The dirt road ahead twisted and turned. I drove slowly, keeping the speed at forty kilometers an hour. Many sections were so narrow that only the wheels could barely pass through.
I never would have dared drive on a road like this before, but now I felt a bit more at ease. Isabelle Frost sat beside me, while John Chou lounged comfortably in the back.
Earlier, I wondered what they were up to. Turns out they went to find one of John Chou's Hundred Ghosts—a guy named Evan Zhao.
It's confirmed that Evan Zhao is in the northern mountains outside City B, in a place called Fallen Hollow. What puzzled me was why it was named Fallen Hollow.
"Miss Yi, do you sense anything?"
I asked. Isabelle Frost shook her head, her face still cold. John Chou kept his eyes closed in the back, silent. The atmosphere in the car was awkward. Earlier, Tony Tang had been forcefully dragged away by Ding Dacheng, and their group had returned to the island where John Chou's remains were buried to meet up with Warren Wu.
Tang Rao also brought all his men along. His subordinates were visibly excited, as if they'd found a powerful backer—and this backer was about to make a big move.
The car jolted along the road. Flying here would have been much easier, but John Chou insisted we drive slowly. Plus, I'm human—overexerting myself isn't good. John Chou didn't explain any further.
We'd been driving on this dusty yellow road for over three hours. It was just past noon now, and I was getting hungry. I wasn't sure if there'd be food in Fallen Hollow—the name itself felt ominous. And the road seemed endless, winding through the mountains without a clear destination.
Finally, I saw a small town nestled at the base of the distant mountains. It looked far, but it was probably only ten kilometers away. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Eat some bread and drink some water. If you get too hungry and start feeling dizzy, you might drive off the road."
I stopped the car. It was stuffy inside, so I found a cool spot to sit down and quietly watched the distant town. It seemed almost deserted. The nearest county was far away, and the roads were all dirt. This place was at the northernmost edge of City B. We had just landed yesterday morning and headed straight here.
John Chou and his sister looked anxious. Now, the two of them stood at the edge of the cliff, silently overlooking Fallen Hollow in the distance.
"By the way, John Chou, is Fallen Hollow really haunted? It's such a remote place—so few people. Wouldn't the Green Wraith get bored without anyone around?"
I asked.
"Ghosts don't necessarily need to live among crowds. Like the Green Wraith, which can generate its own ghost aura, it doesn't need people at all. Even deep in the mountains, it can survive just fine."
I nodded, chewing bread and sipping water, planning to head over later to see if there was anywhere to get a proper meal.
Just then, I noticed Isabelle Frost and John Chou's expressions had changed slightly. It seemed they'd noticed something. I wanted to ask, but gave up—those two always keep things to themselves. Asking wouldn't get me anywhere.
"Rachel Lan, why don't you go ahead? We'll come over tonight."
I stood up.
"Give me a reason."
John Chou smiled as he spoke.
"Didn't we agree? If you want to come along, you have to listen to me."
I pursed my lips in annoyance, then got in the car and drove off alone toward Fallen Hollow. It was nearly another hour before I finally saw Fallen Hollow up close, just after four o'clock. The houses were all old dirt structures from twenty or thirty years ago. The whole town looked lifeless, though occasionally I could see people moving around the terraced fields below.
As the sun was about to set, I finally arrived in Fallen Hollow. I hadn't expected that the place I saw at three o'clock would take until almost six to reach. I realized it was mostly because the roads were unfamiliar and hard to travel.
The walls of the houses had long since crumbled, leaving only pitch-black structures behind. The ground was riddled with potholes. As I entered the town, I saw there were maybe a hundred households. Many people wore outdated clothes. When they saw me, they stared in confusion. I didn't think much of it. After getting out of the car, I asked an old man smoking a pipe by the roadside.
"Uncle, is there anywhere to eat around here?"
The old man smiled kindly and pointed off into the distance.
"Follow this road, there's a small restaurant."
I nodded. There weren't many people in the village—mostly old folks and children. Young adults were almost nowhere to be seen. After walking for a while, I found a rundown little eatery. I went in and asked the owner for something to eat. An old woman came out, wiping her wet hands on her clothes.
