Muchuan and Xiang Wan - Chapter 188
Chapter 188: Procrastination
The night sky outside the window was quiet.
Looking out from the room covered by lights, the darkness felt kind of cold that when one stared long enough, it would become a bottomless black hole. The black hole was as though able to draw out one’s soul as fear crept up Xiang Wan’s spine.
“Bai Muchuan—”
Xiang Wan suddenly thought of the mysterious ID at her book review and comments page.
“Do your best, I’ll make sure that you’ll be popular! Famous and celebrated! Release your inner demons completely…”
“For example, I’m your crazy fan. In order to chase you for updates, I start to lose my mind. I’ll kill a person when you stop writing for one day and so on?”
Is it really a coincidence?
Hope so! Xiang Wan gasped, seemingly gripped by a certain fear that clasped her heart tightly.
At this moment, she realized that the words the mysterious ID had said were not only written on the book reviews and comments page but it had also been written inside her heart. Every word, even the punctuation, she remembered them all clearly…
“What’s the matter, Little Xiang Wan?” Bai Muchuan saw her sudden change of expression and she looked ashen. He reached out his hand and stroked her cheek.
“I’m alright.” Xiang Wan hesitated for a moment and looked at him again; she told Bai Muchuan about the comment left by the mysterious ID as well as her worries.
After Bai Muchuan heard that, his eyebrows creased together and stayed quiet for a long time.
“I’m overthinking on this, right?”
At this moment, Xiang Wan actually hoped that he would say that.
She wished that he would tell her that, that was just mischief by a chuunibyou teenager.
That there was no “manipulator” behind all of these.
And none of the things she feared would happen.
“Xiang Wan.” Under the lights, Bai Muchuan’s eyes seemed like a cold, deep vortex. She was unable to decipher what he was thinking.
He revealed a piece of information after pausing for a moment. “Actually, I’ve looked into that ID. The biggest problem with the ID is, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
“What do you mean?” Xiang Wan could not understand.
“We couldn’t trace the ID.”
The police couldn’t trace the ID? Xiang Wan’s heart was stifled for a moment—she was stunned.
“For the ordinary people, there’s no such thing as privacy on the internet.” Bai Muchuan’s brows were furrowed as he explained. “But for those criminals who are very skillful in technology, although it is very difficult, they can still mask their internet footprints by using proxy servers and like. Moreover…”
Bai Muchuan paused for a moment before puffing a sigh. “The technological capability of some crimes are beyond your imagination,” he continued, “this world is too big, besides our country, there are so many countries abroad that they can also do what they want…”
He had worked in ICPO before after all.
These forms of crime were totally different from what Xiang Wan knew of.
“Well,” her face blushed a little. “Indeed, I do not know about that… Ahem, I feel like a frog in a well, for not knowing many things.”
“Don’t say that, your question is valid too,” smiled Bai Muchuan. “Besides, that ID did leave behind some traces.”
Traces?
Xiang Wan’s heart missed a beat and looked at him with hope.
“The first time when you told me about that ID. Our investigation results showed that he had used the free internet provided by a seafood restaurant… there are no surveillance cameras inside the restaurant and their business are always booming. It’s impossible to verify who had posted those comments using the free network…”
“…”
Does that mean that the person was reading her novel and eating seafood at the same time, which he subsequently left a comment?
Xiang Wan was silent for a moment before she thought of something important. “Which city is it?”
Bai Muchuan paused for a while, then he uttered two words: “Jin City.”
Xiang Wan felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
There were simply too many coincidences that they couldn’t be coincidences anymore.
“That’s why I’m worried that someone might be targeting your deliberately and wanted you to reduce the instances of going out alone by yourself. If you really need to go out by yourself, you must tell me your whereabouts.”
Xiang Wan looked at his brooding face and felt a little perturbed. “Is it him? Is it because of him that Zhou Dequan died?”
