"What was this snake doing out on the ground instead of hibernating properly?"
Xie Yixuan muttered to himself, but he did not dare approach to investigate. Afraid of being struck by lightning, he could only stand at a distance.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt as though a faint layer of mist had risen around him, making the surrounding scenery hazy.
It was as if a pair of invisible hands were slowly wiping away everything that existed.
Xie Yixuan surveyed his surroundings and frowned. "Why did it suddenly get foggy?"
The climate on this mountain was truly bizarre. First there had been thunder, and then, for no apparent reason, fog had risen. Neither phenomenon should have appeared in winter.
Even the snakes that should have been hibernating had crawled out onto the ground and struck such a strange pose. Could the geology here really be more unusual than elsewhere?
Fortunately, the fog was not especially thick yet. Although it obscured his vision somewhat, the effect was not too serious.
A rustling sound came from not far away. Thinking there might be something there, he casually pushed aside the bushes in front of him and looked over.
There was actually a figure in the distance!
Xie Yixuan's expression changed. "How could there still be anyone deep in the mountains? Could this be the killer Captain Sun mentioned?"
He immediately forgot about the snake in the distance. Besides, he had been afraid to approach that area in case there was lightning. Xie Yixuan hurriedly chased after the figure.
At that moment, the gray mist around him seemed to grow slightly denser, and the surrounding scenery changed along with it.
Xie Yixuan was still chasing the person ahead.
The figure remained in front of him at a neither-near-nor-far distance. He could make out a rough outline, but could not see the person's exact appearance.
Worried about alerting the figure, Xie Yixuan followed carefully behind.
The figure's speed did not change at all. He simply walked across the snow at an unhurried pace, and an indescribable sense of strangeness gradually welled up in Xie Yixuan's heart.
The figure looked far too light and graceful, and seemed to be wearing very little.
As he slowly drew closer, Xie Yixuan could finally make out the clothing. It was actually a white robe, narrow across the upper body and long enough to drag along the ground, with a flared hem resembling the style of a curved-front robe.
The figure wore a matching hat, with the hair tied up, looking exactly like a scholar from ancient times.
Xie Yixuan could hardly believe it. In this icy, snowy wilderness, wearing clothes like that, wasn't the person afraid of freezing to death? Even a sturdy man like him, who had undergone training, could barely withstand the cold.
Not to mention that slender figure before him, which looked as though a gust of northern wind could blow it away.
Could this be some kind of cosplay?
This was not spring or summer, after all, but a bitterly cold winter. And the temperature was even lower up in the mountains.
Dressed like that, the person's body temperature would probably go haywire in less than half an hour, perhaps even causing hallucinations before eventually leading to death.
"There's something wrong with this person."
Xie Yixuan sized up the figure in the distance. Although it seemed unreasonable, he analyzed that this probably was not the killer. With those tiny arms and legs, how could the person have killed two burly men in such a short time?
For safety's sake, Xie Yixuan could not help calling out, "Hey, are you all right? Do you need help?"
He had originally thought his voice would make the strange person react, but who would have guessed that the figure acted as though he had not heard him? He continued walking across the snow at the same unhurried pace.
Xie Yixuan grew increasingly uneasy. He could not help quickening his steps, and soon he was nearly right behind the person.
"He" still showed no sign of noticing him.
Xie Yixuan faintly caught a delicate fragrance. The scent of pine resin mingled with the fragrance of snow lotus, rushing toward him—crisp and cold, yet carrying a hint of purity.
But just then, the person ahead suddenly stopped and slowly turned around.
Her beauty was like the sun rising through the morning clouds, radiant as a lotus emerging from clear ripples.
The face before him was exquisitely beautiful. At such a close distance, there was not a single flaw, not even a visible pore. Her brows were dark without needing to be painted, and her lips red without needing rouge, as though she were heaven's most carefully crafted masterpiece.
She was actually a woman!
That fleeting glimpse left Xie Yixuan staring in a daze, to the point that he completely forgot everything he had been about to say.
Realizing that he had been staring straight at her, which was exceedingly rude, Xie Yixuan lowered his head awkwardly.
"Um, the mountains are dangerous, and you're dressed too lightly. There may also be a murderer roaming around here. Don't worry, I'm a police officer. I mean you no harm. I only followed you just now because—"
Xie Yixuan kept his head lowered and stammered on for quite some time, only to realize that the woman had not made a sound.
When he raised his head again, there was no sign of the woman in the vast snowy wilderness.
Where had such a large person gone?!
Xie Yixuan's pupils suddenly contracted. He looked around, but aside from the woman, he could not even find the faintest trace of a ghost.
"Miss, are you still here? It's dangerous here, and you're dressed far too lightly!"
Xie Yixuan shouted himself hoarse. Only his echo answered from the surroundings.
Could everything just now have been a hallucination?
But he had clearly seen the woman with his own eyes. He had even followed behind her all the way. How could it have been an illusion?
Thinking of this, Xie Yixuan hurriedly began searching. Wearing such thin clothes was simply too dangerous.
Xie Yixuan continued forward, but he did not find the woman. What was more, after returning to his original position, he discovered that the snake he had vaguely seen in the distance earlier had also vanished without a trace.
No matter how thoroughly he searched, he could not find either the woman or the snake.
It was as though everything had been a hallucination.
"Strange. Where could they have gone?"
While Xie Yixuan was searching, he ran into Sun Zhenbang and the others. Everyone had gathered and met up, with only Xie Yixuan missing.
Worried about his safety, they had come looking for him.
The moment Sun Zhenbang saw Xie Yixuan, he flew into a rage. "What's wrong with you, boy? Why did you run off for so long? Did you forget the time we were supposed to meet? Everyone was worried about you. What if you'd run into the murderer alone, or gotten yourself into danger—"
Before he could finish, Xie Yixuan interrupted him. "Captain Sun, I just found a woman deep in the mountains!"
Sun Zhenbang froze at first, then looked incredulous. "Are you out of your mind? Where would a woman come from in these remote mountains? Have you been single so long that even a tree looks beautiful to you, and you mistook it for someone?"
The other police officers in the team could not help covering their mouths and snickering.
Xie Yixuan grew anxious. "Captain Sun, I'm serious. I definitely didn't see wrong. At first, I thought she was the suspect, so I followed her. But this woman was dressed like an ancient scholar, and her clothes were extremely thin."
Seeing that Xie Yixuan's expression did not look fake, Sun Zhenbang became serious as well. "Are you telling the truth?"
"Absolutely. The mountains are too dangerous. We need to find her quickly, or someone could die."
Since this concerned a person's life, Sun Zhenbang had no time to blame Xie Yixuan for leaving the group earlier. "All right. We'll split into three groups and start searching immediately. Heavy snow makes it easy to leave tracks."
"If anything happens, notify me at once."
"Understood!"
The killer could be set aside for the moment. There were still people stationed at the foot of the mountain, so there was no need to worry about the murderer escaping this stretch of forest. The urgent task was to find the woman Xie Yixuan had mentioned.
(End of Chapter)