After Becoming a Cannon Fodder, I Fell into a Love-Hate Relationship with the Heroine (GL) - Chapter 4

In Jiang Sifan’s mind, spirits were always evil. There was no such thing as a kind ghost. He believed it was his duty to eliminate every spirit he encountered.

Huo Xi’s sudden appearance had already seemed suspicious. When he thought back to how she had shown up in the hotel bathroom out of nowhere, everything started to make sense.

He was convinced that Huo Xi was a spirit. Worried he could not handle it alone, he called for backup.

Four large men stood in front of the two women, forming a wall with their presence.

Huo Xi had just escaped Lu Yue’s suspicion, and now she had to deal with Jiang Sifan. It felt like everyone was after her life.

“Wait a minute,” Lu Yue said, stepping in front of them. “You say she’s a spirit. Do you have any proof?”

“Isn’t the photo enough? That’s solid evidence.”

Lu Yue narrowed her eyes and rolled up Huo Xi’s sleeve. “I already checked earlier.”

She was trying to cover up Huo Xi’s true identity.

At this point, Jiang Sifan did not trust anyone, not even Lu Yue. He believed every strange event needed an explanation. If Huo Xi was not a spirit, then why did she suddenly appear at the scene?

His eyes scanned Huo Xi carefully. When he noticed the ribbon around her wrist, he reached out and pulled it off.

“What are you doing!” Huo Xi cried out. Her injured arm flared with pain, and it was almost unbearable.

The bracelet had always drawn attention. Jiang Sifan knew it was a connection between a spirit and a human. He had wanted to take a look since the very beginning. If it were not for Lu Yue, he would have done it on the first day.

The bracelet had lost its glow and now looked like an ordinary silver accessory.

Huo Xi looked surprised as she took it off and handed it to Jiang Sifan. “Is this what you want?”

Her calm response was completely different from what Jiang Sifan had expected.

“Maybe your photographer made a mistake,” Lu Yue said. “Huo Xi was new to the crime scene and not used to the environment. That’s why I brought her in with me.”

This made Jiang Sifan hesitate. He started to wonder if he had overreacted.

He shook his head and tried to put the incident out of his mind. His earlier aggression faded away.

Jiang Sifan was always quick with his work. In just a short amount of time, he had already gathered all the information he needed.

He had compiled a full record of Hua Qiao’s social connections and personal background.

“Let’s hurry up. I don’t want another news outlet beating us to it,” he said before leaving. As he walked away, he gave Huo Xi one last look.

Once his car had completely disappeared, Lu Yue quickly helped Huo Xi put the bracelet back on.

The light returned, and she carefully tied the ribbon around it again.

Lu Yue brought Huo Xi to Hua Qiao’s former home. It was not far from the hotel and was located in a high-end apartment complex.

The security system was very strict. A guard stopped them at the entrance.

“Please register. Who are you here to see?”

Lu Yue took out her notebook. “We’re here about Hua Qiao.”

The guard frowned. “You mean that girl who died?”

Once he realized they were there to investigate the case, he let them pass.

Hua Qiao was not from out of town. She was a local. That made it strange that she would go through the trouble of renting a hotel room by herself.

Her apartment was on the third floor, not too high. They decided not to take the elevator.

Lu Yue moved quickly and climbed the stairs in just a few steps, soon getting ahead of Huo Xi.

Huo Xi held onto the handrail and was already out of breath after just one floor. “Can you wait for me?”

Lu Yue looked back and tapped her foot to activate the hallway light. “I thought you were good at teleporting.”

The stairwell was oddly designed and much steeper than a normal building. Huo Xi was already struggling and had no energy to turn off the connection.

She was about to reply with a joke when she suddenly felt something grab her ankle. Her face turned pale and she froze.

“Sister Lu, I think there’s a hand around my foot,” Huo Xi whispered. She was too scared to even breathe deeply.

In the faint light, Lu Yue walked back toward her. Behind Huo Xi, on the steps, a dark clump of hair had appeared, and a pale white hand was reaching out from it, holding her ankle tightly.

There was nothing else to use. Lu Yue only had the dagger in her bag.

But this thing did not seem to be a single spirit. It looked far more dangerous and harder to deal with.

Lu Yue took out the weapon in one hand and reached her other hand toward Huo Xi.

“Come here. Take my hand.”

Huo Xi slowly lifted her hand and placed it in Lu Yue’s. Her hand was warm and comforting. It helped ease the chill in Huo Xi’s fingers.

Step by step, they began to climb the stairs, but the hand around her ankle refused to let go.

