“Young man, is this the bus stop for Xiangyang Village?”
The old woman’s voice was quite hoarse, and her murky eyes seemed unable to see clearly what was in front of her. It made Zuo Si wonder how she had gotten here.
After a brief hesitation, he replied, “Yes, this is it.”
“Oh, thank you, young man. My eyesight isn’t too good; I can only see rough outlines of things.”
The old woman set up her snack cart by the roadside and surprisingly lit a stove.
Who would come to buy food at this late hour?
But that wasn’t something Zuo Si needed to worry about. He just had to wait for the Midnight Taxi and get in; everything else was none of his business.
“Young man, are you hungry? I can make you a pancake!” The old woman began to spread the batter, her movements quite skilled.
“No, thank you, I’m not hungry,” Zuo Si directly refused. Who knew what this old woman was selling?
How could he dare to eat?
“It’s fine, if you don’t have money, I won’t charge you,” the old woman grinned, revealing two rows of yellow teeth that looked quite disgusting.
“No, really, I’m not hungry. Thank you,” Zuo Si politely insisted, thinking, ‘I’m not bothering you, so there’s no need for you to bother me.’
“Young man, you look familiar,” the old woman said as if trying to make conversation.
She had just said she couldn’t see clearly and could only make out outlines; how could she possibly recognize Zuo Si?
“You must be mistaken, I’ve never seen you before.”
Zuo Si moved a bit further away from her, now just hoping the Midnight Taxi would arrive soon.
“Hehe, I won’t mistake you. A few days ago, I saw you!”
The old woman laughed as she stuffed a freshly made pancake into her mouth, chewing loudly while her murky eyes fixed on Zuo Si.
Zuo Si felt a chill run down his spine and didn’t want to engage with this eccentric old woman any longer.
“Sigh~ It’s strange today; why isn’t anyone coming to buy pancakes?”
The old woman feigned surprise.
“Where have all the pancake buyers gone today?”
“Young man~”
The old woman called out to Zuo Si, but he stood by the roadside, pretending not to hear.
“Young man~!”
“Young man!”
“Young man…”
“Young man~”
The old woman persisted, calling Zuo Si’s name like she was trying to summon a spirit.
“What do you want!” Zuo Si snapped, yelling at her.
“Why are you so fierce? I just want you to help me check the time~ What time is it now?”
“It’s night! Eleven o’clock!” Zuo Si replied irritably.
“Night,” the old woman paused: “I’m getting old and confused; I thought it was daytime. No wonder no one is buying pancakes.”
“Hehehe…” she shook her shoulders, laughing ominously.
Beep! Beep!
In the distance, the sound of a taxi horn echoed. Zuo Si quickly looked over, and as it got closer, he finally saw the license plate number.
QZ6438.
It was this taxi!
Finally, it had arrived. Zuo Si checked the time; it was exactly eleven o’clock! Not a minute off.
He quickly waved to stop the taxi, eager to get away from this old woman.
“Young man, are you taking this taxi?”
Zuo Si didn’t respond to the old woman’s inquiry.
“Young man, you must not take this taxi!”
The taxi had slowly come to a stop. It was quite old, with a dent in the front bumper and spots of peeling paint all over the body.
There were no lights inside, so Zuo Si couldn’t see the driver’s face clearly.
He opened the back door and got into the taxi.
“Young man, you’ll die if you take this taxi!”
The old woman shouted one last time.
Bang!
Zuo Si slammed the door shut, letting out a sigh of relief; finally, he didn’t have to stay with that old woman anymore.
“Where to, young man?” the driver asked. He was a chubby man, tall and hefty, weighing at least two hundred fifty pounds, with his head nearly touching the roof of the taxi.
“Miaoshan Cemetery.”
When Zuo Si mentioned the location, he deliberately turned off the live stream for a moment and then turned it back on, so the viewers would only feel a brief lag.
“Going there?” The driver looked surprised: “What are you doing there at this late hour?”
“I have something very important to do; please, sir.”
“Young man, it’s not that I don’t want to take you, but going to that place at this hour is really creepy.”
The driver’s reaction made Zuo Si relax; this was the response a normal person would have, and he couldn’t help but feel relieved.
“Sir, just drive; I have an urgent matter. I’ll pay double when we get there.”
“Oh?” The driver seemed tempted: “We’ve got a deal then; when we get there, you pay double, but don’t go back on your word.”
“Just drive your taxi.”
The vehicle started, and Zuo Si couldn’t help but glance back at the strange old woman.
She was still standing under the bus stop sign, facing the taxi, waving her hands continuously.
Zuo Si breathed a sigh of relief, fearing he might see something terrifying if he looked back again.
“Dear viewers, we have successfully gotten into the taxi, and tonight’s adventure officially begins!”
He looked at the Chat, having not interacted with the viewers for a while.
“The live streamer is a bit insane; finding an old lady to participate at this late hour, aren’t you just messing with her?”
“You don’t understand; I bet that old lady is tonight’s evil spirit!”
“Why?” Many people asked.
“I’ve watched a lot of Spirit Exploration Live Streams; I know the tricks by heart. These streamers set up these traps to keep us from guessing the answers. If that old woman appears at the beginning, she won’t show up again tonight. This way, we’re less likely to suspect her as the evil spirit. So, that old lady is definitely tonight’s evil spirit!”
“That’s right; we almost got tricked by the streamer.”
“Exactly! That old lady was so scary; if she’s not an evil spirit, what is she?”
…
A round of utterly nonsensical reasoning made Zuo Si’s head ache.
But to his surprise, many people agreed with it.
Zuo Si had to explain, “Dear viewers, don’t worry; the target we’re looking for tonight is definitely not that old lady. Please enjoy the stream.”
“What guarantee do you have? Are you going to pay us back?”
“I trust the streamer; you bunch of clowns, stop trying to stir things up! Just watch the stream! Look for clues!”
“I think this driver looks like an evil spirit; dressed in rags, he doesn’t look like a good person at all.”
…
Before heading to Miaoshan Cemetery, Zuo Si thought he wouldn’t encounter any danger, but he couldn’t keep watching the viewers chat endlessly.
After all, this taxi was designated by the Black Mobile Phone; what if there were clues, and he missed them?
Zuo Si carefully scrutinized the taxi driver and noticed he indeed looked quite shabby.
He wore gray shorts with several oil stains, clinging to his legs like leggings.
His blue T-shirt had faded to gray and even had a few holes in it.
“Are you live streaming?” the driver suddenly asked.
“Yes, just making a little money.”
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s a Spirit Exploration Live Stream, right?”
“Hmm? How did you know?”