Chapter 0063 The Toll Booth
Brother Jiang was furious. "If I knew, would I be asking you? Besides, what kind of crappy road is this? It doesn't even have streetlights, and you have the nerve to charge a toll?" The middle-aged woman showed a flicker of surprise and was about to say something when the man sitting in the back left rolled down his window. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it over.
The middle-aged woman took the paper, glanced at it, and waved them through, muttering: "Why couldn't you just give that in the first place? Why all the nonsense?"
Brother Jiang's temper flared: "What did you say?"
The middle-aged woman sneered and said nothing. Brother Jiang asked: "Is the road ahead toward Kangping?"
The woman shook her head: "Ahead is Tianmen."
Starting the car and driving forward, Brother Jiang said irritably: "Driving all this way just to get you two home—what a waste of time!"
At that moment, the woman in the back seat spoke up: "Aren't you supposed to take this road anyway?"
Brother Jiang raised his voice: "Who said that? I'm going to Kangping! If I hadn't run into you two, I would have turned around and headed back long ago!"
the woman replied: "You can only walk this road; there is nowhere else you can go."
Brother Jiang slammed on the brakes. The car came to a violent halt. He turned around, eyes wide with rage: "What do you mean by that? Trying to extort me or rob me? Get out of the car right now!"
The man said: "Forget it, she's just blunt. Don't take it to heart."
Brother Jiang had a fiery temper: "No way! Both of you get out! I'm not taking you any further!"
The woman sneered: "Even if you don't take us, you won't be able to go back." Brother Jiang pushed open the door and got out. He opened the trunk, grabbed a pipe wrench, and then yanked open the rear door: "I don't freaking believe this! You two think you can hijack a driver? Let's see what you've got. Brother Tian, get out and stay back; I'm going to swing at these two!"
Sensing trouble, I hurried out to intervene. The man and woman indeed got out of the car. Just as Brother Jiang was about to strike, the two of them silently started walking forward, not even glancing at us again. I persuaded Brother Jiang to turn around and let it go. He sullenly tossed the pipe wrench back into the trunk, and we got into the car to head back the way we came.
Strangely enough, it had taken less than five minutes to drive from the toll booth, but after driving back for ten minutes, we saw no sign of it. Brother Jiang said: "Huh, we should have reached the toll booth by now, right?"
I suggested: "Maybe the toll booth closed for the night?"
Brother Jiang laughed: "I've never heard of a toll booth in China closing for the night. Besides, even if it were closed, you'd still see the gates. Did we miss it?" We continued driving for another half hour. It was pitch black on both sides of the road, which immediately reminded me of that sleepwalking incident at the crematorium. There were no turn-offs or other options, so we could only floor it and keep driving straight. At that moment, the fuel gauge turned yellow—we were running out of gas. I was anxious and felt increasingly hot, so I stripped off my shirt and sat there bare-chested.
"This is so damn weird. Which road is this anyway? If we don't see a gas station soon, we're spending the night in this car," Brother Jiang said.
My heart was pounding. I had a rough idea of what was happening but didn't want to say it. I pinched the back of my hand hard; it hurt. The fuel light turned red, meaning the tank was bone dry and the fuel pump was about to burn out. Finally, a small fork appeared. After turning, streetlights appeared on both sides. I shouted: "A gas station! Is that a gas station over there?" Brother Jiang floored the accelerator, and sure enough, it was a gas station.
As he pulled in to refuel, I stepped out for some air. The cold wind hit me, and I immediately felt freezing, so I scrambled to put my shirt back on, though I was still shivering. The attendant looked at us and the car suspiciously while filling the tank. I noticed a T-junction next to the station and asked: "Which way is it further ahead?"
The attendant said: "North is Fushun, south is Shenyang. How did you guys get here?" I said we drove, and the attendant laughed: "That road has been under construction for months; it's full of deep trenches. Did you guys fly your car over?"
I was completely stunned.
After getting back in, we headed south. A few minutes later, I suddenly felt lightheaded and increasingly drowsy; my eyelids felt like lead. I looked at Brother Jiang. Although he was sitting in his seat with his hands on the wheel, his eyes were closed and his mouth was half-open, as if he were sleepwalking.
I was terrified: "Hey! Are you okay? Say something!"
