I'm Actually Panicking Because My Heart Doesn't Beat (GL) - Chapter 87

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Xing Tianqing gave a wry smile and said, “Actually, it wasn’t like that at first. We planned to have a barbecue at the foot of the mountain, then send someone over later. But who knew the barbecue place closed down because of recent events.”

“So you guys ended up having barbecue right at the crime scene?” Guan Xiaoxuan wrapped her coat tighter, confused. “Aren’t you worried about messing something up?”

“There’s nothing to mess up.” Xing Tianqing handed a roasted ear of corn to Guan Xiaoxuan and said, “This isn’t the original crime scene. And any case that gets handed over to us is basically an ‘unusual’ event, so there’s no real concept of ‘disturbing the scene’ anymore.”

She sat down next to Guan Xiaoxuan and smiled at her. “Besides, our team-building here is kind of like fishing.”

Guan Xiaoxuan understood—it was like a thief stealing a policeman’s wallet, only to find the whole mall full of undercover cops.

Everyone was ruthless.

Guan Xiaoxuan couldn’t help but feel sorry for that unlucky soul. They must be regretting it deeply after their soul scattered.

After they finished eating and drinking, Guan Xiaoxuan started to feel sleepy. Seeing this, Xing Tianqing didn’t make her stay. She said, “You still have school tomorrow. I’ll have Jing Shan and Qiu Nan send you home since they’re both on duty at the office tonight.”

Guan Xiaoxuan was really exhausted and yawned, saying, “I’ll head home first. You guys come back after you’re done.”

“Okay.” Xing Tianqing smiled lightly and then had Zhang Jingshan and Qiu Nan escort Guan Xiaoxuan down the mountain.

Xiao An cleaned up the place and looked at Xing Tianqing helplessly with a smile. “Captain Xing, you and Xiaoxuan are together now, huh?”

“Huh?” Xing Tianqing turned around cautiously and said with curiosity, “Don’t say nonsense.”

“How’s that nonsense?” Xiao An replied, “You were so attentive to Xiaoxuan all evening, and sometimes sneaking off to whisper in corners behind our backs. Isn’t that dating?”

Xing Tianqing didn’t deny it. Instead, she said in a light tone, “We get along well. Dating isn’t a big deal. Just don’t say anything about it in front of Xiaoxuan. She’s a shy girl.”

Xiao An laughed, “Okay, we all know you care about her a lot, so we won’t say anything.”

Just then, the team members in charge of investigation suddenly spoke up: “Captain Xing, the paranormal detector is showing activity. It looks like something is swimming up from the lake bottom.”

“Oh?” Xing Tianqing put down what she was holding and grabbed a golden-colored book out of thin air. She took off her glasses, revealing golden eyes, and told everyone, “Stop tidying up. Get ready to work.”

The next morning when Guan Xiaoxuan left, she didn’t see Xing Tianqing come back. Even Xing Wenjun hadn’t been around much lately. Guan Xiaoxuan felt puzzled but didn’t act rashly because she knew she was still being monitored.

Over the past week, Guan Xiaoxuan had tried to act as ordinary as possible. The truth was, every day she just went to school and attended classes. She and Xing Tianqing only ate and chatted, and except for that one kiss on the first day, Guan Xiaoxuan had even shared some intimate moments with Xing Tianqing where there was surveillance.

Like holding hands, or hugging at the waist.

She just wanted to see how Xing Wenjun would react. But surprisingly, the mother showed no reaction at all. In the surveillance reports, she only coldly described the facts.

Adopted kids just don’t compare to biological ones?

Guan Xiaoxuan found this hard to understand.

During break time at school, Guan Xiaoxuan sensed a shadow flicker and then Song Yi stepped out from behind her.

“Why did you come out?” Guan Xiaoxuan asked, surprised.

Song Yi looked around, then pointed to a black car leaving outside the window. She said, “The people monitoring you… have all left…”

Guan Xiaoxuan shivered and quickly sat up to look out. Sure enough, a black car was driving away. She guessed those were the people from the Paranormal Bureau sent to watch her.

“Why would they all just leave like that?” Guan Xiaoxuan felt something was off and asked Song Yi, “Are you sure they’re all gone? Maybe they’re planning to ambush us?”

Song Yi looked at her seriously and said clearly, “They’re all gone…”

Guan Xiaoxuan was suspicious but still didn’t act recklessly. She let Song Yi go back and waited until after school to take Xing Tianqing’s car home like usual.

In the car, Xing Tianqing said to Guan Xiaoxuan, “I might have to work overtime recently. You’ll have to go home by yourself every day.”

“Oh.” Guan Xiaoxuan looked out the window and answered casually.

Xing Tianqing glanced at her, thinking she was upset, so she reached out to squeeze Guan Xiaoxuan’s palm and smiled, “Oh, and one more thing—my mom flew back to headquarters this afternoon. I only found out minutes before she boarded.”

Xing Wenjun left?

Guan Xiaoxuan was surprised and looked back at her. “That soon? She never mentioned it.”

