Ever since the Shadow had appeared in the White Dragon Cave tunnel, this area had become abnormal.
The woman, the child, and now the elderly person who had just appeared—before even entering the White Dragon Cave tunnel, Chen Ge had already encountered three "people."
"Quite the gathering." Chen Ge didn't bother asking for more information about the old man. He sat quietly in the back seat.
The taxi slowly drove onto the road leading to the White Dragon Cave tunnel. The further the driver went, the more his heart sank, but there was nothing he could do—at this point, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and press on.
On both sides of the road, tree shadows swayed, like ghosts crawling out of hell.
The light grew dimmer. On this road leading to the White Dragon Cave tunnel, most of the streetlights were broken, and no one maintained the road. The ground was covered in dead leaves and mud. What was strange was that between the mud and leaves, there were clear footprints—some large, some small. Some wore shoes, some were barefoot. They clearly belonged to different people.
"Last time I was here, there didn't seem to be this many footprints." Chen Ge observed carefully. He noticed that all the footprints—both shoe prints and bare feet—had their toes pointed toward the White Dragon Cave.
"They're all heading to the White Dragon Cave? Something inside that tunnel is drawing them in?"
Chen Ge didn't know what had happened inside the tunnel, but he was well aware that ever since the Shadow had appeared there, the tunnel had become something different from before.
The tires crunched over dead leaves and branches on the ground, producing an unpleasant sound. Under the beam of the headlights, a massive dark silhouette appeared—all the light that reached it was swallowed up.
"The White Dragon Cave!"
The forbidden zone from urban legends had appeared right before his eyes. The driver's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, his calves trembled, his body reacted instinctively—he wanted to flee.
"We're here." The taxi had pulled up in front of the White Dragon Cave, but the passengers still showed no intention of getting out.
"Any further and we'll be inside the White Dragon Cave. How about I just drop you off here?"
The driver was backing out. Tonight's encounters had been genuinely bizarre.
"I don't mind either way. It's up to those two." Chen Ge leaned back in his seat and shifted into a more comfortable position. The deadline for the Black Phone's task was still a ways off, so he wasn't in any rush.
Chen Ge was relatively easygoing, but the other two passengers in the car were anything but.
The woman sitting in the front passenger seat slowly raised her lowered head. Through the tangled mess of her hair, her eyes emitted a scarlet glow. Her fingers clawed at the car window, producing a piercing sound—as though something inside the White Dragon Cave tunnel was driving her mad.
The little boy in the back seat wasn't faring any better. His hands gripped his black bag tightly, and his once delicate features had become completely twisted.
The closer they got to the White Dragon Cave tunnel, the more pronounced the abnormalities in the two of them became—as if the resentment within them had been awakened and could no longer be suppressed.
None of the three passengers had any intention of getting out of the car, and this had the driver at his wit's end. His face was a mask of despair, looking utterly helpless.