Chapter 12 This Man Is Really Hard to Handle

Chapter 12 This Man Is Indeed Tough to Deal With

The restaurant Qi Bai had chosen was located on a historic food street. Pang Le had scouted the area beforehand and knew it was small but crowded, so she parked in a parking lot two streets away. The two of them walked for a while before arriving.

"This is it," Pang Le said after double-checking the alley, speaking with certainty. "This is the street. It’s just another hundred meters down. Let's go."

When going out with Pang Le, Guan Xia didn't have to think much at all. She agreed and tagged along casually behind her.

After just a few steps, Pang Le said with a hint of pride, "Called it! Look, who's that?"

Guan Xia followed Pang Le’s gaze and easily spotted a hard-to-miss figure.

He was very tall, wearing simple jeans and a white shirt, his hair messy and unstyled. Yet, with his striking face, he stood out like a crane among chickens on the bustling street.

In contrast, Qi Bai had clearly made an effort with his appearance. His hair was clean-cut, complementing his facial features and making him look exceptionally dashing. He wore a slightly tight short-sleeved T-shirt that showed off his firm, toned arm muscles and hinted at the contours of his chest and abs. His lower half was clad in slightly loose casual pants, and he wore a pair of seemingly brand-new sneakers, highlighting all his best features.

To be honest, in Guan Xia’s opinion, Qi Bai was quite handsome—thick eyebrows and big eyes, with a sharp intensity when he wasn’t smiling, but when he smiled, he became bright and even a bit goofy.

Like right now, Qi Bai and the man beside him had spotted them. Qi Bai flashed a bright smile, revealing a set of white teeth, and waved, "Over here."

Guan Xia glanced at Qi Bai, then at Pang Le, and couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh.

As the two approached, Qi Bai immediately stuck out his hand. "Good to see you again, Miss Guan. Thanks for all your help."

"No problem." Guan Xia shook his hand. As soon as she let go, she noticed Qi Bai’s eyes lit up even more, his smile widening as he looked at Pang Le and said, "Hello, I’m Qi Bai. We’ve met before—not sure if you remember."

Although Pang Le wasn’t interested in Qi Bai, she still greeted him politely. "I’m Pang Le, Guan Xia’s friend. Guan Xia told me you were the officer on duty that night. Thank you so much for responding so late."

Pang Le acted as though she didn’t remember him well, but Qi Bai wasn’t put off. He continued warmly, "All in a day’s work. Oh, this is my friend and colleague, Xu Nian."

Compared to Qi Bai’s outgoing friendliness, Xu Nian was much more reserved. His smile was slight, just a faint curve of his lips, as he nodded at the two. "Hello."

Guan Xia and Pang Le also replied with a hello.

After a few more polite exchanges, Qi Bai asked, "Should we sit inside or outside?"

It was peak dining time, and the restaurant was clearly popular. The place was spacious, with many tables and chairs set up outside, most of which were already occupied.

After only a few seconds of hesitation, Pang Le said, "Outside. It’s quieter, better for talking."

Qi Bai immediately nodded. "Sure."

The four found an empty table and sat down. Qi Bai took the menu from the server and handed it to Pang Le. "This place is known for its copper pot hotpot. The beef and lamb are very fresh—order whatever you like."

Pang Le estimated how much the four could eat and unhesitatingly marked several items before quickly passing the menu back. "See if there’s anything else you’d like to add."

Qi Bai held the menu toward Xu Nian so he could see too, quickly scanned it, added a few more items, then looked up and asked, "Should we get some beer?"

Guan Xia was fine with it—beer and barbecue were a perfect match—but Pang Le had driven.

Just as Guan Xia was about to say no for her, Pang Le said with a cheerful smile, "Sure! Barbecue goes great with beer, though we can’t drink too much."

Qi Bai marked another item on the menu and returned it to the server.

Guan Xia first scanned the area, noting that everyone was drinking, eating, and chatting animatedly, then lowered her voice slightly to ask, "Is it okay to tell us now? Why... why did that person target me?"

Although the case was solved and didn’t require strict confidentiality, Guan Xia still didn’t dare to ask too directly.

Qi Bai also lowered his voice. "Because he felt you deceived him."

Guan Xia looked bewildered. "Deceived him?"

Qi Bai smiled. "People like him always have their own logic. We normal people can’t understand it, and we don’t need to."

Guan Xia truly couldn’t understand and almost laughed. "I only said one sentence to him. How could that deceive him?"

Then, remembering something, she instinctively glanced at Pang Le. Pang Le clearly remembered too, her eyes widening in surprise.

"No way? Because of your leg?" Pang Le felt like she’d gained a new perspective. "But you weren’t using crutches—it was obviously a hiking pole. Even an idiot could tell you weren’t actually lame, right?"

"He really is worse than an idiot," Qi Bai said with disgust when mentioning the killer.

Guan Xia collected her thoughts, then said, puzzled, "But there are still parts that don’t make sense. Running into him in the hallway was completely accidental. Deciding to stay at Pang Le’s place the next day was spontaneous, not to mention going to the gym with her. Such sudden events—he couldn’t have been prepared in advance to target me. That means running into him at the mall was also a coincidence."

