"Highway of Horrors" Again

Xu Xi had no idea that his livestream was attracting a great deal of attention, or that some viewers were making snide remarks about him for barely speaking.

He leaned back against the rear seat, thinking that the start of this instance seemed fairly friendly. So far, he hadn't encountered any obvious death rules.

Unlike in the last instance, where he had kicked the bucket within minutes.

Of course, it was also possible that something big was being saved for later.

"Everyone, buckle up. We're setting off," Tan Xingyun reminded them before starting the car.

As the car drove on, the scenery outside the windows slowly drifted backward.

There wasn't much scenery, really. Everything beyond the road was covered in thick fog, making it impossible to see what was inside.

But after staring at it for a while, Xu Xi couldn't help feeling a little sleepy.

The drowsiness startled Xu Xi awake, and he realized he seemed to have been staring at the white fog for a long time.

Shaken, he quickly turned his head away and stopped looking out the window.

He had just been thinking he hadn't encountered any death rules, and then one careless moment had nearly done him in!

He had a strong feeling that if he had looked for another two seconds, he probably would never have woken up.

Cursing inwardly, Xu Xi turned to look at his teammates in the car.

Tan Xingyun was focused on the road ahead from the driver's seat, turning the wheel from time to time. Xu Xiuman sat in the passenger seat, quietly alerting him to the road conditions, while Li Kang had already started on some snacks.

Noticing Xu Xi's gaze on him, Li Kang sheepishly tried to scratch his head, but the snack bag in his hand made it awkward. He settled for an embarrassed smile and explained, "I like to eat when I get nervous."

He hurriedly held the snack bag out to Xu Xi. "Want some?"

"..." Xu Xi shook his head, politely declining Li Kang's offer.

Well, it looked like he was the only one who had been idle and bored enough to stare at the white fog and nearly get himself killed.

Depressed, Xu Xi simply closed his eyes to rest, looking nowhere at all.

[Did Xu Xi notice something?]

[Oh, why aren't you calling him 2 minutes and 48 seconds anymore?]

[It's too long. Typing it out every time is a pain.]

[He stared out the window for a long time just now, and he didn't look so good when he came to. Could there be something dangerous outside?]

[Then why didn't he tell the others? He just closed his eyes.]

[Maybe it wasn't convenient to say? I saw him look at everyone just now. He seemed to relax only after he didn't notice anything unusual.]

[Could be. Maybe if he told them, the others would deliberately pay attention to it and end up in danger. Some instances have pulled that trick before.]

Even though there were always viewers making snide comments about Xu Xi and complaining about how little he spoke, he still had the distinction of having speedrun an instance. As a result, whenever he did anything out of the ordinary, viewers would rush to analyze its deeper meaning.

It could also be said that precisely because Xu Xi wasn't as conspicuous as they had imagined, viewers paid even closer attention to his every move, even exaggerating the significance of those actions.

"Up ahead... that's Daoji Highway, right?"

Xu Xiuman's voice suddenly rang out in the car.

Xu Xi immediately opened his eyes. Along with Li Kang, who had also stopped eating his snacks, he looked through the windshield.

A road sign stood a short distance ahead, and it did indeed say Daoji Highway.

"Looks like it. Get ready, we're about to drive onto it." Tan Xingyun's tone was heavy, and the tension in it was easy to hear.

Xu Xiuman clutched her seat belt, her fingertips turning white.

Li Kang gripped his snack bag tightly, swallowing repeatedly.

Xu Xi also sat up straight, ready to face any sudden developments.

[I'm getting so nervous too, aaah!]

[Here's a trick: cover your eyes with your hand, then peek through your fingers.]

[Does that help?]

[No, because that's what I'm doing.]

[...]

The viewers could at least lighten the mood with jokes, but the four people in the instance could only endure their fear of the unknown as they entered the highway rumored to lead to the underworld.

"This road's awfully bumpy!"

Not long after driving onto the highway, Tan Xingyun couldn't help speaking up.

The jolting was making Xu Xi feel sick too. He was already a little carsick, and now it was even worse.

"Holy shit... those things by the road... there are so many burial mounds!!"

Xu Xi was struggling to hold back the bile rising in his throat when he heard Li Kang shout beside him. The next moment, Li Kang had nimbly darted over and pressed himself tightly against him.

He turned to look out the window and saw densely packed burial mounds on both sides of the road, though he didn't know when they had appeared. More importantly, there was a great deal of joss paper and burning incense and candles in front of every mound, as though someone were paying their respects.

As if to confirm Xu Xi's thought, the previously empty spaces in front of the burial mounds suddenly filled with people. They wore all kinds of clothes, and every one of them had a bizarre smile on their face. Their gazes were fixed on the conspicuous black sedan in the middle of the road.

The farther the car drove, the closer those Ghostly Shadows got to them.

"Should... should we keep going?" Xu Xiuman asked, her face pale.

The sight of the burial mounds and Ghostly Shadows together was enough to trigger her trypophobia.

"We definitely have to keep going." Tan Xingyun had already slowed the car when he saw the mass of burial mounds. Even though his palms were covered in cold sweat, he answered the woman in the denim skirt without hesitation.

"No, I mean, look at all the joss paper scattered in front of those graves. Didn't we buy some at the funeral shop? Are we supposed to use it here?" Although she was afraid, Xu Xiuman still tried to make her words coherent.

Clearly, those Ghostly Shadows were coming for them.

As they moved forward, the Ghostly Shadows drew closer too. At this rate, they would be surrounded sooner or later.

Xu Xiuman's line of thinking gave the other three pause.

"You have a point. Let's try scattering the joss paper we have first." Tan Xingyun quickly agreed to the suggestion.

Naturally, neither Xu Xi nor Li Kang objected.

Leaving Tan Xingyun to drive, the other three took turns scattering joss paper out the windows.

The good news was that the joss paper did indeed slow the Ghostly Shadows down.

The bad news was that they didn't have nearly enough joss paper to get the car past all the burial mounds.

[I'm done watching. They're doomed.]

[Don't be so sure. Until the very last moment, nobody knows if they'll find a way out.]

[And here I thought this newcomer Xu Xi was so impressive. Looks like he really did get through the first instance by luck.]

[Sigh, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.]

Unlike the viewers declaring them doomed, Tan Xingyun clearly still wanted to make a final effort. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Hold on tight, everyone. I'll see if I can drive straight through!"

Despair showed on Xu Xiuman's and Li Kang's faces, their eyes filled with deep unwillingness and fear.

They didn't want to die yet.

Xu Xi clenched his fists and watched the Ghostly Shadows drawing ever closer around them. He knew they wouldn't make it through.

He was about to die for the first time in his second instance.

Before his consciousness vanished completely, Xu Xi thought helplessly.

Forget it. Let's start over.