Chen Yang also knew that there must be some inexplicable things inside the Golden Years. If he didn't resolve them, he wouldn't be able to run a bar there smoothly.
As he drove, Lu Bugui earnestly advised, "Brother Chen, if you want to open a bar, you have many options. The Golden Years is full of too much mystery and danger. You don't need to take this risk."
Chen Yang smiled slightly and said, "Brother Lu, let's at least go take a look at the Golden Years first, okay?"
Seeing Chen Yang's insistence, Lu Bugui stopped trying to dissuade him, but he still said, "Brother Chen, we can go look, but you can't go inside. I consider you a friend, and I don't want anything to happen to you."
Chen Yang agreed, "Alright."
Soon, the two arrived in front of the Golden Years bar once again.
They parked and got out of the car.
The front of the Golden Years bar was shrouded in darkness, while the neighboring bars were bustling with activity.
The weather was unbearably sultry, but standing in front of the Golden Years bar, they felt a bone-chilling cold.
The facade of the Golden Years bar was dilapidated. The main entrance was covered by a rusty metal shutter.
The bar's signage was missing two characters, leaving only "Golden" and "Years" visible, and even those were crooked. Neon lights and exposed wires dangled haphazardly.
As for what the interior of the Golden Years looked like, that remained a mystery.
Chen Yang stood in front of the Golden Years, feeling the bone-chilling cold. This time, he truly sensed a palpable negative energy.
He could almost imagine how the malevolent energy must be swirling intensely behind the metal shutter.
Chen Yang paled. Despite his years of international exploits and countless killings, even spending time in graveyards and other places with strong negative energy, he had never encountered a place as oppressive as the Golden Years.
If even a skilled fighter like him felt uneasy facing such a place, how much worse would it be for ordinary people?
Chen Yang fell into deep thought, refraining from rashly opening the door and entering.
Logically, the Golden Years was located on a street full of bars in a bustling center of the city, with many people and strong positive energy. It shouldn't be possible for negative energy to concentrate like this.
Ancestral graves accumulate yin energy to bless future generations!
However, the yin energy gathered in ancestral graves is pure. The energy in the Golden Years had transformed into a malevolent force that would be fatal to ordinary people.
Lu Bugui stood beside Chen Yang, his face slightly pale. The malevolent energy here made him feel afraid.
"Brother Chen, let's go back," Lu Bugui couldn't help but say.
Chen Yang nodded and said, "Alright."
Lu Bugui breathed a sigh of relief, and the two turned to walk towards the Mercedes. However, when it was time to get in the car, Chen Yang didn't follow. Instead, he smiled at Lu Bugui through the car window and said, "Brother Lu, I still want to go have a drink at a bar. You go on ahead."
Lu Bugui couldn't help but smile wryly and said, "Brother Chen, it seems you're still not giving up. I know you're a decisive person, but you must be extremely careful. As you've felt, the Golden Years is definitely not just a baseless rumor."
Chen Yang was touched by Lu Bugui's sincere concern and said, "Don't worry, Brother Lu. I never fight battles I'm not prepared for."
With that, Lu Bugui couldn't say much more and drove away.
Chen Yang then took out his phone and called Qin Moyao.
It wasn't even eight o'clock yet, still early. Qin Moyao had just left the police station when she received Chen Yang's call.
Chen Yang asked, "Captain Qin, what are you up to?"
Qin Moyao, who had always been fond of Chen Yang, laughed heartily and said, "Busy serving the people, of course. You never call me with anything good. What is it this time?"
Chen Yang chuckled and said, "I was hoping to invite you for drinks at a bar on Bar Street. Care to join me?"
Qin Moyao replied, "If you have something important to discuss, I'll come. But if it's just for drinks, you should call your Jing-jie instead."
Chen Yang then said, "Actually, I do have something I'd like to ask your advice on."
Qin Moyao said, "Oh? What is it?"
Chen Yang said, "It's hard to explain over the phone. Let's talk when we meet."
Qin Moyao didn't insist and said, "Alright, give me a specific address, and I'll head over now."
Chen Yang looked up and saw a Suhe bar. He said, "You know Suhe bar, right?"
Qin Moyao said, "Yes, I do."
Chen Yang said, "Great, let's meet there."
Half an hour later, Qin Moyao arrived at Suhe bar in her royal blue police uniform, looking both beautiful and formidable.
Chen Yang was sitting at the bar counter. When he saw Qin Moyao, he immediately greeted her.
The people in the bar were surprised and somewhat intimidated to see Qin Moyao. However, in her current attire, she truly lived up to the title of "police beauty."
Ignoring the stares of others, Qin Moyao sat down next to Chen Yang.
