Chapter 35 Like You, Seems to Have a Special Physique

Chapter 35: Seems to Have a Special Vibe Like You

Guan Xia and Pang Le had booked their return tickets for noon, so they slept in a little, had breakfast, then took their time packing their suitcases, dropped off the rental car, and headed to the bullet train station.

During the short few hours of the return journey, Pang Le kept checking her phone, her frowning more and more as they got closer to their destination.

"Something's really off," Pang Le said as she fastened her seatbelt after getting in the car at the station. "It's already this late—over ten hours past the usual video update time—and there's no announcement. I think something must have happened to Song Yi."

Guan Xia remembered Shao Ying casually mentioning a tricky case last night and asked Pang Le, "Did Song Yi mention which city the mountain was in that she mentioned going to during her last video?"

Pang Le thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, but I remember fans were discussing it in the comments. Let me check."

She took out her phone and scrolled for a while before suddenly saying, "Found it—it's in Quchun City."

Pang Le leaned over to show Guan Xia her phone. The first thing Guan Xia saw was a photo—no people, just scenery. A quiet night with a bright moon and scattered stars overhead, and in the distance, a sparkling sea of city lights that never went out. The very bottom corner of the photo showed a paved road on the mountaintop. Based on these elements, it matched perfectly the next exploration site Song Yi had mentioned in her previous video.

Pang Le swiped to the next photo, and below it was another image—a navigation screenshot with a location pin, confirming it was indeed the Cuiping Mountain Range in Quchun City.

Guan Xia told Pang Le what Shao Ying had said the previous night. Pang Le’s expression immediately turned serious. "I’ll call my ex-boyfriend now to see if he’s heard anything."

A few minutes later, Pang Le hung up and looked at Guan Xia. "He only knows that yesterday around noon, the police suddenly dispatched a lot of officers into the mountains and blocked off all roads leading to Cuiping Mountain. It must be a major case, but he doesn’t know the specifics."

Guan Xia couldn’t help suspecting even more that Song Yi was the female lead in this detective novel fusion world. At the same time, she felt a pang of worry for Song Yi.

As a peripheral character who had unintentionally stumbled into this world of fused detective novels, the cases she encountered were already terrifying enough. How much worse must it be for the original female lead? She’ll probably survive, but what she would have to go through was anyone’s guess.

Pang Le was busy on her phone for a while longer, clearly hoping to uncover more information, but her expression made it clear she’d hit a dead end.

They started the car and left the bullet train station, but within a few kilometers, they sensed something was off again.

Guan Xia watched several police cars speed past outside the window and couldn’t help asking Pang Le, "Is it just me, or is today some special occasion? Why does it feel like there are so many more police cars on the streets than usual?"

They usually saw patrol cars now and then, but it didn’t happen often. Today, however, they’d already passed three within less than half an hour.

The traffic also seemed heavier than usual. Even though it wasn’t rush hour, they were crawling along. Pang Le kept an eye on the distance between cars while glancing around. After a moment, she said, "Something’s definitely wrong. Look at the intersections—there are police officers at every one."

Guan Xia turned her head to look and indeed saw two uniformed officers at each intersection, observing the crowd and occasionally stopping pedestrians to check their IDs.

Pang Le muttered, "We’ve only been gone for a day, but it feels like months. Did another major case happen?"

Quchun City and Yongquan City were hundreds of kilometers apart, with two other cities in between, yet both had simultaneously experienced cases requiring large-scale police mobilization. Guan Xia was feeling the reality of having transmigrated into a fused world of detective novels more and more acutely.

As they inched forward with the traffic, they turned right onto a narrow two-lane road after just three traffic lights and were soon stopped.

Three police cars were parked on the roadside, with seven or eight traffic officers working with serious expressions.

The officers were using breathalyzers to check every driver for alcohol, which seemed normal, but the fact that they were also inspecting every car’s trunk made it feel anything but ordinary.

What’s more, it was broad daylight. Guan Xia glanced at the bright sun outside and hesitantly asked Pang Le, "Do traffic police usually check for drunk driving during the day?"

