When Xu Chen came out of the restroom and returned to his car, his assistant told him about the incident as if it were a joke.
With the livestream watching, Xu Chen didn’t show his displeasure outwardly, but inwardly, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
What nonsense about not going near water or using the restroom? He had just come out of the restroom, and nothing had happened to him at all.
Still, Xu Chen felt a twinge of unease. He didn’t believe that Chu Mingjia could divine the future or perform fortune-telling, but he did believe that the Han family had the means to cause him trouble.
After all, the Han family even had a state advisor!
Xu Chen put on a smile. “Mrs. Han means well.”
Although his words were polite, the expression on his face was dismissive.
The driver, however, had listened to the whole conversation from the driver’s seat and felt a bit uncertain. If something happened to the big star Xu Chen sitting in his car, he couldn’t bear that responsibility!
He recalled that on the mountain road to Qishan, they would have to cross a river. So he turned to the assistant and asked, “Assistant Xu, we’ll be passing a river later. Do we need to take a detour?”
They were heading to Qishan for an exploration, a mountain famously known as Ghost Mountain. Although the driver had never experienced anything supernatural himself, he still held a respectful fear of such matters.
The assistant wasn’t sure what to decide and asked the driver, “Would taking a detour be troublesome? Would we need to coordinate with the production team?”
The accompanying producer sitting in the passenger seat hesitated for a second, then quickly said, “Let’s see what Mr. Xu thinks.”
No way, if the production team insisted on not taking a detour and something went wrong, who would be held responsible? Who could say for sure about these mysterious, inexplicable things?
Thinking of Han Fengchen and Chu Mingjia, Xu Chen felt deeply displeased. Ever since Han Fengchen had returned, Xu Chen’s luck had been on a downward spiral. Even going to the temple to burn incense hadn’t helped.
He certainly wasn’t going to bow his head to Han Fengchen. He felt that Chu Mingjia’s warning was deliberate. If he actually believed them and took a detour, that might be when something really went wrong.
Besides, he didn’t believe that anyone on Han Fengchen’s side would genuinely want to help him.
Xu Chen turned to his assistant. “Didn’t my partner, Master Wuchen, do a reading for me? I remember him saying my journey would be smooth sailing.”
The production team had invited four masters in total. Three would serve as partners to the celebrities during the livestream, while one would stay behind with the crew. The three masters had been matched with their celebrity partners through a lottery draw. After the matching, Master Wuchen had nothing to do at the hotel, so he did a fortune reading for his as-yet-unmet partner.
The staff had passed this information on to Xu Chen.
The assistant nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes! Master Wuchen did a reading. It’s fine, bro. Everything will go smoothly for you!”
Xu Chen smiled and nodded. “I trust Master Wuchen. There’s no need to go through the trouble of a detour. Let’s just follow the original plan.”
The driver and the crew naturally had no objections. They all nodded and prepared to get back on the road.
The viewers in the livestream were all Xu Chen’s fans, and they had always treated Han Fengchen as a rival. Naturally, they couldn’t let this slide and started cursing in the livestream again.
【Our brother is way too easygoing. If someone cursed my journey like that, I’d slap them right across the face.】
【Master Wuchen’s fortune readings are worth a fortune, countless people beg for one but can’t get it. He already said everything would go smoothly. That Han family wife sure has some nerve.】
【I hope our brother isn’t affected by certain people. That certain someone has been irrelevant for years, and now that he’s back, he can’t wait to leech off our brother’s popularity. His face is thicker than a city wall.】
Of course, there were also more rational viewers who timidly typed: 【But Master Wuchen said, “If something happens, a noble person will appear to turn misfortune into good fortune.” So doesn’t that mean something might still happen to our brother?】
But no one paid that comment any attention. The fans were united in their hostility toward the Han family. Many had already stormed into Han Fengchen’s livestream, hurling insults.
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Once they were back on the road, the production team’s vehicles exited the highway. After leaving the ramp, they began driving into the mountain roads.
The Qishan mountain range stretched on endlessly. Although they were still two hours away from the small town at the foot of Qishan, they had already entered Qishan territory.
Sitting in the car, Chu Mingjia rolled down the window and gazed at the rolling mountains in the distance. To her surprise, she couldn’t sense Qishan’s spiritual vein at all.
A thousand years had passed. The world had changed dramatically. The seas had turned into mulberry fields. The sacred mountain that had once been the backbone of the three realms, sustained by its spiritual vein, now didn’t have a trace of spiritual energy left.
All that remained was a dense, black ghostly aura so thick it seemed to dye the sky black.
There were many types of energy in the human world, most of them manifesting between mountains, rivers, and seas. Ordinary people couldn’t see them.
Although Chu Mingjia now inhabited a mortal body, some things still could not escape her eyes.
She gazed out the window in silence, not moving for a long time.
Han Fengchen, sitting beside her, stole several glances at her. He took a small cake and held it out to her, saying awkwardly, “Hey, want some cake?”
Chu Mingjia gave him a strange look. “Didn’t you say there wasn’t anything cold?”
The small cake had been sitting in the fridge and was quite cool. She didn’t believe there was no cold milk.
