Chapter 38: White Mist in the Woods 3
The night passed quickly. At a little after seven in the morning, the sun rose both inside and outside the rules zone, its light piercing the white mist and dyeing the entire mountain forest in a hazy gold. Yi Ke found a small stream nearby; the water was bone-chillingly cold but clean. The action pack contained simple toiletries, enough for two people. He Yu wasn’t accustomed to the outdoors and hadn’t slept well. After a sleepless night, her already unhealthy complexion looked even more tired and sickly. However, she had a strong personality and didn’t ask Yi Ke to boil water for her. She squatted by the stream, managed to wash up, and then compressed and packed away the used sleeping bag.
Yi Ke asked, “Have you been keeping this rabbit tied up the whole time?”
“Its leg is almost broken. It would be hard for it to survive without human help,” He Yu said as she removed the rope from the rabbit’s neck and found it some tender grass to eat.
At the Huanian Villa, Zhuang Ningyu had also barely slept all night, spending it in online meetings with the Order Maintenance Department and the investigation team. Qingquan Mountain held a significant place in the hearts of Jin City’s citizens. It boasted thousands of acres of peach groves, farmhouse restaurants, and vast fields of golden rapeseed flowers, making it a popular spot for leisure and spring outings. On weekends, it was often gridlocked with traffic. However, most of the activity was concentrated in spring, summer, and autumn. Once winter arrived, everything became desolate, and the mountain grew quiet. With no tourists, most businesses would close for the season, leaving only the drag racers—bicycles, motorcycles, and cars—to treat the empty mountain roads as their natural speedway.
Because of this, there were many car accidents on Qingquan Mountain every year. Although the relevant authorities conducted joint enforcement operations from time to to time, the effect was always temporary. Once the heat was off, the mountain roads returned to their usual state. So, when this rules zone appeared, the investigation team’s first reaction was that it was related to the racing incidents. They worked overtime through the night and had already gathered as much relevant data as possible from the past twenty years.
Zhuang Ningyu sent a request for assistance to Huo Ting and received a call back within three minutes. On the phone, Huo Ting repeatedly emphasized, “You can look at the data, but don’t go running around. After Liu Xiaoyang’s wedding, I’ll have someone drive you back to the city. Xiao Yi will be fine.”
“This is Yi Ke’s first solo mission. According to the normal timeline, he should still be in his internship period,” Zhuang Ningyu said, standing on the balcony and looking at the thin morning mist in the distance, his brow furrowed. “On what basis did you conclude that ‘he will be fine’?”
“Based on his performance in school, his recruitment scores, and a comprehensive analysis of his recent operations,” Huo Ting replied. “My assessment is very objective. You’re the one who’s overly anxious.”
Zhuang Ningyu was speechless. What’s with the personal attack?
He didn’t think he was being overly anxious, but he reluctantly admitted that Huo Ting had a point. Yi Ke was indeed capable of operating alone, but the problem now was that He Yu was also in the rules zone.
Huo Ting asked, “You think there’s a problem with He Yu?”
“A total of five people from the joint enforcement team entered the mountain this time. Although the other four also encountered the white mist, only He Yu ended up trapped,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “Her file is indeed normal, but she is also the only one in the group of five who was selected and left behind by the rules. Before we fully understand the reason, we cannot completely rule out the suspicion that He Yu has a ‘story’.”
Having a story meant there was danger.
But Huo Ting still refused to let him go and even cited the “Code of Conduct for Order Maintenance Department Personnel.” Zhuang Ningyu’s ability to argue with authority was far inferior to his, which gave him a headache. He held the phone away from his ear and said with a hint of disgust, “Stop talking, you’re going to break my phone.”
“If your phone is broken, then enjoy your vacation properly,” Huo Ting said, unmoved. “How’s the resort?”
Zhuang Ningyu answered sincerely, “It’s very clean. Two cleaning ladies have been sweeping a pavilion for twenty minutes. The ground is about to be scrubbed bare.”
At eight in the morning, the sound of firecrackers crackled in the distance, a festive prelude to the wedding. Zhuang Ningyu wasn’t in the groomsmen party and had no duties, just waiting for the banquet. With several hours still to go, he returned to his room and sat at the desk, continuing to go through the files of various cases that had occurred on Qingquan Mountain in recent years.
