Chapter 271: Encounter on the Road

Uh…

Looking at the young man, the uncle and nephew had to admit they were completely stunned for a moment.

Their scalps prickled.

But they recovered quickly. After all, constantly traveling the Wastes meant their courage and willpower were stronger than ordinary people’s.

Besides, the fact that the person had spoken first eased their panic somewhat.

How bad could someone who talks be?

The middle-aged man tensed, quietly chambering a round in his gun.

Then he tightened his lips and shot the young man a look.

The young man instinctively hesitated, but he knew what was important. Though his heart was pounding too, he drew on his experience, chambered his own gun, hid it behind his back, forced a smile onto his face, and pushed open the car door to get out.

As he opened the door, he carefully scanned the surroundings, checking if anyone else was around…

…though on a night like this, with the Red Moon hanging high and waist-high weeds stretching out everywhere, he wouldn’t have spotted anyone anyway.

…

“Hey… hey man, what’re you doing out here?”

The young man took two steps forward, leaned against the front of the truck, and shouted towards the person on the motorcycle.

Even though both he and his uncle had guns, and judging by size, the motorcyclist didn’t look like he could take a beating from either of them…

…but out here in the middle of nowhere, late at night, especially when they were already spooked by the Ghost Wall, suddenly running into someone so calm—like he was just out for a joyride—well, it was impossible not to be nervous. The friendlier this guy seemed, the creepier he felt.

“Hello! I’m heading to Central City to visit relatives.”

Hearing him, the motorcyclist’s face lit up happily, and he puttered forward on his bike.

The young man’s palms grew sweaty with nervousness.

He instinctively took half a step back, tightening his grip on the hidden gun. “So why were you… riding in circles just now?”

Thankfully, the motorcyclist—though he seemed unaware of the unwritten rule about maintaining a ten-meter safety distance when meeting strangers in the Wastes—appeared quite… ‘polite’. Noticing the young man’s tension, he stopped his bike.

Putting one foot down, he stayed about three or four meters away and explained with a smile, “I’m lost!”

*How can he be so happy about being lost?* the young man thought, finding it strange.

“I think I’ve run into a Ghost Wall.”

The man on the motorcycle continued smiling. “So I’m trying to figure out if I can find the ghost responsible.”

?

The young man was completely baffled.

Looking at the young man sitting on the motorcycle nearby, he just seemed so… enthusiastic.

Friendly, gentle, honest…

… Yeah, very honestly telling them he was looking for the ‘ghost’!

Does that even make sense?

You run into a Ghost Wall in the middle of the night, and your first thought is to wander around looking for the ghost?

…

“Ignore him. Let him go first…”

His uncle whispered from inside the truck, reminding the young man.

The young man understood his uncle. Even though the stranger was all smiles, he felt a deep chill.

They had indeed wanted to ask for directions earlier, but now they’d changed their minds.

This ‘person’ searching for ghosts in the dead of night felt even scarier than the Ghost Wall itself.

So, forcing himself to appear calm, he smiled and said, “Actually… never mind, man. You go on ahead. We’re not in a hurry.”

He paused, then added with a pointed chuckle, “Heh, to be honest, we’re lost too. We’re planning to just wait here. We already called our convoy; they should be sending people to find us soon. They’ve all got guns, you know…”

Inside the truck, his uncle gripped his gun tightly.

Having said all that, if this guy now offered to lead them out, they could basically assume he had bad intentions.

“Guns are fine. I have one too.”

The motorcyclist’s reaction to the young man’s words was surprising. He just smiled, shook his head, and said, “But I don’t know if anyone is really coming to find you. If they do come in here, they’ll probably get lost just like you.”

“What?”

His words struck both the uncle and the young man as strange. Their eyes fixed intently on him.

The man, still straddling his bike, lit a cigarette. “Do neither of you know how a Ghost Wall works?”

…

The young man and his uncle felt a mix of nervousness and complexity, exchanging a subtle glance.

Of course they’d heard of it; they were dealing with one right now.

But they had no desire to discuss the matter with this strange person in the middle of the night.

“There are no ghosts in this world.”

The motorcyclist said unexpectedly, smiling as he spoke.

Then he enthusiastically explained, “Or rather, it’s a different concept from what you might understand. In the ghost stories our Orphanage Director used to tell, ghosts supposedly vanished at dawn. But the situation now… probably isn’t that simple to solve.”

The young man suddenly realized, “Ah, I know this! Ghosts changed after the Red Moon…”

…

The motorcyclist paused for a second, then chuckled. “That’s one way to put it, sure.”

