A single divination predicts life and death; the entire internet begs me to start a live stream.

"No matter which way you go."

"In the end, we'll all end up at the same tollbooth."

After the deliveryman finished speaking...

The screen was quickly flooded with comments.

Is there a problem with the navigation?

There are many abandoned roads in the southern area, so it's normal to go back around.

He meant no matter which way you go!

There are still people in the old concrete plant! Call the police immediately!

【Huh? Aren't there police officers in the live stream? Doesn't this count as calling the police?】

Lin Wanqing has saved all the videos and locations provided by the deliveryman.

"Don't go near that factory again."

"Keep your phone accessible."

"The police will contact you later."

The connection has ended.

Chen Bufan stared at the frozen image.

Liu Jianguo was dragged through the iron gate by two Hengtai security personnel.

"Walk."

Chen Bufan stood up.

While notifying the local police in Qingzhou, Lin Wanqing applied for an emergency investigation of the old concrete plant.

Hengtai Legal responded quickly.

The old factory has been abandoned for many years.

The property belongs to an independent concrete company.

The Hengtai security vehicles were only temporarily parked.

The video also fails to prove that Liu Jianguo was illegally detained.

Lin Wanqing did not argue with them.

Is the person in the video Liu Jianguo?

Are there any missing persons in the factory whose freedom is being restricted?

You'll know when you get there.

Twenty minutes later.

Two police cars and a minivan drove out of the city.

The live stream was not turned off.

In-vehicle sounds related to police operations are temporarily muted.

The camera only captures the road conditions ahead.

On the one hand, we continue to collect clues.

on the other hand.

This also leaves Hengtai with an indelible public record.

There are fewer and fewer streetlights on both sides of the road.

Eventually, even the houses disappeared from sight.

The car headlights shone out.

There is only one old, faded road.

And the wasteland that keeps receding on both sides.

Navigation tips:

[11 kilometers from the old concrete factory in the South District]

Suddenly, a dim yellow light appeared ahead.

An abandoned tollbooth stands across the middle of the road.

Nine toll lanes.

Eight were blocked off by cement blocks.

Only the far right side is still open to traffic.

The toll booth was rusted black.

Most of the glass was broken.

The electronic clock at the top was still lit.

【21: 47】

A crow perched on the railing.

Head bowed.

The car headlights swept across its body.

It did not fly.

There wasn't even a sound.

The driver unconsciously eased off the accelerator.

"Is there a toll booth here?"

Chen Bufan glanced at it through the car window.

"How long has it been abandoned?"

"I don't know."

The driver looked at the navigation.

"The route indicates to go straight."

The first police car drove into the passage.

The wheels rolled over the speed bump.

hum.

hum.

When passing through the toll booth.

Suddenly, the live stream screen was filled with static.

Shila-

Just one second.

The screen is restored.

The toll booths have been left behind.

Chen Bufan glanced back.

The crow was still perched on the railing.

His head remained drooping.

Like a specimen nailed there.

The vehicle continued moving forward.

The navigation distance is constantly decreasing.

Nine kilometers.

Seven kilometers.

Five kilometers.

Ten minutes later.

Screen display:

[3 kilometers from the destination]

The driver had just breathed a sigh of relief.

The road in the distance suddenly widened.

One by one, dim lights emerged from the darkness.

The driver's expression froze.

Slowly remove your foot from the accelerator.

In front.

Another tollbooth.

Nine channels.

Eight cement blocks.

The light on the far right is on.

The electronic clock still displays:

【21: 47】

That crow.

They were still parked on the same section of guardrail.

Even the position of the claws didn't change.

The driver slammed on the brakes.

stab-

All three vehicles slowed down simultaneously.

Wang Tianhao swayed forward.

After looking up and seeing clearly outside, the anger on his face immediately turned into astonishment.

"That tollbooth we just visited."

"He even has brothers?"

The driver's hands, gripping the steering wheel, were already sweating.

"We didn't turn around."

"This road has always been straight."

Lin Wanqing immediately retrieved the vehicle's trajectory.

The blue line on the map runs straight south.

There were no forks in the road.

There was no turn.

The car's compass also consistently pointed south.