The cleaning ladies in the pavilion watched him return to his room, immediately dropped their brooms, and pulled out their walkie-talkies. In a hushed voice, one said, “Master Zhang, Teacher Zhuang has finished his call. I repeat, Teacher Zhuang has finished his call. Please deliver the meal immediately, please deliver the meal immediately, OVER!”
A few minutes later, the doorbell of the luxury suite rang.
“Hello, room service.”
Zhuang Ningyu glanced at the time, wondering what kind of room service would arrive so early. When he opened the door, he saw two waiters holding breakfast trays and greeting him enthusiastically, “Good morning, Mr. Zhuang. This is the meal that Young Master Yi ordered for you.”
Zhuang Ningyu was at a loss for words.
He looked at the silver cloches with a hint of suspicion. Under normal circumstances, there should be food inside, but the problem was that Yi Ke was not normal. With the precedent of the “dreamy star-birther,” Zhuang Ningyu was afraid the waiter would lift the cover to reveal a “LOVE” made of rose petals. He stated firmly, “Just leave it there, I’ll do it myself.”
The waiter, with a napkin draped over his arm and ready to set up the breakfast, was taken aback. Do it himself?
Zhuang Ningyu stepped aside. “You can go now, thank you.”
Although the waiter agreed with a smile, he felt very uncertain. After leaving, he immediately started a serious discussion in the “Teacher Zhuang’s Breakfast Preparation Group”: What happened? Why does Teacher Zhuang want to lift the cloches himself? Could he be expecting some kind of surprise? But Young Master Yi didn’t tell us to do any special plating!
The head chef replied: “Don’t panic, I’ll fix it!”
Zhuang Ningyu lifted the last cloche and, seeing the simple shrimp dumplings, let out a deep sigh of relief. Just as he sat down to eat, the waiter knocked on the door again. “Hello, Teacher Zhuang, we didn’t finish delivering just now. There’s one more dish. Would you still like to lift this cloche yourself?”
“No need,” Zhuang Ningyu said, letting his guard down, even helping to make space. “Just put it here, thanks.”
The waiter agreed, placed the tray on the table, and then moved to the right side. With his left hand behind his back and his body slightly bent forward in an absolutely elegant and professional posture, he removed the cloche for him. “Please enjoy.”
The balcony door wasn’t fully closed. A gust of wind blew the freeze-dried rose petals from the plate, scattering them romantically around the room like a rain of love.
Zhuang Ningyu was speechless.
There is often a delay between stimulus and reaction, and this time, the delay was quite long. Even after the satisfied waiter left, Zhuang Ningyu was still pressing his temple with one hand, massaging his eye sockets. He had no appetite at all. He chewed on half a shrimp dumpling, his gaze drifting from the dining table to the desk. The phone had been silent. When it finally vibrated, it was just a scam text message. But Yi Ke had clearly just reported to Ye Jiaoyue five minutes ago, which meant there was no signal problem in the rules zone; he could contact the outside world.
Zhuang Ningyu stopped his eye exercises, puzzled by Yi Ke’s unusual silence this morning. Was it related to the rules, or was he just messing around again? He quickly came up with a dozen possibilities, both dangerous and not, subjective and objective, before finally remembering that he had blocked him last night.
“…”
Unlock — Settings — Permissions — Unblock.
Yi Ke: Wifey kisses~~~ Hubby loves you~~~ Did you miss your universally handsome hubby last night~~~ [Rose][Rose][Rose]~~~ Kiss kiss muah muah muah~~~
Zhuang Ningyu was dumbfounded. The phone fell into his bowl of sweet potato congee. He had never imagined that his eyes would one day read such shocking text. For a moment, his mental state was comparable to that of Aureliano at the end of One Hundred Years of Solitude, “realizing that his heart could not bear so much weight,” only able to watch as the city of mirrors was swept away by a hurricane of dust.
On the other end, Yi Ke hadn’t expected the red exclamation mark in the chat box to suddenly disappear. He gasped and frantically retracted the messages, his face flushed. He squatted down for a while to cool off before calling back, pretending nothing had happened. “Morning.”
Zhuang Ningyu asked in disbelief, “So every time I block you, you’re sending this kind of stuff?”
Yi Ke’s one-second silence was his answer. He then changed the subject, “The monster has appeared.”
