Li Kang

Biodata

Appearance

Li Kang is a young man who appeared to be around Xu Xi’s age 12.

• Wears glasses and a white T-shirt when he enters “Highway Terror” 11.

Personality

Li Kang is shy and easily frightened, but he recognizes that running away from danger in an instance can be fatal. He eats snacks when nervous and sometimes scratches his head when embarrassed 12 13 14 23.

He trusts his instincts and quickly comes to regard Xu Xi as a hidden expert. Although he often follows his teammates’ lead, he contributes to their decisions, including the discussion about whether the Red-Skirted Woman might be a useful clue. Xu Xi later considers him a reliable teammate who did not hold the group back 12 21 28.

Li Kang becomes more outspoken when he feels reassured by Xu Xi’s presence. Despite his trust in the team, he understands why his companions might consider abandoning him when the fake Li Kang claims that only three of them can escape in his car, though he struggles to accept the possibility 20 26 27.

Abilities & Skills

Instincts

Li Kang says he has had sharp instincts since childhood and trusts his premonitions, although they do not always come true 24.

• He sensed danger in the tunnel before the group entered it and remained uneasy until another car appeared 24 25.
• He also trusted his impression that Xu Xi was unusually capable, based on Xu Xi’s apparent calm during the instance 12 15.

Story Role

Highway Terror

Entering his second instance, Li Kang joins Xu Xi, Tan Xingyun, and Xu Xiuman in a foggy wilderness. He notices that the sedan they find has neither a badge nor a license plate. At a roadside funeral shop, he looks to Xu Xi for guidance about buying joss paper and notices the shopkeeper’s ominous farewell 11 13.

On Daoji Highway, Li Kang helps scatter spirit money to slow the Ghostly Shadows. After the group escapes, he thanks Xu Xi, whose apparent foresight has strengthened his confidence in him 16 17.

When a rain-soaked old woman blocks the car and demands a ride, Li Kang asks Xu Xi what they should do. Xu Xi gives her joss paper and incense, persuading her to leave 18 19.

When the group meets the Red-Skirted Woman, Li Kang suggests that rejecting her because of their earlier encounter might cause them to miss a clue. He joins a staged conversation to persuade Tan Xingyun to give her a ride, then edges closer to Xu Xi when she sits beside him. After she guides them through the fog, she gives Li Kang money for the ride; it later turns into hell money 21 22 23 24.

At the tunnel, another sedan confronts the group, driven by someone who looks exactly like Li Kang. Tan Xingyun tests the two with questions about Li Kang’s life outside the instance; the double cannot initially answer his father’s name. In the successful attempt, Xu Xi buys the double’s car with the group’s offerings and their original car as collateral, allowing all four to escape and reach the funeral home 25 26 27.

After the confrontation, Li Kang is quiet, suspecting that Tan Xingyun and Xu Xiuman had considered leaving him behind. The group nevertheless clears the instance together 27.

Items

• Wedding candy — Received two pieces from Tan Xingyun’s even division of the Red-Skirted Woman’s gift. The patterned candy removes negative statuses, while the white candy heals physical injuries 23 28.
• Hell money — Received an equal share of the eight bills the Red-Skirted Woman gave the group for her ride 23 24.
• Joss paper and offering incense — Carried offerings bought at the funeral shop and contributed them toward the purchase of the double’s car 15 26.

Relationships

• Xu Xi — Teammate whom Li Kang regards as a hidden expert. He repeatedly looks to Xu Xi for guidance and feels saved by his solution to the tunnel encounter 12 18 27.
• Tan Xingyun — Teammate and driver during “Highway Terror.” Tan helps establish that the Li Kang traveling with the group is real 12 25.
• Xu Xiuman — Teammate who shares snacks with Li Kang and helps assess the dangers they encounter 12 21.
• Li Deping — Li Kang’s father; his name helps Tan Xingyun test Li Kang’s double 25.

Trivia

• Li Kang’s birthday is June 11 25.
• He had not passed the second part of his driving test by the time of “Highway Terror” 18.
• In “Mountain Inn,” Xu Xi compares a soft-spoken teammate’s temperament to Li Kang’s, though he considers her more experienced 31.