Chapter 64: The Twilight State

“Wow! Dying and still being able to run around, that’s so thrilling! It’s just like a sci-fi movie!” Although Zhao Kun’s face was full of fear, there was also a hint of hidden excitement. He pulled Zhang Haibo and quickly got on the Minibus.

Then Sun Yujiao followed.

The chubby salesman Xiong Yifei, though completely desperate, instinctively got on the Minibus and sat back in his previous seat.

…

The Minibus’s fuel tank wasn’t empty, but it was running low. Still, it could run for another half hour without any problem, so Lü Yang didn’t want to refuel.

Driving wasn’t really difficult, and the training he had received earlier in the Eerie Computer felt very real. After Lü Yang started the vehicle smoothly, he adapted to it quickly and steadily drove the Minibus onto the Highway.

There were no other vehicles on the Highway, so Lü Yang wasn’t worried about crashing. But since he was searching for that Large Truck and possible clues, he didn’t drive very fast.

The Minibus moved steadily along the Highway. Everyone inside kept looking out the windows, their faces filled with fear, anxiety, and despair. Not everyone could face death calmly, especially when confronted with such an unknown and terrifying way to die.

The Minibus drove for several more minutes on the Highway, but they still hadn’t seen the self-driving empty Large Truck that Yu Zhenhua had mentioned in the opposite lane, nor had they found any other useful clues. After another half minute, Lü Yang suddenly slammed on the brakes and stopped the Minibus right where it was.

“What happened?” the people sitting in the back asked Lü Yang in panic. They were like startled birds now, easily thrown into chaos by the slightest disturbance.

Lü Yang took a deep breath and waved his hand behind him. “It’s nothing.”

Then Lü Yang turned on the headlights. The bright light illuminated several black boxes ahead. Lü Yang suddenly stepped on the accelerator and rushed forward…

Three black Ashes Urns were crushed and sent flying by the wheels, scattering dust all over the road. Three white slips of paper drifted down and landed on the empty Highway, each bearing a name: Xiong Yifei, Zhang Haibo, and Zhao Kun.

Before destroying these Ashes Urns, Lü Yang had no idea whether his name was on any of them. Moreover, he hadn’t expected that his reckless action would lead to extremely serious consequences…

Behind him, on the Minibus seats, Zhang Haibo and Zhao Kun, who were sitting together, suddenly and inexplicably smashed their heads into each other. Brain matter splattered everywhere, and both of them died instantly on their seats. At the same time, the chubby salesman Xiong Yifei inexplicably developed several large bloody holes in the middle of his body. He vomited blood and died immediately.

The college student Sun Yujiao and the female teacher Yi Qiuhong were terrified by the gruesome scene. They screamed loudly and rushed toward the driver’s seat, urging Lü Yang to stop the vehicle so that the same kind of sudden, unexplained death wouldn’t happen to them.

They hadn’t seen the three Ashes Urns, so naturally, they didn’t understand what was happening. The sudden deaths of the three men only deepened their fear.

“Did they… die just like that…” Lü Yang shook his head hard. It seemed… that if they wanted to survive… there was only one last way.

“Stop the bus quickly! Staying in the vehicle is even more dangerous!” Sun Yujiao shouted at Lü Yang.

Lü Yang did not stop. The Minibus sped forward, and before long, the Xingyue Gas Station service area appeared in sight once again. Clearly, everything was just as Yu Zhenhua had said—this was a dead loop! Lü Yang didn’t drive into the service area. After continuing forward for a short while, he suddenly braked the Minibus to a halt, then fixed his gaze on the stone barrier in the middle of the Highway.

A Large Truck appeared out of nowhere, slowly approaching from the opposite direction. However, the direction it was moving in was clearly somewhat off…

“I’m sure I’ve figured out what they forgot!” Sun Yujiao pointed at the Large Truck that had appeared out of thin air. Though it was moving slowly, it was gradually picking up speed and was about to veer off course, crashing through the barrier.

“The car crash! That’s it! It’s the car crash!” The female teacher Yi Qiuhong stared at the Large Truck in the opposite lane, which was getting closer and more menacing by the second. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

“No…” Lü Yang shook his head.

“Hurry up and open the door! We need to get off and go back to the service area!” The college student, seeing the Large Truck about to crash into them and feeling an inexplicable sense of pressure, urgently urged Lü Yang.

“It’s better not to get off.” Lü Yang shook his head. The idea in his mind was growing stronger, but this method was too risky, making it hard for him to decide immediately.

However, if he didn’t try, they would surely die. If he tried, there was still a chance to survive. But once the Ashes Urn with his name on it appeared, everything would be irreversible.

“I know that before people die, there’s always a twilight period. I think we must have been in a car crash, and everyone in the vehicle died, then we all entered the twilight state together. I just don’t know why our twilight states are connected. Those who died had all forgotten about the car crash before their Ashes Urns appeared. So after the Ashes Urns appeared, they would wonder what they had forgotten. But right before they truly died, they finally returned to the Real world from the twilight state… and quickly realized what had happened. By then, it was already too late, and all that awaited them was death…” The female teacher Yi Qiuhong rapidly spilled out all of her speculations.

“Are we all dead?” Sun Yujiao’s face turned ashen as she asked in a trembling voice, clearly unwilling to accept this outcome.

“So, what they forgot wasn’t just the car crash, but… the fact that they had already died in the car crash! Of course… it’s not just them, but us too… we have all already died in this car crash!” Yi Qiuhong looked at Sun Yujiao and shared all the conclusions she had deduced.

“Most of your reasoning is correct. We did have a car crash, and the order of death was arranged from the front seats to the back… starting with the Minibus driver, then the family of three, followed by that couple and the chubby salesman… But what they forgot wasn’t the car crash, nor was it that they had died… And not everyone in the vehicle died. At least, the three of us sitting further back are still alive. But if we don’t wake up from this twilight state in time, we will meet the same end as them!” Lü Yang shook his head, his eyes still fixed on the Large Truck hurtling toward them. The Large Truck had already smashed through the barrier and was less than ten meters away from the Minibus.

“Then tell me quickly! What exactly did they forget!?” The female teacher Yi Qiuhong shouted at Lü Yang. At this moment, her interest in solving the mystery seemed to have surpassed her search for a Path of Survival.

“Are you two getting off or not!? That truck is about to hit us! Do you want to die here!?” The college student Sun Yujiao screamed hysterically. Then she rushed to the door and tried hard to pull it open.

But Sun Yujiao was too weak; she only managed to open a small gap. She turned sideways and struggled to squeeze through the gap, but only managed to get half of her body out.

At that moment, a dull thud was heard. In an instant, all the lights in the entire Gas Station service area went out without warning. Sun Yujiao, who was preparing to squeeze out of the door and hide somewhere in the service area, froze on the spot.