The rest of Zhuang Ningyu’s words were effectively cut off. The monster has appeared?
He logged into his account and opened the latest file Yi Ke had uploaded five seconds ago. It was a short video. In a pale golden forest, a girl was cautiously hiding behind a large tree… or rather, a little girl would be more accurate. She looked to be about ten years old, with skin that was pale in an unhealthy way, as if she hadn’t seen the sun in years. She had waist-long hair with straight bangs and was wearing a blue and white dress, like a beautiful little mannequin from a shop window.
This time, the monster appeared before the rules. Yi Ke said, “I tried to approach her just now, but I failed.”
She ran like the wind, her body light and seemingly boneless, without any weight. With a “whoosh,” she limply draped herself over a branch. The scene was quite eerie. He Yu let out a short scream and hid behind Yi Ke, too scared to peek out.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“A normal situation,” Yi Ke replied. “She shouldn’t be aggressive or harmful before the specific rules appear. You don’t need to be so nervous.”
Although he was right, it was He Yu’s first time in a rules zone, and it was a bit much to ask her to relax completely. Yi Ke had originally planned to have He Yu try to approach the little girl, as children of that age are often more comfortable with an older sister figure than a male. But seeing He Yu’s reaction, he had to change his plan and take a few steps forward himself. The little girl had already slipped down from the tree and was cautiously peeking out from behind the trunk, her large, dark eyes blinking continuously. Yi Ke followed her gaze and turned his head—it was the tied-up rabbit. The rope He Yu had left it was long and loose, not restricting its movement. After a night’s rest, the wound on its leg had formed a thin scab. The rabbit was now busy munching on grass, its body curled into a ball, looking particularly fluffy and cute in the sunlight.
Yi Ke picked up the rabbit.
The little girl’s gaze followed.
Yi Ke chuckled softly, squatted down, and placed the wild rabbit on the ground, stroking its furry head with the back of his fingers. The morning sun was gentle, and under the comfortable petting, the rabbit soon sprawled out. A smile appeared on the little girl’s face, and she quietly inched forward.
Yi Ke asked, “What’s your name?”
The little girl opened her mouth and made a few simple sounds. She pointed to her ear and nodded, then pointed to her mouth and shook her head.
She could hear but couldn’t speak.
Yi Ke continued to hold out his hand to her. The little girl seemed to like him and continued to move forward while squatting. She might have found the posture awkward but didn’t dare to stand up—a common trait in children, who feel safer curled up. She eventually started crawling on all fours like a small animal.
The distance between them grew smaller. Just as Yi Ke was about to take her hand, the rabbit on the grass suddenly kicked its legs and jumped up. Although it quickly fell back down due to its injury, the sudden movement was enough to startle the little girl. She turned around swiftly and, in the blink of an eye, scrambled away and disappeared into the forest.
“…”
Zhuang Ningyu asked, “It ran away?”
“Ran away,” Yi Ke said. “But it’s fine, she’ll reappear.”
“What about He Yu? How is she doing?”
“Not great. Scared, nervous. She was also quite frightened when the little girl bolted. But this is a normal reaction for most people,” Yi Ke said. “I know your concerns. Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on her. So far, she seems fine.”
Zhuang Ningyu said, “Okay.”
Yi Ke then asked, “How was breakfast?”
Zhuang Ningyu looked at the table covered in rose petal debris, the half-eaten shrimp dumpling, and the bite taken out of a sickly sweet French toast, and asked, “How much did it cost?”
Yi Ke replied, “Two thousand, including the tip.”
Zhuang Ningyu was speechless.
Never mind I asked.
The digital clock on the bedside table ticked by, second by second. For a long time, the hour remained “8,” showing that this resort was indeed as leisurely as its reputation suggested, not only for the guests but for time itself, which seemed to have become soft and listless. Zhuang Ningyu managed to pick out a few edible items from the platter to fill his stomach, then went for a purposeless walk in the garden for half an hour. He checked the time: 9:08 AM.
At the nearby spa, a yoga teacher was leading guests in early morning meditation. The deep, resonant sound of singing bowls, said to purify the soul, filled the air. Unfortunately, Zhuang Ningyu was in no mood to appreciate this mystical call from the Himalayas. His mind was still occupied with the reason why the rules zone had left Yi Ke and He Yu behind. If it was random, that was one thing. But if it wasn’t, then did the rules zone choose Yi Ke, He Yu, or both of them?
