Chapter 174 Night Road in the Mountains

The battered sedan drove along a national highway frequented by heavy trucks. Inside the car, the air was thick with the smell of tobacco and dust as Zhang Hai gripped the steering wheel, cursing non-stop.

"You idiot, how the hell do you drive? Why don’t you drive straight to your Immortal ancestors’ graves!"

He honked the horn furiously to overtake the vehicle, specifically rolling down his window as he passed to yell "Idiot!" at the other driver.

In the passenger seat, Liu Hua furrowed her brows. Today, she had swapped her dark green qipao for a practical tracksuit, her hair tied up in a neat, high ponytail. Her vibrant makeup stood in stark contrast to the rough-looking Zhang Hai beside her, who was dressed in a tank top and shorts.

"Can you just shut up and drive? You’ve been cursing this whole trip. Do you think you’re the only good driver and everyone else is a moron?!"

"You don’t know shit!" Zhang Hai yanked the steering wheel, dodging a slow-moving mobility scooter. "Just look at these morons on the road! They drive like their Immortals paved the road for them. They’re swerving all over the place!"

Liu Hua scoffed coldly, not wanting to speak to this crude man anymore. It only lowered her standards. She adjusted the air conditioning vent, directing more of the cool breeze toward herself.

Through the rearview mirror, Liu Hua glanced at the back seat. Yin Zhen was lying on her side, earbuds in, with a black bucket hat pulled over her face, sleeping soundly.

"She certainly hasn’t a care in the world. She caused such a huge mess, got herself wanted city-wide, and forced us off the highway, yet she can still sleep so peacefully without a care. I really don’t know why the incense master tolerates her time and time again. If it were anyone else, they would have been... Hmph!"

"They would have been what?" Zhang Hai interrupted her. "That’s because she’s capable! Let’s see you try if you think you’re so good. Anyway, I respect her! She fought her way in and out of the Abnormal Investigation Bureau’s prison without a scratch. That takes real skill. You couldn’t do it, and neither could I. I respect capable people!"

Liu Hua choked on her words, pursing her lips, unable to refute him.

"How much longer until we arrive?"

Zhang Hai glanced at the GPS. "We’ll definitely reach Sanmen Town tonight."

Hearing a definite answer, Liu Hua said no more. She reclined her passenger seat, found a relatively comfortable position, and closed her eyes as well.

The car navigated through the increasingly rugged mountain roads, leaving the city’s silhouette far behind as it continued toward Sanmen Town at the foot of the mountains.

Yin Zhen had stayed up late the previous night. She slept through the entire morning ride, woke up at noon to eat a bowl of instant noodles at a rest stop, and went right back to sleep when they hit the road in the afternoon.

Sleep helped her keep her emotions stable.

It wasn’t until the sky grew dark that Yin Zhen finally pulled the hat off her face and sat up. She had cut off her long hair, sporting a choppy short cut instead. Dressed in loose, quick-dry sportswear, she looked vastly different from her previous image.

The interior of the car was quiet. Even Zhang Hai with his road rage had stopped cursing. He leaned forward, staring at the winding mountain road ahead, looking a bit tense. Liu Hua was also silent.

"What’s wrong?"

Liu Hua shot Yin Zhen a look through the rearview mirror. "Logically speaking, we should be able to see Sanmen Town by now. But this road just seems to go on forever. It looks like we’ve run into a ghost wall."

The car continued along the mountain road. The night was thick, flanked by pitch-black mountain silhouettes. Aside from the small patch of road illuminated by the headlights, there was no light whatsoever.

Just then, the headlights swept across the bend ahead, suddenly illuminating a figure standing in the middle of the road.

Zhang Hai’s pupils contracted. Instinctively, he yanked the steering wheel hard. With an ear-piercing SCREECH of tires, the car narrowly swerved past the person.

"Fuck! Do you have a death wish?!" Zhang Hai cursed, still rattled, as he quickly straightened the wheel.

Yin Zhen steadied herself amidst the violent swerve and immediately turned to look back. She saw that the person they had nearly hit was a young girl wearing a hiking backpack, standing in the middle of the road and waving vigorously at them.

"That was a person just now, not a ghost," Liu Hua said.

Zhang Hai spat, "Even if it’s a person, I’m not giving her a ride. I’m not that kind-hearted!"

He slammed on the gas, and the battered sedan sped up along the mountain road.

However, less than ten minutes later, as they rounded another bend, the girl with the hiking backpack appeared in the middle of the road once again. Her position, posture, and even the way she waved her hands were exactly the same as before.

Cold sweat broke out on Zhang Hai’s forehead. Muttering curses under his breath, he yanked the wheel and swerved past her again. This time, he couldn’t even be bothered to curse aloud. He just stared dead ahead, his face pale and grim.

Liu Hua bit her lip, while Yin Zhen waited in silence.

Sure enough, a third time.

When the headlights illuminated the figure of the frantically waving backpacker standing in the middle of the bend for the third time, the veins on the back of Zhang Hai’s hands bulged as he gripped the steering wheel. Subconsciously, he moved to swerve away again.

"Stop the car!"

Yin Zhen’s tone brooked no argument—she was entirely giving off the aura of an imperious young boss!

