Chapter 488: Chapter 488: Save Me, Don’t Leave Me Behind
At the same time.
Song Shiye felt his head swelling. He had only exchanged a few sentences with Lu Yujing but already sensed that something was off with his entire state.
"Sister Jing, did you hear the sound on the walkie-talkie?" He rubbed his aching temples. Just now, he seemed to have been speaking with Sang Ning on the walkie-talkie, but for some reason, he couldn’t recall a single word of what he had said.
"No, you must have heard wrong." Lu Yujing lowered her gaze slightly, hiding the emotion in her eyes, then suddenly yanked the steering wheel, driving entirely onto a new path.
Though Song Shiye wasn’t driving, he occasionally glanced at the car’s navigation system. Seeing that the actual route of the off-road vehicle did not match the GPS directions, he couldn’t help but ask, "Sister Jing, why aren’t you following the navigation? What if we get lost?"
Lu Yujing turned her head and locked eyes with him, her gaze slowly filling with an eerie chill. Her lips curled into a smile as she said, "If we get lost, we’ll just die then."
Her tone was gentle, and her face bore the iconic sweet smile of a cheerful girl. Yet, Song Shiye felt a chill climb up his back, griping the seatbelt tightly, his frightened body instinctively leaning away. He stammered, "J-Jing... Sister Jing, that joke isn’t funny. Can you try a different one?"
"Who said I was joking?" Lu Yujing stopped the car and stared fixedly at Song Shiye, her eyes lighting up with an eerie green glow. She picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed it to his mouth. "Say: ’Sister Sangsang, come save us. Our car is malfunctioning, and the brakes aren’t working.’"
"Why should I say..." Song Shiye felt bewildered. Soon, it was as if his brain had been seized by an outside force. His mouth began moving uncontrollably, and as the button was pressed, he repeated the words exactly as Lu Yujing instructed.
"Xiao Ye, where are you right now?" Sang Ning’s voice was anxious.
Lu Yujing’s expression remained unchanged, but her speech immediately adopted a tone of panic. "Ah, help us! Sang Ning, we can’t reach the production team—please send someone to rescue us!"
"Don’t panic just yet. Are there any landmarks nearby? Roughly, how far are you from the second checkpoint?" Sang Ning asked from the other end of the walkie-talkie. But Lu Yujing and Song Shiye failed to provide any useful details, instead repeatedly shouting for help.
Li Juezhou sped up the car considerably. Despite Sang Ning’s attempts to contact the production team or other contestants, she gained no response. Eventually, even the walkie-talkie linking them to Song Shiye’s car fell silent.
Returning along their original route, they were approaching the second checkpoint when Sang Ning suddenly spotted a shadow of an off-road vehicle. She pointed and shouted, "Look! The car’s over there."
Li Juezhou glanced over, seeing an off-road vehicle spinning repeatedly in place at high speed before abruptly veering uncontrollably into the depths of the desert.
"Sangsang, that’s the core area of the uninhabited zone. Going there could be dangerous. Wait here— the production team’s vehicle should arrive soon—I’ll go after them myself."
Li Juezhou intended for Sang Ning to stay back, but she refused. "There’s no time. Drive straight ahead and ram that vehicle off the road!"
Sang Ning had already made up her mind, her resolve firm. After hesitating for just a second, Li Juezhou stomped on the accelerator and charged forward.
What had been a clear path with unobstructed visibility turned chaotic as they drove deeper into the uninhabited desert zones. A sudden sandstorm surged, enveloping the car entirely in flying sands, instantly obscuring the windshield.
Li Juezhou realized the severity of the situation and his tone took on a sterner edge. "Sangsang, are you scared? If we keep driving further, there’s a real chance we won’t make it back."
Sang Ning’s expression mirrored the gravity of the moment. Although she valued her life, she couldn’t bear to stand by and let others die without intervening. With an apologetic glance at Li Juezhou, she said, "I’m sorry for dragging you into this."
Li Juezhou’s gaze softened, his smile growing warm with relief. "Sangsang, there’s no need for us to say such distant words. I won’t let you face danger alone."
The raging sand reduced the speed of their off-road vehicle drastically, forcing them to proceed at a crawl.
Meanwhile, in the other car, Song Shiye suddenly snapped out of his dazed state. He reached over to grab the steering wheel from Lu Yujing’s hands. "Lu Yujing, are you insane? Stop the car right now—turn around!"
Seeing nothing but swirling sand ahead, his heart seemed to leap into his throat. The memories of what had just happened surged back. He felt as though he had been possessed.
"Let go of me! If you keep grabbing the wheel, we’ll die together!" Lu Yujing growled, freeing one hand to shove him away. Then, she really did turn the car around, but her eyes remained maliciously fixed on Song Shiye. Her voice, chilling and ghostly, seemed to emanate from hell itself. "Get out of the car!"
Song Shiye found himself in a mental stupor once more. His hand actually reached for the car door. But as his fingers touched the handle, a jolt ran through his body as though electrified. Teeth clenched tightly, he retracted his hand. Staring at Lu Yujing stiffly, fear overwhelmed him as he stammered, "What... what the hell are you?"
A staunch atheist, he was now so terrified he nearly wet himself. Lu Yujing was far too eerie.
The sandstorm that had come so suddenly dissipated just as rapidly. The windshield gradually cleared, but Lu Yujing came to another stop. She lunged forward, grabbing Song Shiye by the throat, her features distorted with rage. "Get the hell out of my car!"
Torn between being influenced by Lu Yujing’s manipulation and his terror of encountering an insane woman, Song Shiye— despite being a young man of nearly six feet—found himself utterly powerless to resist. His right hand subconsciously fumbled with the door handle.
As the car door popped open, Lu Yujing unbuckled his seatbelt. The next moment, his body felt like a mere puppet on strings being controlled, hands and feet moving against his will as he crawled out of the car.
Lu Yujing shut the passenger door and cast a glance at the vehicle being driven by Sang Ning and Li Juezhou, noting it had entered the uninhabited zone. A satisfied smile curled on her lips before she turned and drove off.
In ten minutes, a massive sandstorm would engulf this area, leaving even the Immortal powerless to save them.
As for any consequences later, who could possibly hold her accountable? The itinerary wasn’t decided by her—in the event of an accident, it was the program team that would take the heat. Regarding the inevitable questioning, she was confident she could concoct a convincing excuse for why Song Shiye had gone missing.
This world was on the brink of unprecedented upheaval, and she would stand at its center as the absolute protagonist.
As for Li Juezhou, she had already given him a chance. Since he continued to treat her indifferently, he might as well accompany Sang Ning to the grave!
As the faint outline of Lu Yujing’s car vanished into the distance, Song Shiye finally regained full consciousness. He was, after all, just an ordinary senior high school student with limited life experience, utterly unprepared for anything this horrifying. Unable to control himself, he broke into tears and began chasing the off-road vehicle. "Someone help me! Don’t leave me behind! Please, someone save me!"
But no matter how ferociously he ran, his pace could never match the speed of the car. Within moments, trudging through the sandy terrain—unlike the air-conditioned relief inside the vehicle—he succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed face-first onto the ground.
