Chapter 40.3 ?

On the other side.

With the slight swaying of the car, Xu Ming opened her eyes again.

Drowsy, she looked at the roof of the taxi, taking two seconds to process. In the next moment, a flood of memories surged in like a tide, jolting Xu Ming awake as she abruptly sat up.

Almost simultaneously, Qiu Yufei beside her also sprang up. Following that, a loud shout came from the front seat—Xu Ming looked over the backrest and saw the blond driver trembling visibly as he clung to the steering wheel.

“…Hey, buddy.” Xu Ming quickly spoke up, trying to calm the person down, “I know you’re really scared right now, but don’t panic…”

Blond driver: …

Thank you, that was very comforting.

Seeing that the driver still seemed traumatized by the events at the hotel, Xu Ming felt a bit helpless. Fortunately, Qiu Yufei had already calmed down and moved to the front passenger seat to take on the task of psychological counseling.

She emphasized that the two of them were good people, to prevent the driver from getting too scared and abandoning them halfway.

Xu Ming sat in her original seat, rubbing her head vigorously, trying to digest the flood of memories that had just come to her—all the memories of the cycles had surged up at once, giving her a bit of a headache.

As she processed this, she occasionally caught snippets of Qiu Yufei’s sweet and gentle voice from the front:

“…Consider everything before as just a dream. When you wake up, just move on, don’t worry, there are no lasting effects…”

“…Oh right, like I mentioned before, my friend has a family skill… Demolition Office? Yes, yes, their family business, passed down from the Qing Dynasty, a century-old family, specializing in dealing with all kinds of evil…”

“In any case, don’t be afraid, you see, we’re already out…”

“We haven’t left yet.” Xu Ming glanced out the window and suddenly interjected.

The two people in the front seat visibly stiffened and turned their heads in unison: “What?!”

“I said, we haven’t left yet. We probably still have some distance to go.” Xu Ming calmly nodded towards the outside, “Look, we’re still on the highway.”

No car would stay parked on the highway for so long without anyone intervening. Moreover, the road was eerily quiet, with no other cars in sight.

They were still within the urban legend area, just at the edge.

The blond driver’s face turned pale: “So what now? Do we jump off the overpass?”

“No, no, no, no need for that.” Xu Ming quickly dismissed this terrifying idea, then added, “Let’s keep driving forward. Since the hotel let us go, there’s no reason to stop us here.”

The driver, still in a state of panic, had no other ideas and just nodded. The car soon started moving again.

The good news was that Xu Ming was right. After driving for a while, a signpost actually appeared on the previously empty road.

…The content on the signpost, however, was peculiar.

? Exit 0.6km ahead ?

? Urban Legend Demolition Office ?

Xu Ming: “…”

Wait, why is there something about the Demolition Office again?

Did she forget something? Did she work on this? She had no recollection of it!

This time, the first to react was the blubberman in her bag, who had been looking in the mirror—it looked out the window, quickly came to a realization with an “oh,” and started babbling in Xu Ming’s mind.

“It must have seen the sign you put up in the hotel,” the blubberman said, “It might think that just adding this signature means the words won’t be changed.”

Everything they were experiencing, the bus that sent them out, the signpost in front of them, without a doubt, were temporary modifications made by the Magic Cube Mansion while the butterfly was weak.

Such significant changes must come with a huge cost, and there’s also the risk of being changed back once the butterfly recovers—naturally, the Magic Cube Mansion would try every means to ensure the durability of the text.

Xu Ming: “…”

Xu Ming: “So, what’s the point of adding ‘Urban Legend Demolition Office’ to the end?”

“Maybe it’s similar to ‘no offense’ or ‘best regards,'” the blubberman speculated.

A kind of phrase containing subtle well-wishes.

Commonly known as superstition.

Suddenly becoming part of the superstitious crowd, Xu Ming: “…”

In any case, having a signpost was reassuring. Xu Ming decisively ignored the driver’s questioning look, simply instructing him to follow it, then leaned back in her seat in a rather boss-like manner. After a moment, she suddenly remembered another important matter.

“Wait.” She almost jumped up, “Where’s Gu Yunshu?”

“On the roof, probably,” the blubberman said, shrinking back to look in the mirror, “Or maybe under the car.”

“…” Xu Ming fell silent again.

Alright.

As long as she’s not lost, it’s fine.

After driving a few more hundred meters, as indicated by the sign, the exit ramp suddenly appeared. The blond driver held his breath, gritted his teeth, and drove down. The moment the car exited the ramp, the atmosphere around them clearly changed—

Some lingering sense of faint oppression instantly dissipated, and the sounds of the present world immediately filled her eardrums. It was already evening, but Xu Ming clearly felt that the surroundings suddenly brightened.

On the highway, traffic flowed incessantly. The vehicles returning from the otherworld seamlessly merged into the busy traffic, as if they had always been there.

It was only at this moment that Xu Ming truly breathed a sigh of relief. She took out her phone to check the time and found that it had been less than an hour since they entered the urban legend area.

She wondered what the situation was for those who entered the urban legend area earlier or later than they did when they came out…

Xu Ming thought silently, fiddling with her phone, and couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief with a bit of gratitude.

That’s great. Fortunately, she had brought a power bank with her this time; after entering the urban legend area, she also figured out their location in time and didn’t use their sockets carelessly.

Otherwise, she might have had to waste another phone.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but look at the two people in front of her. Just as she was about to remind them to pay attention to their phones, she raised her eyes and saw Qiu Yufei slightly lowering her head, one hand covering her mouth, her face full of emotion.

Xu Ming was taken aback at the sight and then realized that she might be too excited and happy to have just left the urban legend area. With a bit of helplessness, she pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and gently patted her shoulder.

“It’s all over now.” Her tone was unusually gentle, “It’s all in the past. Isn’t it still early now? Going to the hotel you booked is just perfect.”

Qiu Yufei looked up at her with tears of gratitude still in her eyes and nodded vigorously.

Soon, she lowered her eyes again.

Her gaze was still fixed on the meter.

That’s great. Qiu Yufei thought with immense relief.

The taxi meter didn’t include the time they spent in the urban legend area. The fare was still the normal amount.

Really, that’s great.