Qi Bai nodded.

Guan Xia felt speechless. "So, am I just really unlucky?"

"It’s that he was too unpredictable," Pang Le said, playing with her cup. "Who would’ve thought a killer who’d just murdered two people the day before wouldn’t flee overnight but instead go to work normally the next morning? And keep working for three days straight, only leaving after the store celebration ended?"

Guan Xia wondered if this was just what you’d expect from a serial killer—exceptional mental fortitude.

But then another thought suddenly occurred to her.

If the system hadn’t been activated, and the LowProfile Aura tied to it hadn’t fluctuated in intensity, then even if she’d appeared in the killer’s line of sight, maybe she wouldn’t have been targeted.

Guan Xia calculated: from when the police questioned her to when the killer made a move on her, it was eight days in total. The day the system activated, the aura intensity must have been 100%. So what was the intensity when the killer was outside her door preparing to attack?

Also, was the aura intensity affected by the killer’s malice toward her? If there were no criminals around, how did the daily aura intensity decrease?

Since realizing the importance of the LowProfile Aura, Guan Xia had been studying it these past few days. Unfortunately, the system remained dead, unresponsive no matter how she tested it.

Feeling somewhat frustrated, Guan Xia instinctively glanced around.

Although she didn’t want to actively seek out danger, with the highly capable Pang Le by her side and two police officers across from her, she rather hoped a criminal would appear—one that would trigger a reaction from the system—so she could study this stupid system further.

Guan Xia was distracted, but Pang Le had plenty to talk about with Qi Bai.

Qi Bai said, "For him, encountering Guan Xia was a coincidence. Liu Jiahui was also an accident. That’s why he went back to work the day after killing two people—because in his initial plan, he hadn’t intended to kill anyone this year."

Guan Xia listened intently.

Pang Le frowned and asked, "He targeted Guan Xia because he felt deceived, but what about Liu Jiahui and her son?"

These two were utterly ordinary—not exceptional in any way, with poor family circumstances. Aside from the bond between mother and son, they didn’t fit the killer’s selection criteria at all. Since learning about the killer’s first two cases, Guan Xia and Pang Le had discussed it several times but still couldn’t make sense of it.

Qi Bai: "Jealousy. Because he knew they were about to escape their miserable situation."

Guan Xia: "Huh?"

Qi Bai said, "Liu Jiahui and her ex-husband, Liang Da, divorced because his company went bankrupt. Last year, Liang Da started a new business and paid off his debts. A month before Liu Jiahui’s death, the two were discussing remarriage."

Guan Xia recalled the chat logs she’d seen in the group about Liu Jiahui and her ex-husband and hesitantly said, "But someone in our community saw her having a heated argument with a man who might’ve been her ex-husband. The man even tried to snatch the child."

Qi Bai: "That was half a year before Liu Jiahui’s death. At the time, Liang Da proposed remarriage, but Liu Jiahui refused. Liang Da suspected she had a new boyfriend and wanted custody of their child."

Now Guan Xia fully understood. Liu Jiahui and her son were just like her—pure victims of bad luck. The only difference was that she’d been luckier, activating her "cheat" in time to escape disaster.

Although the restaurant was crowded, the food was served quickly. While they were chatting, almost all the dishes had arrived.

Qi Bai made a point to fetch two glass cups, opened a bottle of beer, and poured each about seventy percent full for her and Guan Xia. He and Xu Nian, however, were less formal and drank directly from the bottle.

After clinking glasses, Pang Le took a few bites to settle her stomach and glanced at Xu Nian, who had been mostly silent. She asked Qi Bai, "Do you usually meet up for meals here?"

"Pretty much," Qi Bai replied with a smile. "This place is run by a colleague’s family from our police sub-bureau. The food tastes great, and the ingredients are fresh. Since we have to eat somewhere, almost everyone in the sub-bureau comes here for gatherings."

"You just solved a major case—you must have several days off now, right?" Pang Le asked curiously, casually handing Guan Xia a skewer of her favorite grilled wide potato noodles.

"Yeah, we got five days off," Qi Bai said, his eyes suddenly lighting up as if he had thought of something. "We may be busy, but we always get time off once a case is closed."

Guan Xia picked up on Qi Bai’s obvious implication, and Pang Le naturally understood too. She smiled and nodded, "That’s great. We should hang out when you have free time. What do you usually do on your days off? Play sports? Go fishing? Or just get together to eat and drink?"

Qi Bai’s smile widened. "I’m naturally curious—I’ll try anything given the chance. Captain Xu is more of a homebody. After closing a case, he prefers staying in, gardening, or putting together LEGO sets, though he always ends up killing his plants."

"A homebody?" Pang Le glanced at Xu Nian, somewhat surprised. "Then you’re quite like Guan Xia. She can hole up for ten days to half a month when she’s painting."

Xu Nian truly seemed to be a man of few words. Even when Pang Le tried to steer the conversation toward him, he only smiled faintly and didn’t engage.

It was the first time Guan Xia had seen Pang Le strike out with a guy. Recalling Pang Le’s earlier comment that he was a tough nut to crack, she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Pang Le’s judgment of men was as sharp as ever. It seemed this man was indeed hard to figure out.