Chapter 5: A Traffic Accident (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival~)

Realizing that the traps had been triggered, Mali gave a start, and his whole person became alert instantly.

He took the pistol from the glove box at the first opportunity and held it in his hand. He didn't get out of the car, but just kept the engine running, rolled down the window, crouched behind the car door, and shouted outside.

"Who are you? I've already discovered you, come out quickly!"

"Don't hide, I have no malice, let's talk."

"If you don't come out again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Considering that the person opposite might be an international friend, Mali also repeated it in broken English.

However, the only answer to him was the sound of the wind in the valley.

Wait... the sound of the wind?

Mali thought of something and was suddenly stunned. The places previously shrouded in the red mist were like being pressed with a freeze button; there was no wind, and even the surface of the river passing through the city was calm and waveless, as smooth as a mirror.

This was the first time in a long while he felt being blown by the wind, although the wind just now wasn't big—no, it should be said it was very weak.

So... could those empty plastic bottles and matchboxes have been blown away by the wind?

Otherwise, it was hard to explain why the traps he set in several directions were all triggered. If there really was something approaching, it would logically only trigger the traps in one or two directions, and other things like the heavier stones would be safe and sound.

Mali waited for a while longer, and seeing that there was still no response, he finally walked out of the car and picked up the bottles and cans on the ground, along with the discarded toothbrush.

The appearance of the wind made him feel excited in his heart.

Because this meant that it was very likely he would soon be able to leave the range covered by the red mist and return to the normal world.

Mali opened a can of lychees to celebrate, scooping the lychee meat with a spoon while opening the atlas.

On it was outlined a winding red line, starting from Xiao Zhai Cun; this red line represented the road Mali had traveled over the past two days.

The canyon wasn't straight; in fact, it was very tortuous, constantly winding around, and Mali could only rely on the compass to determine the general direction and then calculate the distance based on the mileage on the dashboard.

The error should be quite large.

However, it could be roughly seen that he was still within the province, um... he should be in the area of Wuzhi Xian, Jiaozuo.

Maybe he could see other people when he reached the city!

Mali thought to himself, feeling excited, and the spoon scooped faster. He finished the remaining canned fruit in a few bites.

Then he started the car impatiently.

After driving for another half day, he gradually felt that the red mist outside the window seemed to be fading, the range the car lights could illuminate became farther, and at the same time, the light changed, darkening bit by bit.

Mali glanced at his phone; it was just past two o'clock in the afternoon.

Of course, this time was made up by him out of thin air, so it was normal for it not to be accurate.

And the real time outside was clearly already night.

Mali became more and more excited, and even the accelerator was pressed more and more boldly.

Finally, at 16:14, he completely drove out of the red mist.

Although it was different from his previous expectation, the valley took a big turn in the middle, making him farther and farther away from Jiaozuo, and instead closer to Zhengzhou in the south.

But no matter what, he had gotten rid of that unsettling, deathly silent red mist.

Mali rolled down the car window, feeling the breeze with a slight earthy smell blowing from outside, and even the pitch-black and deep night in front of him became charming.

He even heard the chirping of insects; the sound was so pleasant.

Back! All back!!!

That world full of vitality he was once familiar with had finally returned completely!

Mali had already started fantasizing about finding a hotel after reaching the city, ordering takeout, and taking a bath while eating.

But the next moment, he went from joy to sorrow; a loud bang came from the front of the car!

Mali hurriedly stepped on the brake.

Under the huge inertia, his whole person lunged toward the steering wheel. Fortunately, at the critical moment, the seat belt on his body played its role, locking instantly and pulling his body back in time.

Plus the off-road vehicle's speed wasn't very fast—even though Mali had already let himself go before, it was actually less than 30 kilometers per hour—he basically wasn't injured, but it was hard to say for that guy outside.

Mali put the off-road vehicle into P gear, pulled the handbrake, pushed the car door open in a hurry, and jumped down.

He ran almost at a trot to the front of the car, but soon he was stunned.

He had indeed hit some creature.

But Mali couldn't be sure what it was.

It had a humanoid form, but its stature was very small, only about 1.4 meters tall, similar to a ten-year-old child, which was why Mali hadn't noticed it before.

In addition, its skin was dark green, like a frog, and so was its head, pointed and almost hairless, because it was just stuck between the bull bars of the G300p from the impact just now.

The huge Mercedes-Benz logo was almost embedded in its ugly left face, and the protruding yellowish-brown eyeballs were still gleaming with ferocity.

However, it should be dead already, its limbs hanging down powerlessly, and its body wearing armor was also drooping; after all, it had just taken a 3.5-ton off-road vehicle head-on.

Even the hardest skull couldn't withstand such a blow; it was probably sent away on the spot.

Mali's expression was strange; how did he feel that this thing was a bit like the goblin that often appeared in fantasy novels? He even found a mace on the stone pile nearby; if nothing unexpected happened, it was the weapon of this goblin.

But this was Henan, and it was already very close to Zhengzhou; why would there be goblins in Henan?

Mali's brain wasn't enough; the excitement of escaping the red mist before gradually faded away.

Something's wrong! Where did the problem go?!

Did he take the wrong road?

But even if he wasn't in Henan now, logically he shouldn't encounter goblins, or was this actually some kind of simulation robot, or some kind of trendy COS?

If it was the latter, his trouble would be big, equivalent to a traffic accident, and it was very likely a minor.

Thinking of this, Mali hurriedly squatted down, intending to get closer and study this strange creature suspected to be a goblin.

However, just as he bent down, something flew over his head, and at the same time, footsteps came from afar.

Hmm?

Mali turned his head and saw a figure in the beam of the headlights.

It was a chestnut-haired girl, wearing a brown leather breastplate, a linen waist shirt, a short sword hanging at her waist, and a long bow on her back.

She moved nimbly, like a little deer, and as those long leather boots jumped and turned on the stones, the distance between the two was rapidly closing.

But perhaps because she was facing the car lights, it wasn't until she almost bumped into Mali's arms that she discovered there was still a person standing here.

She was slightly stunned, and then grabbed Mali's arm. ===== CHAPTER 6 =====