The shadow coalesced abruptly, ballooning outward before flashing into a humanoid silhouette that darted from the roadside. In the next instant, it was outside the rear door of Jiang Tao’s taxi. With a sharp click, the door, which had already been locked, was pulled open from the outside. A draft of cool, damp air rushed into the cab, and the figure managed to slip inside even as the taxi continued moving.

Before Jiang Tao could fully process what had happened, a man’s voice spoke from behind him: “Driver, sorry to trouble you, but take me to Xiqing Road.”

Xiqing Road again?

Jiang Tao felt a ringing inside his head, and when he finally saw the face of the occupant in the backseat, his vision swam, bringing him perilously close to fainting.

The person in the back was wearing a soaking wet black trench coat, and his hair was slicked flat against his forehead as if drenched. He wore a pair of dark sunglasses. As Jiang Tao noticed a long, jagged scar running down the man’s cheek, he jumped. His first instinct was that this newcomer was certainly no saint.

As if reading his thoughts, the man curled his lip into a faint smile and chuckled softly. “I’m not the bad guy. The one beside you, he’s not so saintly, is he?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Jin Qiu beside Jiang Tao visibly stiffened. Immediately following this, a woman in red materialized in the backseat next to the man, seemingly from nowhere. A sudden, chilling gust swept through the car as the woman in red lunged directly at the man.

But just as the woman in red’s fingertips brushed the edge of the man’s coat, a burst of yellow light erupted between them. Jiang Tao clearly heard the woman in red emit a piercing shriek—a sound so unnaturally high-pitched it was like a heavy metal track suddenly cranked up several octaves. Fortunately, it was only a brief cry. Before he could react, perhaps covering his ears from the unbearable pitch, the sound vanished, and the woman in red was gone without a trace.

A brief, stunned silence descended upon the taxi. Jiang Tao realized that the man in the back must have intervened. A thought sparked in his mind, and he started to reach for the brake, only to hear the man speak again: “Don’t stop. Keep driving.”

Jiang Tao obediently took his foot off the brake, paused for a beat, and then cautiously asked, “Where to?”

“To Xiqing Road, of course. If we don't go there today, none of this can be resolved,” the man stated.

Though he had no idea what the connection was, the scene he’d just witnessed convinced Jiang Tao to trust this sudden arrival.

Now, he finally had the presence of mind to turn his head and check on Jin Qiu. To his alarm, Jin Qiu’s eyes were shut tight, slumped motionless against the passenger seat.

Startled, Jiang Tao moved to gently shake him, but the man in the back interjected, “Don’t touch her. She was just possessed; let her rest for a bit.”

“Who… who are you?” Jiang Tao finally felt he could ask a question himself.

The man in the backseat adjusted his sunglasses, leaned back against the seat, and finally spat out two syllables through clenched teeth: “Gu Yi.”

Jiang Tao missed the meaning entirely. “Intentionally? I didn’t mean to!”

The man shook his head gently, a hint of weary patience in his tone. “My name is Gu Yi.”

“Oh…” Jiang Tao finally caught on. He paused, then asked again, “Mr. Gu… about that ghost… what exactly happened?”

Gu Yi let out a soft snort and countered, “You mean you don’t know?”

Jiang Tao was baffled by the question. “How would I possibly know?”

Gu Yi paused, deep in thought for a moment, then abruptly asked, “Is this car yours?”

Jiang Tao shook his head and explained the arrangement he had with his neighbor, Brother Wu, about sharing driving shifts.

Gu Yi listened and then let out a cold laugh. “It seems your neighbor doesn’t have the best intentions toward you.”

Hearing this, Jiang Tao bristled slightly. “How could that be? If it weren’t for Brother Wu, I wouldn’t even have this job.”

Gu Yi scoffed. “Let me put it this way: for the sake of money, your neighbor doesn’t give a damn about either of your lives.”

Jiang Tao managed an indignant harrumph, but since Gu Yi had just saved his life, he found himself unable to formulate a counterargument.

Gu Yi admitted he sounded abrupt. He lifted a hand and ran it through his wet hair. Seeing this, Jiang Tao quickly offered, “There are tissues behind the seat. Why are you so wet? It’s not raining outside?” As he spoke, he glanced out the window.

Gu Yi turned, grabbed the tissue box, pulled out a tissue, and began dabbing his face. “It is drizzling lightly outside, but you’re currently afflicted with ‘Ghost Veil’—you probably can’t see a single soul on the road, can you?”

Jiang Tao’s face changed, and he instinctively slammed on the brakes. Gu Yi waved a hand. “No need to stop. It’s fine. It just means you can’t see people or cars. The road is still the road. Under normal circumstances, if you don’t stop, you won’t crash.”

Jiang Tao remained worried. “But how can that work? What if someone steps into the road?”

