I'm Actually Panicking Because My Heart Doesn't Beat (GL) - Chapter 33

As soon as he finished speaking, Guan Xiaoxuan felt the temperature around her drop sharply.

She wasn’t the only one who noticed. Zhang Wen also looked around, confused. “Xiaoxuan, don’t you feel like it suddenly got really cold?”

Guan Xiaoxuan stopped in her tracks and looked across the corridor at Haohao, who was standing in the shadows. Her expression darkened.

Haohao was holding a colorful rubber ball. He was still wearing the same clothes he had on when he died—black shorts, sneakers, and a blue T-shirt. He smiled at Guan Xiaoxuan, eyes crinkling happily. “Xiaoxuan-jie, you’re in college now? Is college life fun?”

Zhang Wen noticed Guan Xiaoxuan had stopped walking and asked curiously, “Xiaoxuan, what’s wrong?”

Guan Xiaoxuan glanced at Zhang Wen, then looked back at Haohao holding the ball. She pointed at him and asked, “You don’t see him?”

Zhang Wen blinked and looked at the empty corridor across from them. “See what?”

Guan Xiaoxuan didn’t respond, but Haohao suddenly laughed.

“Xiaoxuan-jie, don’t waste your energy,” Haohao said. “Only you can see me. No one else can.”

As he spoke, he let go of the rubber ball. It bounced forward, like it had a mind of its own, and rolled straight to Guan Xiaoxuan’s feet.

Even though Zhang Wen couldn’t see Haohao, she could see the ball. The sudden appearance of a bouncing ball scared her so much she grabbed Guan Xiaoxuan’s arm and screamed, “What’s going on? Why is there a ball?!”

She instantly remembered the recent student disappearance cases all over Xinglin City. Rumor had it those kids had all seen a ball before vanishing. So far, five students had gone missing.

“This ball… this ball…”

Zhang Wen’s face went pale as a sheet. She stared at Guan Xiaoxuan in panic, remembering how she had just pointed at the empty corridor and asked if she could see anything.

See what?

“Xiaoxuan…” Zhang Wen looked at her with wide eyes, her voice trembling. “Did you see a little boy?”

Guan Xiaoxuan didn’t answer. She just stared silently at Haohao and the ball that had stopped near her feet.

“Xiaoxuan-jie, isn’t school boring?” Haohao clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head, trying to look cute. “If you don’t want to study anymore, you can come with me. In my world, there are no teachers and no parents. You can do whatever you want—no one will stop you.”

He continued, “And there are a lot of other kids there too. All from our orphanage. I’m sure you’d recognize some of them.”

Guan Xiaoxuan looked at Haohao and asked calmly, “I don’t get it. Why are you targeting me? I understand why you’d go after the ones who bullied you. But I never did anything to hurt you.”

Haohao’s expression turned cold. He didn’t say a word.

“You’re different from them,” he finally said. His face grew darker as he stared at Guan Xiaoxuan. “You were kind to me. That’s why I want to live with you in that world. As for the others… the sooner they die, the better.”

Guan Xiaoxuan stayed quiet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zhang Wen still watching her nervously. She turned to her and said, “Zhang Wen, you should leave. I need to deal with this.”

“Xiaoxuan!” Zhang Wen grabbed her hand. “Don’t try to be a hero! Let’s call the police. If you’re caught up in something evil, it could kill you!”

When Haohao heard Zhang Wen call him “something evil,” he glanced at her.

Whatever he was thinking, it made him smile—a slow, eerie grin.

Guan Xiaoxuan noticed it all. She stepped in front of Zhang Wen protectively, keeping her eyes locked on Haohao. “Forget about me,” she said to Zhang Wen. “Just go. I can handle this.”

Zhang Wen wanted to argue, but Guan Xiaoxuan shot her a sharp look. In the end, Zhang Wen didn’t fight her and quickly turned and ran off.

“What a shame,” Haohao said, watching Zhang Wen leave. He shrugged and said to Guan Xiaoxuan, “Xiaoxuan-jie, if you’re worried about being lonely, I can bring her along too. You two seem really close. Maybe in the other world, you could keep each other company.”

Guan Xiaoxuan didn’t want Haohao focusing on Zhang Wen anymore. Zhang Wen was a completely normal girl—she’d either cry or run if anything happened. At least Guan Xiaoxuan could think like an adult. Zhang Wen was still just a scared kid.

“Do you want to come with me somewhere?” Guan Xiaoxuan suddenly asked him.

“Where to?” Haohao looked at her, confused.

Guan Xiaoxuan said, “If you come with me, I can introduce you to some friends.”

“Friends…”

Haohao thought about the word, then suddenly broke into a big smile. “Okay, sister, let’s go! Take me to meet your friends.”

Seeing that Haohao had taken the bait, Guan Xiaoxuan smiled too and said, “Then let’s go.”

They left the corridor, and Guan Xiaoxuan took Haohao straight to the girls’ dormitory.

It wasn’t very crowded at the girls’ dorm around noon. Guan Xiaoxuan acted like she lived there and went upstairs without hesitation. There were plenty of girls coming and going, but Guan Xiaoxuan didn’t pay attention to them.