Lately, Xing Wenjun had been staying at home but leaving early and coming back late like a workaholic. Guan Xiaoxuan only occasionally saw her around 7 or 8 pm.

That same night, Guan Xiaoxuan stealthily went to the study to check Xing Wenjun’s surveillance reports.

Her own report was still packed with details, but Jin Cheng’s report was mostly blank except for some recent entries. She didn’t know how he managed it, but somehow, despite such close monitoring, he occasionally disappeared for half a day.

Anyway, Guan Xiaoxuan couldn’t pull that off.

Xing Tianqing sighed helplessly and said thoughtfully, “She never told me either. I guess it has something to do with work.”

Seeing Xing Tianqing like that made Guan Xiaoxuan feel a little guilty. She had kept many things from her, even sneaking into her home several times recently to check her mother’s reports. Though it was all for her own sake, she still felt uneasy.

“Oh, by the way, did you catch anything on the mountain yesterday?” Guan Xiaoxuan took the chance to change the subject and asked about their time there.

At the mention of this, Xing Tianqing frowned and said, “We did detect some strange things yesterday, but it seemed to be an intelligent kind of paranormal. It played hide and seek with us all night in the forest, and we couldn’t catch it.”

“That’s too sneaky,” Guan Xiaoxuan said. “Something intelligent and dangerous like that needs to be dealt with quickly, or it could cause serious harm.”

Xing Tianqing nodded in agreement. “That’s why I might be busy for a while. If you need anything, call me—I’ll try to find time to be with you.”

After dropping Guan Xiaoxuan off at the gate, Xing Tianqing drove away.

Watching the familiar car disappear from sight, Guan Xiaoxuan finally turned and entered the residential area.

At home, Song Yi popped up again and began inspecting the house. Guan Xiaoxuan took the chance to open a can for Guazi, their cat, and stroked its furry head. Seeing Song Yi pacing around the house, she finally asked, “Did you find anything?”

[Nothing… all gone…]

Guan Xiaoxuan looked around, then gently patted Guazi’s head and asked, “Are you sure?”

[The surveillance… all taken down…]

Hearing Song Yi’s confident answer, Guan Xiaoxuan put Guazi on the sofa and wandered around the house. She really didn’t find any cameras, and since she trusted Song Yi, if she said there were none, then there were none.

Still, Guan Xiaoxuan was puzzled—why did they monitor her for a whole week and then suddenly remove everything?

The cameras were gone, the plainclothes agents disappeared, and even Xing Wenjun left.

It all seemed like the monitoring was over, but Guan Xiaoxuan still felt uneasy. After thinking for a moment, she said to Song Yi, “Tonight, help me send a dream to Boss Jin. Ask him what’s going on now.”

Song Yi nodded and agreed.

That same night, in the middle of the night, Guan Xiaoxuan groggily opened her eyes.

She saw herself sitting on the living room sofa, looking around in confusion. After a few seconds, she realized she was dreaming again.

Just then, she saw Song Yi standing nearby and asked, “Did you send the dream to Boss Jin?”

Song Yi nodded and slowly said, [He… wants to meet you…]

“Meet me?”

Before Guan Xiaoxuan could ask more, someone knocked on the door.

Jin Cheng’s assistant politely opened it. Seeing Guan Xiaoxuan, he made a gentlemanly bow and greeted her: “Miss Guan, we meet again. My boss is worried you might misunderstand the paranormal situation, so he sent me to explain.”

Guan Xiaoxuan nodded. Song Yi’s speech was unclear and slow, so it was better that this man came in person.

Leaning against the sofa, she said, “Please go ahead.”

“My boss said not only your monitoring has been lifted, but his monitoring has also been removed, at least for now,” the man explained. “But even so, you shouldn’t be careless. It’s better if you don’t come looking for him recently. However, next Friday, Miss Chen Man is scheduled to be discharged from the hospital. If you want to speak with my boss directly, please go to the hospital then.”

After saying that, the man turned and left.

Guan Xiaoxuan thought for a moment—Chen Man was her schoolmate and someone she had saved before. Visiting her would make sense.

And Jin Cheng was both Chen Man’s patron and lover, so him being there made sense too.

The time and place worked out, but Guan Xiaoxuan started to wonder if she really wanted to meet him.

Although Jin Cheng had saved her life, he was very different from Xing Tianqing and the others. She always felt he was dangerous.

After thinking for over ten minutes, Guan Xiaoxuan decided not to dwell on it. After waking from the dream, she went back to sleep until the next day.

Following the assistant’s advice, Guan Xiaoxuan stayed cautious for two more days. On the third day, after confirming no one was watching her, she went to the girls’ dorm to get her things.

Bai Zhiqi was there and waved her off impatiently. “Just take your stuff and go. You’re giving me insomnia.”

“What’s wrong?” Guan Xiaoxuan laughed. “They’re just a bunch of dead things. They’re even in the dorm next to yours. What’s the big deal?”

“Who said they’re all dead? One of them is still active,” Bai Zhiqi said helplessly. “It suddenly lit up once since you left it here. It scared me so much.”