She didn’t drive, so she’d never paid much attention.

Pang Le shook her head. "I don’t know. I’ve never encountered it during the day before."

They patiently waited in line, slowly moving forward without speaking, but their eyes were busy observing everything around them.

When it was almost their turn, the driver in front of them, after being tested, couldn’t resist asking, "Officer, did something happen? Why are you checking for drunk driving in the middle of the day?"

He’d voiced everyone’s thoughts, and even Guan Xia leaned out to listen.

The traffic officer looked momentarily exasperated before replying with a pained expression, "Nothing major. Our city is up for the Civilized City evaluation again, so we’re all out maintaining order. Remember to drive safely and follow traffic rules…"

Seeing the officer was about to launch into his usual spiel, the driver quickly cut him off. "Okay, okay, thank you, Officer. I’ll be on my way now and not cause any trouble." His trunk had been inspected, so as soon as the officer stepped to a safe distance, he hit the gas and sped off.

Pang Le pulled her head back in and moved the car forward. After their routine inspection, they drove off, and she asked Guan Xia, "Do you believe it’s because of the Civilized City evaluation?"

Guan Xia leaned back in her seat, finding a comfortable position. "Whether we believe it or not doesn’t matter. Even if we wanted to know more, we probably wouldn’t be able to find out. Let’s just stay home for a while and see how things develop over the next few days."

Guan Xia could tell from the atmosphere that if this was indeed related to a case, the perpetrator was likely even more vicious than in the previous two cases. She was genuinely afraid of running into something if she went out. Besides, her "halo" had just recharged to 100%, and she and Pang Le had successfully completed their planned tests. This was the perfect time to stay home and binge-watch dramas.

Pang Le, who had been initially eager to discuss the situation, quickly calmed down. "You’re right. Even though we know two police officers, we’re not exactly close with them—we’re not even friends. Actually, even if we were friends, they probably wouldn’t tell us anything. We’ll just have to wait and ask later."

Pang Le drove Guan Xia all the way to her apartment building before leaving.

Over the next few days, Guan Xia mostly stayed home, only going out for morning runs and grocery shopping.

She’d been living there for over ten days but had never visited the park across the street. She’d been tempted every time she saw it from her balcony, but the atmosphere she’d felt on the way back from Quchun City, combined with the fact that Xu Nian’s case had apparently been solved but he still hadn’t returned home, quickly suppressed her curiosity. She continued staying in.

Then, one weekend afternoon, Guan Xia dozed off while watching a drama and was woken up by a call from Pang Le.

Pang Le sounded cheerful. "Guan Xia, want to hang out? Listen, our gym recently got this gorgeous new member. He’s a guy, but he’s seriously beautiful—and really interesting. Most importantly… he seems to have a special vibe, kind of like you."

Guan Xia, who had been yawning from sleepiness, immediately perked up. "He has a special vibe? How so?"

Pang Le replied, "He hasn’t been here long, so I’m not super close with him yet, but he mentioned something about encountering more than two or three bodies while traveling and helping the police solve several cases."

Guan Xia was surprised. "That really is special."

Even more special than her. Guan Xia thought of Song Yi, who was likely the female lead of a detective novel. What about this guy? Handsome, interesting, and stumbling upon bodies wherever he went—could he be the male lead of some detective novel?

Guan Xia pondered, hesitating over whether to meet him.

Pang Le seemed to sense her hesitation and pressed on, "Come on, it’ll be fun. Even if it’s just to appreciate a beautiful person and refresh your eyes, you don’t have to become friends. Who knows, it might even give you some inspiration."

Using inspiration as bait again. Guan Xia eyed her suspiciously. "You’re not using me as a shield again, are you?"

It wasn’t that Guan Xia wanted to doubt Pang Le, but over the years they’d known each other, this had happened more than once.

Sure enough, Pang Le chuckled awkwardly. "Well, you see, I made plans to have dinner with this beautiful person tonight, but Shi Guangbo suddenly had something come up. I don’t want him to misunderstand, so I need to bring someone along."

Guan Xia sighed. "Couldn’t you just cancel or reschedule?"