Han Fengchen: “…”
He kept a stern face and said gruffly, “I only gave it to you because you looked upset. This is the only thing in the fridge, there’s nothing else!”
Chu Mingjia looked at him, then reached out and took the small cake. “Thank you.”
As she ate the cake, she felt a little confused. She still hadn’t fully adapted to this body, and her face should have been expressionless. How could Han Fengchen tell that she was in a bad mood?
This kid was surprisingly perceptive. You really couldn’t tell from looking at him.
About halfway through the drive, Chu Mingjia finished the cake and put the box in the trash bag. Then she suddenly spoke up. “Driver, is there another road we can take?”
The accompanying producer in the passenger seat was startled and quickly turned around. “Mrs. Han, is this road too bumpy?”
The driver also apologized. “I’m sorry. The mountain roads here aren’t in great shape, so it’s a bit rough.”
Although the road had been paved, years of wear and tear had left it cracked and full of potholes. All in all, it was pretty uncomfortable. The young producer, who was already carsick, had turned pale.
The driver added, “There is another route, but it’s about a half-hour detour. It’s quite a bit farther, and I’ve never driven it before.”
The navigation system had it, but because it added thirty minutes, even though they had been to Qishan several times recently, they had never taken that road.
Chu Mingjia nodded. “Take the detour.”
Han Fengchen assumed Chu Mingjia was getting carsick, so he immediately chimed in, “It’s only half an hour, not that far. The official livestream doesn’t start until seven tonight anyway. We’ve got plenty of time.”
Since this was a supernatural reality show, the tasks were all released at night. Wearing the white jade bracelet Chu Mingjia had given him, Han Fengchen felt confident and wasn’t the least bit scared.
With both Chu Mingjia and Han Fengchen saying so, the driver and crew didn’t dare object. When they reached a fork in the road, they turned onto the detour.
Xu Chen’s car, which had been ahead of them, had already gone straight. The third celebrity’s car, a female actress known for playing supporting roles, was still following behind.
The driver of that car said in confusion, “Huh? Why are they changing lanes?”
The accompanying producer hesitated, then asked the driver, “So which way should we go?”
The driver pulled over and called Chu Mingjia’s driver. “Old Liu, why did you take the detour?”
Old Liu replied, “Mrs. Han said to take the detour. Anyway, we’ve got plenty of time, and it’s only an extra half hour.”
The driver hung up, looked at the actress in the backseat, who was half-dead from carsickness, and shook his head. “Forget it. Let’s take the detour too. Maybe it’ll be less bumpy.”
And so, the three cars split onto two different roads.
On the original route, only Xu Chen’s car remained.
Xu Chen’s fans sneered in Han Fengchen’s livestream.
【Just like a wealthy wife, can’t even handle a mountain road. If that’s the case, why come at all? The show didn’t invite you.】
【This is hilarious. Our brother is sleeping soundly in his car without a single complaint, but certain people’s rich-lady syndrome has already kicked in, demanding a detour.】
【An extra half-hour detour for nothing. That driver’s got my sympathy.】
【How did all these toxic people get in here? And they’re not even getting muted? @Admin.】
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The livestream was in an uproar, but Chu Mingjia, who had sparked the whole debate, was already asleep in the car.
The detour was just as bumpy, after all, it was still a mountain road. How smooth could it be? Fortunately, the wealthy wife and young master in the backseat didn’t complain. The driver could only drive as slowly as possible.
On the other road, Xu Chen was also resting with his eyes closed in his car. Apart from the crew members who had to monitor the livestream and attend to the celebrity, even Xu Chen’s assistant had fallen asleep.
The road was rough, but the rocking motion was strangely hypnotic.
In the latter half of the mountain route, the crew did indeed see a very wide river on the left side of the road. The road was separated from the river only by a low slope a few dozen meters away.
Looking along the river, they could see cows grazing by the water’s edge. It seemed there was a village nearby, which also meant they were getting closer to the town at the foot of Qishan.
There were six people in the car: Xu Chen, his assistant, two cameramen, one accompanying producer, and the driver.
Just then, one of the cameramen, a tall, silent man wearing a baseball cap, suddenly whipped his head around and shouted sternly at the driver, “What are you doing? Brake!”
The accompanying producer was startled. “Jiang Meng, what’s wrong?”
Before anyone could react, they saw the driver wrench the steering wheel, slam his foot on the accelerator, and the car swerved sharply before hurtling down the slope!
A few dozen meters ahead lay the wide river. The river was broad, the current not fast, but it looked deep.
The change happened in an instant!
Although the slope wasn’t very steep, the car was racing down it at high speed, bouncing violently.
The accompanying producer screamed in terror. Xu Chen and his assistant in the backseat hadn’t been wearing seatbelts. They were thrown together in a tangle, and Xu Chen’s head slammed against the window, leaving him dizzy.
The car erupted into chaos, screams mixed with the thuds of bodies colliding.
The accompanying producer, who had her seatbelt on, clutched the handlebar for dear life and shouted in panic, “Driver! Driver, stop the car! Stop!”
But the driver didn’t respond.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly, his foot pressed hard on the accelerator. His eyes were fixed straight ahead on the river, his expression blank yet eerily strange.