Chapter 43: Driver Spotted

There was nothing unusual at the outpost, so Ye Feifan concluded that he was overthinking things for the time being.

"You guys get some rest. Tomorrow night is the last day, so be careful when you return."

"Got it." Old Black nodded and asked, "By the way, are you still at the old place?"

"Yes, still at the old place."

Temporarily closing the live broadcast, Ye Feifan's expression at that moment was somewhat helpless... He had long suspected that something was wrong with the coffin shop. The way Old Black had been frightened off last night explained everything; the level of danger inside was no less than encountering Hua Wenliu.

Did "The Midnight Knocking on the Door" refer to a coffin?

Was there a coffin somewhere in the Zhang family residence?

He had a clue now, but having missed the thunderstorm night, Ye Feifan was not yet prepared to scheme against the Liu family... If the Buddha statues were discovered to have been swapped, it would be difficult for him to gather them all again, as Liu Decai would definitely relocate them.

The final two statues... he would probably need to find a helper.

Judging by the people he had contacted so far, only Old Black was the most suitable candidate.

While he himself searched the Liu family for the Buddha statues and the truth, Old Black could take the Buddha statue from the brothel and leave, which would also draw a portion of the attention away...

Suddenly, a previously overlooked clue crossed Ye Feifan's mind.

Why was Hua Wenliu only able to appear on thunderstorm nights?

The driver in red was discovered in the water... Hua Wenliu had drowned after jumping into a well... Their abilities were weakest when it was not raining... Their abilities were strongest during downpours...

Both were a type of wronged spirit associated with water, and only in this light did everything make sense. As for why they did not appear when there was no thunder, Ye Feifan estimated it was for the sake of safety.

The more powerful a cultivator was, the more they feared thunder and lightning, and accidentally provoking a heavenly tribulation was a common occurrence (during thunderstorms, cultivators feared being struck by lightning and would temporarily stay hidden), which allowed the driver and the others to avoid the threat of powerful beings.

Tomorrow night would be the seventh day, and the livestreaming watch would fail after dawn tomorrow. Should he have Old Black go to the coffin shop to investigate?

Rubbing his eyes, Ye Feifan woke up from his dream to find Big Yellow sleeping on his chest, its white paws occasionally twitching against his nose—an adorable sight that almost melted his heart.

Shaking his head, Ye Feifan couldn't bear to wake it up, so he drifted back into the dreamscape.

Unfortunately, he didn't know the name of the woman in green's husband; otherwise, he definitely would have slipped into his dreams to see what secrets were hidden there.

After pondering for a moment, Ye Feifan continued his journey of dream-fishing. The important upper echelons of the Zhang, Yan, and Liu families none escaped his clutches, while the younger generations were spared, which could also be considered teaching the three major families a silent lesson.

Once the dream-fish were reeled in, the Dream-Refining Furnace continued its work, but Ye Feifan's gaze drifted distractedly.

He wondered if the system had taken the wrong medicine; it constantly hinted that his luck was terrible (yielding only the cheapest stamina fluid, with no good items dropping at all). He was extremely eager to know what kind of things he was missing out on.

"The host has assisted Old Black in helping the water ghost, triggering a hidden quest. One hundred points are required to unlock this quest. Do you wish to unlock it?"

The system's voice interrupted Ye Feifan's thoughts. It came unusually suddenly, appearing just as he tossed the dream-fish into the Dream-Refining Furnace.

"What happens if I don't unlock it?"

"Nothing much. The system will either require you to acquire this quest through a lucky draw, or the quest will simply disappear on its own."

Disappear...

A plot card that could be obtained through a lucky draw now only cost a hundred points. Ye Feifan would have to be out of his mind to give up the opportunity to activate it, so he directly issued the command: "Unlock the quest."

His points decreased by one hundred, and a new side quest appeared once more.

"Side Quest [I Want to Find You]: My husband, I am Wan'er... You abandoned me on a rainy day, and I must find you... I must find you... Find you... You... Please arrive at the Welcome Hotel before midnight on a thunderstorm night, explore the truth, and survive until dawn to complete the quest. The reward will be distributed based on the plot development, with a minimum of one lottery ticket and the public publication of an unexpected newspaper in Tianzi City (if the quest fails, you must wait for another thunderstorm night to try again)."

