I'm Actually Panicking Because My Heart Doesn't Beat (GL) - Chapter 58

With the gunshot, the suited man’s swollen body gradually deflated like a popped balloon, eventually turning into a puddle of black sludge.

Guan Xiaoxuan tightened her grip on the gun and kept it raised, not daring to move. She feared the black sludge might suddenly come alive again. Although she no longer had any more golden bullets redeemed with points, just holding the gun steady was enough to intimidate for now.

Qiu Nan was crouched on the ground, gasping heavily. Unlike Guan Xiaoxuan, her stamina was almost gone, and she looked completely exhausted.

She slowly got to her feet, walked over, and picked up her peachwood sword. Stirring the black sludge a bit, she found something and bent down to pick it up.

In Qiu Nan’s hand was a small dagger, black with golden highlights, roughly the size of a fruit knife—actually a bit smaller.

Playing with the dagger, she examined it for a moment, then looked up at Guan Xiaoxuan.

“It’s dealt with,” Qiu Nan said. “This is an eerie dropped item. I think it’s the murder weapon he used. We’ll send it to the points redemption center for analysis later to see what exactly it’s for.”

Guan Xiaoxuan finally relaxed a little and holstered her gun. She glanced at Chen Man beside her, and the two of them walked over together.

Chen Man’s eyes lit up when she saw the dagger. She said to Qiu Nan, “A weapon! It’s rare to find weapons dropped by eerie spirits.”

Qiu Nan glanced at her. “You know your stuff, huh? Usually, the stronger the malicious energy of an eerie spirit, the more likely it’s going to drop a weapon. Especially ones like this, who committed a violent act before death—most likely to drop the weapon they used while alive.”

Guan Xiaoxuan looked at the black dagger. “So, do we just hand this straight over to the redemption center?”

“Yes,” Qiu Nan replied. “All special items dropped on site have to be confiscated. There are specific rules: depending on the item’s nature, you can get extra points. Since this is a weapon, it should add 50 to 100 points to our tally.”

Chen Man looked at Guan Xiaoxuan and smiled knowingly, clearly thinking, So you really are from the Eerie Bureau.

Guan Xiaoxuan scanned the surroundings. The streetlights outside the bus window were still on, and a few shops nearby had their signs lit. She asked Qiu Nan curiously, “Where exactly are we? Can we still contact the team?”

Qiu Nan touched her earpiece and shook her head. “Looks like it’s broken. But no worries—I know this area. Let’s first figure out how to get off the bus.”

Guan Xiaoxuan nodded and pointed to the driver. “I’ll talk to the driver. Qiu Nan, you get this place sorted.”

Qiu Nan agreed. She turned to Chen Man and said, “Hi, I don’t think we’ve introduced ourselves. I’m an agent with the Eerie Bureau. You’re coming with us to the bureau now.”

Chen Man tried to signal Guan Xiaoxuan for help with her eyes, but Guan Xiaoxuan was already walking over to the driver.

“Sir,” Guan Xiaoxuan said, standing next to the bus 444 driver. She looked at his deathly pale face and said, “The person who caused the deaths on this whole bus has been dealt with. You’re free now. Can you let us get off?”

The driver’s eyes widened, but he only stared blankly at the road ahead. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as his whole body trembled. He ignored Guan Xiaoxuan’s words.

“Sir?” Guan Xiaoxuan frowned and tried again. “I know the bus 444 doesn’t want to harm anyone. This time, we’ll handle things properly. Please let us get off.”

The driver stayed in his paranoid state, eyes wide open. Suddenly, he sped up, causing Guan Xiaoxuan to lose balance and grab the nearby handrail.

“…He’s coming… she’s coming…”

At that moment, Guan Xiaoxuan suddenly heard the driver’s lips moving, mumbling something.

“…He’s coming, he’s coming. It’s not over, not over yet!”

The driver shook even harder and pressed the gas. He shouted, “It’s not over! It’s not over!!!”

Guan Xiaoxuan’s heart jumped. She immediately sensed that oppressive gaze again!

“Ah!!!”

Chen Man’s scream pierced the air. Guan Xiaoxuan turned to see Chen Man’s left arm flying off, bl00d spurting everywhere, splashing all over Qiu Nan.

At the same time, Guan Xiaoxuan saw the black-clothed, masked man from the back suddenly stand up.

Thump thump thump—

The man raised his foot and walked slowly forward.

Qiu Nan quickly pulled a length of rope from her bag and tied it tightly around Chen Man’s arm to stop the bleeding.

She looked up at the man and reached for her peachwood sword—but suddenly everything blurred and pain hit her.

Guan Xiaoxuan watched in horror as the man instantly appeared in front of Qiu Nan, kicked her out of the bus. The bus window shattered into pieces, and Qiu Nan tumbled onto the road outside.

Everything happened so fast—from Chen Man’s scream to Qiu Nan being kicked out—there was no time to react.

Without blinking, Guan Xiaoxuan saw the man suddenly appear right in front of her.

“You!”

