As the authorities and ancient families scoured the area for Xia Tianqiong, he had already left Lin'an City, driving towards Jiuhua City, over six hundred kilometers away. Setting off around three in the afternoon, by seven in the evening, under the cloak of night, he had already covered two-thirds of the journey.
With the traffic thinning on the highway, Xia Tianqiong grew increasingly cautious. Night was when the uncanny were most active.
Though his current power made him unafraid of most early-stage apparitions, encountering one while driving at high speed could still cause a fatal accident.
He decided to stop at the next service area for the night and resume his journey the following morning, reducing his speed to the highway's minimum limit to ensure he could brake in time if anything happened.
Suddenly, as he drove, his expression changed, and he glanced around as if searching for something. He felt someone calling his name—not through sound, but through a strange sensation. Yet, he saw nothing unusual inside or outside the car.
Among the uncanny, several types could invoke death by calling one's name, making him even more vigilant. However, nothing occurred over the next ten minutes, and a sign indicated that Minggang Service Area was just two kilometers away.
His vigilance slightly eased, but then he noticed a red glow in the left rearview mirror, growing brighter and more intense. Staring intently, he saw a red sedan chair appear out of nowhere, glowing faintly in the dark like a giant lantern—both enchanting and eerie. Eight burly men in blood-red clothes carried it, their faces lifeless, eyes pale, clearly dead. They moved with light, steady steps, covering dozens of meters with each stride. Though Xia Tianqiong's speed was over sixty, the sedan chair was gaining on him.
"The ghostly bride?" The thought alone sent a shiver through him, and he floored the gas pedal. This was a highly dangerous apparition—no, two apparitions. Both the sedan chair and the bride were entities with death rules similar to the "Specter Mother Seeking Child," unsolved in his previous life. The authorities had only basic records of them, without even knowing their level. They had even killed two Specter Hunters who had contracted ghost generals.
Cursing his luck, Xia Tianqiong sped up to 160, risking a deadly crash at such high speed. His eyes remained on the road ahead, but his peripheral vision stayed on the rearview mirror. To his horror, the red sedan chair kept pace effortlessly, even closing the distance. It was clear that this was another set of rules, one that could not be outrun by mere speed.
Gradually, the sedan chair caught up, moving parallel to his car on the highway. Suddenly, a pale, slender hand reached out from the sedan's curtain, revealing a bride in a delicate wedding dress, her face obscured by a red veil. Though he couldn't see her face, Xia Tianqiong felt an intense, predatory gaze. The eerie entities within him— the delivery specter and the ghost baby—shuddered in fear.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xia Tianqiong activated shadow teleportation. "Would you like to be my groom?" a gentle, melodious voice asked from beneath the veil. Before the final word was spoken, Xia Tianqiong vanished from his car, reappearing in a field fifty meters away. He kept teleporting, further and further, until the red sedan chair was out of sight.
The ghost bride seemed momentarily stunned. "He runs fast. Didn't even listen to me finish," she murmured, her voice filled with complaint. She lifted her veil, revealing an exquisite, makeup-adorned face, like a noble lady from ancient times. She watched Xia Tianqiong's disappearing figure, her brows slightly furrowing. "How does a living human have the power of reincarnation?"
The sedan chair turned as if to chase him but was stopped by the ghost bride. "Forget it, with the Town Prison Tower appearing in the human world, I need to hurry there. I'll find him later." With that, the sedan chair continued along the highway before suddenly vanishing, as if entering another dimension.
In the dense night, Xia Tianqiong stopped teleporting after a while, realizing the red sedan chair wasn't pursuing him. "How can such powerful apparitions appear when the uncanniness has only just begun?" He had communicated with the delivery specter, the life-gambling ghost, and the mirror ghost while escaping. They didn't recognize the ghost bride but sensed she was at least a ghost general, possibly even a ghost king.
In his previous life, a ghost general could wipe out a city of a million people, and a ghost king was even more terrifying, capable of creating ghost cities on Earth. Standing in the wilderness, he looked back at the highway, feeling fortunate. The ghost bride probably only passed by without intending to chase him; otherwise, he couldn't have escaped.
