Chapter 131: Searching
To be honest, Yu Fan had never seen Li Mu this panicked before.
Usually, Li Mu always kept a straight face. Even when his emotions changed, you could only notice it from small movements or changes in his eyes or voice.
When he was dressed as a girl, he looked extra shy, but even that wasn’t really panic.
Even when they had seen ghosts before, Li Mu was scared, but never like this, with all his emotions clearly written on his face.
Even the time when Li Mu cried quietly in his bedroom, he still came out looking calm.
But now, Li Mu looked completely lost. He was pacing around nervously, mumbling and blaming Xiao Jing for leaving without saying anything. He kept checking the bathroom mirror again and again, worried something might have happened to it.
“The food is here.”
Just as he came out from checking the mirror again, the delivery arrived.
Yu Fan opened the package and handed over a burger.
“Eat a burger first. You’ll have more energy to look for her after you eat.”
“Okay…” Li Mu sat down with a sigh. “Xiao Jing isn’t usually like this…”
“Maybe something really urgent happened?”
Yu Fan paused and made a guess. “Could your parents have come back?”
Li Mu shook his head in frustration. “If they came back, they would’ve at least told Chen Yi, right?”
“Oh right, what about that ghost in the suit at your house…” Yu Fan asked. “Can he help us look for Xiao Jing?”
But Li Mu still shook his head. “I’ve never even seen that ghost. Chen Yi said he’s trustworthy… and since Xiao Jing’s real body is still here, he can stay and watch over it.”
“True.”
They didn’t talk much more before Li Mu finished the whole burger. He stood up quickly and started putting on his shoes, not even waiting for Yu Fan to offer the rest of the food.
Yu Fan had no choice but to follow him out.
It was 9 p.m. The small town was still a bit lively, but Li Mu’s neighborhood was in the suburbs, and the area was already quiet with hardly anyone around.
Li Mu suddenly remembered a time years ago when Xiao Jing, who was only four or five years old, had gotten lost.
Back then, the whole family had been worried sick. They searched the entire town until they finally found her in a supermarket.
They said Xiao Jing had gone there to buy jelly… but once she got there, she didn’t know how to get back. Luckily, a kind security guard at the store looked after her for several hours.
Now, walking side by side on the streets near the edge of town, Li Mu and Yu Fan kept looking around carefully.
“Xiao Jing!” Yu Fan called out now and then. “Where did you go? Hurry and come back!”
Li Mu was also trying to sense the temperature around him. Ghosts like Xiao Jing, if they weren’t hiding inside something or possessing someone, would naturally make the air around them colder, and the cold could spread a fair distance.
If Xiao Jing was nearby and just didn’t want to come back, Li Mu hoped he could still find her by noticing any cold spots.
Unfortunately, they walked through all the nearby streets and neighborhoods without finding anything.
“Let’s go. Should we drive to the amusement park and check there?” Yu Fan asked. “But it’s kind of far. Do you really think she would’ve gone all the way there?”
Li Mu just shook his head in confusion.
“Alright, let’s drive over and take a look. Or maybe… should we try that spirit-summoning game?”
They left around nine, but even by four in the morning, after wandering all night, they still hadn’t found any trace of Xiao Jing.
Even Yu Fan, who usually stayed up late, was completely worn out and sleepy. But Li Mu kept forcing himself to stay awake, though by now, he was starting to feel hopeless.
They had gone to the amusement park, her old school, places she used to visit often, and even their old family home. But still, there was no sign of Xiao Jing and no clues at all.
Yu Fan even tried the ghost game again at a street crossing, knocking a bowl and calling out. But aside from some late-night pedestrians thinking he was crazy, it didn’t help at all.
The two of them finally returned to Li Mu’s house.
After checking the bathroom mirror again and finding nothing unusual, Yu Fan went back to the living room. He looked at Li Mu, who was sitting silently on the couch, and tried to comfort him.
“Don’t overthink it. I’m sure everything’s fine.”
“Yeah.” Li Mu nodded.
“Maybe she’s just hiding inside the mirror, taking a nap or something?”
If it had been a missing child, at least they could call the police or ask the local news for help. But when it’s a ghost that’s gone missing, there really aren’t many things you can do.
Li Mu nodded again and leaned back on the couch, looking tired. “Let’s leave it for today. Thanks for all your help.”
Yu Fan wanted to say more, but when he saw how worn out Li Mu looked, he knew there was no point. He sighed. “I’ll sleep on the couch. You go rest in the bedroom.”
“I’ll sleep on the couch. That way, if Xiao Jing comes back, I’ll know right away.”
“Alright then.” Yu Fan walked into the bedroom and came back carrying Li Mu’s blanket and pillow.
He placed them on the couch and looked at Li Mu’s gloomy face. Finally, he sighed again. “Forget it. I’ll stay here with you.”
Before Li Mu could reply, Yu Fan sat down on the floor and looked up at him with a smile.
“I stay up late all the time at home anyway. I’ll wait until you fall asleep before I go to bed.”
Li Mu looked down at Yu Fan with a complicated expression. After a while, he turned his head away. “I’m not some little girl. You don’t need to do this.”
“And no matter what you do, I won’t fall for you.”
Yu Fan froze.
“Wang Ruoyan told me.” Li Mu said, pulling the blanket over himself.
If Wang Ruoyan hadn’t tried testing Yu Fan and then told Li Mu about his reaction, he probably still wouldn’t believe that Yu Fan actually liked him.
It was just too unreal.
They had only known each other for two months, and they had always been friends, like brothers.
Even though he had suspected something before, it still felt hard to believe.
Yu Fan scratched his head awkwardly, not sure what to say.
“Um…” Yu Fan, who was usually cheerful and confident, now felt like shutting himself in a box.
Why did Wang Ruoyan have to tell Li Mu everything?!
“I never said I liked you. That was all Wang Ruoyan guessing,” Yu Fan tried to explain, but after just one sentence, he lowered his head. “Okay, fine. It’s your fault for being too pretty.”
“……”
“And your personality is really nice too…”
This might’ve been the most nervous Yu Fan had ever felt in his life. He was usually pretty good with words, but now he was stuttering.
“And, um, I don’t even mind that you used to be a guy, I…”
But Li Mu suddenly interrupted him. “Let’s talk about it when I actually become a girl.”
But your ID already says you’re a girl.
Yu Fan almost said that out loud but quickly stopped himself.
Maybe what Li Mu meant was how he felt on the inside. That made sense.
After all, Li Mu wasn’t gay.
Yu Fan sat on the floor, feeling super awkward and like his head was going to explode from embarrassment.
He didn’t know how to act around Li Mu anymore. Even when Li Mu just looked at him, he got goosebumps, afraid that Li Mu would hate him now that he knew how he felt.
But a moment later, he suddenly heard Li Mu say. “I’m hungry.”
“I’ll go heat up the chicken legs and wings!”
Yu Fan jumped up and grabbed the leftovers from earlier.
“If you want something else, I can go out and get it. But it’s so late now, I don’t think delivery is still available.”
“Okay.”