Haohao followed behind at a close but safe distance. When they stepped onto the second-floor landing, Guan Xiaoxuan suddenly called out:

“Bai Zhiqi!”

The next moment, the colors around them instantly drained away. Haohao hadn’t even reacted when a figure suddenly rushed over, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up.

Bai Zhiqi looked at the struggling little boy kicking his legs wildly, then glanced at Guan Xiaoxuan with interest. “After all the trouble of coming here, you bring me this?”

When Guan Xiaoxuan entered the girls’ dorm, Bai Zhiqi had already sensed Haohao’s presence.

But kids are just kids—weak and easy to fool. Haohao had no idea where Guan Xiaoxuan had taken him. Now, being held in the air by the neck, he could only kick wildly, unable to do anything else.

“You, you, you…” Haohao’s face turned even uglier. He painfully grabbed Bai Zhiqi’s arm and struggled to say, “Who… who are you?”

“I’m your dad.”

Bai Zhiqi said that and immediately started hitting him.

To be honest, Guan Xiaoxuan used to think Bai Zhiqi was a pretty decent supernatural—he could communicate, was funny, and asked for small things sometimes. He seemed down-to-earth.

But now, seeing Bai Zhiqi beating up the kid so fiercely, Guan Xiaoxuan felt like he was some kind of heroic outlaw.

When she met Bai Zhiqi in the dorm before, he wasn’t like this at all.

Why so righteous now???

After about five minutes, Bai Zhiqi finally let go. The little boy’s face was swollen and bruised, barely recognizable. He knelt on the dorm hallway floor, looking up at the two sisters in front of him.

Innocent and pitiful.

“Sisters,” Haohao rubbed his swollen face, trying to look cute, “We can talk this through. Why hit me so hard?”

Bai Zhiqi crossed her arms and said coldly, “I smelled something else on you. Have you hurt a lot of people?”

Haohao shook his head quickly. “I haven’t hurt anyone, I swear. Everyone who disappeared is fine—they’re all in the orphanage’s inner world. I really am a good ghost!!!”

Bai Zhiqi narrowed her eyes, grabbed Haohao again, opened the window in the hallway, and lifted him outside.

Outside the girls’ dorm, thick fog blurred the view. A damp, cold mist blew in through the window and chilled Guan Xiaoxuan’s face.

Haohao was scared of the white fog outside the building. He clung to Bai Zhiqi’s arm, crying and shouting, “Sister! Sister! I really haven’t hurt anyone! Those missing people are all safe in the orphanage’s inner world. Honest! I’m really a good ghost!!!”

Guan Xiaoxuan leaned against the window, watching the fog below. The shadowy figures outside all seemed to turn their heads toward them. The damp coldness grew stronger.

“Forget it.” Guan Xiaoxuan looked at the crying Haohao and blinked at Bai Zhiqi. “He’s still a child.”

But Bai Zhiqi said, “We don’t lack troublesome kids. He’s a supernatural, a bad one. Evil supernaturals will eventually be taken by the fog. Better to throw him out now and end the trouble for good.”

Haohao cried loudly, terrified. He could feel the people in the fog getting closer. If thrown out, the monsters would tear him apart, and he’d have to experience death all over again.

He couldn’t take it!

“Sister Xiao Xuan!” Haohao turned to her, tears streaming, a snot bubble popping out. “Save me! I don’t want to be eaten by them!”

Bai Zhiqi and Guan Xiaoxuan played the good cop and bad cop. After a few exchanges, Bai Zhiqi finally “relented” and threw Haohao back onto the hallway floor.

“Since someone is pleading for you, I’ll spare you this time.”

Haohao sobbed and wiped his tears, looking pitiful.

Bai Zhiqi turned to Guan Xiaoxuan and said, “What do you want to do next?”

Whether Bai Zhiqi was distracted or Haohao was waiting for a chance to run, the moment Bai Zhiqi finished speaking, Guan Xiaoxuan saw Haohao disappear the next second. Bai Zhiqi was a little stunned and laughed angrily.

“Little bastard, quite the actor,” Bai Zhiqi said, crossing his arms. “No wonder he never fought back—he was just waiting for the chance to run.”

Guan Xiaoxuan looked at the empty hallway, realizing catching Haohao wouldn’t be easy. Today’s punishment was just luck.

“Thank you,” Guan Xiaoxuan politely said to Bai Zhiqi. “If not for you, he’d probably still be bothering me.”

Bai Zhiqi glanced back at her and said, “How do you always attract these dirty things? First it was Hong Guniang, then Cheng Yi, and now this little boy.”

Guan Xiaoxuan didn’t know how Bai Zhiqi knew about her situation, but he really helped her a lot. She sincerely thanked him, “Thanks for playing along with me. At least he got some punishment. He probably won’t come looking for me these days.”

Bai Zhiqi smiled and shook his head. “Supernaturals hold grudges. If you offend one, either you die or they do before it’s over. Today I taught that kid a lesson—he can’t beat me. But who’s to say he won’t come back for you?”

Guan Xiaoxuan’s expression turned serious. She said helplessly, “Thanks for the warning. I guess I still have to call the police.”

“No need to bother with that,” Bai Zhiqi said, looking at her. “We’re kind of acquaintances now. This favor? I’ve got it covered.”