The old car broke down by the roadside.
Smoke rose from beneath the hood after it was opened. They could only call for help, and it would not be fixed anytime soon.
Daley was in a terrible mood, and seeing the two of them being all lovey-dovey in the car made him even angrier. It had only been a short while, yet his annoying sister was practically glued to Li Dan already.
He could only call for roadside assistance.
Miraculously, there was actually a signal this time.
Unfortunately, having a signal did not mean calling the police would help. Li Dan remembered that the Bat Person had killed quite a few cops.
Still shaken, Trish leaned against Li Dan. What had just happened had truly frightened her.
How could there be such a vile truck driver?
Daley suddenly recalled how that truck driver had hurriedly chased after them, as though he was afraid of being discovered.
"Hey, Li Dan, do you want to go check out where that truck driver was driving earlier? I suspect he was dumping bodies."
Li Dan was puzzled. "Dumping bodies?"
Daley leaned against the car window, shielding himself from the sunlight.
"Yeah. I thought I was seeing things at first, but now I'm afraid it was real. I saw him with my own eyes throw a corpse wrapped in white cloth into it."
Li Dan thought it over and agreed. Searching on his own was no better than following Daley, this little expert at courting death.
The two immediately hit it off.
Daley suggested that his sister stay behind and wait for help while he and Li Dan went to take a look.
Trish immediately cursed upon hearing that.
"You're leaving me here alone? What if that truck driver comes back?"
Daley was left speechless and could only let all three of them set off together.
Along the way, Trish did not forget to berate Daley for his stupid behavior.
In Li Dan's view, the sister had some brains, but the younger brother was truly a bit too dumb.
The three of them walked on, stopping now and then.
They arrived at the place where they had first seen the truck driver.
It was a black, rusted pipe hidden among the trees by the roadside. Looking down into it, they could not see the bottom.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Daley shouted into the pipe. When no one answered, he wanted to climb inside and take a look, but Trish stopped her brother from doing something so stupid when she saw how bottomless it appeared.
Just as the three of them were about to leave, and Li Dan was preparing to toss the Soul Severing Clown inside to investigate—
A faint sound came from within the pipe.
That sound excited Daley. He was certain someone inside was still alive, and he wanted to go down and save them.
After hearing Daley's plan, Trish could not help saying,
"Did getting hit by that car damage your brain?"
After saying that, Trish fell silent again. She felt that her brother's head might really have been damaged by the car. The truck driver had rammed them several times, and Daley's head had even slammed into the steering wheel.
Daley stubbornly insisted.
"No, I just want to save someone. Maybe that truck driver is a murderer, and we might even get some reward money."
Trish wanted Li Dan to help talk him out of it, but Li Dan said that if he spoke up, it might only have the opposite effect.
Trish said it was fine, and then Li Dan spoke.
Daley, who had still been somewhat hesitant, felt that his dignity had been challenged. He immediately climbed into the pitch-black pipe and accidentally stepped on something, slipping straight to the bottom.
A heavy thud echoed up from below.
Trish: "..."
Who could she blame for that?
Trish could only call out anxiously for her brother.
Just as she began to wonder whether her brother had gone to Heaven, a reply finally came from inside.
Daley told them to leave quickly, call for help, and report it to the police. He would find a way out himself.
But Li Dan had no intention of listening to Daley. He immediately prepared to go inside as well.
Who would have thought that Trish would tightly hug him from behind?
Li Dan: "?"
"What are you doing?"
Trish said, "Don't go in. Let's listen to Daley and go back to call for help first. If that big truck comes back, I'll be scared by myself."
If it came back, all the better. Li Dan would not have to search everywhere for the Bat Person, which meant he had even more reason to go down.
"Find somewhere to hide first. I have to go down and take a look." Li Dan did not linger over the soft sensation against his back. He broke free from Trish's grasp and jumped straight in.
The pitch-black pipe was not only filthy and messy, but also crawling with mice.
He followed the pipe for dozens of steps before reaching the bottom.
There was another world beneath the pipe.
It was like an underground granary.
Except this granary was filled with people. The Bat Person was quite clever, actually knowing to store food away.
Li Dan estimated there were at least several hundred of them, big and small.
So greedy?
At the very innermost part, Li Dan found Daley staring blankly ahead. The kid had been scared senseless and could not recover for a long time.
Li Dan simply stayed with him for a while.
But his luck was not very good. The Bat Person had not blocked the entrance, so he could only take Daley back out to reunite with Trish.
When Trish saw that the two had returned safely, she truly did not know how to thank Li Dan.
No one else knew Li Dan's purpose.
From Trish's perspective, Li Dan had absolutely no reason to risk himself for Daley. The two of them had only just met.
The only possibility she could think of was that the two of them had flirted happily on the way over.
So she naturally credited herself for both Li Dan's decision and reason to go down and save her brother.
That was somewhat narcissistic, but she did have the right to be narcissistic.
Before long, the rescue team arrived.
The three followed the rescue team to a restaurant to rest for a while.
Daley was mentally unstable. He wanted to call the police and tell the diners that there was a killer nearby.
But who would believe him?
Just then, a call came into the restaurant.
Li Dan casually picked up the phone and answered it. As long as it was not One Missed Call, he was not afraid.
After the call connected,
An elderly woman's voice came from the other end.
The old woman said she knew what had happened to the three of them. She told Li Dan that place was the Ogre's nest, and that both Li Dan and Daley had entered its nest. The Ogre would follow...
As Li Dan listened to the call, Trish and Daley pressed close to him, hoping to hear what was being said.
The general meaning was that the Ogre would follow their scent to find them.
Daley truly believed it. He had seen the hundreds of corpses in that pipe with his own eyes. How could it be fake?
He immediately called the police.
The diners in the restaurant looked at the three of them in surprise.
The way they kept overreacting made them seem somewhat abnormal.
Trish leaned against Li Dan. The day's events had exhausted her completely. She did not quite believe in an Ogre, but both Li Dan and her brother said so. What reason did she have not to believe them?
Li Dan, on the other hand, relaxed. Since the old woman had said so, all he had to do was wait for the Bat Person to come to him.
He turned to look at Trish and naturally wrapped an arm around her waist. His hand slipped beneath her clothes and gently stroked her smooth, tender skin. He dared to be so bold because he had noticed something.
Besides, the wait was somewhat difficult to endure.
In this terrifying world, one ought to enjoy oneself in time and ease one's mind.
Trish's body stiffened as she felt the large hand moving over her waist. Slowly, she relaxed again and leaned against Li Dan with a tacit understanding.
This man's identity, background, looks, courage, and even sense of responsibility all made him someone she could rely on.
The sky gradually darkened.
The restaurant remained brightly lit.
It gave people a sense of safety—the safety of having many people around.
Soon, the police Daley had called arrived, making that sense of safety even stronger.
Only Li Dan knew that this sense of safety was meager and hollow. He remembered clearly that the Bat Person had blasted straight through an entire police station.
The idea that police provided safety did not hold true in Jeepers Creepers.
By then, Trish was sitting on the inside, while Li Dan sat on the outside to block other people's view. At the same time, he was no longer satisfied with merely caressing her waist and slowly began to climb upward...
Before you continue