It was a thunderstorm night again!

Ye Feifan's expression stiffened somewhat. The Welcome Hotel harbored secrets, yet he had no idea what had happened there. When he stayed there last time, there hadn't been any prompts at all!

He hadn't expected that these plotlines required completing preliminary hidden quests!

Without having conducted an on-site investigation, Ye Feifan was at his wits' end, so he could only temporarily suppress his curiosity, absorb the breath of dreams, and begin cultivating.

The daytime passed quickly. Ye Feifan woke up briefly when Big Yellow got hungry, went out on time for lunch and dinner, and then returned to his room.

At midnight, Ye Feifan turned on the live broadcast. Old Black and Little Yellow were still eating dinner in the outpost and seemed to be preparing to leave.

"Old Black, how is the situation over there?"

"Not good at all. It's another thunderstorm night, and I really don't want to leave in the rain tonight."

Old Black chewed on a piece of beef jerky, sprawled against the wall in a sprawling posture, with a very ugly expression... Little Yellow also followed closely beside, cautiously gnawing on a piece of beef jerky held in both paws.

"Then you guys stay for another night before coming back."

"That's what I was thinking too."

"Then I'm logging off."

"Wait..." Just as he was about to close the broadcast, Old Black's voice stopped Ye Feifan's next action.

"What happened?"

Tossing the beef jerky into his mouth, Old Black immediately flipped over, dashed to the door, cautiously cracked it open, and stared wide-eyed outside.

Little Yellow was startled by Old Black's movement, quickly putting away its beef jerky and jumping onto the table.

"Brother Black, what did you find?"

"The bus is here!"

"That huge magic artifact?" Little Yellow was stunned. He had seen Ye Feifan and Zhang Da jump off the bus last time, but what was the situation now?

The pitch-black water surface was boiling, and some waterweed could be vaguely seen swaying in the orange light, looking very much like a woman's long hair.

After the "beep-beep" sound rang for a while, Route 88 bus surged out from the water and parked steadily on the sandy patch of ground, as if waiting for someone.

If Old Black and Little Yellow walked a little over a hundred meters out the door, they could board the bus.

"Old Black, take Little Yellow and get on the bus!"

"What? Again?"

Recalling the gazes in the bus windows and the shadow on the roof, Old Black couldn't help shuddering. He tightly tucked his tail between his legs, held his ears straight up, and stared fixedly at the bus roof.

"Stop wasting time. It's stopping mostly for you guys. Are you not going to get on, and wait for it to come down and find you?"

Gritting his teeth, Old Black turned back to look at Little Yellow on the table and said, "Follow me. No matter what happens later, don't scream, you hear me?"

"Got it, Brother Black." Having seen Zhang Da and Ye Feifan survive coming out of that bus after all, Little Yellow wasn't scared out of its wits.

"Get on!" Casting a sideways glance at the interior furnishings of the outpost to ensure nothing seemed amiss, Old Black pulled the door open and darted out.

Little Yellow hurriedly followed. A black dog and a ferret dashed through the rain, sprinting into the front door of the bus in two minutes.

Standing by the coin slot, the driver in red quietly eyed the two monsters. His expression showed no obvious change, but there were several bleeding wounds on his face.

"Throw two one-liang pieces of smashed silver in there! Gold works too!"

Hearing Ye Feifan's reprimand, Old Black hurriedly took out two gold ingots and tossed them into the coin slot. Only then did the driver turn his head and say indifferently, "Go inside and sit down."

Old Black didn't make a sound, dragging the ferret into the back of the bus and sitting in the exact seat they had taken last time.

"Route 88 bus is about to depart. The final destination of this trip is Lijiwan. Please hold onto the handrails, do not stick your heads or hands out of the windows. The next stop is Wuju Town. Passengers getting off please prepare in advance."

The familiar broadcast voice made Old Black's hair stand on end, and Ye Feifan, watching the live broadcast, also felt his heart creeped out.

[PS: Prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony; freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law; patriotism, dedication, integrity, friendliness.]