4.
I shuddered, startled, and hurriedly asked Old Yang what he meant.
He asked if I had a cigarette.
I quickly handed him a pack.
He took one out and put it between his lips. I quickly lit it for him.
Old Yang took a drag, then asked if I knew why Nhị Cường had sworn never to drive a night taxi again.
Nhị Cường was part of our group too. I'd even gone out for late-night food with him before.
I said Nhị Cường had told me before that driving a night taxi was exhausting and his health couldn't take it, so he'd decided to quit.
But Old Yang gave a derisive laugh and said that if it were that simple, that would be great.
I quickly moved closer to Old Yang and asked what had really happened.
Old Yang smiled mysteriously and said Nhị Cường hadn't quit because driving a night taxi was too exhausting. It was because that night he'd picked up that couple and nearly failed to make it back.
According to Old Yang, Nhị Cường was driving a passenger to Da Nam Village that night when he saw a couple standing by the road. The man raised his hand to flag him down.
Nhị Cường stopped and asked where they wanted to go.
The man said he wanted to go to the city's Third Hospital.
Nhị Cường figured it was on his way back, so he told them to get in.
After dropping off his passenger in Da Nam Village, Nhị Cường drove the couple to the hospital.
But halfway there, the man suddenly pointed to a road beside them and told Nhị Cường to turn onto it.
Nhị Cường was surprised and asked why.
The man said his mother-in-law wanted to come along to the hospital.
With no other choice, Nhị Cường followed his directions.
The farther they went, the more desolate the surroundings became, and Nhị Cường couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Just then, a stray dog appeared from nowhere, reared up, jumped at the car door, and barked furiously.
Nhị Cường hurriedly rolled up all the windows and tried to reassure the pregnant woman, telling her not to be scared.
He was worried that if the woman got too frightened and something happened in the car, he'd be held responsible.
But when Nhị Cường looked back, he went cold. The back seat was completely empty. There was no one there.
Nhị Cường remembered clearly that as soon as the dog barked, he'd rolled up the windows. There was no way the couple could have gotten out.
He turned to look ahead and was even more terrified. Just three or four feet in front of the car was a dead end, with a river below rushing violently.
Nhị Cường couldn't swim. If he fell in, he would surely drown.
He immediately turned the car around and sped away, heading straight home.
The next morning, Nhị Cường fell ill and had to rest at home for a whole week before he recovered.
Old Yang's words hit me like a bucket of ice water, leaving my hands and feet numb with fear.
I never imagined that couple could be so terrifying.
They'd even told me something was wrong with Vương Lộ Dao, and I'd believed their nonsense.
Then something occurred to me, and I asked Old Yang why Nhị Cường hadn't told me any of this when I went to visit him.
Old Yang sighed and said, “What's there to brag about? Who goes around telling everyone about something like that?”
That made sense.
After that, Old Yang half-jokingly said it was lucky the couple hadn't harmed me over the past two nights. Otherwise, he might have to come to my house tomorrow for my funeral.
I couldn't bring myself to laugh. I was still terrified.
Old Yang went on to say that just because they hadn't harmed me yet didn't mean they wouldn't later. So, to be safe, he advised me to stop driving a night taxi. In this line of work, if you're not born with a strong fate, you're likely to run into strange things.
I wiped away my cold sweat. I'd already been thinking the same thing.
But what happened next nearly broke me.
5.
The next night, I didn't go out driving. I stayed home playing video games.
Around midnight, a friend called me.
Some of his friends had had too much to drink, and he wanted me to drive them home.
I couldn't refuse.
So I drove over to pick them up.
After dropping them off, I headed back to my neighborhood. But as I passed a KTV, I suddenly saw Vương Lộ Dao.
She saw me too and came running over with a smile.
Old Yang had said yesterday that the couple were the ones with something wrong with them. So what did I have to be afraid of?
Vương Lộ Dao came over, smiling, and asked if I could drive her to Da Nam Village.
Of course I could.
There were plenty of ways to get to Da Nam Village, after all, so taking a little detour was no big deal. I'd make some money and leave a good impression on her—a win-win.
Who knew? This might be the start of something wonderful. Hadn't I just hit the jackpot?
She got in and, as usual, transferred five hundred yuan to me.
About ten minutes into the drive, Vương Lộ Dao suddenly asked curiously why I wasn't taking the usual route.
I said the usual route was where we'd run into that couple, which was terrifying, so I was taking a different road to be safe.
She said she was glad I'd finally believed her.
When I dropped Vương Lộ Dao off at the entrance to Da Nam Village, I asked if she'd give me her contact information. I said I'd give her a discount next time she rode with me.
She smiled and said okay.
After we exchanged contact information, I got ready to leave.
Just then, Vương Lộ Dao asked if I would wait for her outside the KTV tomorrow.
