Chapter 92: The Rift

Qi Xia walked out of the lottery center holding a check and headed straight for the taxi.

“Ya? So fast, young man.”

The driver was standing outside the car, smoking, and his sea-blue vehicle stood out starkly against the local mint-colored cars.

Qi Xia didn't respond; he simply opened the door and sat down.

“So… we're heading back now?” the driver asked.

“Um.” Qi Xia nodded, but for safety's sake, he chose to sit in the back seat this time.

“Alright.” The driver stubbed out his cigarette on the ground and got into the driver's seat. “By the way, young man, aren't you planning to hang around Jinan for a bit? I have an old buddy here, and if you're not in a rush…”

“I'm in a rush,” Qi Xia said. “Let's get going.”

“Oh…” The driver nodded awkwardly.

Qi Xia recalled the last time he had delayed half a day in Jinan to withdraw money from the bank, ending up with a big bundle of cash to take home.

His original intention was to surprise Yu Nian An, but this time, he had to skip all those formalities.

Now, he needed to get home as quickly as possible to take Yu Nian An and escape to an open area.

Thinking of this, Qi Xia pulled out his phone to call Yu Nian An, asking her to pack a few clothes in advance so they could stay outside for the coming days.

He opened his contacts and found the first one, labeled “A,” and dialed it directly.

This label was something Qi Xia had specially set for Yu Nian An, using just the letter A to keep her at the top of his contacts list.

After waiting more than ten seconds, no one answered on the other end.

“What's going on…” Qi Xia wondered, puzzled. As far as he remembered, Yu Nian An never left her phone unattended, so why wasn't she picking up?

Qi Xia hung up and tried calling a few more times, but still no answer, which made him worry.

He glanced at the time on his phone—it was already 4 p.m.

“Driver, if we can get back to Qingdao by 7:30, I'll give you an extra 500 yuan for the fare,” Qi Xia said, looking up at the driver.

“Really?” The driver glanced at Qi Xia through the rearview mirror, then checked his watch.

Three and a half hours for 350 kilometers.

It was a bit of a stretch, but for an experienced driver, it wasn't impossible—as long as he maintained 120 km/h on the highway the whole way, they should arrive just on time.

The chance to earn 2,500 yuan in a single day was rare, and the driver could hardly believe it.

“I'm not kidding,” Qi Xia nodded. “Just drive safely.”

The driver vaguely guessed what was going on—who would choose to take a taxi to another city like this?

Taxis were expensive, but their advantage was that they didn't require real-name ticketing like trains or high-speed rail.

That meant the man in front of him wanted to slip into Jinan quietly, without anyone noticing. All things considered, he must have won the lottery.

Only prizes over one million yuan needed to be claimed at a provincial lottery center, and maybe his winnings were even more than that.

Thinking about it, the driver shook his head helplessly.

They say the odds of winning the lottery are lower than getting struck by lightning—people really do compare and get jealous. Here was this young man with such good luck, while he himself was middle-aged and still doing physical labor.

Qi Xia sat in the back, catching a glimpse of the driver's complex expression in the driver's seat, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

Yeah, for most people, having a lottery winner sitting right behind you—who wouldn't let their mind wander?

“Too bad you're all bark and no bite,” Qi Xia thought to himself.

The taxi driver was one Qi Xia had “carefully selected” from a group of drivers waiting for fares outside the hotel. This burly driver had tried to cut in line and ended up being scolded by a skinny colleague, begging for mercy repeatedly.

In that moment, Qi Xia saw right through him.

They all wanted to make money, no one better than the other, but he was just too timid.

Someone like that wouldn't try to “kill and rob.”

The driver hesitated for a while, his expression shifting, but in the end, he sighed and focused on the road ahead.

Qi Xia leaned back in his seat and tried calling Yu Nian An again, but still no answer.

In the quiet environment, Qi Xia's thoughts drifted back to what had happened in Zhong Yan Zhi Di.

It all felt so real, not like a dream at all.

He reached up and touched his left shoulder—there was no sign of injury now, but he clearly remembered everything that had occurred.

He remembered Han Yi Mo, Qiao Jia Jin, Tian Tian, Officer Li, Zhang Shan, and Lao Lv all dying there. He had died too, but somehow returned to his previous life.

Did that mean those people had also gone back to their own lives…?

It was probably all some bizarre prank.

As the sky darkened, the lights on the highway barriers slowly came on.

Although he had only been in that ghostly place for three days, Qi Xia felt like it had been forever since he'd seen lights at night.

The speeding night lights sliding past gave him an unexpected sense of calm.

It looked like the driver really wanted that extra 500 yuan—he'd been maintaining the maximum speed since getting on the highway.

Like everyone else in the world, he was just hustling for his daily meals.

Qi Xia made a mental note that even if they were late, he'd still give the driver the 500 yuan.

The driver tried a few times to make conversation with Qi Xia, but gradually realized the young man wasn't much of a talker, so he turned on the car radio to ease the awkwardness.

“You're now listening to 89.7 Traffic Radio.”

The slightly magnetic voice came through—this seemed to be a channel all taxi drivers loved.

“It's exactly 7 p.m. Beijing Time, and we're checking out the comments from our online platform.”

After saying that, the host paused noticeably, not speaking for nearly ten seconds—which was definitely a live broadcast mishap.

“Ha!” the driver chuckled smugly. “Kid, can you believe this stuff? Are all these hosts just buying their jobs these days?”

Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly, sensing it wasn't that simple.

Live hosts usually had strong mental fortitude; even if most online comments were useless, they'd quickly pick out the key ones to read. So why the long silence now?

“Our online platform is getting some weird comments…” the host said in a strange tone. “We've received dozens of messages all saying there's a bizarre crack appearing 'above' the Qingyin Highway near the Qingdao exit. We'll contact the traffic police as soon as possible to check if it's from a sign or some other structure. Drivers, please be careful and avoid it if you're passing through.”