114: Chapter 114 Winding Mountain Road

The next day, the morning mist over Taiping Old Street had not yet completely dissipated, and a layer of cold, damp moisture condensed on the bluestone slab road.

A heavy black off-road vehicle with a raised chassis and anti-scratch matte paint sprayed on its body was parked in front of the Funeral Shop.

The engine had not yet started, and the exhaust pipe emitted the smell of engine oil left over from testing the car last night.

Lin Ye had an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, and with a burst of strength in both hands, he carried the last bag of aged glutinous rice, weighing a full fifty catties, into the spacious trunk of the off-road vehicle.

The rice bag slammed onto the floor of the trunk, producing a dull thud.

The trunk was already packed tightly.

Two sets of military-grade portable oxygen circulation machines were neatly clamped into the fixing slots, next to which were stuffed waterproof high-intensity searchlights, polymer climbing ropes, and a large bag of black donkey hooves.

In the innermost corner, a square lead-sealed iron box was tightly secured with several parachute cords.

Inside it was a Western Zhou bronze small box, and inside the box lay that shriveled severed finger.

Fatty Wang stood on the steps of the shop holding a cup of hot soybean milk, with two large dark circles under his eyes from staying up late.

Lin Ye closed the tailgate of the trunk and patted the dust off his hands.

"Call my satellite phone if anything happens. Ordinary mobile phones definitely won't have a signal after entering the mountains."

Fatty Wang nodded heavily and took a big gulp of soybean milk:

"Ye-zi, you guys be extra careful on this trip. I checked the topographic map over there. There are no roads at all inside the Ten Thousand Mountains, and you have to rely entirely on your two legs. If you really run into trouble, saving your life comes first."

Lin Ye got into the driver's seat, inserted the car key into the keyhole, and gave it a hard twist.

The engine of the heavy off-road vehicle let out a low, beast-like roar.

The vibration of the eight-cylinder engine traveled through the steering wheel into his palms.

Lin Ye stepped on the gas pedal, and the off-road vehicle crushed the slippery bluestone road of Taiping Old Street, drove into the morning traffic of Jiangzhou City, and sped away in the direction of the expressway exiting the city.

The space inside the cabin was extremely large, divided into three rows from front to back.

Ayugu monopolized the spacious seats in the very back row all by herself.

This Miao border girl was clutching a bag of spicy duck necks, her mouth covered in red chili oil as she gnawed on them, muttering complaints nonstop.

"Black-hearted boss. I work part-time in your shop, and you only pay me a base salary, and now you're dragging me to explore a place where there's ten deaths and no life."

"This is a serious violation of the Labor Law. Let me tell you, if we really enter the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Cave this trip, you must give me a tenfold hazard allowance."

Ayugu spit out a bone and pulled a tissue to wipe her mouth.

Lin Ye held the steering wheel with both hands, his gaze fixed on the road conditions ahead.

"Meals and lodging are provided, and your undocumented status is taken care of too. If you think the treatment is bad, get out of the car right now and walk back to your Miao village along the expressway."

Ayugu choked slightly, let out a heavy snort, turned her head to look out the window, and stopped talking.

Frost Star curled up in the corner of the second row.

This little girl seemed like she could never sleep enough.

She was holding a small portable refrigerator connected to the vehicle's power supply in her arms, stuffed full of various flavors of ice cream and cold fresh meat.

Half of her body pressed against the cold air emitted by the refrigerator, her eyes tightly closed, her head nodding up and down with the jolts of the car body as she dozed off comfortably.

Leng Yue sat in the passenger seat.

She adjusted the seat back slightly backwards, her spine resting lightly against the backrest.

Her deep red eyes watched the city's high-rise buildings receding rapidly outside the window.

The dark golden morning light hit the car window glass, reflecting her peerlessly beautiful and aloof facial contours.

The car radio was on inside the vehicle.

The local traffic broadcast of Jiangzhou City was reporting the morning rush hour road conditions.

The sweet voice of the female anchor echoed in the cabin, mixed with occasional static noise from the current.

As the wheels rolled forward, the prosperity of Jiangzhou City was completely left behind.

The terrain of the plains began to rise.

The straight and wide expressway gradually came to an end.

The asphalt road surface was replaced by a two-way, two-lane provincial highway.