His off-road vehicle was likely wrecked, and he didn't dare return for it. Fortunately, he was close to the service area. He teleported there directly, reaching the brightly lit area with its many buildings within two minutes. "Teleporting is faster than driving!" he couldn't help but marvel. Nighttime shadow teleportation was indeed handy, faster than driving, though it consumed some ghost currency.
The ghost baby, now at the fierce ghost level, could teleport up to fifty meters each time. As it upgraded, the distance would increase. If it could teleport hundreds of meters or even kilometers at once, that would be incredible. With these thoughts, he walked into the bustling service area.
It was already seven-thirty, and the place was lively with vehicles coming and going. Minggang Service Area was large, with a gas station, supermarket, restrooms, small mall, hotel, and restaurants. Xia Tianqiong chose a random restaurant, ordered a few dishes, and while waiting, considered his plans for the next day. Nearby, a couple's conversation caught his attention.
"Was it a person or a ghost I hit earlier?"
"Definitely not a person, otherwise, there would have been blood and a body."
He glanced over, seeing a middle-aged couple speaking softly. Another person at a nearby table chimed in, "Did you encounter something strange on the road too?"
The middle-aged man paused, then asked, "Did you hit a ghost too?"
"Not quite. I saw several cars crashed together, blood everywhere, but no people."
"Maybe they were already rescued?"
"No way. The police and ambulance were there, and there was still no one."
The middle-aged couple exchanged worried glances. Xia Tianqiong listened in, realizing he wasn't the only one encountering the uncanny tonight. The apparition invasion was a process, gradually increasing, reaching a peak, and then declining before escalating again. This gave humans breathing space to contract apparitions and gradually gain strength to counter them.
Outside the restaurant, a rectangular light gate suddenly appeared, opening slowly. A young man and woman stepped out, and the gate vanished. "A ghost!" A driver, just parking nearby, saw this and sped off in fear. The woman, Bai Jingjing, holding a black, mixed-breed puppy, complained to the man, Bai Yichen, "I told you to find a secluded place to open the gate, now someone saw us."
"Uncanny events are happening everywhere now, no need to worry about being seen like before," Bai Yichen said, scanning the area before focusing on Xia Tianqiong inside the restaurant. Comparing a photo on his phone, he noted, "Looks similar, but the age doesn't match. This one looks too young."
They had investigated Xia Tianqiong's details before coming, knowing he was a twenty-five-year-old man. But now, he appeared only eighteen. Bai Jingjing turned, letting the puppy face Xia Tianqiong. "Doggy, check if he's our target." The half-meter-long dog, resembling a typical farmhouse dog but with intelligent eyes, lifted its head from Bai Jingjing's chest and looked towards Xia Tianqiong, then spoke three words in a hoarse, old-man voice: "Xia Tianqiong!"
At the same time, Xia Tianqiong inside the restaurant glanced around, feeling someone calling him, just as before, with no sound, just a sensation. "Is the ghost bride back?" he thought, tense and ready to teleport away.
Outside, the puppy withdrew its head and said, "It's him!" The dog's tracking abilities had led them here accurately. Bai Jingjing and Bai Yichen exchanged excited glances. "He's gotten younger," Bai Jingjing observed, "meaning he's extended his life."
"So, he likely contracted a life-gambling ghost from the Mirror Ghost clan!" Bai Yichen added, looking at Xia Tianqiong like a treasure. His eyes gleamed with greed. "If that's true, his value is immense. He must join the Bai family and serve us."
Bai Jingjing, excited, said, "I want to be eighteen again too. Let's go talk to him!"
"No, the authorities said he's contracted at least three apparitions. Approaching him rashly might be unwise. Let's test his strength first," Bai Yichen suggested.
From within him, an old beggar in tattered clothes emerged, bent over, leaning on a bamboo stick, and holding a chipped bowl.
The beggar walked into the restaurant, unnoticed by others, heading straight for Xia Tianqiong.