Seeing that the vehicle was fine, the driver grew a little bolder and eased off the brake some more, letting the vehicle continue to slide forward.
But at that very moment, something changed!
A faint layer of shadow crept over the hood. The smooth army-green paint instantly filled with cracks, the aged, crazed paint curling up as faint crisp pops came from the splitting paint film.
The driver immediately slammed on the brakes. Everyone held their breath, and the vehicle fell utterly silent. The only sound was the rapid beeping from the detection device held by the field agent in the back seat.
In an atmosphere quiet enough to hear a pin drop, those beeps were unbearably shrill, like Death's approaching footsteps.
The shadow slowly crawled across the hood. The paint film soon peeled away completely, revealing a hood mottled with rust.
The two headlights at the front flickered twice, then abruptly went out.
The faint shadow gradually spread over the windshield. The once-clear glass was suddenly covered in a yellowed haze, making it look like a piece of frosted glass that had been left sitting for years, yellowed and deteriorated with age.
The driver desperately shrank back, staring fixedly at the steering wheel before him—just one second ago, the leather wrapped around it had begun to crack and shrivel, while the plastic beneath turned brittle and split apart. A small plastic fragment fell away, exposing the steering wheel's metal frame.
Just as the driver thought Death was about to descend, an utterly ordinary-looking hand suddenly grabbed the steering wheel with a slap.
The steering wheel's "aging process" came to an abrupt halt, and the faint shadow receded like a tide.
Sun Hang glanced at the retreating shadow, then turned to look at the driver, whose expression had become extremely