No Ghosting Allowed

Black Bar was easy to find on the bar street.

Mechanical door facade, steampunk-style decoration, the large iron signboard above the door, with visible rust stains, held up by intersecting iron pipes, tilting slightly. You could see English letters embedded in the signboard from afar.

Unlike other bars, Black Bar’s door remained tightly closed and didn’t use sound systems or gimmicks to attract customers. There was only an old iron floor sign placed at the entrance, with an A4 paper haphazardly taped to it, indicating that day’s event, looking rather perfunctory.

Pei You stood at the entrance, carefully comparing the store sign in front of him with the chat messages on his phone. He finally confirmed that that was his destination for the day.

It looks a bit unusual, Pei You thought.

Although the appearance of that bar seemed dull, its customer flow was better than other bars in the area. As Pei You approached from across the street, people kept entering without stopping. The iron door continuously opened and closed, and the amusing “welcome” jingle at the entrance chimed incessantly.

The worn-out welcome sensor and the crooked “event notice” taped with old tape added a sense of carelessness.

Being too perfunctory made it seem mysterious, and Pei You put away his phone, standing at the entrance like facing a formidable enemy, staring at the swaying iron door. He felt that with just one push, he might enter a completely new world.

“After all, those young girls in the office often say this about urban legends,” Pei You thought.

The confusion and resistance towards unfamiliar territory interwoven with the scheduled meeting, pulling and pushing him back and forth. Pei You hesitated for a full five minutes before gritting his teeth and finally pushing open the door of Black Bar.

Fortunately, all the special circumstances he anticipated did not occur. The atmosphere inside Black Bar was much more normal than outside. There were no special personnel checking identities or shining metal detectors, just well-dressed servers coming to receive guests and asking if they had reservations.

Pei You couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, simultaneously mocking himself for making a big fuss.

“I don’t have a reservation,” Pei You said, “I’m here to meet someone. Could you tell me where the C area is?”

“It’s in the inner area,” the server gestured and smiled, “Follow this corridor, go through the stage, and keep going inside.”

Pei You nodded slightly, politely thanking him, and then followed his guidance into the inner area.

The interior decoration style of Black Bar was somewhat unconventional. As soon as you entered through the main door, there was a long steel corridor. The colorful ambient lights were hidden behind intentionally darkened steel railings, concealing large visual areas in the shadows of light pollution.

The deeper he went, the more piercing the music became in the bar, and Pei You frowned, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He rubbed his ears with his hand.

He didn’t know how long he had been walking until he finally escaped from the corridor.

He sidestepped the strangers blocking his path and was about to follow the server’s directions to the C area when suddenly he heard a sharp cheer from a nearby crowd. It was quickly followed by applause, whistles, and shouts, overpowering the loud drum sound.

Pei You subconsciously turned his head towards the center of the commotion. However, his gaze just glanced over for a moment, and he suddenly froze in place.

In the center of the nearby elevated stage was a familiar face – Zhou Qingbo. He was sitting on a high metal stool, one foot on the ground and the other on the stool’s leg rest. In his hand was a full bottle of white rum that he casually threw behind him without even looking.

The slender 500ml bottle soared high in the air, destined for disaster upon landing. Before Pei You could understand why Zhou Qingbo was there, he was startled by the action. His heart jumped as he held his breath.

But in the next second, Zhou Qingbo simply lightly rotated the stool with his toes, and the bottle returned to his hand, being perfectly caught by his hand’s back without spilling a drop.

He hadn’t left the chair throughout the entire act, and he didn’t even look back at the bottle that had spun in the air. His movements were fluid, light, and skillful, as he effortlessly caught the bottle, making it look like child’s play.

Pei You’s heart fell back into place with a thud as he felt his confusion increase. He stared at the familiar face on the stage, suddenly doubting everything.

Does Zhou Qingbo have a twin brother? Pei You wondered, or has urban legend become reality, and he’s really entered a parallel world?

On the stage, Zhou Qingbo raised his eyebrows, whistled towards the audience below, and received more applause.

After completing a seamless series of fancy movements, he finally left the chair and, with a kick, pushed the metallic high stool to the ground. Rolling backward, it was quickly removed by a server standing nearby.

The rock music from the sound system was approaching its climax, and the electric guitar solo abruptly inserted. Zhou Qingbo threw the bottle back onto the table, shook his clothes with one hand, and revealed a somewhat mischievous smile at the corner of his lips.

So flamboyant, Pei You could only think of this word in his mind.

Yet, subconsciously, he felt that that word should not be associated with Zhou Qingbo—because he was always silent and low-key, barely noticed during meetings, always dressed in a standard suit, knocking on his door with lunch or coffee at the same time every day, just like one of the many ordinary workers in the world.

However, the man on the stage had nothing to do with that impression. He wore a silver coat similar in style to the stage, stepped on a pair of high-top studded Martin boots, had a t-shirt with two holes revealing the layer of sweat on his abdomen.

On his right ear was a black headset microphone, and his left ear was bare, with only a square ruby earring shining brightly under the lights.

Pei You was stunned for a moment, a thousand thoughts flashing through his mind, but he couldn’t catch a single one.

As the performance approached its end, the crowd near the stage surged forward like a wave. Pei You was pushed forward a few steps by the crowd, and a stranger bumped into his back.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the person who bumped into him apologized repeatedly, “I didn’t mean to.”

“No problem,” Pei You blinked, still a bit taken aback, his gaze still fixed on the stage, his voice somewhat absent, “Do you know who that is on the stage?”

“yes,” the person who bumped into him reached out and patted Pei You’s shoulder, shouting loudly over the intense rock music, “That’s Brother Zhou! He’s the senior mixologist at Black Bar. He doesn’t come regularly, but you happened to see him today!”

“Brother Zhou?” Pei You pondered the name for a moment, then asked subconsciously, “What’s his name?”

“Zhou Qingbo,” the person nearby replied.

Pei You got the expected answer and couldn’t help shaking his head, wondering why he kept making silly mistakes that day. How could there be two people who look so alike in this world?

But when one question was solved, another new question emerged. Pei You looked at the unfamiliar person on the stage and began to doubt life again.

Is the person I know really him? Pei You wondered.

On the stage, Zhou Qingbo performed a move that involved flipping and catching an object. Then, he pointed his finger to his lips, gesturing for silence.

“Hush—”

The crowd below the stage instinctively followed his lead, and even Pei You couldn’t help but hold his breath, watching him. The background music shifted to a calmer tune, with a soft piano interlude.

Zhou Qingbo stood up straight, scanning the surroundings from his elevated position. Then, he threw the object in his hand into the air and clasped his hands together, conjuring a flickering flame out of thin air.

The next moment, he flicked the spark with his fingertip, casually tossing it towards a tower of stacked glasses on the table. The tower burst into a blue flame, shooting over two meters high.

The climax of the background music suddenly intensified, and the flaming spectacle ignited the atmosphere, resulting in piercing screams.

“This is the Wild West.” Zhou Qingbo lazily acknowledged the applause, smiling lightly, “Enjoy, everyone.”

All eyes were fixed on the soaring blue flames, but Pei You couldn’t help but focus on Zhou Qingbo’s face.

As he gazed at Zhou Qingbo’s face illuminated by the flames, Pei You’s heart skipped a beat momentarily.