After Becoming a Cannon Fodder, I Fell into a Love-Hate Relationship with the Heroine (GL) - Chapter 8

If Huo Xi’s guess was correct, this should be the place where Jiang Sifan worked.

It wasn’t very far. She could get there just by walking.

The sky was beginning to lighten, and the streets were quiet with no one around.

She gently closed the door of the school building and followed the address.

After a few blocks, someone appeared behind her. Han Qin was still following but kept his distance, not daring to walk beside her.

“Why are you still tagging along? Didn’t Lu Yue already handle things for you?” Huo Xi asked without turning around. Her tone was impatient.

“Not yet,” Han Qin replied nervously. “She hasn’t made the call. There’s nothing about me in the news. My wife and daughter still don’t know.”

“I don’t have a phone either. I’m dead just like you. And if I want to go back, I have to rely on that woman too. Even if she only cares about someone else, I still have to put up with it. Isn’t that what we both have to do?”

Her sudden outburst shocked Han Qin. He stood frozen for a moment before softly replying.

“You care about her a lot.”

“Who said I care about her? I’m just trying to keep the story moving.”

Everything in this place was already set in motion, including who would die and when. Huo Xi had no power to interfere, and even if she wanted to, she couldn’t.

The wristband on her arm remained silent. There was still no sign from Lu Yue.

She kept walking until a small building appeared in front of her. A flickering neon sign above the door read “Jiangkou Nan.”

Han Qin followed behind her and looked up at the building.

“What are you doing here? Can you call them for me? I can’t touch anything myself.”

Huo Xi glanced at him but said nothing.

It was still too early. The news office had not opened yet. The front doors were locked, and no one was in sight.

The fence around the building wasn’t very high. Huo Xi climbed up, pushed herself over the top, and landed steadily on the grass inside.

Han Qin drifted through the wall like a ghost. He pointed at her wrist and said, “If you take off the wristband, things would be easier.”

Huo Xi looked around. The building only had two floors. One of the windows upstairs glowed faintly. It looked like someone was there.

The first floor hallway was pitch black. She could not see the end. A bug zapper near the front desk gave off a pale light and illuminated an old telephone.

She walked over and picked up the receiver.

“Number?” she asked.

After she dialed the number Han Qin gave her, the call went through quickly. A woman answered.

Huo Xi wasn’t sure what to say, so she turned on the speaker and let Han Qin talk instead.

He couldn’t hold the phone, but his voice could still be heard clearly.

Once he finished the call and everything was said, Huo Xi left and headed upstairs alone.

She followed the faint glow coming from one of the offices and soon found the door.

Inside, there was only one person. Lu Yue and Jiang Sifan were not there.

It was the photographer she had met before. He looked surprised when he saw her.

“What are you doing here?”

“Has Lu Yue been here?” Huo Xi asked directly.

“My name is He Qi. I’ve been working with Jiang Sifan for three years,” he answered, avoiding her question as he quickly hid something behind his back.

Huo Xi noticed the movement, but she didn’t catch what he was hiding.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to her. She only cared about finding Lu Yue.

“Has Lu Yue been here?” she repeated calmly, unaffected by his attempts to distract her.

“Oh, you mean your detective friend,” He Qi said with a faint smile. “Yes, they came by. Said there was something going on nearby and left.”

They had already left some time ago. By now, they were probably at the scene.

Just as he finished speaking, a loud ring came from downstairs, drawing his attention.

“I thought you came alone?” he asked, walking away quickly.

Downstairs, the phone at the front desk was ringing. He looked around but saw no one.

He picked up the receiver and then put it back down.

Now that Huo Xi had the information she needed, she didn’t stay any longer. She gave He Qi a polite nod and left the building.

Outside, Han Qin was waiting. He had already spoken to his wife and daughter.

As soon as he saw Huo Xi, he hurried over.

“Thank you for helping me call them. I told them everything I needed to.”

Huo Xi gave him a small nod and smile but kept walking without stopping.

“You could teleport, you know. It would be a lot faster than walking,” Han Qin reminded her.

Of course Huo Xi knew that. But she didn’t want to risk it. What if Lu Yue tried to contact her at the exact moment she teleported?

Han Qin continued following her.

The faster she walked, the faster he followed.

Annoyed, Huo Xi frowned and said, “I’ve already done what you asked. Could you stop following me now?”

Unlike earlier, Han Qin seemed more thoughtful and reserved.

But he had not yet moved on to the afterlife. If he didn’t follow Huo Xi, he had no idea where else to go.

“I overheard something while I was waiting downstairs,” he said. “They said Lu Yue went with two women to an apartment in the city.”

If Lu Yue had gone off with Song Yuan, it wasn’t surprising.

But according to He Qi, Lu Yue had definitely come to the news office.

So how had she managed to visit Jiang Sifan and meet up with Song Yuan in such a short time?

An apartment in the city could be anywhere. Even if Huo Xi wanted to teleport, she needed at least a general direction.