Her eyes widened in shock. She wanted to fight back, but before she could raise her hand, the man grabbed her collar and slammed her against the windshield.

He looked at her painful face and slowly removed the mask covering his face. Guan Xiaoxuan saw his lips—unnatural and grotesque—split all the way to his ears, as if ripped open.

“So this is the smell of ‘Gu,’ huh? Truly exquisite.”

Guan Xiaoxuan grabbed the man’s arm, staring at his mouth, which was several times longer than a normal person’s, frowning.

She thought she just heard a very familiar word.

‘Gu’?

Why ‘Gu’ again?

Wasn’t the Red Girl’s case already resolved? Who was this man?

A partner of the Red Girl?

Could it be that he was here to avenge his companion?

“What do you mean by ‘Gu’? Who exactly are you, and what’s your relationship with the Red Girl?” Guan Xiaoxuan struggled and asked.

The man smiled softly, an eerie smile that perfectly matched Guan Xiaoxuan’s idea of demons and ghosts—fierce, strange, terrifying.

He seemed to find her question amusing and leaned closer.

“Red Girl… that b1tch actually managed to concoct the ‘Gu.’ Truly unexpected.”

“Since you’re so curious, I’ll tell you.”

He gently stroked Guan Xiaoxuan’s face and said, “The most delicious thing in this world is the soul. And the best souls only exist in dead bodies.”

Guan Xiaoxuan looked at him, confused.

“You must have seen it, right? Those dark shadows in the mist of the inner world,” he said with a light laugh. “In that hazy fog dwells our all-knowing, all-powerful god. Souls like yours are sacrifices offered to Him.”

The man continued, “The Red Girl somehow got her hands on this recipe. She wanted to taste the ‘Gu’ herself. She thought it was all useless, but unexpectedly, she really did manage to refine it.”

Guan Xiaoxuan felt the man’s words were complicated, and she couldn’t figure them out quickly.

What kind of all-knowing, all-powerful god was he talking about?

Were there really both ghosts and gods in this world?

And what about the Red Girl? The man seemed to know her. From what he said, the Red Girl once wanted to practice “Gu” poison, and he didn’t stop her—in fact, he let her succeed. Now he was here to pick up the leftovers?

Guan Xiaoxuan felt like no matter what time it was, she was always like a piece of meat on a chopping board—anyone could come and take a bite.

“How can there be gods in the fog?” Guan Xiaoxuan looked at him painfully. “If there are, they can only be ghosts!”

No true gods would be worshipped by demons and monsters like this!

The man didn’t seem angry at her response. Instead, he gave her a creepy look and said, “No matter what, you’re already in my hands. The delicious taste the Red Girl couldn’t have—let me enjoy it instead!”

Then the man opened his mouth wide, almost tearing half his head open. Besides his teeth, Guan Xiaoxuan saw the bl00d-red flesh inside his mouth.

Guan Xiaoxuan’s eyes widened. She quickly grabbed the talismans Qiu Nan had given her earlier from her pocket, not caring what they did, and stuffed them all into the man’s mouth!

Maybe one of the talismans worked because the man immediately froze when the talismans entered his mouth. His grip weakened a lot. Guan Xiaoxuan seized the chance, broke free, and ran, crawling toward the back door of the bus.

Chen Man was lying on the floor with her eyes closed, seemingly unconscious or worse.

If Guan Xiaoxuan ignored her, she could probably escape by jumping out the window.

But she also knew that since this man had set his sights on her, she would be cursed with bad luck until he was gone. Every day would be filled with fear and anxiety!

The man slowly turned around. His mocking gaze looked at Guan Xiaoxuan like she was already dead.

Was there no way out?

Guan Xiaoxuan stared at the man with the ripped-open face and suddenly felt a deep sense of despair.

She had thought the only dangerous spirit on this bus was the man in the suit, so she used all five of her bullets on him. Now, with Chen Man’s fate unknown and Qiu Nan kicked out of the bus, she was empty-handed and definitely couldn’t beat this man.

What did she have left?

What method did she have to save herself?!

Her mind raced. She had just used the talismans Qiu Nan gave her—though she had a few left, she didn’t believe those alone would save her from the man.

An empty gun, a useless disguise, and a glass bead that could only move objects under five kilograms.

Even the dagger the suited man dropped had been kicked out of the bus along with Qiu Nan.

Now Guan Xiaoxuan truly felt abandoned by heaven and earth.

Just then, she suddenly saw a bus stop not far ahead. At the bus stop, there was a flash of bright red.

On the late-night street, a woman in a red dress sat quietly at the bus stop. She was soaking wet, her black hair dripping water as if she had just been pulled out of the water.

The woman sat there all alone, holding her bright red high heels in her arms.

It was the woman from the bus stop!

In Guan Xiaoxuan’s mind, she instantly remembered what Teacher Fang had taught her: this woman had an intense possessiveness and wouldn’t share her prey with others or with spirits.

That’s it!

Guan Xiaoxuan looked at the woman not far away and decisively raised her arm.