The night moon hung high, and the wordless stele of Qianling stood solemn and hidden under the moonlight.
"After a thousand years of slumber, it's time for you to awaken."
Accompanied by a sigh, a middle-aged woman with silver hair slowly approached the wordless stele, followed by eight women of various demeanors and stunning appearances.
Although the nine of them were dressed differently, they each had a dragon claw embroidered on their shoulders and emitted an astonishing aura. As they walked, their garments fluttered, exuding an imposing presence.
The nine women knelt and kowtowed in unison before the wordless stele, then the silver-haired woman entered the secret chamber from the position you had come out of earlier.
There were nine stone doors leading out of the underground palace, and each of the nine women held a piece of blood jade. They condensed their breath into a drop of blood, and as the blood merged with the stone doors, the doors opened one after another.
When the nine women reached the end of the staircase, they were met with a suspended base, the coffin and the person who had been sleeping inside were nowhere to be found!
"What... What's going on!?"
A middle-aged woman behind the silver-haired one exclaimed in shock.
"Search! We must find the Empress at all costs!"
A piercing howl cut through the thick rock layers, shooting straight into the sky, stopping the clouds in their tracks!
You had given her a name, calling her Zhao'er.
The next morning, you and Zhao'er took a car to Chang'an and bought two bus tickets to Yuhang, departing before noon that day.
The journey was over twenty hours long, and to avoid arousing suspicion, you lay in the sleeper berth the entire time, not moving, and Zhao'er did the same.
Initially, you were concerned that the crowded sleeper bus would affect her, but she had obediently lain there the whole time. Since you were lying on your side, she mimicked your position, facing outward, so no one noticed her.
Unlike Zhao'er, who could spend over a thousand years in a coffin, you slept and woke, woke and slept, feeling as if you had finished all the sleep of your lifetime.
This cycle of sleeping and waking left you groggy and with a throbbing headache. Rubbing your swollen temples, you opened your eyes and looked around, finding everyone else asleep, their snores filling the air.
Outside the bus window, the sky was already half-lit, as murky and indistinct as your muddled mind.
Checking your phone, it was already past five in the morning.
The bus was slowing down and soon entered a highway service area.
The driver parked at a gas station, and most passengers were still asleep. Not wanting to lie down again, you simply took Zhao'er's hand and got off the bus together.
It was early morning, and the service area was sparsely populated, with only your bus at the gas station.
The bus driver and the gas station attendant chatted sporadically as you and Zhao'er stretched in unison, doing some simple exercises when suddenly, you noticed fog swirling around you.
Soon, the blinding light of a car's headlights pierced through the fog, and a flashy sports car drove up, parking at pump number 97 for gasoline.
The attendant hurried over and asked with a smile, "Hello, what grade of gasoline would you like?"
The sports car's scissor doors lifted, and a heavily made-up woman stepped out from the passenger side, wearing a light purple, tight-fitting mini dress, provocatively revealing.
Her hair seemed a bit disheveled, especially around her eyes, which were panda-like, as if she hadn't slept for days and nights.
"Are you blind? This Lamborghini is worth over four million, what grade of gasoline do you think it needs?"
"I'm sorry, how much would you like?" The attendant, having worked overnight, not only had to endure such treatment, but you couldn't help feeling a bit sympathetic.
Prompted by the attendant's question, the woman leaned into the car and asked, "Honey, how much do you want to add?"
The driver's door slowly lifted, and at that moment, a sight that shocked you appeared!
A paper man got out of the car!
The paper man was shaped like a man, with rouge painted on its cheeks, and its walk and gaze were extremely eerie.
You rubbed your eyes, thinking you had seen wrong, but from any angle, the figure was indeed a paper man!
The paper man approached the attendant and gave a sinister smile, "Fill it up."
The attendant nodded, and as he began to fuel the car, you noticed the paper man suddenly turn its head to look at you!
Startled, you quickly turned away, pretending you hadn't seen anything.
"Pitter-patter!"
Then, you heard the sound of liquid hitting the ground. Glancing over, you saw gasoline flowing out from under the car, and upon closer inspection, it wasn't a Lamborghini at all!
It was a car made of paper!
The paper man handed the attendant five paper money notes, and the attendant, oblivious, even deliberately checked them for authenticity before putting them in his waist pack.
Before getting back into the car, the paper man deliberately turned to give you one more look, just one glance that sent a chill down your spine.
Under your watch, the paper car emitted a sound similar to a sports car's roar and sped away, leaving behind a strong smell of gasoline where it had been parked.
At the same time, the fog around the gas station gradually dissipated. Urged by the bus driver, you boarded the bus with Zhao'er, but before leaving, you deliberately glanced at the attendant, who was still unaware of the situation, listlessly sitting on a stool, passing the time on his phone.
The bus got back on the highway, and about ten minutes later, someone asked the driver, "Master, how much longer until we reach Yuhang?"
"Soon, about two more hours."
Thinking about the two hours left, you turned over, ready to go back to sleep, when suddenly you heard the bus driver curse, "Damn!" followed by an abrupt stop that sent everyone tumbling out of their berths!
As your body tilted, you grabbed onto a metal pole with your left hand and reached out to hold Zhao'er with your right, preventing her from falling.
"Ouch, I'm going to die."
"What happened?"
"I almost lost my life!"
Everyone was awakened by the commotion, and the bus driver shouted urgently, "There's been a death, someone's been hit!"
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
You and the others got off the bus and looked towards the rear.
It was just getting light, and you were on a mountain road surrounded by fog, making it hard to see clearly from a distance.
After walking about ten meters, a woman among you let out a piercing scream. About fifty meters from the bus, a woman lay in a pool of blood, her hair disheveled, her body twisted in a strange way.
"Dead, there's a dead person!"
Another thirty meters away, a sedan was parked with half of its front smashed in. A bald middle-aged man got out of the car, looking terrified, trembling as he approached the woman, glanced at her, and then hurriedly took out his phone to call the police.
"Help... Save me..."