Brother Jiang sat in the passenger seat (mentally), looking like he had just woken up, his expression a mix of confusion and pain as he kept rubbing the back of his neck. Meanwhile, my eyes and nose were running, and I felt like a junkie going through withdrawals—completely dazed and wanting nothing but sleep. After driving a few kilometers, the taxi finally made it back onto the highway. The bright streetlights gave me a sense of security that almost made me cry. Brother Jiang lowered his head and slowly braked to a stop. I was also exhausted and fell asleep the moment I leaned my head back.
When I woke up again, it was still the middle of the night, and the streetlights were piercingly bright. Brother Jiang had his head resting on the steering wheel, motionless. I shook him awake. He groaned: "What happened..."
"Start driving! We're still on the highway!" I said, my head throbbing. He started the engine and drove slowly. Within five minutes, we saw a snapped tree on the left side of the median. it looked very familiar. A tow truck with its roof lights flashing was busy with repairs. Brother Jiang said strangely: "Isn't that the tree we just hit? How did we circle back?"
I also found it bizarre. Even if the Earth is round, we couldn't have circled it that fast. I looked back and said: "After we hit the tree, we drove for about ten minutes before hitting that warning sign, right?" Brother Jiang nodded. I suggested we drive past it again to see if we had somehow looped back.
Brother Jiang found a U-turn and headed back. After driving for ten minutes, we reached a right-hand turn. In the middle of the road stood that same warning sign, clearly stating: "Construction Ahead, Detour Right." The strange thing was that the sign we saw earlier definitely said "Please Detour," and the turn had been to the left.
Brother Jiang said in confusion: "Brother, we turned left before, didn't we? So why is it..."
I thought to myself that this was likely the work of a spirit. The offerings for the Earth Guman Thong had been defiled, the spirit had lost its temper, and now it was taking revenge on both of us. Brother Jiang asked me: "Were you dreaming just now?" I nodded. He asked what I dreamed about. I told him to go first, and as he described the details, it turned out his experience was identical to mine.
We drove back along the highway and eventually returned to the street where we had dinner. This was the busiest restaurant street in the Tiexi district. Checking the watch, it was past midnight, but every restaurant was packed with people eating and drinking. Skewers were roasting on charcoal grills, and the thick smoke made the whole street look like it was on fire.
My stomach growled incessantly, and Brother Jiang let out a breath: "I'm starving..."
After parking, we found a barbecue stall and sat outside. Brother Jiang ordered a mountain of skewers and began devouring them as if he hadn't eaten in days. I was busy pondering the series of events we had just encountered; some details felt very suspicious. Suddenly, Brother Jiang began to vomit violently. He threw up something unrecognizable that smelled putrid. Customers at nearby tables covered their noses and fled, and even the grill master ran away.
Finally, after an angry intervention from the owner, I had to pay double the bill and dragged Brother Jiang away, ending our midnight snack early. Brother Jiang was drenched in sweat, as if he had just been pulled from a river. I had to drop him home first before taking a cab back myself.
By the time I got home, I was dog-tired and fell asleep the moment I hit the pillow. I didn't get up until noon the next day. Right after lunch, my phone rang frantically—it was Brother Jiang. I picked up, and a woman's angry voice came through: "Are you Tian Qi? I'm Old Jiang's wife. What did you do to him? He's like he's lost his soul—he doesn't even recognize me!"
"That happened?" My heart sank, and I spoke without much confidence.
Brother Jiang's wife said: "Get over here right now and explain yourself!" Left with no choice, I hastily finished my meal, went downstairs, called a taxi, and headed straight to Brother Jiang's house based on the address his wife sent me.
His wife opened the door—a sturdy, middle-aged woman. I took off my straw hat, and she froze for a second when she saw my face before letting me in. I saw Brother Jiang sitting on the living room sofa. His wife sat back down next to him and started slapping him—left, right, left—across the face. I quickly stopped her, saying she shouldn't hit him into a stupor. Her eyes widened, and she pointed at me, cursing: "You have the nerve to talk! He's been sitting on this sofa for two hours without moving an inch, just muttering to himself. He scared me to death! Where exactly did you two go last night?"
Sitting on the sofa, Brother Jiang finally spoke: "Another bowl, please... it's so delicious..."