Su Xuan had no idea what the bell was for and played with it while driving. Its jingle was surprisingly invigorating.
Then he accepted a new ride request.
The passengers were a young couple.
"Have you made up your mind?" the woman asked the man as soon as they got in the car. "Do you dare to go to that place with me or not?"
"Let’s not go," the man said. "Several people have already had accidents there, vanishing without a trace. It’s terrifying. The news also said people should avoid that area to prevent anything from happening."
"Do you even love me?" the woman asked, her face turning cold.
"Of course, I do!" the man said helplessly. "It’s because I love you that I don’t want to go to such a dangerous place with you!"
"I insist on going!" The woman took out her phone and waved it in front of the man. "Neither of us has a stable job. Our only source of income is my livestreaming, but my viewership is so low I barely make any money in a month. It’s not enough to . But if I stream from that place, I’m sure my popularity will explode, and the money will follow, right?"
"Sigh," the man sighed. "You’re asking for trouble."
"Fortune favors the bold," the woman retorted.
"Let me think about it," he said, rubbing his head and falling silent.
The woman gazed out the car window, also falling silent.
"Um..." Su Xuan had been listening to their conversation and couldn’t help but ask, "Where are you planning to livestream?"
"Driver, you haven’t heard?" The woman looked up at Su Xuan. "There’s a mountain about two hundred miles from the city called Zhuilong Mountain. A few days ago, a construction crew was digging a tunnel there and supposedly uncovered something terrifying. They say anyone who enters the tunnel and sees that thing dies!"
"Oh," Su Xuan said, his mouth slightly agape. "I have actually heard about that."
His own company was involved in excavating the Zhuilong Mountain tunnel. Zhao Yuansi of Huatian Heavy Industries had already told him about it. Zhao Yuansi’s story was just as bizarre, claiming that not only had workers died, but the shareholders seemed to be cursed as well. They began suffering one mishap after another, forcing them to sell off their shares to save their own lives. Zhao Yuansi had even warned him to be careful.
Could the sudden crick in my neck have something to do with Zhuilong Mountain?
Su Xuan couldn’t help but touch his neck.
"See? Even the Didi driver knows about Zhuilong Mountain," the woman said, nudging the man. "If we ride the wave of its popularity and livestream from there, we’ll definitely make a killing!"
"Fine... okay!" The man, unable to win the argument, finally nodded in agreement.
Five or six minutes later, Su Xuan dropped the couple off at their destination. As she was getting out, the woman insisted that he follow her streaming channel. She said she was about to start her adventure stream on Zhuilong Mountain and told him to be sure to tune in and support her.
"Boss, a case of water, please." Su Xuan got out of his car and went to a roadside shop to buy something to drink, as he had run out.
"Young man, would you like me to tell your fortune?"
Just as Su Xuan placed the case of water into the trunk, he heard someone speaking nearby. An old man wearing a traditional long gown was sitting on the ground, smiling at him. In front of the old man was a piece of cloth with words like "Professional Naming," "Divination," "Geomancy," and so on. Follow current novᴇls on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥
"How much?" Ordinarily, Su Xuan would have ignored someone . But because of the Zhuilong Mountain incident, he was curious to see if he was actually cursed, so he squatted in front of the old man’s stall and asked.
"Twenty yuan a session!"
The old man’s fee wasn’t very high.
"Go ahead and try then," Su Xuan said, not wanting to get ripped off. "I’ll pay you after you’re done."
"What would you like me to divine?" the old man asked. "I’m adept at reading fortunes for safety, romance, career, even life and death."
"Let’s go with safety," Su Xuan said.
"Alright!" The old man stroked his white beard, squinting as he sized up Su Xuan with an enigmatic air.
After a moment, the old man looked away, shook his head, and sighed. "You’re lucky you ran into me. Otherwise, you’d be done for!"
"What do you mean?" Su Xuan asked.
"What do I mean?" The old man pointed at Su Xuan’s neck. "You’re burdened by such terrible luck that it’s literally bending your neck! If you don’t take steps to avert this disaster, you’re doomed!"
"Ha!" If the old man had said anything else, it might have worked, but hearing it was about his neck made Su Xuan laugh. "I just pulled a muscle in my neck this morning while stretching. That’s why it’s crooked."
He was familiar with the tricks these street charlatans used. First, they would startle their customers with alarming claims, then fleece them for all they were worth.
"You don’t believe me?" the old man asked, his expression growing serious. "Want to bet that something happens to you within ten minutes?"
"And if nothing happens?" Su Xuan smiled at the old man.
"Then let’s make a wager. One hundred yuan!" Looking completely certain, the old man took out a hundred-yuan bill and placed it on the cloth in front of him.
"Sure!" Su Xuan also pulled out a hundred yuan and placed it on the cloth. He was a Didi driver, after all. He figured he could just kill time here while waiting for the next ride request.
The old man took a bowl and placed it over their money. The gesture clearly meant "all bets are final."
Time slowly passed as the clouds drifted across the sky.
One minute went by, and nothing happened to Su Xuan.
Two minutes went by, and he was still fine.
By the fifth minute, the old man even asked Su Xuan for a bottle of water, lamenting that nobody believed in his work anymore. He claimed his earnings were dwindling to the point where he was reluctant to even buy himself a bottle of water.
Then, just as the ten-minute mark approached, something did indeed happen.
A punkish-looking girl with dyed red hair pulled up on a motorcycle and stopped at the side of the road. She wore tight leather pants and balanced the bike with one long leg on the ground. She tilted her chin at Su Xuan. "Are you having your romantic fortune told?"
Su Xuan glanced at the girl, who was quite attractive, and smiled. "No, just taking a break."
The girl got off her bike, squatted next to Su Xuan, and held out her hand. "Handsome, got a lighter?"
"No." Su Xuan didn’t usually smoke.
"No way!" The girl widened her smoky-eyeshadow-adorned eyes in mock surprise. "Then how did you manage to light up my heart?"
"Heh!" Su Xuan couldn’t help but chuckle. That pick-up line seemed tailor-made for a girl like her—completely disarming!
"Handsome, isn’t my motorcycle cool?" The girl was surprisingly forward, hooking her arm through Su Xuan’s and pulling him toward the bike. "Come on, I’ll take you for a ride. You can hold onto my waist!"
Seeing this, the old man’s lips twisted into a strange smile...