Luo Tiancheng then opened the compass app on his phone.

The two directions are completely consistent.

We didn't go the wrong way.

The direction is correct.

But they ended up back where they started.

Some people in the live stream have already recognized him.

This is the one from earlier!

[There's a diagonal crack on the right-hand toll booth, exactly the same!]

The digital clock hasn't moved a single minute!

Why is that crow still there?

It didn't move the first time I passed by!

Wang Tianhao stared at the crow for a few seconds.

The creature's feathers were being blown by the night wind.

His body seemed to be welded to the guardrail.

Not moving.

He silently rolled the car window all the way up.

Lin Wanqing spoke into the walkie-talkie:

"Let's take another route."

Luo Tiancheng took out a yellow talisman.

"Leave a mark first."

The convoy stopped.

Two police officers got out of the car to stand guard.

Luo Tiancheng affixed the yellow talisman to the rightmost railing.

Then he sprinkled a pinch of cinnabar on the ground.

The cinnabar had just landed.

A soft sound suddenly came from inside the toll booth.

Ding.

Everyone looked over at the same time.

Behind the broken glass was complete darkness.

nobody.

There was only one moldy office chair.

It slowly turned half a circle.

Facing the convoy.

A police officer grips a flashlight tightly.

"Is someone inside?"

Strong light shone into the toll booth.

The chair stopped.

However, a crumpled receipt appeared on the table.

The edge of the bill was swaying slightly.

It looks like someone just tore it off.

Lin Wanqing did not allow anyone to approach.

"Walk."

Use a demolition hammer to move the concrete block in front of the second passage on the left.

The convoy set off again.

This time.

The driver increased the speed to 80.

The road is straight.

There are no forks in the road on either side.

The entire process was captured on live stream.

Seven minutes later.

The dim yellow lights reappeared at the end of the road.

The driver's breathing noticeably slowed down.

No one spoke.

Until the tollbooth reappeared in the headlights.

On the guardrail.

The yellow talisman is still there.

The cinnabar was still in the same place.

The electronic clock is still stopped at:

【21: 47】

The receipt that wasn't there before.

It was blown out of the toll booth by the wind.

It was stuck on the windshield.

Snapped!

The driver was so startled that he jerked the steering wheel sharply.

The vehicle nearly crashed into the guardrail.

The officer in the passenger seat quickly grabbed the steering wheel.

"Hold on!"

The driver slammed on the brakes.

His face had turned pale.

Lin Wanqing put on gloves and took off the receipt.

There is no amount listed.

There is no license plate.

Only one line of text is printed in red:

This vehicle has passed through this checkpoint three times.

They only went through it twice.

Wang Tianhao looked at the line of text, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Is it...?"

"Are you including us next time?"

Chen Bufan looked up at the tollbooth.

Nine red lanterns are lighting up one after another.

It lights up from the far left to the far right.

It's as if something is choosing the next path for them.

Lin Wanqing immediately left the first police car behind.

Two police officers were stationed at the tollbooth.

The body cameras, vehicle-mounted video recorders, and walkie-talkies were all kept on.

The remaining vehicles chose the central lane to continue south.

Before leaving.

Lin Wanqing confirmed again:

"Do not enter the toll booth without orders."

"Do not move the yellow talisman and cinnabar."

"Report any changes immediately."

The officers who remained on duty nodded.

The convoy passed through the toll station.

hum.

hum.

The live stream screen flickered with static again.

The road has been straightened.

The vehicles continued south.

One minute.

three minutes.

five minutes.

Seventh minute.

It's dark ahead.

Suddenly, a flash of red and blue police lights appeared.

The driver's expression changed drastically.

"There are police cars ahead!"

The van slowed down rapidly.

The distance is reduced to the same level.

Everyone saw it clearly.

That was the police car left at the tollbooth.

It remained in the same spot.

Two police officers remained standing beside the car.

One of them was still waving as they left.

The convoy reappeared.

The officer's arm remained frozen in mid-air.

His facial expression changed little by little, and he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

The convoy did not return from the central passage they had just left.

Instead, it came from a lane that was completely blocked off by concrete blocks.

It slowly drove out.

