Chapter 4

Chapter 4

More than ten years ago, I was still driving long-haul routes with my master.

Back then, there was another senior driver who had taken on a young apprentice too. The kid was only about ten, skinny and delicate-looking, with thick brows and bright eyes.

Because he looked like a movie star, we all called him Xiao Xing.

One night, while we were on the road, we stopped to rest at a service area, and Xiao Xing ran into the Luo brothers, Luo Hong and Luo Gui.

When the trouble started, Xiao Xing was yelling that Luo Gui was a pervert, that he had cornered him in the restroom and groped his thigh.

That senior driver stood up for his apprentice. Both sides had several trucks with them, and things quickly turned into a fight.

My master and I went in to break it up, but Luo Gui was like a madman. Once he started swinging, he held nothing back. Almost every time he raised his hand, someone bled.

Out of all the people there, I was the only one who could hold him down.

I pinned him to the ground, and when I met his eyes, all I saw was a field of bloodred.

Later, someone called the police. Both sides agreed to settle, and on the surface, the matter seemed to be over.

But not long after that, that senior driver started running into trouble again and again.

Orders that were already his got snatched away. Cargo arrived at its destination with problems. The most dangerous time was when someone used a cigarette butt to set the cardboard in his trailer on fire. It nearly turned into a disaster.

Xiao Xing felt he had dragged his master into it, so he went to find Luo Hong and Luo Gui on his own.

No one knew what happened. By the time we heard the news, Xiao Xing had already jumped into the river.

That senior driver seemed to age more than ten years overnight. After that, he retired and never drove a big rig again.

When my master went to visit him, he said only one thing: “The King of Hell is easy to dodge, but little devils are hard to shake.”

By then, our truck had already left the reservoir.

The area around us was rather desolate, and we still had to drive down a stretch of dirt road before we could get onto the highway.

The truck jolted over the uneven road. I didn’t know if it was because we were hauling so many fish, but I kept hearing the faint sound of water by my ear.

Wang Cheng was much quieter now. He stayed hunched in the passenger seat, his neck drawn in.

I glanced at him and said, “If you’re sleepy, get some rest. After noon, we can switch.”

Wang Cheng immediately shook his head like a rattle drum. “No, no, Brother Long. I’m not tired. I slept plenty last night.”

From the look of him, he seemed to be afraid of something.

I had been planning to ask about their previous fish deliveries, but I was worried it would make him nervous again, so in the end, I kept my mouth shut.

Suddenly, a rhythmic slapping sound came from the back of the truck.

“Pat, pat…” One after another.

Wang Cheng’s face turned pale in an instant. He lowered his head and clasped his hands together, looking as if he wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard anything.

“Is that the fish tails slapping the water?” I guessed.

Wang Cheng said nothing, but the sound gradually swelled into a whole chorus, as if the fish in every crate had started thrashing at once.

Listening to those sounds mixing together, growing more and more frantic, I also felt something was wrong.

Rather than fish tails slapping against water, it sounded more like human hands, one after another, anxiously pounding against wooden crates.

Wang Cheng’s face grew even paler. I eased a little more pressure onto the accelerator.

“It’s fine. This part of the road is too bumpy, that’s all. Once we’re on the paved road, it’ll stop.”