"Little lady, we only have vegetables today. The meat's all gone."
"Auntie, anything is fine. As long as it fills me up, it'll do."
After a while, a plate of shredded potatoes, a bowl of vegetable soup, and a small dish of spicy peppers were served. I started eating right away. My face turned red from the heat, but even though the food was simple, it was delicious and fresh. I began to ask the auntie some questions.
"Auntie, is there anywhere to stay around here?"
The auntie replied.
"Little lady, you can stay at my place. It's only ten yuan a night. But try not to go out after dark—the wind gets strong here, and the roads are hard to walk."
With that, the auntie led me to her backyard, which had a small vegetable garden and a few low, rundown houses. She opened one for me and brought out some bedding. After making the bed myself, I lay down. The room was tiny but clean. Knowing John Chou and the others wouldn't arrive until night, I found it a bit odd.
"Could there be a ghost market here at night?"
I muttered, deciding to wait until evening. After a whole day of driving, my body ached all over. I lay down and went straight to sleep.
Half asleep, I felt a chill and woke up. I swallowed and shivered—who would've thought it would get so cold at night here? I checked my phone: it was only eight o'clock, but the town was almost completely dark. The auntie seemed to have gone to bed too.
I was a bit thirsty and wanted some water. Earlier, I'd seen a big water jar and a ladle in the yard. When I opened the door, a wave of bone-chilling cold hit me. The road outside was pitch black, but there was a bit of moonlight. I walked over, scooped up some water, and drank. As I headed back inside, I glanced around, found the small gate in the yard, and opened it, stepping out slowly. The road was as rough as promised. Using my phone as a flashlight, I reached the street—at this hour, not a soul in sight. Only a few houses in the distance still had lights on; most people seemed to be asleep.
I wandered the street for a bit and found the town truly had nothing. The auntie was right. Shivering, I wondered when John Chou and the others would arrive and headed back to the auntie's house—only to discover it was gone.
Relying on memory, I searched in the darkness with my phone's light, looking three or four times but couldn't find the auntie's house.
"That's strange. Impossible."
I closed my eyes and tried to sense anything unusual, but found nothing. The weird part was that the auntie's house had simply vanished. After wandering for a while, I headed toward the town entrance, planning to get back to the car and turn on the heater to warm up.
As I walked, I realized I was going downhill. Looking back, the spot where I'd parked—my car was gone too.
"Who is it?"
I shouted, but no one answered. I ran back to the street, and suddenly the auntie's house reappeared. I rushed over, entered the yard, and looked around—everything seemed normal. But I knew what I'd seen wasn't an illusion or hallucination. Something was off here. I went out again, running straight for the town entrance.
Back at the town entrance, I was sure it wasn't a hallucination—the car was still missing. I took out the keys and pressed the unlock button several times. I could hear the car unlocking nearby, but couldn't see it. I tried again and again, always hearing the sound but never seeing the car.
Red flames erupted across my body, instantly driving away the cold. But I could feel a chill coming from outside—a wave of ghostly energy.
"Who? Who are you? Show yourself!"
I shouted again, but still got no response. I pulled out the Beauty and walked slowly down the street. In the distance, I saw a cluster of red dots. As they got closer, I realized it was a pack of black wolves charging toward me. Eyes wide, I raised the Beauty. Flames erupted into wings from my back, and I slashed a line of fire at the wolves.
With a thunderous roar and a crackling sound, each wolf—formed from ghostly energy—disappeared. They were ghost spirits. I was inside a ghost domain now. I realized this was Evan Zhao's ghost domain.
"Little lady, what are you doing out here alone in the middle of the night?"
Suddenly, I looked up. The auntie was standing there with a flashlight. I swallowed and quickly hid my powers. She didn't seem to notice.
"Just wanted to take a walk. By the way, auntie, has anything strange happened in your village?"
I looked back—the car's lock was open, its yellow lights flashing. I had returned to reality, out of the ghost domain, though I had no idea how I'd gotten in. I followed the auntie back, lay in bed, and thought for a long time, but couldn't figure it out. John Chou and the others never came. It was too cold to go out again, so I decided to sleep and deal with it in the morning.