Highway 5

Before long, the man stripped the down jacket off the corpse, shook off the dust, and slipped it on without hesitation.

It wasn't because he was cold, but because he was afraid Bai Ci would try to snatch it.

He reached out to feel the sweater remaining on the corpse, then looked back at Bai Ci, gritting his teeth as if making a painful sacrifice.

“Since we're both tourists, I'll leave this sweater for you. Don't even think about stealing my down jacket. I'm thinner than you, so I feel the cold more and need this coat more.”

As he spoke, he took two cautious steps back, looking as if he was truly terrified Bai Ci would charge at him to steal it, his eyes filled with wariness.

Would there be a low-temperature zone ahead?

They had already experienced extreme heat. If the goal was to torture them, Bai Ci had no doubt that a freezing stretch of road was entirely possible.

However, Bai Ci hesitated at the thought of stripping clothes off a dead body.

In the real world, if backed into a corner, she would have done it without a second thought. But in an instance, there was no telling if ghosts actually existed.

Without waiting for Bai Ci's response, the man turned and ran off in another direction, quickly vanishing into the dim night, leaving her standing there alone.

Bai Ci watched the direction he had disappeared in, then looked at the solitary sweater left on the corpse.

She had to admit that the man's words held some truth. The road ahead was unknown, and if it truly became freezing, surviving without warm clothing would be incredibly difficult.

Yet, she still clearly remembered the rules the host had laid out: listen less, look less, mind your own business, and ignore everything and everyone unrelated to the stamp-collecting task.

Who knew if there was some kind of trap hidden in that sweater?

After a moment's thought, Bai Ci decided to stick to the rules. She abandoned the sweater and walked straight toward the stamp station.

Approaching the machine at the stamp station, she carefully read the self-service instructions on the wall. Following the steps, she took the red-covered Stamp Book out of her pocket and placed it in the center of the machine's platform.

The moment she set it down, the machine let out a soft beep.

The upper section of the platform slowly pressed down, lingered for about two seconds, and then gradually lifted back up.

Bai Ci picked up the Stamp Book and looked down. In the first blank slot, a bright red stamp had appeared.

The imprint was sharp and clear, reading: Yefu District Public Security Bureau Stamp.

The first stamp was collected.

Bai Ci slipped the Stamp Book back into her pocket. Instead of immediately returning to her car, she walked over to a red vending machine on the side.

Glancing at the nearby operating instructions, she inserted two coins from her wallet. A generic, unbranded beverage rolled out of the dispensing slot.

It was a red aluminum can, similar in design to typical soda cans, completely devoid of patterns or text.

The instructions beside it stated that the first specialty refreshing beverage required two coins, the second required four, and by extension, the third would cost eight.

Her wallet only contained six coins in total, which was just enough for two cans.

If each gas station calculated this separately, she would get three cans at most, and no more.

Although Bai Ci had not yet encountered a situation where the rules dictated she should drink a refreshing beverage, she bought one anyway. First, to be prepared, and second...

She pulled out Grow with Time and placed the beverage on top of the envelope.

As she knew, Grow with Time could generate an antidote based on any existing harmful substance.

In other words, if no antidote was generated, it meant the substance was not harmful.

At least, within the current environment and as a standalone item, this was not toxic.

Grow with Time, antidote generator: ×

Grow with Time, poison detector: ✓

Bai Ci waited for a moment, but no antidote was generated.

This item was proving to be incredibly useful.

In the context of a rules-based horror scenario, this beverage was very likely a sanity-restoring potion.

The reason for the purchase limit was likely twofold. First, every medicine had its side effects; if she consumed too much, a good thing could turn bad.

Second, an average person's mental state probably wouldn't survive to require a fourth use; a third breakdown would result in permanent, irreversible damage.

Of course, these speculations were based on standard horror tropes. Bai Ci was merely formulating hypotheses to be verified step-by-step later; she didn't actually treat them as absolute facts.

She put the envelope away and returned to the car with the beverage.

The path back was dead silent. She didn't cross paths with the disheveled man again, nor did she spot any other anomalous figures.

Back inside the car, Bai Ci found that the vehicle had already been fully refueled, with the fuel gauge showing a full tank. It seemed the host was right; the gas station did indeed automate the refueling process.

She unbuttoned the trench coat, placed it back on the passenger seat, and buckled her seatbelt. The autopilot interface immediately popped up.

She pressed confirm, and the vehicle slowly set off.

Exercising caution, Bai Ci checked the only display on the center console that showed the time: the electronic map's navigation function.

The map still displayed her current location and navigation route, but the estimated arrival time at her destination had now changed to nine hours.

From the moment she stepped out of the car, completed the stamp, and returned, only about ten to fifteen minutes should have passed. Combined with the driving time to the gas station, had three hours really gone by?

Moreover, the time only updated after she reached the gas station. Was the gas station some sort of checkpoint or save point?

The vehicle drove on, cruising smoothly in autopilot mode.

Letting her mind drift, Bai Ci kept an eye on the surroundings outside the window while mentally reviewing the clues she had gathered so far.

The bizarre rules of Yefu District, the cause of Yu Yue's death, the purpose of the stamp-collecting task, and those repentant voices talking about “money”...

Everything felt deeply wrong, yet each element was disconnected. She couldn't find a clear breakthrough to tie all these threads together.

Just then, a faint, delicate sound of crying seemed to drift in from the distance.

It sounded somewhat like a baby crying—thin, fragile, laden with grievance, helplessness, and resentment. It was intermittent, and if she hadn't been paying close attention, she wouldn't have noticed it at all.

Bai Ci instinctively sat up straight and strained her ears to listen.

She confirmed that the sound was indeed a baby's cry, and it was gradually growing clearer.

She first raised her hand to touch the ring on her left middle finger. Her fingertip felt only cool metal; there was no sign of heat whatsoever.

Bai Ci let out a soft laugh, instantly reaching a conclusion. It was another mental intimidation tactic.

Just like the previous sounds of grinding meat and revving chainsaws, these were merely tricks to disturb her mind and break down her psychological defenses. They possessed no actual offensive capability.

Otherwise, the ring would have reacted long ago.

Having figured this out, Bai Ci leaned back against her seat, staring calmly into the darkness outside the window.

She wanted to see what other tricks these supernatural phenomena could pull.

But at that exact moment, with a sharp screech of brakes, the vehicle slammed to a sudden halt.

Caught completely off guard, the momentum sent Bai Ci's forehead slamming hard against the steering wheel with a dull thud, making her gasp in pain.