8
“Mom, I’m so cold.”
The little girl in the back seat began to shiver.
La Anh quickly took off her coat. “Here, put Mom’s coat on to warm up.”
The girl had just turned around when she suddenly screamed, “Mom, you’re bleeding!”
I glanced in the rearview mirror. I couldn’t see any blood, but the terror on the girl’s face was definitely real.
Old Mu quickly turned around and took the girl’s hand. “Where’s the blood? That’s just the pattern on your mother’s coat. You must’ve scared yourself.”
The girl turned to look at La Anh again. By then, La Anh had quickly put her coat back on.
“Mom’s fine. Don’t scare yourself like that. But it really is cold in the car. I took off my coat and got chilled right away.”
“Let’s have her sit up front.”
I suggested, “There’s a heater up here. She’ll warm up soon.”
La Anh and Old Mu hesitated for a moment, but seeing their daughter shivering, they had no choice but to agree.
9
After changing seats, the girl immediately seemed much better.
She looked at me curiously, then smiled. “Mister, you look just like Zhang Fei!”
I couldn’t help laughing.
She wasn’t wrong. I was born with an unusual appearance—big and burly—and luckily, the girl wasn’t afraid of me.
I handed her the thermos beside me. “Have something hot to drink. You’ll feel better soon.”
She took it and studied the thermos for a while.
It was milky white, decorated with cute pink rabbits, and had two handles shaped like rabbit ears.
“Mister, your thermos is so cute.”
The girl fondled the two “rabbit ears” and murmured, “I think I have one just like it…”
10
“Is that so? Who gave it to you?” I asked gently.
She furrowed her brow, as if she couldn’t remember just then.
Suddenly, a hand reached forward from the back seat!
“Giai Giai, let Dad open it for you.”
Old Mu snatched the thermos from her hands, unscrewed the lid, and poured out a cup of dark red drink: steaming-hot red-date tea.
“It’s red-date tea, your favorite!”
The girl took it with both hands, but just then, my car hit something and lurched hard.
The tea spilled everywhere, splashing all over Old Mu.
The drink in the thermos wasn’t that hot anymore, but Old Mu reacted as if he’d been badly burned. He flailed his arms and screamed.
The girl hurriedly handed the thermos back to me while helping Old Mu wipe the liquid off himself.
At last, Old Mu gave her an awkward smile. “It’s okay, Giai Giai. Don’t drink it yet. It’s still really hot.”
My eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and met Old Mu’s gaze.
His eyes no longer held the friendliness they’d shown at first. Instead, a chilling, inexplicable look had quietly crept into them.
11
My car continued down the road. The mountain grew quieter and quieter, as if even the animals in the forest had gone to bed.
The girl seemed more alert now. She asked curiously, “Mister, it’s so late, and you’re still going to meet someone. Is it something urgent?”
“Yeah. My client is really worried. She’s afraid something’s happened to her friend.”
“Is her friend sick?”
“You could say that.” I turned my head to glance at the girl.
“What about you? Do you have any friends?”
“I don’t have any.”
The girl answered almost reflexively, but as soon as she did, her brows furrowed tightly.
“Giai Giai, don’t distract him while he’s driving.”
Just then, La Anh, sitting behind me, suddenly leaned close against the back of my seat. Her icy breath brushed past my ear.
“Brother Long, could you please drive a little faster? Just get us off this mountain road, and we’ll call a car home ourselves.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a blinding light shone straight into the car from outside.
It was that red sports car again!
The familiar engine roared close once more, but this time it wasn’t behind us. It was right in front!
Somehow, the red car had gotten onto the downhill lane.
There was no way it could have passed us and then turned downhill—the entire stretch of road had no turnoffs.
And yet there it was.
Ahead on the right, its headlights shone straight at the front of my car. I could barely see the road and had to rely on instinct to drive.
“Brother Long!”
Old Mu and the others were nearly frozen with fear.
The girl huddled against the passenger seat, gripping her seat belt with both hands.
At that moment, the red car recklessly crossed the divider between the two lanes.
The driver looked completely insane. He didn’t slow down at all, but charged straight toward us.
“Damn it!”
I cursed. There was no point trying to swerve now, so I stomped on the gas and drove straight at it!
Old Mu, La Anh, and Mu Xu all screamed, while the girl in the passenger seat squeezed her eyes shut.
