Feng Tian didn't rush to answer when he heard the question. He first pulled a can of beer from the plastic bag, opened it, took a sip, and then said, "She knew the deceased, and she was the one who found the body."

"Didn't you dig up anything else?" Kuang Feifan wasn't entirely satisfied with this answer.

"The woman who died in the car accident was a journalist, though an online one, and she was currently investigating an online rumor..." Feng Tian chewed potato chips with a crunch as he spoke.

Kuang Feifan frowned, snatched the can of beer and took a long drink, then said, "Can you just say it all at once? Isn't it exhausting to stop and start like this?"

Feng Tian waved his hand, spraying chip crumbs from his mouth, "It is rumored that the gas station is going to be haunted soon."

Hearing this, Kuang Feifan froze for a moment and asked, "What do you mean, soon?"

Feng Tian shrugged, "The Auntie Zhang downstairs didn't elaborate on the specifics, but according to her, the dead female journalist—her surname was Luo, Luo Jingjing—was her upstairs neighbor. However, Luo Jingjing was a shut-in, so they rarely met, maybe just a nod or a quick greeting when they did."

Kuang Feifan interjected, "If they weren't close, why would Luo Jingjing tell her about her interview?"

Feng Tian said irritably, "Wait for me to finish, alright? Do you want to go downstairs and ask her yourself?"

"Uh..." Kuang Feifan shut his mouth.

Originally, Miss Zhang, the front desk clerk at this hotel, and the journalist Luo Jingjing had virtually no interaction; at most, they were nodding acquaintances. But things are rarely static.

There was a period when the entire complex where they lived experienced a power outage lasting several days due to improper nearby construction. Because Luo Jingjing needed an internet connection for her work, she decided to leave home and find a hotel with Wi-Fi for a few days. Coincidentally, she chose this very hotel.

In an unfamiliar environment, the two acquaintances naturally gravitated toward each other. While they didn't become close friends, they certainly learned more about each other, especially regarding Luo Jingjing's work, which easily became a topic of conversation between them.

As for the rumor about the gas station being haunted soon, that came up during their casual chats. It was just an unverified rumor online: a phantom car that traveled between cities, appearing precisely at midnight at gas stations. No one knew who was driving, and the money paid for gas would turn into hell money by the next day.

At first, everyone treated it as a joke, but for some reason, Luo Jingjing took it seriously. She even joined several forums, constantly monitoring the situation, marking down the cities where the phantom car appeared, hoping to uncover its route and patterns. This was why she needed a computer and the internet twenty-four hours a day.

Of course, at first, Little Zhang thought it was just a scary joke and didn't take it seriously, only mentioning the phantom car out of gossip and curiosity.

Later, the power at Luo Jingjing's home was restored, and she moved back. Their acquaintance began to fade. This was easy to understand; besides living in the same building, their lives belonged to completely different circles.

This continued until the afternoon two days ago. It happened to be Miss Zhang's day off, and she had a boyfriend who drove a taxi. Both of their jobs were hectic, leaving them little time together. So, on her day off, Miss Zhang rode along with her boyfriend in his cab, making it a way to spend more time together.

As dusk settled, her boyfriend finished a fare and planned to take her out for dinner. Before that, they needed gas. He casually pulled into a random gas station. While waiting in line, Miss Zhang felt thirsty and went into the station’s convenience store to buy a bottle of water. When she pushed the door open and stepped inside, she saw Luo Jingjing standing behind the counter—but Luo Jingjing was wearing the gas station's uniform.

Miss Zhang was surprised and went over to greet her. A flicker of unnatural expression crossed Luo Jingjing's face upon seeing her, but it vanished quickly because Miss Zhang didn't abruptly expose her cover. She merely stopped by to say hello and casually asked why she was working there.

Luo Jingjing's reply was, "I'm basically undercover here. Just for three to five days. It’s all for the phantom car thing."

That meeting turned out to be the last time Miss Zhang saw Luo Jingjing alive. The next time she saw her was at 4:30 AM. She was returning to her own apartment from her boyfriend's place to change clothes, and her boyfriend was naturally driving her home. As if guided by some unseen force, the car took a wrong turn. By the time they realized it, it was too late; it was a one-way street, so they had to keep going forward until the next bend.

It was at that moment that both Miss Zhang and her boyfriend saw a woman lying bloodied and mangled in the center of an intersection not far ahead.

Initially, of course, Miss Zhang didn't recognize the woman as Luo Jingjing. Driven by a desire to help in an accident, she and her boyfriend got out to check.

Although her boyfriend was reluctant, he couldn't argue with Miss Zhang’s impulsive nature and reluctantly followed her out to check on the victim after calling the police.

When they approached the woman, Miss Zhang first recognized the gas station uniform she was wearing, and then she recognized the deceased as Luo Jingjing.

The eerie part was that during the time they waited for the police to arrive, there wasn't a single car or person on the entire road. Looking around, there was nothing but emptiness and coldness. At the center of the intersection, aside from her boyfriend's taxi, there were only two people huddled in front of the car and a cold corpse illuminated by the car’s headlights in the distance.

It wasn't until the responding officers arrived that Miss Zhang and her boyfriend finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, beyond informing the police that the deceased was her neighbor, Miss Zhang didn't tell them everything. For some reason, she felt vaguely fearful about the strange matter of the phantom car.

That was the first time the police took statements from her and her boyfriend before letting them go. It was clear from the scene that the taxi was not involved.

Presumably, the police didn't expect any issue with the female victim's body, which is why two officers appeared at the hotel to question Miss Zhang about the whole incident again.

"Did she mention the phantom car to the police?" Kuang Feifan poured more potato chip crumbs into his mouth.

Feng Tian shook his head, "She was tight-lipped about that. If I hadn't scared her a little, she wouldn't have told me."

Kuang Feifan wiped the crumbs from his lips and asked, "So, does this whole thing have anything to do with that phantom car or not?"

Feng Tian spread his hands, "How would I know? But..."

He emphasized his next words, "Do you think the place where that woman died was strange in any way?"