Then he extended an enthusiastic invitation, “Shall we find it together?”

?

The uncle and nephew were dumbfounded.

As if afraid they didn’t understand, the man explained further with a smile, “It’s certain we’re all lost because we’ve been affected by some level of Pollution. Therefore, we need to find its Logic Chain to locate its main body and figure out how to deal with it.”

“You can think of this Contamination Source Body as the ‘ghost’.”

“I’ve been looking for it myself, but I’ve just been going in circles here. That’s not getting me anywhere.”

“Considering there’s strength in numbers, I’d like to ask for your help.”

…

Goosebumps prickled on the skin of both the young man and his uncle.

They didn’t quite understand all this talk about Logic Chains and Pollution, but meeting such an unnerving young man on the road in the dead of night was scary enough. And now he was cheerfully inviting them to go find the ghost causing the wall…

“This guy’s too weird. Get in the truck, quick.”

The uncle in the driver’s seat hissed the reminder, starting the engine at the same time.

“Yeah, let’s not…”

The young man felt an indescribable creepiness crawl up his spine. He swallowed hard and said, “Look man, we’re in a hurry, can’t chat long. We’re all just trying to make a living out here, right? More friends, more roads… so, uh… let’s make friends next time, okay?”

Babbling incoherently, he scrambled back into the truck and slammed the door shut.

…

An inexplicable dread filled the uncle and nephew, making them unwilling to say more. The truck started slowly, inching forward.

This country path was originally two or three meters wide, plus grassy shoulders on both sides—enough for a truck. But now, the overgrown weeds encroaching from the sides had narrowed it considerably. With a motorcycle ahead, passage for the truck was difficult.

The uncle had already shoved the gun into the young man’s hands. Gripping the steering wheel tightly with both hands, he tried to steer as far away from the motorcycle as possible.

However, the person on the motorcycle didn’t seem displeased by their blunt rejection.

He even kindly moved aside a bit, giving them enough space to pass.

As they passed, they looked down and saw the person on the motorcycle looking up at them with a friendly smile.

A layer of cold sweat broke out on their skin.

But at least they managed to pass without incident. The truck continued driving down the small road.

Looking in the rearview mirror, they saw the young man wait for a moment, then slowly start his bike and begin following them from behind.

The truck deliberately sped up; the motorcycle followed at a steady pace.

The truck deliberately slowed down; the motorcycle also slowed, maintaining the same distance, neither too close nor too far.

…

“I’ll go waste him…”

The young man snarled, gripping the gun tightly and glaring at the rearview mirror.

“Don’t be ridiculous…”

His uncle pushed the gun down. “That’s still a human life…”

“Sometimes you gotta take a life if you’re pushed too far…”

“But what if…”

The uncle trembled. “What if he’s *not* human?”

All the young man’s courage instantly vanished. He shrank back.

“Maybe he really is lost and scared, so he just wants to follow us…”

The uncle gritted his teeth. “Ignore him for now. Keep an eye on him. If he suddenly gets close, then we’ll deal with it!”

Perhaps because of the lingering unease, he subconsciously pressed the accelerator. The old, beat-up truck, loaded with various goods, picked up speed, swaying precariously on the narrow path. Its wheels crushed the thick weeds covering the road surface, making a rustling sound.

Under the pale glare of the headlights, the path gradually seemed to become smoother, the road flatter. They drove faster and faster.

“Huh? Uncle, what’s that?”

While focused on finding the way earlier, they’d just been going in circles on the same old road. But now, with most of their attention on the puttering motorcycle behind them, they had unintentionally driven straight ahead and suddenly emerged into a wide-open space.

“Did we get out?”

The uncle felt a surge of unexpected joy and quickly stepped on the gas. The truck finally drove out of the weed-choked path.

…

For a moment, the joy of rebirth washed over them.

Lifting their heads in delight, their breath caught, and their scalps prickled once more.

The headlights illuminated the area ahead. They had arrived in an open space dominated by a massive tree.

The tree was enormous, easily needing two people to encircle its trunk, with dense branches and a crown like a cloud.

Besides the low-hanging leaves, strange things surrounded the tree: piles of derelict vehicles—sedans, three-wheelers, a half-overturned truck, even some dilapidated bicycles.

The vehicles varied in age; some were covered in rust, while others looked like they’d been left here recently.

They formed an irregular circle around the great tree.

But what drew the eye most was the tree itself. Numerous ropes hung from its branches—some hemp, some belts. And dangling from the end of each rope, like strange fruit, hung people in various clothes, perfectly still.

A breeze blew through, causing the bodies to turn gently, revealing faces half-rotted away.