“Guest!” A voice slowly sounded. “Wake up!”

Qi Xia gradually opened his eyes and found himself still sitting in the taxi, which was currently speeding along the highway.

He sat up in bewilderment, his first instinct to glance at the azure blue sky. His entire being was shocked beyond belief.

“Guest, what’s wrong with you?” the voice beside him continued to ask.

Qi Xia didn’t respond. Instead, he reached out to touch his shoulder—no wound.

He hurriedly rolled down the car window.

A sweet and fragrant scent forcefully and unreasonably flooded into his nostrils, accompanied by the wild whistling of wind unique to high-speed travel, violently beating against his face.

It was fresh air.

It was cool wind.

“I escaped?!” he shouted uncontrollably, his face filled with joy that was impossible to suppress.

Could this taxi be the key to breaking through?

Was it like the “River Styx Boat,” able to freely carry people in and out of that bizarre “Land of End”? And was this woman named Xu Liunian like Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx, responsible for transporting passengers back and forth between the world of the living…

Qi Xia turned his head and inadvertently froze. Where was Xu Liunian?

Beside him was a burly man wearing sunglasses. Due to his profession, his skin had been burned dark and shiny by ultraviolet rays.

“Guest, why are you so jumpy?” The burly man looked at Qi Xia with some fear. “You’re not on drugs, are you?”

“You… I…” Qi Xia felt like he’d seen this burly man before, but when he thought about it carefully, he had no impression. “Where are we going?”

“Guest, don’t scare me.” The taxi driver looked rough and tough, but he still nervously swallowed. “Wasn’t it you who wanted to take a cab to Jinan? We’ve already driven nearly three hundred kilometers. Don’t pull a memory loss act on me.”

The burly man pointed at the fare meter in front, which had already run up to over nine hundred yuan.

“What?!” Qi Xia looked at the road sign overhead in shock and found that the car was indeed about to enter Jinan.

He instantly recalled everything. He had indeed seen this burly man before.

Because the day before the earthquake, it was exactly this man’s car that he had taken to resolutely rush to Jinan.

“I returned to the day before?” Qi Xia patted his pocket and pulled out his phone. After glancing at it, his face immediately showed confusion. “September 27th… sure enough, the day before the ‘earthquake’… What’s going on?”

Thinking of this, he hurriedly felt the pocket at his chest where there was a small slip of paper.

“Good… it’s still here.”

“Guest… what’s wrong with you…” The driver didn’t know what to do anymore and could only fumble for his phone from his pocket, keeping his thumb on the emergency dial button.

“Driver, we agreed on two thousand yuan for the round trip, and I won’t short you a single cent.” Qi Xia suddenly began to relax. Although he didn’t know exactly what had happened, it seemed everything was starting over.

“Really?” Seeing that Qi Xia’s behavior had normalized somewhat, the driver also relaxed his guard a bit. “You young guy scared me with all that jumping around. I thought you were on drugs…”

“No, I just had a very terrifying nightmare.” Qi Xia kept the window open, constantly feeling the September wind, his mood exceptionally comfortable. “Fortunately, I’ve woken from the dream now.”

“Hey, do all young people like staying up late?” the driver said in a very worldly-wise manner. “Not sleeping at night, sleeping soundly during the day—what good dreams can you have?”

“Driver, you’re right.” Qi Xia answered absentmindedly.

For Qi Xia, he now had a second chance.

Although the earthquake would arrive at noon tomorrow, the current priority was to get the money, after all, today was the “final deadline.”

After about another hour, the taxi finally arrived in downtown Jinan.

The driver also tactfully turned on the navigation and headed toward Second Ring East Road in Lixia District.

“Young man… the place you’re going to…” The driver carefully looked at the navigation. “Seems to be the provincial lottery center?”

“Just drive your car, driver.” Qi Xia once again closed his eyes to rest.

Before long, the car stopped at the entrance of the lottery center, and Qi Xia decisively counted out one thousand yuan from his pocket and handed it to the driver. “Driver, please wait here for me. Though if you want to return empty, I have no objection.”

“That’s ridiculous… of course I’ll wait for you.”

Qi Xia went downstairs to the lottery center where a staff member was already there to greet him.

“Mr. Qi, right?”

“That’s me.” Qi Xia nodded.

“I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while. This way, please.” The staff member beckoned to Qi Xia and led him into the lobby. After walking a few steps, he patiently explained, “The lottery claiming process has been simplified now. Staff will verify the authenticity of your lottery ticket shortly, and then they’ll issue you a bank check on the spot. Please wait a moment.”

“I’m in a hurry, please be quick.” Qi Xia nodded and followed the staff member to the lottery verification office.

“Um… can you give me the lottery ticket?” the staff member said.

Qi Xia pulled out the crumpled little slip of paper from his chest pocket and handed it to the staff member, who then turned and passed it to the inspector inside the window.

The other party took it very seriously and immediately began to verify its authenticity.

“Prize money of 1.9 million, please wait.” The inspector began to take out equipment and scan the numbers on the lottery ticket.

Qi Xia waited quietly on the side, which made the staff member who had led him in somewhat puzzled. “Mr. Qi, why don’t you look happy?”

“Happy?”

“Yes, you won nearly two million in prize money. You should be happy.”

“Perhaps.” Qi Xia nodded.

“Hey, let me tell you, some days ago someone won a million. Even though it was August, that person came wearing a down jacket and a big mask. I ask you, in this day and age, who still treats a million as treasure?” The staff member laughed at his own joke, but Qi Xia had no reaction at all, making the scene rather awkward.

“How much longer?” Qi Xia asked.

“Uh… don’t be anxious…” The staff member waved his hand. “There have been frequent cases of fraud using fake lottery tickets recently, so we need to carefully verify.”

“What do you mean by that?” Qi Xia was startled and looked at him.

“Eh? Don’t misunderstand…” The staff member hurriedly smiled apologetically. “I’m not saying the lottery ticket you brought is fake. Mr. Qi doesn’t look like the kind of person who would commit fraud.”

Qi Xia didn’t respond and continued waiting on the side.

Before long, the inspector put away the equipment and showed a smile. “Verification complete. The lottery ticket has no problems. We can issue the check.”

Qi Xia sneered inwardly.

Of course the lottery ticket had no problems.

This lottery ticket worth 1.9 million was something he had bought for two million yuan in cash. It was a genuine winning lottery ticket.

Although he had to pay 380,000 in taxes, the remaining money would be “clean.”

To make the two million yuan obtained through fraud legitimate in origin, this was one of the simplest methods.

“Congratulations, Mr. Qi…” The staff member continued to smile apologetically. “I’ll arrange for someone to issue you a check right away. Would you like to make a donation?”

“Donation? Is it mandatory?” Qi Xia asked.

“Not at all. It’s just that most people who win the lottery donate.”

“Since it’s not mandatory, I won’t donate a single cent.”