The street trees on both sides of the road became denser and denser, and the distant ridge line presented a heavy dark cyan-black color.

The mountains undulated continuously, lying layer upon layer across the boundary between heaven and earth, blocking the view ahead.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

The off-road vehicle officially drove into the territory of the Ten Thousand Mountains at the junction of Yunnan and Guizhou.

The road conditions took a nosedive.

The smooth provincial highway disappeared, and beneath the wheels turned into a bumpy, uneven mountain dirt road.

The gravel was crushed by the wide off-road tires, making a harsh cracking sound.

A sky full of yellow dust rolled up behind the car.

The signal of the car radio was completely cut off, leaving only a harsh "swishing" sound.

Lin Ye reached out and turned off the radio.

Ayugu leaned against the car window, looking at the increasingly familiar vegetation outside, her expression gradually turning solemn.

A few rusted iron signposts occasionally flashed by the roadside.

The red paint on the signs had long since peeled off, and someone had repainted some crooked handwriting on them with white lime.

"Drive slower at that curve ahead."

Ayugu pointed at a sharply turning steep slope ahead, directing the route in a speech with a strong Southwest accent.

"That's Panlong Bend. The road surface is extremely narrow, and below it is a hundred-meter-deep black drainage ditch."

"If you fall down, not even your bones will be found complete, and every year a dozen lives are filled in down here."

Lin Ye tapped the brake lightly with his foot to reduce the speed.

The off-road vehicle slowly climbed the slope hugging the edge of the cliff.

Outside the car window, white mist rose from the bottomless deep ravine, and the echoes of the current crashing against the rocks reverberated across the valley.

It got dark extremely early in the mountains.

At just five o'clock, the sun was completely blocked by the surrounding towering primitive vegetation.

No sunlight penetrated into the forest, making the light dim and oppressive.

Thick white mist rose in the mountain ravine.

This mist condensed without dispersing, flowing backward against the mountain wind toward the mountain winding road.

The mist scraped past the windshield, condensing into large patches of murky water droplets.

Lin Ye turned on the wipers, and the rubber blades scraped across the glass, making a dry and harsh sound.

Vision was obstructed, and visibility was less than ten meters.

Lin Ye tightly gripped the steering wheel, and the off-road vehicle's engine let out a strained roaring sound on the steep slope.

In the passenger seat, Leng Yue suddenly opened her eyes.

She didn't turn her head, her gaze sweeping straight into the depths of the gloomy dense forest outside the car window.

There was not a shred of bird chirping in the forest.

The wind was howling, and the leaves rubbed violently in the fierce wind, making a "rustling" static noise.

A flash of vigilance crossed deep within Leng Yue's dark golden eyes.

She clearly perceived that the ley line's baleful aura beneath this land was churning violently.

"Husband, the aura in the mountains has changed. There is something moving underground taking advantage of the mist."

Leng Yue's voice was lowered to the extreme, ringing out inside the stuffy cabin.

Lin Ye nodded, holding tightly onto the steering wheel with both hands, manipulating this steel behemoth to advance with difficulty on the muddy dirt road.

The heavy fog sealed the mountains, and continuing to drive at night was undoubtedly courting death.

On this mountain winding road, there were traces of cave-ins and landslides everywhere; a slight mishap would cause both people and car to plunge into an abyss of ten thousand zhang.

Inside the trunk, from within that welded, lead-sealed iron box, a dull scratching sound suddenly came out.

"Scratch. Scratch."

The sound penetrated through the soundproofing layer into the cabin.

That shriveled severed finger felt the summons of the ley line's dead qi, and was restlessly scraping against the inner bronze wall inside the iron box.

"We must find a place to stay. This fog carries baleful qi, obscuring the eyes of the living."

Lin Ye turned on the hazard lights, relying on his extraordinary eyesight to search for a resting place in the dense fog.

The off-road vehicle rounded a sharp bend of nearly ninety degrees.

In the dim, flickering fog ahead, a wooden stilt house built on the mountainside appeared.

The stilt house was built against the mountain, supported at the bottom by thick log pilings.

The first floor was an open structure, looking like a fly restaurant doing business with passing merchants.

Hanging under the eaves were two dim yellow red lanterns, swaying in the mountain wind and emitting a weak red light.

Above the door panel hung a wooden sign, on which a few large characters were written in red paint.

[Laoya Ridge Food and Lodging]