“System, dear system,” Huo Xi said as she pressed her palms together and looked up, “can you please show me the way?”

I don’t want to spoil the story for you, the system replied coldly without emotion.

“I’ll buy your outfit bundle. Go ahead and boost your sales numbers!” Huo Xi gave in completely. She spent all the fear points she had earned to save the heroine’s life and preserve the balance of the story. It was worth it.

The system did not respond immediately. After a few seconds of silence, it automatically deducted the points and granted her a one-click outfit change button.

Please enjoy the following sneak peek, the system said.

Images flashed through her mind, showing city streets and apartment hallways.

With the mental map forming clearly, Huo Xi glanced at Han Qin and said, “Sorry, I’m going ahead.”

More people started appearing on the sidewalks as the morning brightened. Huo Xi had been hiding downstairs for a long time but still hadn’t seen either Lu Yue or Song Yuan.

The system could only lock onto the apartment complex, not the exact unit number or floor.

Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder. It was an older woman.

“You’ve been crouching here for a while, young lady. Waiting for someone? Why don’t you just go upstairs?”

Huo Xi stood up and, without warning, burst into tears.

“Auntie, I’ve been cheated on. The girl who stole my boyfriend lives here, but I don’t know which apartment is hers.”

She briefly described Song Yuan’s appearance. To her surprise, she had found someone who shared her dislike.

The older woman slapped her forehead. “Oh, I know the one you’re talking about. That girl is rude to us all the time.”

Clearly annoyed, the woman offered to take Huo Xi straight to her door.

When they arrived at Unit 502, the woman banged on the door hard.

“Get out here, you shameless woman!”

After a few moments, the door opened.

Song Yuan appeared, wearing silk pajamas, looking completely unbothered.

Huo Xi thanked the woman and said she would handle things from there.

She stepped inside and shoved Song Yuan against the wall.

“Where is Lu Yue? What have you done with her?” Huo Xi was filled with sudden anger.

Maybe it was the way Song Yuan looked so smug and carefree that irritated her.

Song Yuan said nothing. Instead, she smirked.

Footsteps came from another room. Lu Yue stretched and walked out, yawning.

“Who is it?” she muttered, then froze when she saw Huo Xi.

Her expression shifted instantly. She rushed over and shouted, “Who told you to come here? Go back now!”

So she was afraid their relationship might be exposed?

Huo Xi gave a cold laugh. She felt like a fool.

There were only two people in the room. The little floral spirit was nowhere in sight. It seemed they had been alone together.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, something tied itself around her wrist. The little floral spirit suddenly appeared, as if rising out of the floor, and dragged Huo Xi to a chair, tying her down.

“Since you’re already here, why not join the fun?”

Only after being pulled into the back room did she notice the iron chain around Lu Yue’s wrist. She was just as much a prisoner here.

Song Yuan sat down in front of them, crossing her legs with an air of control.

“All I had to do was leave the mountain, and I caught both of you at once. Lu Yue already told you not to disconnect the link so casually. Why didn’t you listen?”

Clearly, neither Song Yuan nor the floral spirit intended to kill them. If they had, Lu Yue would be dead already.

“Handing over something as interesting as this could bring in a lot of money,” Song Yuan said with a glance at Huo Xi. “Like that friend of hers from the news office.”

The little floral spirit agreed. “We can spare the detective. But this half-soul girl here isn’t strong enough to fight back. How do we finish her off?”

“Let’s take her head,” Song Yuan replied casually as she stood and walked away, disappearing from Huo Xi’s view.

Once Song Yuan was gone, the floral spirit surely followed. Now the room held only the two of them.

Lu Yue’s bag had been tossed into a corner. No wonder she hadn’t been able to contact Huo Xi.

She couldn’t reach the crystal that powered their connection. She was completely cut off.

“Why did you come here? Who told you to come? We have nothing to do with each other anymore. Why would you risk yourself like this?” Lu Yue leaned back hopelessly against the wall.

Other spirit guides could fight and kill. In a crisis, they could even turn the tide of battle.

But Huo Xi couldn’t even provide support. Coming here only meant getting herself killed.

Truthfully, Lu Yue had plenty of chances to reach the crystal before she was tied up. But she hadn’t done it.

Huo Xi still had a chance to survive. There was no reason to drag someone innocent down with her.

“You shouldn’t have come. If you hadn’t, they would’ve let me go eventually,” Lu Yue whispered.

She was just an ordinary person, a spiritual cleanser. She and Song Yuan had once been on the same side.

Tied to the chair, Huo Xi was beaming with joy. She might not have even realized it herself, but her smile stretched almost to her ears.

“You’re still smiling? If something happens to your spirit body, you’ll never go back,” Lu Yue said, furious. If she weren’t tied up, she might have slapped Huo Xi across the face.

Huo Xi’s mouth twitched, but the happiness in her eyes remained.

“Then I just won’t go back. As long as you two aren’t together, that’s good enough for me.”