Chapter 3

Chapter 3

By then, it was already past midnight, and even the moon had disappeared from view.

This mountain road was so remote that we had almost nothing but the headlights to see by.

Suddenly-

“Someone’s there!” the girl cried out.

Luo Ying and Old Mu both looked out the windows at the same time, but neither of them saw anyone.

Luo Ying patted the girl’s head. “Who would be out here in the middle of the night? You must have seen wrong.”

“I didn’t!”

The girl was insistent. “I saw her clearly. It was a girl in a floral dress, standing by the road and watching us!”

“Could it be the girl from that red sports car?”

Mu Xu’s sudden remark came out of nowhere and scared Old Mu’s face white.

“All of you, stop talking nonsense!”

Old Mu barked at his children, then turned to me, looking a little embarrassed. “Sorry you had to see that, Brother Long.”

“It’s fine. Running into things like this in the middle of the night, it’s only natural for your mind to wander,” I said.

“Brother Long, what kind of cargo are you hauling out here so late? I can see you handle this truck pretty smoothly,” Old Mu asked, changing the subject.

“I’m not carrying much of anything. I came into the mountains to look for someone.”

“Look for someone?” Old Mu found that strange. “Then why drive a big truck? Isn’t that inconvenient on these roads?”

“It is inconvenient, but it’s safe.”

I smiled. “I’ve been driving trucks for more than ten years. I’m more comfortable in this than in a small car.”

“One look and you can tell Brother Long really knows how to drive,” Luo Ying said, shooting Old Mu a glare. “Better than you!”

Old Mu said nothing. Luo Ying turned back to me. “Brother Long, do you have relatives in these mountains?”

“I’m not looking for family. I’m helping a client find her friend.”

As we were speaking, a white figure abruptly appeared in the middle of the road.

The headlights swept over it, and everyone in the truck saw clearly that it really was a girl, wearing a long white dress with little red flowers scattered across both sleeves.

By then, it was too late for me to brake. The truck barreled straight toward the girl.

Fortunately, it seemed to be nothing more than a shadow, like an image flickering across a television screen. It appeared out of nowhere, then vanished just as suddenly.

“Was that her? Was that her?”

Mu Xu screamed in panic. “Did she come back?”

“Shut your mouth!” Old Mu roared at Mu Xu again.

Luo Ying pressed herself close to her daughter. The girl, however, was very calm. Her face was simply full of confusion. “Mom, I think I just heard someone calling me.”

Luo Ying instinctively covered the girl’s ears. “Don’t listen. It isn’t anything good.”

“No need to be nervous. Maybe it’s just an image accidentally captured by the surroundings here,” I said, speaking up again to comfort them.

Old Mu hurriedly agreed, “Right, right. Brother Long has been driving trucks for years. He must know a lot more about this sort of thing than we do.”