Nighttime Road Maintenance Service

"There really is a ghost!" Chen Xing's voice came from the side, sounding both startled and somewhat fearful. Perhaps because the stories he told mostly centered on his own childhood, his personality wasn't particularly mature.

Zhang Anzai knew that the entity beside him was far too unstable.

That was why, the moment he thought about the possibility of other ghosts in this instance, he recalled the video he had recorded, yet he hadn't dared to watch it while inside the gas station.

The surveillance footage Chen Xing had personally experienced before was one thing, but he was worried that the video might trigger some further change in Chen Xing.

And yet, even though the video showed that there was indeed a ghost on this highway, he had already laid the groundwork, so the person beside him shouldn't be affected any further.

However, one fact stood before them: there was truly a ghost by the Highway 45 sign, blocking their path.

But thinking of Chen Xing's ability, Zhang Anzai started the car and drove out, saying:

"Actually... there's no need to worry too much. Not all ghosts are like the one in the story just now that steals people's bodies; those are powerful, evil ghosts. The one you encountered when you were a child didn't manage to catch you for a long time, right?

I think the one we've encountered now is the same. We only offended him by passing through. Just like your grandmother did back then, we can burn some paper money and incense to apologize, then dig up a bit of soil to summon the soul, and that should lead us back onto the right path."

Chen Xing seemed to calm down because of his words, falling into silence once again.

Zhang Anzai's words, however, were not yet finished; he intended to milk this opportunity for all it was worth: "This isn't difficult, but I need your help."

The highway continued to stretch out before them, the night sky remaining vast and boundless.

Having confirmed that there were other threats in the instance, Zhang Anzai knew clearly that this convenient friend beside him would be the support he had to rely on.

Ahead, the familiar Highway 45 sign appeared once more.

On the drive over, Zhang Anzai had carefully recalled the things Chen Xing's grandmother did in the original story to help the two protagonists escape the female ghost who had been crushed to death by a dump truck.

It was a two-step process: burn paper money and incense, burn the clothes stained with the woman's blood along with them, and persuade the ghost to let them go.

Then the second step: after Chen Xing's soul had been snatched away, go beneath the asphalt, dig up the soil stained with the ghost's blood—the place where he had lost his soul.

Then burn incense facing the soil, wrap it up, and place it at the head of the bed of Chen Xing, who had been unable to wake up since losing his soul.

What they needed to do should be similar: go to the intersection where they first saw this entity burning paper in his phantom state, burn incense and paper to pray, and then attempt to dig.

Although this ghost was located by the Highway 45 sign, Zhang Anzai estimated that his true body should be at the intersection where the ghost-beating-the-wall phenomenon began.

Even if that wasn't the case... there was no need to panic.

Zhang Anzai took out his phone and, while driving past the Highway 45 sign again, recorded another video.

As expected, the road sign disappeared behind the car once more, and they were back where they started.

Zhang Anzai decisively stopped the car and took a look at the video.

It was still at a very specific moment that a large patch of black fog appeared ahead on the road. The difference was that this time, the ghost shrouded in the black fog seemed to have walked forward a few steps, his silhouette much clearer.

"It seems we can't drag this out too long, or by the time he walks out, it might be more than just a ghost-beating-the-wall."

As Zhang Anzai thought this, Chen Xing beside him also noticed: "Is this ghost going to find us?"

Zhang Anzai shook his head: "He can get closer at most, but he shouldn't be able to catch up to us for a while."

He decisively turned the car around and arrived in front of that intersection.

"The loop starts here, so this must be where the ghost died." Zhang Anzai spoke with certainty; this was his current leverage.

Even if that wasn't the truth, Chen Xing's current mindset and personality were single-tracked; as long as he spoke with enough conviction, even if it weren't the truth, under the influence of Chen Xing's ability, the ghost would have to have died right here.

This was the only thing Zhang Anzai could do now. This instance was too bizarre, and he couldn't grasp the full truth behind it; he could only abandon the truth in the ambiguity and use the mechanics to try and save himself.

"Get out, Chen Xing, I need your help." Zhang Anzai said, opening the car door and stepping out.

Outside, the endless wilderness and the wide highway were shrouded in darkness.

Having only stepped out of the car at the gas station, Zhang Anzai finally remembered why he felt the night view here was so strange: it was simple, because you couldn't see the moon or stars when you looked up.

But it didn't matter; Zhang Anzai had turned on the high beams before getting out, so the intersection was at least bright in the direction near the car.

Zhang Anzai gripped the hammer and looked back.

Chen Xing had indeed gotten out and was standing by the passenger side. He wore the hat inherited from his previous identity as a clerk, pulled low, making it impossible to see his face, but judging by his build, he looked exactly like an ordinary young man.

"Keep an eye on the surroundings for me." Zhang Anzai instructed, then walked toward the intersection.

If their provocation of this ghost was related to the story they had heard at the beginning, then the place where Chen Xing—or rather, that monster—had first burned paper should be where the corpse of the ghost lay.

Zhang Anzai walked to the side of the road. Among the low shrubs and weeds, the ashes of the burned paper remained. It was only when Zhang Anzai stepped near the ashes that he noticed his shoes were already stained with a bit of blood.

He bent down and used the hammer to push aside the weeds, only to discover that the blood was seeping up from beneath the asphalt.

Getting this close, he could smell a foul odor immediately.

Thinking about it, whether it had been this way from the start or was influenced by the ability, this place was undoubtedly the burial site of that ghost.

Zhang Anzai decisively took a deep breath and shifted his consciousness toward his main body.

The asphalt on the side of the road wasn't thick, but it was at least compacted and dry, and there might be a stabilized layer of cement underneath, while Zhang Anzai only had an iron hammer in his hand.

Furthermore, if there really was a ghost corpse underneath, who knew what kind of changes might be triggered by breaking it open.

Thus, he decided to adopt some external measures.

"[Ox-Horse Liver-Exploding Pill](Forcibly enhances physical constitution and athletic ability for a short duration. Effect lasts 6 hours, followed by a 6-hour period of weakness.)"

"Price: 100 Employee Points."

Another masterpiece from the Ox-Horse Pill Series. Zhang Anzai felt a pang of heartache over those 100 points, but he felt even more heartache for his own miserable life.

"Redeemed [Ox-Horse Liver-Exploding Pill]."

Zhang Anzai swallowed it decisively and shifted his consciousness back into the game.

The high beams in front of the car remained blinding, and the surrounding night remained so pitch-black that it felt terrifying.

However, he decisively raised the Great Ram-Horn Hammer high, and the claw end used for prying nails slammed fiercely into the asphalt.