Chapter 53: Highway

The earliest time was probably when they experienced the first Mysterious Domain in Qingyuan Residential Area. At that time, in the Black Mist outside the residential area, the Man in Black Jacket wearing a helmet got hit on the head by Yi Yi. He turned around and aggressively moved toward Yi Yi… Just then, some strange sounds suddenly came from afar. The Man in Black Jacket seemed very frightened upon hearing those sounds and immediately ran away in the opposite direction.

When those strange sounds occurred, Lü Yang also felt a brief sense of palpitation. However, he was seriously injured at the time, and the situation was critical, so he did not pay much attention to that feeling. But now, carefully recalling and comparing, that palpitation feeling was exactly the same as the one he felt just now and the one at Chen Yonggui’s home. It was as if he sensed some kind of latent threat watching him.

What exactly it was, Lü Yang could not figure out for the moment.

…

The Minibus did not stay long at the service area. After picking up Lü Yang, it quickly got back on the Highway.

Although very tired and sleepy, Lü Yang did not dare to fall asleep. The gold bars and U.S. dollars were secondary; the main concern was that Iron Box. The contents of the Iron Box not only meant he could help Sister Mei get justice but also allow him to earn 5 Eerie Points.

For this Task, the Eerie Points gained and lost during Liu Hui’s kidnapping case canceled each other out. Accidentally peeping at the girl showering unexpectedly earned him 2 Eerie Points. Plus the 5 Eerie Points from the main Task, that made a total of 7 Eerie Points. Speaking of which, the gains from this trip were quite good. Especially since the entire Task went exceptionally smoothly, except for being accidentally involved in Liu Hui’s kidnapping case. Overall, his luck was pretty good.

Lü Yang reached into his bag, touched the U.S. dollars inside, and couldn’t help but think: back then, he exchanged Eerie Points for one thousand yuan in cash. He wondered if he could use U.S. dollars to exchange back for those Eerie Points.

As Lü Yang thought this, he closed his eyes. The screen of the Eerie Computer immediately appeared in his vision. The Money Card floated out automatically, and a voice sounded by his ear: “Would you like to use the Money Card to exchange back for Eerie Points?”

“Yes.” Lü Yang tried confirming to the voice with his thoughts.

Unexpectedly, the Money Card instantly turned to dust and disappeared. At the same time, the stack of U.S. dollars in Lü Yang’s hand became a bit thinner, but there were now some smaller U.S. dollar bills added!

“What the! This actually works?” Lü Yang originally just wanted to try it out for fun, never expecting the Eerie Computer would actually accept U.S. dollars! And it seemed to automatically convert the dollars based on the day’s exchange rate between RMB and U.S. dollars!

…

Although Lü Yang was worried about losing the Iron Box and didn’t want to fall asleep on the Minibus seat, he hadn’t slept well last night. Today, he had been pushing himself to run around everywhere and even carried out a ‘breaking and entering’ operation. It was truly exhausting.

After closing his eyes and studying the usage of various Eerie Cards, Lü Yang, due to extreme fatigue, unknowingly fell into a deep sleep.

…

Lü Yang had a nightmare. In the dream, he found himself rock climbing, and he didn’t know when he had climbed to such a high place.

At one moment, Lü Yang looked down below his body and saw he was terrifyingly high above the ground. For some reason, he felt scared. Once scared, his hands and feet immediately felt weak, and he failed to grip the rock crevice. This caused him to fall directly from nearly a hundred meters high on the cliff.

Lü Yang let out a long scream. His body hit the ground at high speed below the cliff. After an extremely realistic impact and pain, he woke up drenched in sweat, only to realize he had actually fallen asleep on the Minibus. This startled him so much he broke out in a cold sweat.

It was just a dream; there wasn’t a single injury on his body. He felt the bag in his arms was still there. Opening the bag, the Iron Box inside was still there. Opening the Iron Box, he confirmed that both the IOU and the recording Mobile Phone were safe and sound. Only then did Lü Yang feel relieved.

Looking out the window, the sky had completely darkened. It seemed tonight was another moonless night. Lü Yang withdrew his gaze and looked around inside the vehicle. The entire interior was very dark, except for a small light near the driver.

The Minibus had six rows of seats. Each row had one double seat and one single seat, with a narrow aisle between the double and single seats.

The middle-aged couple in the first-row double seat were chatting quietly with their teenage daughter in the single seat. In the second-row double seat, a man and a woman leaned against each other, probably asleep. The single seat was occupied by a middle-aged fat man who was also asleep, emitting an unpleasant snoring sound.

In the third-row single seat, a girl who looked like a student, around twenty years old, was looking at her Mobile Phone, probably reading a web novel. The double seat had two teenage boys, one playing a handheld game console and the other watching beside him.

The fourth row only had a woman in her thirties, who appeared very gentle and elegant. When Lü Yang glanced at her, she happened to look back and their eyes met. Lü Yang quickly averted his gaze and looked out the window.

Just then, the Minibus suddenly made a harsh braking sound and stopped right in the middle of the Highway.

“What’s going on?”

“Why are we stopping? This is the Highway! If you stop, pull over to the side!”

“Hey! Driver, what are you doing? Say something!”

“…”

Once the vehicle stopped, everyone on board woke up and immediately started loudly questioning the driver. Stopping on the Highway—at least pull over to the side! Stopping in the middle of the road, aren’t you afraid of being hit by cars from behind?

A chill rose up Lü Yang’s spine. This feeling was even stronger than the palpitations earlier, making Lü Yang feel almost suffocated.

“This driver is crazy! He won’t answer! How can he stop in the middle of the Highway? Open the door! I want to get off!”

The fat man who had been sleeping rushed to the door and yelled at the driver a few more times but got no response. He forcibly pulled the door open himself, quickly got off the vehicle, and stood by the Highway guardrail. He then took out his Mobile Phone to make a call.

Lü Yang didn’t have time to think too much. He grabbed his bag and followed the others, filing out of the Minibus one after another. They all ran to stand by the Highway guardrail, then looked back at the Minibus stopped in the middle of the road.

Luckily, no vehicles had passed on the Highway.

Wait… Why was the Highway so quiet at a time like this?

“My phone has no signal…”

“Mine has no signal either…”

“Yeah, what’s going on?”

“Hey! Why are there no cars at all on the Highway?” a young girl asked strangely. Only then did everyone notice: apart from the parked Minibus, for quite a while, there had been absolutely no other vehicles passing by on the Highway.

Lü Yang’s heart sank. This situation… was absolutely impossible in reality… Unless the Mysterious Domain had opened, there was no other explanation!

Lü Yang quickly closed his eyes, wanting to open the Eerie Computer to check if there was a ‘Mysterious Domain Opened’ prompt.

The result was very unexpected to Lü Yang…

The Eerie Computer was gone!

No matter how much Lü Yang tried to summon it with his thoughts, the Eerie Computer screen no longer appeared before his eyes. Moreover, he couldn’t find the Eerie Computer in his bag or in his hands. It had vanished into thin air!

What the!

Although the Eerie Computer was scary, after the Mysterious Domain opened, not being able to find the Eerie Computer felt even more terrifying.