# 1363
Chapter 1364: The Mysterious Ballroom
On the vast sea, a luxury yacht cut through the water, leaving a snow-white wake as it hummed toward the distance.
Baili Pangpang sat at the dining table on the yacht's top deck, wearing sunglasses, holding a glass of champagne, and feeling the sea breeze on his face—his expression completely content.
Cao Yuan skewered a piece of beef and stuffed it into his mouth, glancing at Baili Pangpang's unruly hair fluttering in the wind.
"Pangpang, your hairline is receding again."
"Pffft—cough cough cough……"
Baili Pangpang nearly spilled his champagne. He shot Cao Yuan a glare. "What do you know? This is a sign of a mature man!"
He leaned back leisurely on the chair, gazing at the glittering sea in the distance. "Besides, so what if my hairline's receding? After all, which woman can resist a wealthy young master who can drive a yacht one-handed?"
Cao Yuan raised an eyebrow.
"What about Molly?"
Baili Pangpang's right hand, which had been swirling the champagne, suddenly froze.
"I remember, you two were pretty close back then." Cao Yuan thought carefully. "When you were in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, you almost……"
The image of that bus driving through the rain flashed through Baili Pangpang's mind again, along with that figure in a goose-yellow long dress. A complex expression appeared in his eyes.
He fell silent for a moment.
"Past things…… better left unmentioned."
Baili Pangpang seemed unwilling to continue this topic. He sat up straight. "By the way, where's Qiyue?"
"He's in the KTV downstairs." An Qingyu chimed in.
"KTV?" Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan exchanged a glance. "What is he doing there? Doesn't he hate singing?"
"...I don't know. He locked the door from the inside, and we can't get in."
An Qingyu sighed.
Cao Yuan glanced down at the nautical chart in his hand. "Speaking of which, why is this Island so far away? It's not near the Great Xia border, and it's far from the mainland... It seems pretty desolate around here."
"Normally, if it were too close to land, our Forbidden Ruins might cause a disturbance and get us discovered." An Qingyu turned to look at the horizon. The outline of an Island was faintly visible. "Go get Qiyue... we're almost there."
As the luxury yacht gradually approached the shore, everyone finally saw the full outline of this Island.
Though just an Island, its area was much larger than Lin Qiye and the others had expected—at least the size of two prefecture-level cities. The coastal areas were mostly sandy beaches and small hills. Looking further inland, they could see the outlines of towering mountain peaks.
Lin Qiye and the others walked off the yacht and stood on the golden sand, looking around.
"This place doesn't look like a training base either..."
"Commander Zuo only told us to come to this Island, not the specific location. We'll probably have to find it ourselves."
Lin Qiye closed his eyes. His spiritual power quickly spread outward. With his current level of spiritual power, covering the entire Island was no problem.
After a moment, Lin Qiye opened his eyes, his expression somewhat odd.
"Well? Did you find it?" Baili Pangpang asked curiously.
"...I'm not sure either." Lin Qiye sighed. "Let's go take a look first."
Under Lin Qiye's guidance, the group passed through the beach and headed straight into the Island's interior.
The vegetation on the Island was very lush, with almost no traces of human activity. After walking along the rugged path for a long time, they finally arrived before an open expanse of wasteland.
"It's there."
Lin Qiye pointed to a certain corner.
Everyone's gaze followed. A gravel downhill road, built who-knows-how-many years ago, appeared among the overgrown weeds. At the bottom of the slope stood a door covered in rust and dust—solidly in place.
"What is this place? An air-raid shelter?" Baili Pangpang walked up to the iron door and examined it carefully. "No, that can't be right... This air-raid shelter clearly hasn't been opened in decades. How could it possibly be our training location?"
"But on this Island, besides here, there are no other man-made structures." Lin Qiye helplessly spread his hands.
An Qingyu stepped to the iron door, pinching a piece of rust with her fingers. A deep gray hue appeared in her eyes.
"Based on the degree of rust, it should indeed be a product of the 1920s. The craftsmanship is quite rough, and there's indeed no sign of it being opened for a very long time. Theoretically, no one could live behind this door, unless……"
An Qingyu turned to glance at Jiang Er. "Unless it's a ghost."
"Either way, let's go in and take a look first."
Lin Qiye pressed both hands against the rusted iron door and pushed hard!
Creak——!
As the iron door slowly opened, a deep, lightless tunnel appeared before everyone.
"Do you smell something strange?" Baili Pangpang poked his head out and sniffed the air, speaking with suspicion.
"...Mold?"
"No, it's a... fragrance?" Baili Pangpang said uncertainly. "It feels like some kind of perfume."
"You're overthinking. How could there be perfume in there?"
"Qiyue, do you hear any sounds?"
"What did you say?! Louder! My ears aren't healed yet!"
"...Never mind. Forget I asked."
The group walked along the deep, lightless tunnel. After walking forward for who-knows-how-long, a faint fragrance wafted into everyone's nasal passages.
At the same time, rhythmic music came clearly from the depths of the tunnel. Not to mention the others, even Lin Qiye, with his still-healing ears, could faintly hear something.
"This is really bizarre... There really are people here?" Cao Yuan said skeptically.
As everyone continued forward, a glimmer of light gradually appeared in their field of vision...
The dark, narrow tunnel suddenly opened up. Upon seeing everything before them, everyone was stunned, eyes wide open!
"Holy shit!" Baili Pangpang couldn't help but let out a curse.
At the end of the tunnel stood a magnificent ballroom!
Gorgeous crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting dreamlike, ethereal light across every corner of the ballroom. Golden ornamental tiles covered the floor.
In the center of the dance floor, dozens of men and women in suits and qipaos were embracing each other, moving rhythmically to the jazzy music, their expressions utterly enchanted.
Soft singing, graceful dancing, elegant figures—dazzling everyone.
"This, this is......" Staring at this inconceivable scene, Cao Yuan struggled for a long time and couldn't squeeze out a single word.
On this Island far from land and civilization, beneath this air-raid shelter that had been abandoned and unopened for a hundred years, how could there possibly be an old ballroom from the 1970s and 80s?
Most eerie of all—how could there be so many people dancing inside?!
If not for the faint musty, damp air still drifting from the tunnel behind them, everyone would have thought they'd arrived at the Bund of old Huaihai.
"Something's wrong." Lin Qiye's gaze swept across the people before him. His expression grew grave as he spoke.
"This place... is very wrong!"