I said I definitely would.
She smiled and said she'd wait for me there.
But then her voice suddenly turned strange. She said that if I didn't come wait for her there tomorrow, she'd come looking for me.
I gave a scoff and asked if she even knew where I lived.
She didn't answer, only smiled mysteriously.
I drove for a few more seconds, then suddenly thought of something. I stopped at once, intending to look for Vương Lộ Dao.
But when I looked toward the village entrance, it was pitch-black, and not a soul was in sight.
I hurried out of the car and ran to the village entrance. I looked along the main road into the village, but there was no one there either.
Had she gone that fast?
I turned to leave, but suddenly kicked a bowl.
The rice immediately spilled out. The three incense sticks standing in the bowl fell to the ground and went out. The two candles beside it flickered weakly, as though the night wind were about to extinguish them.
I knew that in many rural areas, people often set up things like this by the roadside, apparently as offerings to ghosts.
Just then, a gust of cold wind blew over, as if someone were breathing in my face. Goose bumps rose all over me.
Something was wrong.
I got back in the car and hurried away.
I drove three or four miles before I was sure nothing strange was going to happen, then finally let out a sigh of relief.
When I got back to my apartment, I tossed my car keys aside and collapsed onto the bed, panting.
After showering, I grabbed my phone, intending to play a game for a while before going to bed.
Just then, I suddenly remembered the five hundred yuan Vương Lộ Dao had transferred to me.
After driving for days, I was finally seeing some money.
But when I opened my digital wallet to check, I suddenly jolted in shock and fear, flinging my phone away.
6.
The five hundred yuan Vương Lộ Dao had transferred to me had vanished without a trace.
Before, I’d suspected that couple had done something to make Vương Lộ Dao’s money disappear, but this time… I was certain I’d only driven Vương Lộ Dao tonight. I hadn’t run into that couple.
There was only one explanation: something was wrong with Vương Lộ Dao.
A chill ran through my whole body.
No matter what, I couldn’t keep driving nights anymore.
From now on, even if someone were on their last breath, begging me to take them to the hospital, I still wouldn’t drive. Let someone else do it if they wanted.
The next evening, I firmly decided not to go out driving.
But staying up late had become a habit, and I was still wide awake well into the night.
At one in the morning, I was about to call Old Yang and ask when we were going to get some late-night food.
But an unfamiliar number called before I could.
I hurried to answer.
The caller asked why I wasn’t waiting outside the KTV tonight.
It was Vương Lộ Dao’s voice.
Terrified, I immediately hung up and then blocked her number.
But strangely, she kept calling back.
I jumped in fright and immediately turned off my phone to see whether she could still find me.
But I wanted to call Old Yang and get some answers.
After changing clothes, I hurried out of the house.
Just as I reached the door, there was a sudden knock: “Knock, knock.”
Who would come looking for me at this hour?
At first, I was going to open the door right away. But as soon as I took hold of the handle, I suddenly grew wary and looked through the peephole.
There was no one outside.
“Knock, knock!”
The knocking was loud and clear, as if someone were standing right outside.
I looked again. There really was no one there.
Suddenly, a deathly pale face leaned close to the peephole. Its eyes were wide open, staring at me through it.
It was Vương Lộ Dao.
I was so scared I fell to the floor, trembling all over.
She had really come.
Last night, she’d said that if I didn’t wait for her outside the KTV, she’d come looking for me.
At the time, I’d thought she was only joking.
Bang, bang!
The knocking suddenly grew frantic, turning into pounding.
She’d found me.
She was going to get in, no matter what.
The pounding shook dust loose from the security door. I could even hear the wall around its frame cracking, and my scalp tingled with fear.
I scrambled to my feet and ran straight into the kitchen.
I grabbed a knife and gripped it tightly. Whether she was human or a ghost, if she came in, I’d cut her.
I’d made up my mind.
Strangely enough...
Just as I braced myself, the pounding suddenly stopped.
All at once, a terrifying silence fell around me. Not a sound.
I stood frozen in place, afraid to move, ears straining, but I couldn’t hear a thing.
I didn’t know what was happening outside, but I didn’t dare look. I could only endure it like that.
Seconds and minutes dragged by. To me, those one or two minutes felt like a year. It was pure torture.
I waited about five minutes, but nothing happened.
Suddenly, the steady clack of high heels striking the floor sounded outside.
The woman in the apartment across the hall, who worked the night shift, had come home.
I’d run into her twice before when I went out. She was quite pretty, with a very alluring figure.
If she didn’t scream in terror, that meant Vương Lộ Dao had left.
Right now, all I wanted was to run outside, get away from here, and find Old Yang.
I felt like he was the only one who could put me at ease.
So I summoned all my courage and looked through the peephole.