Chapter 13

Chapter 13

We drove on for a while longer, and the rain began to let up slightly.

We had managed to put some distance between ourselves and the people following us when, suddenly, hazard lights flashed ahead.

As we drew closer, Kong Liang craned his neck to look in that direction.

A black sedan was parked on the shoulder. A man who appeared to be the driver was standing behind the vehicle, waving his hand at us.

“Hasn’t this guy seen those freaks behind us? Should we pull over?” Kong Liang turned to ask me.

“Roll down the window and ask him what he wants,” I told him.

“He probably just wants a hand!”

Kong Liang grumbled but lowered the window anyway, shouting toward the driver, “Hey man, you need some help?”

The driver stood up straight and said something to Kong Liang, but it was hard to tell if his voice was too low or the rain was too loud.

Kong Liang asked several times but couldn’t make out a word.

“What’s wrong with this guy? I can see his mouth moving, but he won’t speak up.”

Our car drove straight past. The driver remained where he was, showing no sense of urgency or desperation to stop us.

Kong Liang frowned and rolled up the window.

About half an hour later, the rain grew even lighter. Once again, we saw hazard lights flashing on the road ahead.

“What happened now?”

Kong Liang leaned against the window to look ahead. As we got closer, his entire body began to shake. “Bro… Bro, how is it the same guy?”

I looked out the window. Sure enough, it was the same black sedan and the same driver.

Only one thing was different: the car was now battered. The windows were shattered, and the taillights were gone.

The driver was still standing there, waving. Kong Liang didn’t dare look anymore; he shrank down below the window line.

“Drive faster, drive faster! This is fucking wrong!”

I drove straight past him. It was nearly five in the morning.

Kong Liang pulled out his phone to check the map, muttering incessantly under his breath.

“Is this a ghost wall? No, that’s not right… we’re moving forward! What the hell is going on?”

“Calm down,” I told him. “Don’t forget, we are performing a Chongsha.”

Kong Liang looked up at me, his hand clutching the phone trembling slightly.

Just then, hazard lights flashed ahead once more.

Kong Liang immediately covered his face. I looked out the window; it was the same car and the same driver again.

Only this time, the car was even more wrecked, with deep dents even on the roof.

The driver’s clothes were in tatters, and blood was starting to run down his face.

“If it happens one more time, open the window and ask him again. See what he actually wants.”

“Are you crazy?” Kong Liang’s breathing grew ragged. “You know what that thing is! Are you trying to get me killed?”

I glanced sideways and glared at him. “If you don’t do it, I’ll kick you out of the car right now.”

Kong Liang choked on his words, swallowing hard in his agitation.

Soon enough, the hazard lights flashed again. I urged Kong Liang to open the window.

This time, I slowed down a bit more. Icy raindrops drifted inside; the rain was almost over.

Kong Liang was shaking uncontrollably, not daring to look directly at the driver. After I gave him a hard shove, he croaked out, “What… what do you want?! Speak up!”

This time, the driver’s voice came through clearly.

His throat sounded like it was clogged with blood, making his words somewhat slurred, but they were still recognizable.

He said, “Do not… stop in the rain. Do not… let them… get in.”

By now, the black sedan was nothing more than a skeletal frame, with tangled weeds and strange plants growing out of the chassis.

The driver was barely clothed, and half of his head had been caved in.

Kong Liang turned back to me, his mouth agape. “Who… who did he say not to let in? What does he mean?”

I slowly increased our speed.

In the rearview mirror, the people who had been walking along the sides of the highway were now catching up.