Gu Yi wiped his face, mumbling indistinctly, “You’re driving a ‘Ghost Car’ right now. Besides you, it can’t actually kill anyone…”

Jiang Tao was growing increasingly agitated by Gu Yi’s refusal to explain clearly. Gritting his teeth, he nearly shouted, “Can you please just explain yourself, or I swear I’m pulling over!”

Gu Yi sighed, pursing his lips. “Suit yourself. Either way, if you stop, you’re the one who dies. It doesn’t really concern me. I’m purely being nosy… No, wait, fine. I’ll be clear. Just keep driving properly…”

Jiang Tao obediently nodded.

Gu Yi settled back into his seat and then asked, “You and your neighbor take shifts, right?”

Jiang Tao confirmed with a grunt. “We switch at ten-thirty. Really, I just drive home, park the car downstairs, leave the keys in his mailbox, and the next afternoon when he takes over, we settle the fares…”

Gu Yi waved a dismissive hand. “The way you two split your earnings is irrelevant to me. However, your neighbor recently took on a job.”

Jiang Tao frowned; Brother Wu had never mentioned anything like that.

Gu Yi continued, “This job pays well, but if handled improperly, it can cost someone their life.”

“It’s not delivering something illegal, is it?” Jiang Tao offered casually.

Gu Yi shrugged, a playful, knowing smile on his face. “The item itself isn't illegal yet, just… esoteric.”

Jiang Tao prided himself on his mild temper and patience in crises, but Gu Yi’s drawn-out, circuitous way of speaking was making him furious, especially when his own life was at stake. He couldn’t help but plead, “Please, sir, can you just tell me everything all at once?”

“Okay, okay… Young man, you’re too impatient. You’ll easily get worked up…” Gu Yi shook his head and sighed. “The job your neighbor accepted was to drive the ‘Ghost Wedding Carriage’ for someone late at night.”

Though the female ghost was no longer in the car, Gu Yi’s words sent a chill through Jiang Tao’s bones. He didn't know what a ‘Ghost Wedding Carriage’ was, but he’d heard murmurs about ghost marriages—basically, two dead people getting married. He thought it was something confined to remote villages. Could people in a big city still practice ‘spirit marriage’? And what exactly was a ‘Ghost Wedding Carriage’?

Gu Yi realized Jiang Tao was confused and explained, “Spirit marriage, or Yin marriage, is arranging a spouse for the deceased. Sometimes, a young couple gets engaged, but before the wedding rites are completed, both die for some reason. The elders believe that if the marriage isn't completed, their spirits will cause trouble and disturb the household. So, a ghost marriage ceremony must be held, and afterward, they are buried together, becoming husband and wife, their bones laid together, to prevent lonely graves and ensure family peace. In this day and age, even though burial plots are scarce, some families still insist on holding these ceremonies.”

Jiang Tao found the concept unbelievable. Gu Yi continued, “A proper ghost marriage requires a complete set of rituals and rules; you can’t just stick two single dead people together. But the client your neighbor took on is essentially a fraudulent charlatan, a con artist fleecing people. I didn’t expect him to be so popular. I hear many people have hired him to conduct these services for their relatives. Your neighbor’s job was to drive the deceased bride’s effects to the groom’s house late at night. That despicable swindler even dubbed it the ‘Ghost Wedding Carriage.’ Fetching the bride meant delivering the deceased woman’s ashes, or perhaps some of her belongings along with a framed, large black-and-white photograph, to the groom’s family. What an idiot, harrumph…”

Jiang Tao’s eyes widened. He never imagined his neighbor, Brother Wu, would take on such a job, and he hadn't breathed a word of it. Had Wu been secretly driving out at night? It wasn't impossible.

The thought that this taxi had carried the ashes of a dead person, perhaps even a large black-and-white photo of the deceased on the back seat, made every hair on Jiang Tao’s body stand up. He broke out in goosebumps, a feeling almost as intense as when the female ghost had materialized moments before.

He fought to suppress his terror and asked, “Then… how do you know all this?”

Gu Yi paused, then let out another cold snort. “Did your neighbor say anything when he handed over the car to you today?”

Jiang Tao shook his head. “No. Oh, his complexion wasn’t great, but he said he felt unwell, didn't mention anything else.”

Gu Yi sneered. “He wasn’t just feeling unwell. The female ghost you saw today? That’s the one he summoned last night.”

Jiang Tao gasped in surprise.

Gu Yi said coldly, “My saving you this time is both accidental and inevitable. You should know, I’ve been waiting for you at that intersection for nearly half an hour. If you hadn’t reached that spot today, your fate would have been simple: death.”

Jiang Tao felt his blood run cold and his body tremble.

Gu Yi continued speaking to himself, “If I hadn’t been commissioned by someone today to investigate that scandalous charlatan, I wouldn’t have known that your neighbor failed to deliver the ashes safely to their destination last night. However, your neighbor probably never considered that if he had delivered the ashes yesterday, his own life would have ended.”

At this point, a deeply amused smile played on Gu Yi’s lips.