He pulled up He Yu’s file on his phone again, which he had read many times. A native of Lucheng, twenty-eight years old, a graduate of a second-tier university in the province. After graduation, she worked odd jobs while studying for the civil service exam for several years, finally succeeding this year. A very normal life trajectory. Her colleagues at the street office also had a good impression of her, with evaluations mostly centered on her being kind, down-to-earth, and a hard worker who loved small animals—perhaps a bit too much, spending all her salary on cats and dogs. Last month, she was even scammed out of a large sum of money by a disreputable animal welfare organization.
Could it be because she “loves small animals” that He Yu was chosen? After all, Yi Ke did say that when the rules zone approached, she was in the mountain pit trying to pry open a rabbit trap.
Zhuang Ningyu sent Yi Ke a message, asking if he liked small animals.
Yi Ke quickly replied, I like you.
Zhuang Ningyu was speechless.
Yi Ke laughed and sent him a voice message: “I’ve never had a pet. I’ll play with cats and dogs I see in the neighborhood. Does that count as liking them?”
It could count, but Zhuang Ningyu felt that Lao Yang and Lao Ou would probably have a similar reaction to cats and dogs. In other words, Yi Ke’s “liking” wasn’t unique.
If it wasn’t related to liking animals, what could it be related to?
Zhuang Ningyu stayed in the garden for about half an hour, getting enough fresh air. He had planned to go back to his room to continue reading the files when his phone suddenly received a new message—an employee from a motorcycle club had reported their boss missing half an hour ago.
The missing man was named Zhou Huanchang, a local, thirty-five years old, a long-time motorcycle enthusiast with a considerable reputation in Jin City’s riding circles. At the beginning of the year, he had rented a row of shops halfway up Qingquan Mountain and opened a restaurant. Through one club event after another, the restaurant quickly became an internet-famous spot. Even during the recent off-season for tourism, business was booming, and he was making a fortune.
The investigator said, “Zhou Huanchang didn’t show up for work at the club today, and his phone is unreachable. Although he hasn’t been missing for long, his employee considered the new rules zone on Qingquan Mountain and called the police immediately.”
A motorcycle club owner, trapped on Qingquan Mountain, known as a “drag racing paradise”—the causal link sounded much more plausible than He Yu’s. Zhuang Ningyu scrolled through Zhou Huanchang’s information on his phone as he walked back. Halfway there, he suddenly heard a commotion. He looked up and saw the groomsmen’s party surrounding the groom, taking photos on the lawn. Just then, Liu Xiaoyang noticed Zhuang Ningyu wandering around outdoors. His expression tightened, and he quickly ran over. “Captain Zhuang, where are you going so early?”
Zhuang Ningyu didn’t understand why he looked so nervous. “Nowhere, just taking a walk after breakfast. I have nothing to do, you go on with your business.”
Liu Xiaoyang confirmed uneasily, “Are you just walking around this resort?”
Zhuang Ningyu was puzzled by the question. “What do you mean?”
Liu Xiaoyang grabbed his hand and said with the deep emotion of a poetry recitation, “Nothing, I just want to express that I really, really admire you, Captain Zhuang. On countless nights of confusion, it was you who lit up my heart. When I was defeated and frustrated, it was also you who gave me the courage to reshape my life. This wedding is very important to me. Ah, Captain Zhuang, please, you must stay.”
Zhuang Ningyu was speechless.
Zhuang Ningyu asked, “Who taught you that?”
Zhuang Ningyu confessed with a mournful face, “Chief Huo. He called me personally this morning and told me to keep an eye on you, no matter what it takes.”
Zhuang Ningyu tried to pull his hand back. “What if I really have something to do?”
Liu Xiaoyang held on with the force of someone grasping their future, their hope, their career. “Chief Huo said if you insist on leaving early for Xiao Yi, you have to call him first.”
Zhuang Ningyu gave up struggling instantly. He asked in a very innocent tone, “What does this have to do with Xiao Yi?”
Liu Xiaoyang spread his hands. “I don’t know, that’s just what Chief Huo said. So, Captain Zhuang, are you still leaving?”