"What would you like to drink? It's on me," Chen Yang said.
Qin Moyao said, "Just an aperitif wine will do."
Chen Yang turned to the bartender and said, "One aperitif wine, please."
The bartender acknowledged the order.
Soon, the bartender slid the aperitif wine to Qin Moyao. She took a sip before turning to Chen Yang and asking, "So, what did you want to ask me?"
Chen Yang took a big gulp of his ice-cold beer and said, "The Golden Years bar, have you heard of it?"
Qin Moyao's expression immediately changed. A flash of fear crossed her eyes before she finally said, "Why are you asking about that?"
Chen Yang said, "I've got my eye on the Golden Years bar. I'm thinking of opening a bar there."
Qin Moyao immediately said, "Are you out of your mind? Don't even think about it. That place is untouchable."
Chen Yang fell silent for a while before asking, "Do you believe in ghosts?"
Qin Moyao took a large sip of her red wine, her cheeks flushing. Then, with a hint of frustration, she said, "I was raised on science and atheism. Despite my grandmother's stories about will-o'-the-wisps and water ghosts in the countryside, I never believed in the supernatural. I always thought everything could be explained scientifically." She paused before continuing, "But damn it, the Golden Years bar case turned all my theories and scientific knowledge upside down. You have no idea how it felt watching my colleagues die one by one in that bar. When they were carried out, all that was left was skin and bones. All their flesh and blood had been sucked away."
Qin Moyao continued, "It's a scene that still gives me chills when I think about it. It was terrifying, you know, Chen Yang."
Chen Yang noticed the genuine fear in Qin Moyao's eyes. He furrowed his brow.
Qin Moyao went on, "Later, when the forensic team examined the remains of my colleagues, do you know what conclusion they came to?"
Chen Yang couldn't help but ask, "What conclusion?"
Qin Moyao said, "The medical examiner said they all died at the same time. This kind of flesh and blood drainage, with no damage to the skin, couldn't be achieved by any known scientific means."
Chen Yang took a big gulp of his ice-cold beer and asked, "What happened after that? Did you ever send anyone into the Golden Years bar again?"
Qin Moyao said, "Later, I organized a group of a hundred people to enter the Golden Years bar, carrying ox blood with them."
Chen Yang couldn't help but get excited, asking, "And the result?"
Qin Moyao said, "There was no result. Before they even entered, ten people went insane. The rest were too scared to go in after that. The situation was so bizarre that even I didn't dare to enter. Later, Secretary Zhang said he wanted to demolish the Golden Years bar, but then he fell seriously ill. When he woke up, he no longer dared to think about touching the Golden Years bar. To resolve the Golden Years bar issue, we'd need to launch a missile at it from a distance, but this is peacetime. How could we possibly do that?"
Chen Yang asked, "Didn't you try to find any Taoist masters to check out the situation and see if they could perform an exorcism?"
Qin Moyao said, "By that time, rumors about the Golden Years bar were spreading like wildfire. The authorities issued a ban, tried to debunk the rumors, and suppress the talk. So no one would publicly invite Taoist priests to perform rituals. However, privately, we did invite some masters. Without exception, they all died, leaving behind only skin and bones."
Chen Yang said, "This really is extraordinarily strange!"
Qin Moyao said, "That's why I'm advising you not to entertain any ideas about the Golden Years."
Chen Yang said, "But you know, Captain Qin, I think there's one thing you said that's correct. That is, everything should be explainable through scientific means."
Qin Moyao gave Chen Yang an odd look before saying, "Alright then, explain the Golden Years bar situation to me scientifically."
Chen Yang said, "Okay, let's start by discussing the first issue. What are ghosts?"
Qin Moyao asked, "What are ghosts?"
Chen Yang said, "Generally speaking, ghosts are thought to be the souls of people. When people die, they become ghosts, right?"
Qin Moyao nodded, "Right!"
Chen Yang continued, "Let's explain this scientifically. When we're alive, all our thoughts and movement commands come from our brain. When the brain is asleep, the body doesn't move. In the brain, what controls our actions is our thoughts. Thoughts can be described as a kind of miraculous brainwave. If the brain suffers severe damage, a person either dies or becomes mentally impaired. This is because the brainwaves have been disrupted. When a person dies, our brainwaves no longer have a place to reside, so they float out of the body. This energy of brainwaves is actually what people refer to as ghosts."
Qin Moyao couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any theoretical basis for what you're saying?"
Chen Yang replied, "Just talking about ghosts isn't scientific. Isn't using brainwaves to explain the soul more scientifically grounded?"
Qin Moyao found Chen Yang's perspective intriguing and said, "Alright, go on."