At the moment of impact, the red sports car crumpled at once, turning from a flashy supercar into a wrecked frame in the blink of an eye.
The driver’s scream mingled with the heavy crash, sounding as if it came from the distant past, and the engine slowly died.
The wrecked frame exploded too, becoming a cloud of red smoke that engulfed the front of our car.
I gripped the steering wheel and kept driving, watching the road through every gap I could find.
As the red smoke gradually cleared, I thought it was over. But then, without a sound, the passenger-side door opened!
12
A man, blackened all over, his neck twisted grotesquely, stuck half his body out of the red smoke. He grabbed the girl’s arm with both hands and yanked hard.
She was completely unprepared. If she hadn’t been wearing her seat belt, he would’ve dragged her right out.
With no time to lose, I immediately pulled the soul-striking whip from my waist, clamped the steering wheel between my legs, twisted around and yanked the girl back, then swung the whip straight at the thing’s head.
A sharp crack rang through the air. The thing shrieked in pain and quickly retreated into the red smoke.
The red smoke in front of the car dissipated just as quickly.
The girl panicked and instinctively turned to her parents for comfort. But La Anh and Old Mu were both staring at me now.
“Brother Long, what’s that thing wrapped around your waist?”
“A soul-striking whip. An old Taoist gave it to me when I was little.”
I met their cold stares in the rearview mirror.
“I never would’ve guessed, Brother Long. You’re not only a good driver—you’ve had extraordinary luck since you were a child.”
As La Anh spoke, her icy hand slowly came to rest on my shoulder.
“Our family has had such a hard life, and this mountain road is so dangerous. It would be wonderful if you could stay with us forever and drive for our family…”
I cracked the soul-striking whip against her shoulder. La Anh immediately pulled her hand back.
“I think you’re all…”“Poor thing. I only gave you a ride because we were headed the same way. Don’t push your luck!”
The three people in the back seat immediately went pale.
Just then, my headlights began flashing continuously, and a black sedan silently appeared, blocking the road ahead.
The car sagged under a heavy weight. The gas pedal wouldn’t budge, and the engine died at once. The world around us sank into pitch darkness.
The girl in the passenger seat still hadn’t recovered from her earlier fright. Now the sudden turn of events made her scream.
“Damn it! You wouldn’t take the easy way, so now you can take the hard way!”
I turned the key over and over, but the car wouldn’t start.
The girl turned around, crying. “Dad? Mom?”
But there was no one in the back seat anymore.
“Sir, what’s going on?”
I pulled out my phone. Its screen lit up, casting a little light inside the car.
“Three years ago, five people died in that accident. Besides the driver of the red sports car, the entire family of four in the black car died too.”
The girl’s face changed immediately. “You… you mean I—we…”
“They’re not your family!”
I cut her off. “You’re not Mu Giai. The real Mu Giai was thrown out the window in the accident and fell into the ravine. They still haven’t found her body.”
Just then, someone pounded hard on the passenger-side door. La Anh’s voice came from outside. “Giai Giai, get out of the car! Mom and Dad are waiting out here!”
The girl clapped a hand over her mouth. Her whole body began to tremble.
14
“Giai Giai, come out! Mom and Dad are waiting!”
The pounding on the car door grew faster and harder. The girl panicked, not knowing what to do. She could only curl up in her seat, afraid to make a sound.
Suddenly, a thump sounded from the roof, and a pitch-black head dangled down in front of the windshield.
Its pale blue eyes stared straight at the girl. “Sis, stop hiding. I can see you.”
The girl let out a piercing scream and desperately pressed herself back into the seat.
I raised the soul-striking whip and lashed the windshield. “Get lost!”
Mu Xu dropped to the ground with a thud, and the outside fell silent at once.
I turned around, gripped the girl’s shoulders, and made her meet my gaze. “You have to remember who you are. You have to remember your name! Otherwise, I can’t get you out of here!”
She stared at me, bewildered, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. “I don’t know… If I’m not Mu Giai, then who am I?”
Just then, a faint voice came from outside the window, as if someone were calling someone’s name.
The girl looked around in confusion. “Who… Who’s calling? Are they calling me? I can’t hear clearly…”
It was now two in the morning.
I pulled a flashlight out from under the seat and got out of the car. The moment I stepped outside, thick fog surged over me.
The black car and the family of four had vanished into the haze.
My car still wouldn’t start.
I took a string of Five Emperors’ coins from my pocket.