I Livestream Divination to the World - Chapter 21 Part 6 — Loathing Victory Technique

The sky in the city outskirts was getting dark, the air filling with a gloomy mist, and the mountains in the distance seemed to be towering overhead, hiding the sky and blocking out the sun.

Li Changzong was sitting in the back seat of the car, holding his buzzing head, feeling a little tipsy from the two glasses of wine he had at the club earlier. He leaned against the backseat and closed his eyes for a while.

Suddenly, a chill came over him, waking him up. Li Changzong asked, still dazed from sleep, “Why is it so cold? Xiao Zhang, don’t turn the air conditioner down so low.”

Xiao Zhang felt a little aggrieved, “I didn’t adjust the air conditioner. There seemed to be a sudden cold wind just now, I also felt a little cold.”

“Then close the window quickly.”

Xiao Zhang immediately pressed the button and closed the window.

Li Changzong was slowly waking up, coming back to his senses; he glanced out of the corner of his eye, seeing the street outside the car window, “It’s taking so long to get home…. Hey, why are we still on Dongfeng Road?”

After they left Tangchi Village, Dongfeng Road was the first street they got on. Dongfeng Road was just short—you could drive from end to end in just a little over ten minutes.

Xiao Zhang also found it strange because his driving speed was not slow. Normally, he would have reached Li Changzong’s house by now, but now they were still halfway on Dongfeng Road. In his eyes, the dark road just seemed to keep going.

“Xiao Zhang, please drive faster. My wife is waiting for me at home, and I’m in a hurry.”

“Okay.”

Li Changzong was awakened by the cold wind and has now completely lost sleepiness; he looked out the window.

There were no stars or moon in the sky, and the darkness was so dense that it seemed to be weighing on the top of his head. The shadows of trees and buildings in the distance stood like monsters in formation.

This road was used as a traffic artery, and it usually had many vehicles passing by, but today there was not a single car, as if it was reserved solely by them.

At this time, the road sign saying ‘Dongfeng Road’ that they passed just a while ago suddenly came into view again.

When Li Changzong saw this, he couldn’t help but freeze, his mouth opening wide. His adam’s apple slid up and down, and he swallowed nervously. 

“Xiao Zhang, did you just see the road sign of Dongfeng Road?”

“No,” Xiao Zhang shook his head. “I already turned a corner and we’re now on Nanfeng Road.”

With trembling fingers, Li Changzong pointed out the window, “Then why did I just see the road sign for the intersection of Dongfeng Road? Wait, I saw it again!!”

“How is that possible? You must have seen it wrong. This is Nanfeng Road,” Xiao Zhang retorted and then looked at the road sign in the direction Li Changzong pointed—the clear ‘Dongfeng Road’ on the road sign immediately came into view.

Xiao Zhang froze on the spot, very shocked, and it took a lot of effort to hold the steering wheel steady. “This Dongfeng Road sign was at the intersection. I remember passing it already.”

Li Changzong immediately sat up, picked up his phone with trembling hands, only to find that the phone had no signal. What is happening, didn’t they claim that the telecommunications signal now had global coverage?

His eyes widened as he recalled the street signs he had just seen. Not only did the two street signs have the same text, but even the peeled off paint was in the same position as the other one.

Was this a new type of prank then, where people deliberately make the same road signs to trick passers-by?

He was puzzled and angry. When they get home, he must report this matter to the street authorities here!

The road seemed to lead to an endless darkness, like a gaping maw of a monster. The trees rustled around, their shadows mottled, like bared teeth and claws.

The car passed the same street sign for the fourth time, and the trees on the side of the road were exactly the same as before. The panic in their hearts couldn’t be suppressed anymore and slowly filled their entire brains.

Li Changzong finally couldn’t bear the growing fear; he collapsed on the seat—he no longer suspected that this was a prank.

The well-known phrase ‘ghost hitting the wall’ ¹appeared in his mind.

Could it be that they would be stuck here in this loop from now on? Li Changzong’s eyes were full of fear. He didn’t want to be trapped here—his wife and children were still waiting for him to come home!

At this time, his trembling hand that had nowhere to rest accidentally brushed against his thigh, and when he looked down, he found that a light was shining very bright from his trousers pocket, as if it had a light bulb installed inside.

He took out the safety talisman from his pocket suspiciously, and the talisman seemed to glow brighter and brighter.

He was a little scared when he saw this and couldn’t help but throw the glowing safety talisman away.

Before his horrified eyes, the safety talisman on the seat beside him lit up from the single starting point, tracing the writing, the light traveling along the lines all the way to the end point, as if redoing the process of drawing the talisman. When the light reached the end, the complete writing symbol appeared on the safety talisman.

At this time, there was an audible ‘click’, and there appeared a vague barrier in the sky.  He could see it like it was gradually breaking down from the edges.

Li Changzong and Xiao Zhang were in a trance for a while, but the light and shadows soon changed, as if a veil had been lifted in front of them.

Now able to see the situation in front of him, Xiao Zhang hurriedly slammed on the brakes. “Ahh!! Why did I drive to the edge of the guardrail!” he exclaim in shock.

Li Changzong looked at the guardrail in front of them. Behind the guardrail was a cliff of several tens of meters height and at the bottom of the cliff was a huge lake.

The car was only two meters away from the guardrail.

The car had already driven almost to the edge of the cliff—and if they hadn’t stopped—what was waiting for them would be a free fall into the lake, the car would crash, and the people inside it would be dead.

Li Changzong suddenly seemed to have realized something; he turned his head to look at the safety talisman next to him. At some point, the safety talisman had ignited without wind or incendiary device, and within a few seconds, it turned into a handful of ashes.

T/N: I imagine the road that Li Changzong was travelling would look something like this—except wider to accommodate cars. Way creepy from a certain mindset…

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1. it’s a superstitious phenomenon when people somehow can’t find their way out no matter how far they walk or how long, and they seem to be just going around in the same place.