22: Chapter 22 The Night of the Strange

When dawn broke, Chen Mo was awakened by a strange sound.

It was not the wailing of a Ghost Shadow, nor was it the sound of the wind, but rather... the roar of a truck engine.

He sat up instantly, gripping his cleaver tightly.

He was the only person in the warehouse.

Old Li's sleeping bag was empty, and he was nowhere to be seen.

Chen Mo rushed out of the warehouse.

The scene outside left him stunned.

Old Li's heavy-duty truck was parked right next to the gas station.

The engine was already running, and the exhaust pipe was spewing black smoke.

Old Li was not in the driver's seat.

He was standing in front of the truck, facing a person.

It was a stranger, a man in his forties wearing a tattered leather jacket, holding an iron rod in his hand.

His face was gaunt, his eyes were small, and his gaze was piercing—the kind of brightness seen in a starving wolf spotting its prey.

The two of them were in a standoff.

"Old Li." Chen Mo walked over.

Old Li didn't turn around, simply saying, "You woke up just in time. This bastard wants to steal the truck."

The gaunt man grinned.

"Steal? On this road, who owns what is never certain."

He took half a step forward: "Besides, you two occupied our supply point, so you have to provide some compensation, right?"

"Yours?" Chen Mo looked at him.

"That's right. We've been guarding this place for three days."

The gaunt man said: "We went out to look for food last night, and when we returned, we saw you had gone inside."

Chen Mo's Pupil of the Sequence swept across the surroundings—

In his golden vision, three people were hiding behind the gas station, all armed.

It was a trap.

"Old Li," Chen Mo whispered, "there are three more behind us."

Old Li frowned.

"Trying to rob us?" He looked at the gaunt man.

"You've picked the wrong target."

The gaunt man laughed.

"Whether it's wrong or not, we'll only know if we try."

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The three people from behind the gas station rushed out simultaneously—two men and one woman, armed with knives and rods.

They quickly surrounded Chen Mo and Old Li, forming a perimeter.

Chen Mo took a glance—

They were all humans, all F-Class, bearing injuries, but still capable of fighting.

"Drop your weapons," the gaunt man said:

"Give me the keys to the truck, split the supplies in half, and you can leave."

Old Li looked at him, then at the three people.

"Do you know who I am?"

The gaunt man was stunned for a moment.

"Who are you?"

Old Li didn't speak, just pointed to the skull emblem on his truck.

The gaunt man's expression changed.

"O... Old Driver?"

"Good, you recognize it," Old Li said. "Now, take your people and get out of here."

The gaunt man's expression was conflicted.

He looked at Old Li, then at Chen Mo, and then at the truck.

Then, he gritted his teeth.

"So what if you're the Old Driver? It's been so many years, who knows if you're a fake?"

He gripped his iron rod tighter. "Besides, there are five of us and only two of you; it's not certain who would win if we fought."

Old Li sighed.

"Fine. Then let's fight."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Mo moved.

He immediately activated Infiltrator, his body vanishing into thin air.

The four of them were stunned simultaneously.

"Where did he go?"

"Where did he go?"

Three seconds later, Chen Mo appeared behind the gaunt man, his cleaver pressed against his throat.

"Don't move."

The gaunt man's body stiffened.

The other three wanted to rush over, but Old Li had already pulled out his gun and pointed it at them.

"Whoever moves dies."

The scene froze instantly.

Cold sweat broke out on the gaunt man's forehead.

"Bro... Brother, let's talk this out."

Chen Mo didn't speak.

He just looked at the three people, waiting for them to make a decision.

The three people exchanged glances and slowly lowered their weapons.

Old Li walked over and kicked the weapons away.

"Now, get lost," he said.

Without a word, the three people turned and ran.

The gaunt man also wanted to run, but Chen Mo's blade was still pressed against his throat.

"Wait," Chen Mo said. "Where is your car?"

The gaunt man was stunned for a moment.

"It's... it's over there."

He pointed outside the service area... a dilapidated van was parked there.

"Keys."

The gaunt man took out the keys.

Chen Mo took them and lowered his blade.

"Get lost."

The gaunt man ran off without looking back.

Old Li looked at the van.

"Why do you want that piece of junk?"

Chen Mo didn't answer.

He walked over to inspect the vehicle.

The tank was full, the engine still started, and the back seat was piled with various supplies.

"Supplies," he said. "Keep them as a backup."

Old Li smiled.

"You kid, you're sharper than I thought."

The two drove the van to the warehouse entrance, unloaded the supplies, and put them with their own.

By the time they finished, it was already noon.

The Ghost Night hadn't started yet, but the sky was already beginning to darken.

"Are we still hitting the road today?" Old Li asked.

Chen Mo thought about it.

"No. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Old Li nodded.

The two returned to the warehouse and closed the door.

Chen Mo sat on his sleeping bag, looking at the supplies.

There were a few good things in the gaunt man's supplies.

A box of emergency medicine, a few bottles of purified water, and a pack of compressed biscuits.

But what caught his attention most was a small iron box.

He opened the iron box.

Inside was a map.

It was hand-drawn and marked with many notes.

The most prominent mark was at the end of Highway 13.

That was the location of the church.

Chen Mo stared at the map.

What exactly was hidden in that church?

Why were so many people eyeing it?

He remembered what Old Zhou had said.

"Very few people who go to that place ever come back."

He also remembered that night, the scene he had witnessed with his own eyes of those people being devoured by the church.

But there was indeed a warehouse beneath the church.

Those supplies were real.

What about the church itself?

Was it truly dangerous, or... another trap?

Chen Mo put the map away and lay down.

He needed more information.

Tomorrow, he would go and ask Old Zhou.

Outside the window, the Ghost Night descended.

Fog surged in from all directions, swallowing the entire service area.

It was pitch black in the warehouse.

Only Chen Mo's eyes emitted a faint golden glow in the darkness.