Highway Terror: Trust in What 2 Minutes and 48 Seconds Means

Only after putting away the two wedding candies did Xu Xi realize he was still holding the travel money the woman in the red dress had given him.

Just then, Li Kang's stammering voice rang out beside him.

"L-look!"

Xu Xi instinctively followed his gaze and looked back. A straight road lay behind them, with no dense forest in sight.

The shadowy village in the distance had vanished too. All that remained in its place was a large swath of dilapidated, leaning houses that looked as though they had been abandoned for a long time.

Well, now everyone knew that there was definitely something wrong with the woman in red too.

The good news was that everyone still had their wedding candy, and it didn't seem to have changed.

But... Xu Xi looked at the travel money in his hand, which had turned into hell money, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

The other three had clearly noticed it too.

Li Kang ventured, "Could... could this stuff be a prop too?"

Hearing that, Xu Xi counted the bills. "There are eight of them too."

He looked up at the three, each wearing a different expression, and suggested, "Why don't we split them evenly too?"

Xu Xi hadn't given it much thought. He simply didn't know what to do with the hell money for the moment. Since Li Kang suspected it was a prop and there were eight bills, just like the candies they had already divided, they might as well split the money too.

Tan Xingyun nodded. "That works."

Xu Xiuman and Li Kang had no objections either.

The viewers who witnessed this couldn't help commenting.

[What's this? Fairness above all else?]

[It's rare to see a player team get along this well.]

[They all have their own little schemes, for sure. These few are just more clearheaded, and this is only their second instance.]

[That's why I like watching newbie streams. Veteran players are too slick and self-serving. Most of the time, they really can't compare to the newbies' sincerity.]

[People are treacherous, man. Being sincere just gets you killed early. You have to look out for yourself to survive in an instance.]

[These players all seem pretty smart to me. I wouldn't call them sincere. It's more like they're weighing the pros and cons.]

[If a crisis came up and they had to sacrifice a teammate, let's see whether they'd still get along this well.]

Unlike the millions or hundreds of millions these bills often came in, the denominations on these pieces of hell money weren't large. Each one was worth 10 yuan.

After each of the four took two bills, Xu Xi carefully put his hell money and wedding candy in his right pocket.

The starting funds provided by the instance were in his left pocket.

They didn't linger long before continuing on their way.

Xu Xi didn't know whether the road ahead had become smoother, but he felt less carsick.

The sky was still foggy and overcast, giving the surroundings an oppressive feel.

No one in the car was talking anymore either. Perhaps the constant dangers had left everyone mentally exhausted.

The instance, however, wasn't going to give them time to rest.

"Is that... a tunnel up ahead?" Xu Xiuman said softly.

"One thing after another. Can't they let us catch our breath?" Li Kang muttered.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a surge of panic.

He trusted his instincts. There had to be something terrifying in the tunnel.

At the thought, he couldn't help growing restless.

Xu Xi, sitting beside Li Kang, was the first to notice that something was wrong with his teammate. Just as he was about to ask, he heard Li Kang swallow and say, "Uncle, can we go around this tunnel?"

Tan Xingyun frowned and surveyed the surroundings, then shook his head. "We can't. There's no road."

Xu Xiuman added, "To be precise, there's fog all around us. Even if there were another road, we couldn't get through the fog."

It was as though this road was the only part of the world not covered in white fog, and theirs was the only car traveling along it.

"What's wrong? Did you notice something?" Xu Xiuman looked at Li Kang.

"My instincts have been sharp since I was a kid. My premonitions don't always come true, but they're usually right. My instincts are telling me that tunnel is dangerous."

Li Kang's grave tone made the other three's hearts tighten.

[Instincts? That sounds pretty mystical. Could he just be so mentally exhausted that he's imagining things?]

[Don't dismiss it. Some people really are born with a strong sixth sense. At a critical moment, your instincts can save your life.]

[Yes, yes! My neighbor has a really sharp sixth sense. Once, when he went out and was about to cross the road, he kept having a bad feeling, so he stopped for two seconds. In those two seconds, a car raced past him, barely missing him, and sent several people flying!]

[Was it near XX Square? I saw that news story. I heard one person died and two were injured.]

[Yes, that's the place!]

[Holy shit, you wouldn't guess this guy had that ability.]

[I watched Li Kang's first stream. I thought he'd dodged those dangers because he was lucky, but it turns out it was his instincts.]

Xu Xi was quite willing to believe in that sort of mysterious thing, just as he believed that if he prayed devoutly to the God of Wealth every day, he would strike it rich someday.

Tan Xingyun was even more inclined to believe it. He had driven a taxi for more than a decade and encountered some inexplicable taboos, so he believed Li Kang too.

Even if Xu Xiuman had once been an atheist, she believed in such things after the God Hunt game descended.

"...But there really is no way around it."

The winding road stretched into the pitch-black tunnel. Indistinct shadows churned constantly in the white fog on either side, and a single glance made the hairs on their bodies stand on end.

If they didn't take the tunnel, their only option was to venture into the white fog.

That was obviously courting death.

There was little color in Li Kang's face. He knew there was no choice but to enter the tunnel.

"It's just a tunnel. We've made it through so many dangers already; one more won't make a difference." Seeing how heavy the mood had become, Tan Xingyun smiled and tried to encourage them.

"Let's see what's so formidable about this tunnel."

Whether they lived or died, they had to try.

Li Kang's expression improved considerably at that. He glanced at the young man sitting beside him and thought, Right, the big shot is here too.

Seeing that Li Kang had calmed down, Xu Xiuman said, "Let's go."

Tan Xingyun acknowledged her.

Xu Xi, utterly unaware that the teammate beside him had pinned all his hopes on him, waited for them to enter the tunnel, braced for what lay ahead.

Was Xu Xi nervous?

Of course he was.

Was Xu Xi afraid?

Not particularly.

For him, as he was now, even if he died, it was fine as long as it didn't hurt.

He just didn't know what would be in the tunnel.

[Oh god, now I'm nervous.]

[With Xu Xi there, they should, they should be fine, right? (Swallows)]

[Hard to say. Even if this newbie really is as amazing as you say, there's no guarantee he can spot the instance's traps every single time.]

[Have faith in them—or rather, trust in what 2 minutes and 48 seconds means.]

Li Kang's words had alarmed the viewers, but the mention of the 2-minute-and-48-second clear record once again succeeded in calming the restless comments.