In that moment, Huo Xi truly wished she could cut her own foot off.

Normally, spirits were more drawn to living people. But for some reason, they seemed especially drawn to Huo Xi, even though she was also a spirit.

“She won’t let go,” Huo Xi said, her voice trembling. Tears welled up in her eyes as she dragged the dark mass along with her.

Lu Yue gently pulled Huo Xi’s head onto her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

This thing was filled with resentment. If it was handled the wrong way, it could become dangerous. It might actually be safer to let Huo Xi deal with it directly.

“Don’t be afraid. Listen to me,” Lu Yue whispered close to her ear. “This building is filled with negative energy. You are the only one who can communicate with them. Don’t worry. They won’t hurt you.”

“You want me to talk to it?” Huo Xi clutched the front of Lu Yue’s shirt tightly and refused to let go.

The only time Huo Xi had ever spoken to a spirit, she had almost lost her life. After that experience, she was determined never to get involved with them again.

“They just want to talk to us. If they really meant to hurt you, they would have done it by now,” Lu Yue said softly, gently patting Huo Xi’s back.

What she said made sense. The hand had been holding her for a while already. If it wanted to harm her, it had more than enough chances.

Huo Xi slowly let go of Lu Yue’s neck. She swallowed hard and crouched down, trying to calm her nerves.

“Do you want to say something to me? Are you asking for help?” she said quietly, trying to speak to the bundle of hair in front of her.

The hand around her ankle loosened. It then crawled up her leg and quickly reached the top of her head.

With a loud smack, it slapped her on the forehead.

Right after that, the system’s voice echoed in her mind.
“Host, the upcoming spoiler scene is locked. Please confirm if you would like to use horror points to unlock it.”

The scene in front of her became blurry, covered in a thick layer of pixelation. Everything was out of focus, and no matter how hard Huo Xi squinted, she could not see anything clearly.

She knew exactly what the system was doing. It was just trying to drain her horror points.

“Fine, I’ll do it. Not sure if I even have enough left,” she thought to herself.

“All horror points have been deducted. Scene unlocked. We wish you a pleasant experience, Host.”

The pixelation disappeared, and the scene turned bright and clear again.

All the horror points she had worked so hard to collect were gone. Huo Xi felt bitter and frustrated, but she had no choice. This scene was too important. If she skipped it, the story might not unfold the way it was supposed to.

Hua Qiao had been living with her boyfriend, Haowei. But her constant piano practice, day and night, had started to bother him. With the annual talent audition approaching, Hua Qiao wanted a quiet space to focus, so she decided to move out temporarily.

However, Haowei quickly found her again. The two argued, and in a moment of anger, he lost control and did something terrible.

These were the memories that Hua Qiao passed on to Huo Xi.

The bundle of hair that had appeared earlier was Hua Qiao herself.

She had died violently in the hotel, and only her anger and resentment had escaped, taking the form of her long hair. And now, Haowei was inside Hua Qiao’s apartment.

The vision faded, and Huo Xi was left shaken. The memory of Hua Qiao’s death was still fresh and horrifying. The hair, though, had disappeared.

Lu Yue stood nearby, waiting anxiously.

“What did you see?” she asked, stepping forward quickly.

Huo Xi repeated everything she had just witnessed.

Lu Yue’s face darkened. “So the killer is right upstairs?”

If what Hua Qiao said was true, then yes.

They rushed to the door. Lu Yue raised her hand to knock, but then hesitated. She felt a growing fear inside her. The idea that someone you lived beside every day could do something so cruel was hard to accept.

Seeing her hesitate, Huo Xi reached out and knocked twice on the door.

They heard footsteps from inside, followed by a cheerful voice. “Is that you, baby?”

When the door opened, Haowei looked confused. “You’re not Hua Qiao?”

His reaction was strange. It was as if he had no idea anything had happened to his girlfriend.

Without giving him a chance to respond, Lu Yue and Huo Xi stepped inside. Lu Yue quickly locked the door behind them to keep him from escaping.

“What are you doing? You can’t just break into someone’s home,” Haowei said nervously. He stepped back and grabbed his phone from the table, preparing to call someone.

“You’re a good actor. You murdered Hua Qiao and now you act like nothing happened,” Lu Yue said coldly. She turned to Huo Xi and motioned for her to stop Haowei.

Huo Xi shook her head with all her strength. She could not bring herself to do it.

Haowei’s hands trembled. The phone slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor. His voice was unsteady.

“Hua Qiao is dead?”