Yan Ning turned around and saw Xie Huaiye in the Rolls-Royce, who had rolled down the window, revealing his handsome face.
Sunlight shone on his face, outlining a cool yet handsome profile, but his expression at this moment carried a hint of complexity.
Yan Ning immediately emerged from the bushes, her clothes still covered in leaves and her hair somewhat disheveled.
She gave an awkward laugh, trying to make her tone sound natural:
"What a coincidence, Xie Huaiye, what are you doing here?"
Xie Huaiye frowned. God knows how shocked he was when he saw Yan Ning squatting in the bushes when he passed by.
He even began to suspect that Yan Ning might be a charlatan with a mental problem.
Although his fortune-telling is very accurate, he seems to have some mental issues?
He glanced down at Yan Ning's school uniform, which was still covered in leaves and looked rather shabby.
I'd heard that this eldest daughter of the Su family wasn't favored and didn't have a good life in the family, but I never expected her to be so shabby...
He opened the car door, got out, walked up to Yan Ning, hesitated for a moment, and then said:
“I had an accident on Chengnan Highway this morning. If I hadn’t braked in time, I would have been hit by falling rocks. You were right.”
Yan Ning smiled, feeling slightly relieved: "It's good that everyone is alright. It seems you listened to advice. I'll be going now."
After saying that, she turned to leave.
"Wait a minute," Xie Huaiye called out to her.
Yan Ning turned around and saw Xie Huaiye take a gleaming gold bank card out of his pocket, hand it to her, and say:
“I don’t like owing favors. Here, take this three million as repayment for the favor.”
"Buy yourself something to eat, and don't hide in the bushes unless necessary."
"!!"
Yan Ning stared wide-eyed at the bank card in disbelief.
Three million—this money came so suddenly, she even wondered if she was dreaming!
Before she could speak, Xie Huaiye had already turned around, gotten into the car, and the Rolls-Royce roared to life and sped away.
Yan Ning then belatedly realized that Xie Huaiye's second half of the sentence seemed to have a hidden meaning.
Does he think she's not quite right in the head, squatting in the bushes?!
Yan Ning suddenly regretted not explaining that she was working as a private investigator.
But then she thought, since she didn't like him anyway, why should she care what he thought?
I might as well take the three million; consider it payment for helping someone else out of trouble.
Yan Ning turned around and saw that the adulterous couple had already walked away.
She immediately took out a tracking talisman, stuck it to her palm, and muttered incantations.
A faint blue light flashed, and the tracking talisman began to emit a soft glow, guiding her to track the two people's presence.
After catching track of their presence, she quickly followed.
Along the way, she walked through narrow alleys, crossed flooded roads, and made many twists and turns before finally arriving at the front of an old apartment building.
The apartment building looked very dilapidated, with peeling paint on the exterior walls and dust-covered windows, giving it a gloomy appearance.
Yan Ning frowned. Teacher Qiao's husband was really discreet, hiding his mistress in a place like this.
If she hadn't used a tracking talisman, she really wouldn't have been able to find this place!
Although she wasn't a private investigator, Yan Ning had the awareness of one, and she quickly identified the apartment across the street.
She tiptoed up the stairs, went to the window opposite, and took out her phone to point it at the room across the way.
Through the window, she saw the mistress and Mr. Qiao sitting intimately on the sofa, completely unaware that someone was secretly filming them outside.
She quickly took many photos from different angles, each one clearly recording their ugly behavior.
After taking the photos, Yan Ning quickly walked downstairs.
Just as she reached the first floor, she encountered an old woman who was blind in one eye.
The old woman's other eye was somewhat cloudy, with a yellowish tint, making her look very old.
She was carrying a basket covered with a cloth, and it was unclear what was inside.
The old woman was somewhat surprised when she saw Yan Ning, and said:
"Little sister, you're not from around here, are you? We don't have such a clean and tidy little girl here."
Yan Ning was wearing the uniform of a prestigious school, so she didn't look like someone from this run-down apartment.
She nodded, smiled slightly, and said, "Yes, Mother-in-law, no, I'm here on some business."
The old woman smiled, but it was an ugly smile. "Go back quickly, this is not a place for you."
Yan Ning felt a little strange, but didn't say anything. She just nodded politely, brushed past the old woman, and walked away.
She had only taken two steps when she heard the old woman rambling on behind her:
"On the way back, if you see a school bus with one headlight broken, don't get on it, it will disappear..."
Yan Ning turned around in surprise and saw that the old woman had already gone upstairs, her back slightly hunched.
The old woman hummed a nursery rhyme, her voice low and hoarse:
"The little child is looking for his mother, searching and searching but can't find her; the big child is going to school, searching and searching but can't find her..."
The old woman's voice echoed in the gloomy stairwell, carrying a strange resonance that sent chills down one's spine.
Her fingers tapped lightly on the basket, making a "tap-tap" sound.
Although Yan Ning was skilled in fortune telling and ghost catching, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at this moment.
This old woman is a bit too strange.
Did she trigger some kind of horror novel scenario?!
Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, running away is the best!
Yan Ning walked quickly to the roadside. The road was somewhat desolate, with almost no pedestrians. Only occasionally did a few gusts of wind blow by, stirring up the withered leaves on the ground and making a rustling sound.
This is not in the city center, but near the suburbs. Most of the surrounding buildings are abandoned warehouses and dilapidated factories with peeling paint and broken windows.
The distant cawing of crows added to the eerie atmosphere.
Yan Ning instinctively wrapped her coat tighter around herself and hurried back the way she came.
Suddenly, the roar of an engine filled the air.
Yan Ning looked up and saw a school bus slowly driving towards her.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed that one of the car's headlights was broken, leaving only one headlight flashing.
The school bus was moving rather slowly, and the interior was dark with the lights off, but you could vaguely see a group of children sitting inside.
Good heavens, she actually ran into him!
Yan Ning's heart sank. Remembering the old woman's words, she immediately stopped and leaned against the wall by the roadside, pretending to look down at her phone.
The school bus stopped beside her, the door creaked open, and the driver leaned out, saying in a hoarse voice:
"Little girl, do you need a ride? Where are you going? I'll take you there."
Yan Ning raised her head and met the driver's gaze. The driver's face was ashen and his eyes were empty.
He simply turned his head, but his eyes remained unfocused.
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