Zhang Hai was willing to listen to Yin Zhen. He slammed on the brakes, and the car came to a steady halt. The backpacker girl froze for a moment before a look of relieved, pleasant surprise washed over her face, and she jogged toward the vehicle.

Yin Zhen put her black bucket hat back on, pulling the brim low to cover most of her face, revealing only the sharp, cold lines of her jaw.

The girl ran to the passenger-side window, bent over slightly, and panted, "Thank goodness! Can I hitch a ride to Sanmen Town? I’ve been waiting here for over an hour. It’s pitch black, and there hasn’t been a single car. I was scared to death. Please, I’m begging you!"

The girl clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture, her expectant gaze sweeping across the faces of the three people inside the car.

Liu Hua scrutinized her through the window and asked tentatively, "How many times... have you seen our car?"

The girl looked bewildered. "Don’t scare me like that, miss. It’s late at night. Didn’t I just say? I’ve been walking on this road for over an hour, and yours is the only car I’ve seen."

Yin Zhen, Zhang Hai, and Liu Hua exchanged swift glances.

Yin Zhen had just equipped her Blood Clan Character Card, using its night vision to scan their surroundings. She had even leaned out to observe the astrological alignment. The layout of this mountain road was rather peculiar, and tonight’s stars were unusual as well. This ghost wall was very likely man-made, but it didn’t involve any supernatural power, which was why Zhang Hai and Liu Hua couldn’t perceive it.

"Get in," Yin Zhen said concisely, her expression unreadable.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Overjoyed, the girl hurriedly opened the back door and climbed in, taking a seat beside Yin Zhen. She set down her heavy hiking backpack, let out a long sigh of relief, and turned to flash Yin Zhen a friendly smile.

"My name is Jiang Ying. I came to hike in the mountains around here, but I didn’t expect to miss the last bus. Are you heading to Sanmen Town too? How should I address you all?"

Leaning against the seatback, Yin Zhen said casually, "My last name is Xu. The woman in the passenger seat is my older sister, and the one driving is... Li, my family’s driver."

Zhang Hai’s mouth twitched. Though, in his tank top and shorts, he certainly looked the part of a hired driver.

Jiang Ying quickly thanked Zhang Hai and Liu Hua again, and Zhang Hai continued driving.

This time, after rounding the bend that seemed to have looped endlessly, the scene ahead was entirely different. In the darkness of the distant mountain valley, a smattering of lights became clearly visible, outlining the hazy silhouette of a small town.

They had arrived at Sanmen Town!

Zhang Hai and Liu Hua almost simultaneously glanced at the rearview mirror, looking at Jiang Ying, who was currently chattering away with Yin Zhen.

Yin Zhen turned her head to look out the window without responding. Unfazed and completely unbothered, Jiang Ying leaned forward, grabbed the back of the passenger seat, and started chatting with Liu Hua instead.

Liu Hua would occasionally offer a brief reply, but for the most part, it was Jiang Ying doing all the talking. She was a highly talkative extrovert.

Over twenty minutes later, the car drove into Sanmen Town. As they passed the long-distance bus station at the edge of the town, Yin Zhen’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

She had actually spotted Qin Jia. Even though she was in disguise, Yin Zhen recognized her at a single glance.

At the entrance to the bus station, little Guan Xing—who had now become Qin Jia—held the feather duster she had begged her mother to buy. As if sensing something, she looked up at the passing car and furrowed her little brows.

"What are you looking at?"

Guan Lan walked out of the ticket hall.

"I saw a broccoli," Guan Xing said.

Guan Lan translated her daughter’s meaning. "Someone you find very annoying? Did you see clearly who it was?"

Guan Xing shook her head and added, "But I memorized the license plate number. Should we go over and take a look?"

"Let’s find a place to stay first. The last bus has already left."

At the mention of this, Guan Xing lowered her head. "I’m sorry, Mommy. I shouldn’t have gone to poop at a time like this, and I took so long too."

Guan Lan sighed. When traveling with a child, such sudden emergencies were unavoidable. They were fugitives right now and had to get as far away from Beiling City as possible. Ye Se had transmigrated into the role of a high-ranking government official in the neighboring city and could provide them with cover.

She needed to get there first and settle Guan Xing down before she’d have the energy to plan their next steps. Blossoming Prosperity had already found the protagonist of Autumn Tomb; she couldn’t afford to be too useless either, otherwise, it would be difficult to suppress the people from Kunpeng.

Looking up and seeing Guan Lan silent, Guan Xing worried that her sudden bathroom break had ruined things, so she hurriedly tried to make up for it.

"It’s okay, Mommy. I feel like there’s a treasure here. Really. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just know that we can’t miss out on the treasure in this place."

Guan Lan looked down at Guan Xing’s sparkling eyes. The two of them currently only had the Character Cards for Zhang Yueqin and Qin Jia, without any attribute or Skill bonuses whatsoever.

If it weren’t for the fact that Xing had inherited five hundred thousand words, they really would be dealing with a catastrophic opening scenario. Could Xing’s sudden upset stomach that forced them to stay here be some kind of guidance from her protagonist halo?

Thinking of this, Guan Lan looked toward the center of the town with great expectation.