Strange Matters in the Mountains

Chapter 35: Strange Happenings in the Mountains

Ye Qin slowly opened his eyes. Xie Yixuan was nowhere to be seen, and everything had returned to normal. Google search stō520.cōm

Ye Qin hadn't been completely unaware of what was happening outside.

It was just that he had already entered a deep state of contemplation, and choosing to wake up would have affected his cultivation mindset.

Whether it was cultivation or anything else, it was all about seizing the moment.

As the saying goes, "A first burst of energy is the most vigorous; a second is weakened; a third is exhausted."

Ye Qin didn't feel any danger, and the person hadn't lingered for long before leaving, so he let it be.

"Judging from the situation just now, that man seemed to have fallen into some kind of illusion."

Ye Qin guessed that it might have been due to his cultivation, which affected the surrounding magnetic field. The object of his contemplation, the white bone, had materialized into a hallucination, projecting itself into reality.

Coincidentally, Xie Yixuan arrived and accidentally fell into the illusion. The woman he saw was the appearance of the white bone in its former life.

This led to the series of events that followed.

In reality, Ye Qin had never left. It was just that Xie Yixuan had already been affected by the illusion and mistakenly thought he had disappeared, similar to being "blinded by a single leaf."

Meanwhile, the police, who had been busy all day, saw the sky gradually darkening and still hadn't found the woman Xie Yixuan had mentioned. Sun Zhenbang and his team had no choice but to return down the mountain empty-handed.

"I think you were just hallucinating! A woman in ancient clothing? That's completely illogical. The temperature on the mountain is so low; if someone were really dressed like that, they would have frozen to death long ago, not waited for you to see them!"

They were originally there to catch a criminal, but thanks to Xie Yixuan's antics, they failed to catch the suspect and instead wasted time.

Xie Yixuan also felt wronged. He had clearly seen her and even followed her for a distance, "But I really saw her."

Sun Zhenbang sneered, "You saw her, but where is she? With so many of us strong men, can't we even find one woman? We're not blind."

"And this place, there are only your footprints, no woman's footprints at all."

The more Sun Zhenbang thought about it, the more something felt wrong. He was furious and brought up past grievances, "Confess truthfully, how did you deviate from the search location for no reason?"

"I saw lightning striking over there, and I was worried it would cause a mountain fire, so I went to check. Then I saw a snake, and after that, I saw the woman. Then both the snake and the woman inexplicably disappeared."

After hearing his description, Sun Zhenbang's face was so grim it could drip water. But considering that Xie Yixuan had acted out of good intentions, worrying about a mountain fire, he couldn't say much more.

Winter was indeed a season prone to mountain fires, and with the previous lightning strikes, there was indeed that risk.

"Captain Sun, calm down. It's not good for your health to get angry. I won't dare to do it again."

Sun Zhenbang said irritably, "I think you just want to anger me to death."

He glared at Xie Yixuan, "You young people just can't settle down. Everyone wasted so much time because of you. Do you admit it?"

It had already taken a lot of time to find Xie Yixuan, and then more time was spent looking for the woman he mentioned.

After hearing Xie Yixuan recount the cause and effect of the incident, Sun Zhenbang was certain that Xie Yixuan had definitely hallucinated.

Xie Yixuan lowered his head, looking somewhat guilty. Knowing that he had caused a lot of inconvenience for everyone, he became more honest, "I admit it."

"Very good. Go back and write a 1,000-word self-criticism and hand it to me tomorrow. Also, all your novels and such are confiscated!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Yixuan was struck by lightning, "What! Captain Sun, those are my spiritual sustenance! What will I do without them?"

Sun Zhenbang felt both angry and amused.

"You're making such a fuss because you read too many of these miscellaneous books. In the future, when you have free time, read more relevant books to supplement your professional knowledge."

Seeing that Xie Yixuan still wanted to say something, he added, "If you bargain again, I'll make you write a 10,000-word self-criticism."

Xie Yixuan immediately dared not say anything more.

Sun Zhenbang did not let Xie Yixuan participate in the subsequent mountain search operation, only telling him to go back and reflect properly.

Unfortunately, after several days of searching the mountain, they couldn't find the perpetrator. It was as if they had vanished into thin air, giving the impression that this culprit simply didn't exist.

The police racked their brains but found no leads.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Xie Yixuan was transferred back to Mist City. He took this opportunity to visit the Mist City Library to replenish his spiritual sustenance.

After all, Sun Zhenbang had confiscated all his novels and books last time.

In this age of information, most people opt for e-books for convenience. But Xie Yixuan was different; he always felt that reading physical novels had more flavor.

With each turn of the page, he felt like he was stepping into another life. Not many people were like him anymore.

Xie Yixuan was accompanied by other colleagues who also planned to borrow books from the library. However, the books they were borrowing were related to their professional fields. Since the information online was incomplete, they wanted to check the library.

There weren't many people in the library, just a few scattered individuals. Xie Yixuan searched for a long time and finally found the type of novels he liked.

A colleague also walked over with a book and looked curiously at the one in his hand, "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio? When did you start liking these books? Didn't you used to like cultivation novels?"

Xie Yixuan shook his head, his expression full of mystery, "I changed my taste recently, and I always feel there's a mysterious connection between the snake I encountered last time and that strange woman."

Xie Yixuan had thought about it for the past few days. First, the snake he saw disappeared, and then the woman dressed as an ancient scholar appeared.

Afterward, the woman also disappeared like the snake. He felt as if there was some connection between them.

His companion couldn't help but shake his head, "You still dare to talk about it. If Captain Sun hears you, be careful he doesn't beat you up again. They all said it was a hallucination, why don't you believe it?"

"Besides, in broad daylight, how could the snake and the woman you mentioned suddenly disappear without a trace? So, you must have been mistaken."

Was it really a hallucination?

Xie Yixuan couldn't help but fall into doubt. "If this is truly an illusion, then everything is a bit too real, and I even followed that strange woman for a stretch."

"But then again, why are there only my footprints at the scene, and none of hers?"

His companion was dismissive. "So, this is all an illusion. Stop talking about it, or next time you'll be writing a 10,000-character self-criticism."

"I don't think so. How do you explain that the lightning only struck that one spot?"

The two were discussing heatedly.

"Bang—"

A book fell from a bookshelf opposite them.

Xie Yixuan thought he had accidentally bumped it and quickly picked it up to put it back. But in the gap, he saw a pair of eyes!