Her pupils shrunk, her face ashen; her expression was that of fear and anxiety that persisted. She did not even realize that she was holding on to Bai Muchuan’s arm tightly…
Bai Muchuan held her hands to give her support. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll be with you.”
“It’s not about being afraid…” said Xiang Wan, “but this person makes me feel terrified. I don’t know who he is, but I have a feeling that I’m constantly within his area of monitoring, as if not wearing anything… Bai Muchuan, do you know how it feels like?”
Yes, he knew.
How could he not know?
It was the same for him too.
Bai Muchuan puffed a sigh inside his heart and pulled her in front of him. Their fingers were entwined together, and with a little strength, he held her in his arms.
“I’m sorry.”
“Eh?” Xiang Wan’s heart skipped a beat and gazed at him with a clueless look.
“I did not do a good job in protecting you that you are suffering from anxiety and fear.” Bai Muchuan’s eyes were filled with determination. “Be rest assured. Even if he is hiding at the ends of the world, I will find him one day.”
“Of course.” Xiang Wan tried to suppress her feelings of apprehension and squeezed out a smile, looking at him with her sparkling eyes. “Bai Muchuan, I’ve never doubted you on this.”
“Haha!” Bai Muchuan couldn’t help letting out a laugh. “Good!”
His finger scratched her palm gently as though he had just received a compliment.
Xiang Wan felt like laughing; she grabbed his hands and swayed them gently. “Well, maybe things are not as bad as what I thought? Maybe I’ve met a lunatic? As my novel gets popular, I’ll get all kinds of readers. It’s inevitable there might be a few weirdos, agree?”
When she mentioned “all kinds of readers”, she looked up at him where her gaze had a tinge of joy. She had persisted with writing her novel “Murder The Dream Guy” and finally made some achievements—as well as the regrets when she could not continue writing anymore.
“You’re the weirdo!” Bai Muchuan looked at her with a faint smile before puffing a sigh. “Weirdo, are you really not going to continue anymore?”
She couldn’t bear to discontinue it, either. It was a difficult decision.
She really couldn’t bear to discontinue her novel. She had not been able to sleep well.
However…
Xiang Wan avoided his gaze and touched her hair. “I’m preparing for my new book, just that I have not decided on the story… I feel that it’s difficult to come up with a totally new storyline for web novels now. No matter what kind of plot you come up with, it’s very likely that someone else has already written about it… I want to come up with new stories, I want to earn money and take care of my interests at the same time, is it very contradictory?”
Hah! Xiang Wan’s pitiful look made Bai Muchuan laugh. He lifted his hand and pinched the tip of her nose gently.
“You’re a little lazy pig. You want to stop writing. You’re procrastinating and are looking for excuses.”
“I didn’t!” Xiang Wan immediately tried to defend herself, “I swear, I didn’t want to stop writing.
“I want to write a story that will become super popular and earn a lot of money to support my family,” she muttered softly, “marry a toy boy and arrive at the peak of my life.”
“What?” Bai Muchuan tilted his head. “What did you say? I didn’t hear it clearly.”
“Ahem!” Xiang Wan looked serious. “I said I want to write a book to support my family and contribute to the society.”
Hmph! Bai Muchuan glanced at her lazily. “I’ve said that I have good ears…”
“!” Xiang Wan smiled and gave him a thumbs up. “My Lord, you’re really good. I admire you for that!”
“So…” Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do to make up for my broken and fragile heart…”
Urgh! He’s such a man of steel and he dared to say he had a fragile heart?
“Don’t be like this.” Xiang Wan facepalmed and then showed an ashamed look. “You’re going to lose me this way.”
“Hmph!” Bai Muchuan rolled his eyes. “Your acting is horrible.”
“Of course I can’t be compared to your good buddy, Xie Wanwan!”
“…” Bai Muchuan gave her a glance from the corner of his eye, his lips formed a smile as his hands rested behind his neck. He closed his eyes lazily, and his voice was suddenly gentle. “My head hurts. Little Xiang Wan, help me massage my head?”
…