In the eyes of the officers who remained on duty.

The concrete block did not move.

The front half of the commercial vehicle.

It emerged directly from the cement.

"parking!"

The remaining police officers retreated abruptly.

The flashlight was shone on the vehicle.

The other person had already pressed down on the equipment at their waist, and their voice had changed.

Who's in the car?

Lin Wanqing lowered the car window.

"It's us."

The officers who remained behind were even more horrified when they saw her face clearly.

"Team Leader Lin?"

"Didn't you just drive out?"

Lin Wanqing glanced at the time on the instrument.

"How long will we be gone?"

The officers who remained on duty were breathing rapidly.

"Ten seconds."

"Ten seconds at most!"

No one in the car spoke.

They drove for a full seven minutes.

The vehicle's mileage increased by nine kilometers.

Fuel consumption has changed.

The engine is also hot.

But in the eyes of the two police officers at the tollbooth.

The convoy simply drove into the passage.

The screen flickered.

They then drove out from another blocked lane.

It took less than ten seconds.

One of the remaining police officers slowly turned his head.

Look at the yellow talisman on the railing.

The talisman is still there.

The cinnabar didn't move either.

But that crow kept its head down.

I don't know when, but I turned my body around.

It still didn't look up.

His head, however, was turned a full 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

Directly facing the convoy.

The live stream chat was so dense with comments that the screen became unreadable.

Seven minutes inside the car, ten seconds outside?

[The body camera footage from the officers who remained on duty also captured it!]

They drove it out from inside a concrete block!

The crow turned its head away!

This can't be a looping video! The times on both sides are completely different!

A large number of viewers began taking screenshots of the three toll booths.

Soon someone noticed.

The location of the dark clouds is exactly the same in all three videos.

The cracks in the toll booth glass remained unchanged.

The digital clock remained stuck at 21:47.

But there's a red light above the nine lanes.

The order in which the lights illuminate is different each time.

Some people even made the three videos transparently overlapped.

The scene then took an even stranger turn.

the first time.

The vehicle exited from the rightmost lane.

When I came back for the second time.

However, they entered the toll station from the third lane on the left.

the third time.

They drove out from the central passage that was blocked by concrete blocks.

Nine paths.

Like nine bent pipes.

No matter which direction it extends.

The other end is inserted back into the same toll station.

"Nine Gates and Circuits"

Chen Bufan pushed open the car door and got out, stepping on the ground with his foot.

This time.

Lin Wanqing did not let the others follow immediately.

Two police officers turned on their high-powered lights.

One light shines on the left and one on the right, illuminating the toll booth.

Technicians began detecting surrounding signals.

The driver remained seated inside the car.

Both hands remained on the steering wheel.

The knuckles had turned white from the exertion.

After getting out of the car, Wang Tianhao first glanced at the crow.

"Is this thing alive?"

Luo Tiancheng picked up a pebble.

He flicked it casually.

Snapped.

A pebble struck the crow in the chest.

The sound didn't hit the feather.

Instead, it crashed into some kind of hard, empty shell.

The crow swayed.

A wisp of dark yellow fine sand.

It leaked out from under its closed eyelids.

Wang Tianhao immediately retreated to Chen Bufan's side.

"I was just asking."

"I didn't ask you to wake it up."

Luo Tiancheng ignored him.

He walked to the center of the nine lanes.

Place the nine copper coins down one by one.

The first one landed.

A white light illuminated in the leftmost toll booth.

Behind the empty glass.

It appears to be a figure sitting there, head down, counting money.

The second one landed.

The sound of printing tickets came from the toll booth next door.

blah blah——

Blank tickets were dispensed from the window.

The third one.

A car horn sounded from the end of the road.

It can be found on the highways in front and behind.

No vehicles were visible.

The fourth one.

The abandoned railings lifted themselves.

It fell heavily again.

boom!

The fifth one.

The navigation systems of all vehicles simultaneously issued a notification:

You have arrived at your destination.

The destination on the screen.

But it has become this abandoned tollbooth.

The ninth coin landed in the center.

All nine red lights went out at the same time.

Darkness descended.

Only the electronic clock still emitted a faint, scarlet glow.

【21: 47】