Pang Le said matter-of-factly, "He was telling me about a case during dinner last night and didn’t finish. We agreed to continue tonight."

Guan Xia relented. "Fine, fine. Are you picking me up?"

Pang Le brightened. "Of course!"

They agreed on a time, and Guan Xia went downstairs, waiting for just a couple of minutes before Pang Le pulled up.

As Guan Xia fastened her seatbelt, she could easily see Pang Le’s excitement about the evening gathering shining in her eyes.

Even though she knew Pang Le well, Guan Xia couldn’t help asking, "You’re not thinking of switching targets before even winning over Lawyer Shi, are you?"

Pang Le’s face fell, and she shot Guan Xia an annoyed look. "What kind of person do you take me for? I may love all beautiful things, including beautiful people, but I’m still very loyal. I take every relationship seriously. I admit this guy is interesting, but I don’t have any other thoughts right now. I just think his vibe is similar to yours, maybe even more extreme. I thought talking to him might help you gain some insights."

So it was for her sake. Guan Xia felt pleased, but the mention of special vibes made her think of Song Yi again. They hadn’t discussed her since returning from Quchun City, and she had no idea what had happened afterward. She asked, "Has Song Yi resumed updating her videos? Did your ex-boyfriend share any more information?"

Pang Le turned down the music slightly before answering. "She’s resumed updates, but her video didn’t mention the incident at all. She just said the wild mountain was so beautiful they stayed an extra couple of days, which delayed the update. But I asked my ex-boyfriend and kept an eye on the camping and hiking groups. Something did happen during their trip into the mountains—something big. Two people from their camping group died."

Although Guan Xia had mentally prepared herself suspecting Song Yi might be the female lead in a detective novel, she was still shocked by the answer. "What? People died? Two of them? Murdered? Has the killer been caught?"

Pang Le replied, "Apparently not, and the key point is the method of death—there are rumors they were gunned down."

Guan Xia’s mind went blank. "Shot?"

Although she had transmigrated into a world blended with detective novel elements, most aspects were almost identical to the world she came from, meaning the country she was in also banned guns. Yet, in a country with strict gun control, someone had been shot so close to her. Guan Xia’s mind raced, and she couldn’t help but shudder.

Pang Le noticed and reached out a hand to pat Guan Xia’s shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. I analyzed it carefully: we went to Quchun City on the 14th, and Song Yi’s group went up the mountain on the morning of the 13th. The police dispatched a large force into the mountains at noon on the 14th and blocked all major access points to the Cuiping Mountain Range. Based on this timeline, we couldn't have crossed paths with the killer. No matter how brutal he is, he’s not foolish enough to carry a gun and run into the city center."

Guan Xia felt a bit relieved but couldn’t help feeling deep sympathy for Song Yi. A bright, hardworking girl—who knew how she managed to escape the killer in the mountains? After going through something like that, how would her state of mind change?

The two chatted idly until they soon arrived at the restaurant they had agreed upon for dinner.

It was a hot pot place near the mall. It was clear that Pang Le currently had no real interest in this beauty; otherwise, given her habit of paying extra attention to her image when pursuing someone, she would never have suggested hot pot after just meeting him for two or three days.

After parking the car and following Pang Le into a small private dining room, Guan Xia immediately noticed a man sitting bored in a chair, playing on his phone.

He looked very young, probably in his twenties. Though male, his features leaned toward the feminine—delicate and smooth facial contours, a pair of captivating phoenix eyes, a straight and petite nose, and lips that were a vibrant, naturally rosy red. As he scrolled through his phone, he seemed to see something that evoked a mocking smile, giving the impression that while he was beautiful, he was also prickly.

Hearing the door open, the man looked up. Guan Xia, faced with such striking beauty, felt as though she had forgotten how to walk.

It wasn’t until the man stood up and greeted them warmly that Guan Xia snapped back to reality and tried to regain her composure.

The man first said to Pang Le, "You’re finally here." Then he turned to Guan Xia, extending his hand. "Hello, I’m a friend Pang Le recently made. My name is Lu Tingfeng."