After Marrying the Evil God - Chapter 5

Just as Xie Chouzhuang stepped out of the restaurant, a sharp, hurried screech of brakes accompanied by the screams of the crowd pierced his eardrums. He instinctively turned his head and saw a massive heavy-duty truck charging straight toward him like an out-of-control beast. In the harsh glare of the lights, the driver’s face was twisted in a hideous grimace, his hands frantically beating against the steering wheel.

A female ghost dressed in red, weeping tears of blood, hovered behind him. Her blood-soaked hands were clamped tightly over the driver’s eyes.

Xie Chouzhuang instinctively tried to dodge, but it was already too late. Terror gripped his heart in an instant. Just as he thought he was about to be swallowed by that torrent of steel, an invisible but extremely powerful force shoved him away with great speed.

He staggered for several steps before finally steadying himself. The truck brushed past him, missing him by a hair. In his state of shock, he caught a vague glimpse of a dark shadow standing nearby.

Following a deafening crash, the truck slammed into the roadside guardrail. The metal twisted and deformed instantly, letting out a tooth-aching screech of grinding iron.

The scene of the accident immediately descended into chaos as people rushed in from all directions.

“Quick, call 120!”

“Heavens, young man, are you alright?”

Xie Chouzhuang broke into a cold sweat and shook his head. “I’m okay.”

“That was so close, it almost hit you…”

“Yeah, that was terrifying.”

“Was it tired driving?”

“The driver is trapped! What do we do?”

“See if we can get the door open and get him out!”

Several young men gathered around. Some pulled at the door with all their might while others shouted from the side, “Come on, a little more strength!”

But the door was severely deformed; it wouldn’t budge an inch.

The Ghost’s Grudge

Within Xie Chouzhuang’s field of vision, however, the female ghost floating in the air was glaring at him with extreme ferocity, as if weighing her options.

In the next second, the corners of her mouth curled upward into a hideous, terrifying smile. Her mouth ripped open to an exaggerated degree, stretching all the way to her ears, as drops of black blood slid down her body.

The ghost lunged toward Xie Chouzhuang.

Just as she was about to collide with him, something unexpected happened. It was as if she had suddenly seen something utterly terrifying; her ferocious expression was instantly replaced by sheer panic.

Filled with dread, she turned and fled back toward the truck, diving headfirst into the driver’s cab.

Xie Chouzhuang sensed that something was wrong. His heart tightened, and he instinctively spun around to check behind him. But there was nothing there. At that moment, a faint, ephemeral breeze brushed against his cheek—a sensation like an invisible, formless hand gently caressing his face…

“This won’t work, we need a tool to pry it open,” an elderly man analyzed calmly.

“I’ll go look nearby for a crowbar or something,” a young man said before hurrying away.

“Stop filming and help save him first!”

In the distance, the intertwined sirens of ambulances and police cars approached.

Xie Chouzhuang saw the hideous female ghost suddenly become agitated. She lunged forward, her long-nailed hands clamping around the driver’s throat in a death grip.

Already injured, the driver was thrown into a panic by the sudden suffocation. He twisted his body desperately, trying to break free from the ghost’s restraint, but it was all in vain. Her fingers were like iron pincers, locked onto his neck without giving him a single chance to breathe.

As the minutes ticked by, the driver’s face turned a deep shade of purple. His eyes bulged, and his mouth hung wide open as if trying to scream, yet not a sound escaped. His hands flailed wildly in the air, trying to grab onto anything, before finally dropping powerlessly.

The driver’s body convulsed a few times and then went limp against the seat. The female ghost seemed to smile one last time before vanishing completely from Xie Chouzhuang’s sight.

Cheers erupted from the front as someone smashed the window and crawled in to pull the driver out, but they quickly realized the driver was no longer breathing.

The Aftermath

After the driver was confirmed dead, everyone at the scene went to give their statements. Xie Chouzhuang called his family driver to explain the situation.

Upon investigation, the accident was ruled as a case of fatigued driving. Fortunately, no bystanders were killed or injured. When the deceased’s family received the news, they fainted from grief at the police station.

It was nearly 10:00 PM by the time Xie Chouzhuang finished his statement and stepped out. Xie Yuanxian, who had received the news immediately, was already waiting outside. Seeing his younger brother standing unharmed before him, Xie Yuanxian’s heart finally settled back into his chest.

“Brother! That driver didn’t die of natural causes. I saw it with my own eyes—a female ghost in red strangled him to death!”

As he spoke, Xie Chouzhuang pulled the Yellow Talisman his brother had given him out of his pocket. To his shock, the once-intact talisman had turned into a pile of ash!

Xie Yuanxian’s expression became grim and serious. “Tomorrow, I’ll find a Master to come and check on you.”

Having worked at the company for so many years, Xie Yuanxian knew that these consecutive incidents involving his brother were far from normal. He feared someone had targeted his younger sibling.

“Brother, can we not tell Mom and Dad about today? I don’t want them to worry.”

“You think you can hide this?” Xie Yuanxian handed his phone to Xie Chouzhuang. On the screen was a viral video showing the entire process of the truck accident. The quality was slightly blurry, but anyone familiar with Xie Chouzhuang could recognize him at a glance.

The video already had over a hundred thousand likes.

Netizen Comments:

“Oh my god, that was so close. He almost got hit.”

“Look closely at the truck’s path. Normally, that guy should have been crushed, but the truck suddenly veered outward right before it hit him.”

“You’re right! That guy is so lucky.”

“The truck driver is so pitiful. I heard he has a three-year-old child and an elderly mother depending on him.”

“The wife’s crying in the video breaks my heart. I’m going to donate some money.”

“Look at the beginning there seems to be a dark shadow behind the driver.”

“Holy crap, I think I see it too? Did he run into something ‘unclean’ while working the night shift?”

“At the 10:40 mark, the driver looks like he’s struggling. It really feels like something is behind him.”

“The more I think about it, the scarier it gets. At 15:12, the driver suddenly starts having trouble breathing.”

“Heavens, could it really be a ghost?”

“We must believe in science.”

“But there is definitely a red shadow flashing by in the frame.”

“My family sells joss paper, and I’ve studied metaphysics a bit. I feel like the driver was under a ‘Ghost Blinding’ spell. He didn’t die from the crash; it looks more like he was strangled to death by a ghost.”

“Do we have to discuss such terrifying things in the middle of the night?”

“This whole thing is eerie. This isn’t the first time something happened on Qinghe Road. They still haven’t found the killer for that restaurant massacre a few days ago.”

“Could it really be a ghost?”

“Nope, I’m terrified. I’m going to a temple to pray tomorrow.”

“Does that even work?”

“Go to Lingruo Temple in this city. It has a long history. An expert there solved an ‘unclean’ issue in my house once. The price isn’t 888, just 88!”

“%￥#*#￥&… Get lost, you damn scammer!”