That night.
Ye Chen drove his yellow Ferrari along a highway nestled between two mountains. The evening breeze was cold and crisp.
It was the height of summer, with daytime temperatures soaring to thirty-five degrees celsius. However, at night, the temperature dropped sharply to around twenty-two degrees.
After a while, Ye Chen noticed a yellow sign standing by the side of the highway.
Under the glare of the car lights, the sign's reflective words became clear.
"Warning: Area prone to heavy fog. Please drive with caution."
Such signs were common on highways.
Ye Chen didn't think much about it.
However, shortly after he passed the yellow sign, a fog enveloped the road ahead.
The presence of fog might not be unusual in the morning, but at night? That was strange.
Ye Chen knitted his eyebrows in confusion and murmured, "This is odd. Fog at this time of night?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Xi Yao, who was leaning in the car seat dozing, opened her eyes. She glanced at Ye Chen beside her, "This is no ordinary fog."
Ye Xi Yao was his half-sister, whom he'd brought back from QingYue observatory.
Hearing Ye Xi Yao's words, Ye Chen's eyebrows furrowed even more, "No ordinary fog? What do you mean?"
"Slow down," she warned.
Soon, Ye Chen obediently slowed down his pace.
Ye Xi Yao lifted her eyes to look at the thick fog in front. "This area is full of negative energy. There must have been many accidents. That fog is seeking your lives!"
Due to her unique destiny, this sister of his was sent to a Taoist temple by their grandpa when she was only three. For all these years, she has been dedicated to practices in the temple.
Her identity, that everyone is familiar with, is a Taoist priest, specialized in fortune-telling, catching ghosts, and driving away evil spirits.
If anyone else were to say this, he would definitely not believe it and might even scorn him.
But these words came from his sister, a Taoist priest. If she said there were ghosts here, then there must be ghosts!
Terrified at the thought of the ghosts, Ye Chen's face turned pale, and a thin layer of cold sweat appeared on his back. Even his speech was affected, his tongue seeming to knot up in his mouth.
"Xi Yao, I haven't even gotten married yet, and I don't want to be a short-lived ghost. You have to protect me, your brother!"
The mere mention of ghost scared him, truly a mortal. Ye Xi Yao curled her lip in disdain.
"Rest assured, I can ensure they won't harm you."
Ye Xi Yao, "Pull over."
"Okay, okay."
Ye Chen parked the car by the roadside.
Ye Xi Yao took eight talismans out of her Qiankundai, a bag she carried with her. She got out of the car, stuck the talismans around it and then got back into the car.
The talismans in the car fluttered and danced around unaided by the wind, presenting an eerie sight.
With hands tightly gripping the steering wheel and shoulders scrunched towards his neck, Ye Chen had never looked more ghoulish, "Will these talismans... do the trick?"
Ye Xi Yao laughed confidently, "Don't underestimate them. They are not ordinary talismans made from a common brush. These mere wandering spirits are no match for them. They won't dare to approach you. Drive!"
"Al...alright." said Ye Chen, and the car slowly started to move.
Just as he had covered about ten meters or so, a haunting voice echoed by his ear.
"Handsome boy, come play with us. We're so bored...come keep us company..."
It was the voice of a woman, sounding desolate and mournful, instantly making Ye Chen's hairs stand on end and send chill down his spine.
"Big brother... Come play with me, big brother." This time, it was the voice of a little girl.
Ye Chen was spooked, his legs trembling, "Xi... Xi Yao, did... did you hear that?"
Leaning back in the car, with her eyes closed, Ye Xi Yao replied nonchalantly, "Ignore them. Just focus on driving. Oh, I forgot to tell you, no matter who says what to you, don't respond."
"Huh? Why?" Ye Chen stuttered, alarmed.
Opening her eyes and glancing at him, Ye Xi Yao replied, "Because if you do, they'll assume you've agreed to their request. At that point, even these talismans wouldn't save you, since it would be you who agreed to their demands. So, silence is best. Just drive."
Internally terrified, Ye Chen didn't dare to make a sound. He immediately closed his mouth.
"Ye Chen, it's me, Jiaojiao. Won't you pay me a little attention?"
"Ye Chen, it's Qiangzi. Come spend some time with me!"
"Little Chen, don't you miss your grandma? Grandma misses you very much, could you come and keep her company?"
These were the voices that Ye Chen was most familiar with.
However, he knew very well that whether it was little Jiaojiao or his grandparents, they had all passed away.
He really couldn't believe that they would use the voices of his loved ones to lure him in!
His body broke into cold sweats, his heart nearly jumping into his throat.
At first, Ye Chen only heard the voices. In just a few minutes though, he started to see several shadowy figures in the fog.
Normal people would certainly be standing on the ground, but these figures were floating in the air.
What struck him as more unusual was that although his car was moving, the figures always seemed to be at the same place.
Ye Chen, terrified out of his wits, stammers, "Xi, Xi Yao, look over there."
Just as Ye Chen was about to point, Xi Yao's expression changed and she immediately pushed down his hand.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" She glared at him, her porcelain-like face showing unhappiness.
"Huh?"
"If you point at them, they will always follow you. Don't point, don't listen, don't look, just drive your car."
"Oh, oh, okay."
Ye Chen dared not point anymore, and even more so, he stopped listening to the voices, concentrating only on driving his car.
His vest was heavily soaked with sweat, even drenching his T-shirt.
After driving for two minutes, he wasn't sure if the ghosts were getting impatient, but Ye Chen saw a long-haired female ghost in a red skirt flying towards him through the fog.
Her nails were long and fiery red, and her face was frighteningly rotten. Even her eyes were hanging out of their sockets, crawling with maggots.
Seeing this ghastly visage, Ye Chen yelled in fear, instinctively turning the steering wheel to the right.
Even though his speed wasn't high, this was still a highway. Careless driving could lead to a severe car crash and grass over his grave might grow two meters tall next year.
Ye XiYao quickly corrected the steering wheel and successfully guided the car back to the middle of the road.
She was rendered speechless. They might not be killed by the ghosts, but by a car accident.
The ghost was relentless. Just as it was about to hit the car, the talisman that Ye XiYao had placed on their vehicle emitted a dazzling golden light!
That golden light acted as a shield, separating Ye Chen from the female ghost. The moment the golden light touched the ghost, she was repelled and let out a harsh scream.
Upon seeing this, the other ghosts lurking in the mist didn't dare to approach Ye Chen again.
This whole scene left Ye Chen dumbfounded.
Ye XiYao slapped him on the forehead, her expression grim, "Are you hoping for us to have a car accident together? Drive properly, don't look around!"
Ye Chen laughed awkwardly, "No, no, I will focus on driving, hehe."
Now he was 100% sure that these talismans could protect him.
Initially, he was scared, but after seeing the power output of these talismans, he didn't feel frightened anymore, even if he heard voices, he ignored them.
Yao Xie leaned against the car, her gaze shifted towards the mist on Ye Chen's left side.
Her face turned cold.
Because she had opened the Celestial Eye, she was able to clearly see a line of ghosts standing by the side of the road on the left, within the mist.
There were old and young, men and women.
Some were missing arms or legs, some had their heads hanging at their sides, and a few had lost their heads entirely, with only bodies below the neck standing in the group of ghosts.
If there were only a couple of ghosts, she could cope with them, but there were too many ghosts here, and they harbored intense resentment. They could only be disposed of by setting up a formation.
Now it was night, and furthermore, they were on a highway where stopping was not an option. She could only wait until there was free time to return and deal with this trouble.
