"Mr. Xiao, you jest. This way, please."
The three of them arrived at a small iron gate, the sound of sawing wood emanating from behind it.
One of them pulled open the small iron gate, and a glaring light shone in from outside, while the electric saw's sound grew louder.
Xiao Xun raised his hand to shield his eyes. By the time he adapted to the light, he realized it was a lumber processing plant. Large wooden planks were being made into bed boards and cabinet boards, while smaller pieces of wood were being fashioned into coffins.
Six workers wearing dust masks were busy at their tasks. They showed no curiosity towards the three people emerging from the small door, not even bothering to lift their heads.
Before Xiao Xun could get a clear look, two people on his left and right urged him forward. Looking at the people beside him, Xiao Xun finally noticed that they had been wearing sunglasses the entire time.
The two led Xiao Xun to a tool cart and stopped.
"Why aren't we going back the way we came?"
Xiao Xun could no longer hold back and asked.
One of them turned to look at him, "The living don't retrace their steps."
The other said without turning his head, "Where you come from is where you'll go, and everyone dies."
Late at night, these two sentences sent chills down Xiao Xun's spine, making the hairs on his body stand on end.
One of them opened the car door, "Get in! Before dawn, you must reach your destination."
Xiao Xun glanced at his phone, "It's only one o'clock now. How could I not reach it before dawn?"
The person didn't reply but motioned for Xiao Xun to get in the car.
With no other choice, Xiao Xun got in.
Sandwiched between the two men, they remained silent throughout the journey, engaging in no conversation.
After leaving the lumber processing plant and driving for a stretch of mountain road, the car did not head into the city but instead proceeded to a funeral home located seven to eight kilometers from the urban area.
In late autumn, the funeral home appeared desolate. For reasons unknown, the surroundings were covered in dense weeds. If not for the bright lights at the main entrance of the funeral home, one might have thought the place had been abandoned.
From a great distance, one could smell the peculiar odor of the funeral home. Although air purification devices were now common, that scent was not something that a simple machine could eliminate.
Xiao Xun immediately felt unsettled. "What are we doing here?"
The driver pointed to the truck bed in the back with his thumb, "Delivering goods."
As he said this, he honked the car's horn.
After about seven to eight minutes, an old man with white hair emerged from the guardhouse. He was still wearing a short-sleeved security uniform, the kind worn in summer.
He unlocked the chain lock on the gate, and with the clanging of metal, the large gate slowly opened.
Xiao Xun was curious. "Don't they have smart rising gates or those barriers that automatically open and close with a remote control these days? Why does this place still use such old-fashioned gates that require a security guard to operate them?"
The driver did not answer his question but offered a cigarette to the old security guard who approached with a registration book.
"Hard work."
The old man glanced into the car, "Hard work for what? I earn this money. You're quite early today."
After signing the form, the driver gunned the engine and drove the vehicle into the yard, then turned off the engine to unload.
Xiao Xun took out his phone; the battery was low.
After walking for a long time on the mountain road, he wanted to get out of the car to stretch his legs, but he felt an inexplicable fear of this place of the afterlife.
The two men unloaded a batch of goods and went inside. Xiao Xun remained alone in the car, feeling as if a pair of eyes were watching him from the darkness.
At this moment, a gust of wind swept through the surroundings. The howling sound, mixed with a whistling noise, instantly sent a shiver down Xiao Xun's spine, making the hairs on his head stand on end.
When the two men returned to unload more goods, Xiao Xun quickly got out of the car. "Let me help you! With three of us, we can finish faster, and we can go back earlier."
The two men said nothing, merely silently moving the finished products off the truck, placing them onto small carts, and pulling them towards the funeral home's lobby.
Xiao Xun followed the two inside. The lobby was cool.
This funeral home had three floors. Upon entering, the right side was the funeral home's office area. The second and third floors were places for 'the deceased' to rest.
On the left side was a place resembling a small supermarket, but it sold no food, only funerary items. The shelves were lined with various types of urns and funerary jars.
After the three finished unloading the goods, the driver produced a clipboard and had the on-duty personnel responsible for the area sign the receipt slip. Then, he turned and got back into the car.
From entering the funeral home to exiting it, the two men had not spoken a word.
Xiao Xun felt a movement behind the truck, as if someone had climbed onto the vehicle.
He tried to look back, but the person in the passenger seat coughed lightly and said in a low voice, "Don't look back."
Xiao Xun shivered for a long time, obediently suppressing his curiosity, but he felt a chill on the back of his neck.
After a journey of just over an hour, the car entered the city. Seeing the bustling streets, Xiao Xun gradually felt at ease.
Finally, the car stopped in front of the villa where they had their team-building event the previous night.
The driver turned to Xiao Xun, "Mr. Xiao, we've arrived. Have a good time."
Xiao Xun looked at the villa outside. "How did you know about this place?"
As soon as he spoke, he remembered that Secretary Fan was in cahoots with them.
The person in the passenger seat got out of the car and opened the door, signaling Xiao Xun to get out.
After Xiao Xun got out, the people in the car smiled at him, turned the vehicle around, and left.
He considered going into the villa to take a look, but then he thought that having been taken away by Secretary Fan in front of them, it would be rather awkward to return now.
He checked his phone's battery and decided to call a car to go home.
He emerged from the villa complex and onto the main street. It was not yet dawn. Apart from the streetlights, only cars traversed the road. He wondered where they were going at this hour.
Just as Xiao Xun was taking out his phone to call a car, a hand suddenly appeared and snatched his phone away.
Xiao Xun looked over in panic. A young man around his age was holding his phone and making a face at him.
At this moment, Xiao Xun realized there were three more people behind him. He was surrounded by these four.
Xiao Xun frowned. "Who are you people?"
The person holding Xiao Xun's phone pointed at him, "Kid, listen up, we are the 'Alliance of the Wealth-Haters.'"
Xiao Xun patted his chest, "You scared me. Say that again, I might have to pay you a copyright fee."
He thought to himself: Wealth-haters? Aren't they just a bunch of 'poor beggars' who hate rich people!
Someone behind him kicked Xiao Xun directly, "Stop the nonsense, hand over the money."
Xiao Xun stumbled but regained his balance and turned to look at him, "Are you crazy? If you want money, fine, but why the physical contact?"
The young man who kicked him, seeing Xiao Xun speak so casually, assumed he was just a cowardly second-generation rich kid and became emboldened. "If you cooperate obediently, we promise not to beat you. We won't ask for too much money, just tens of thousands will be enough."
Xiao Xun smiled and patted the shoe print on his back. "You four! What era is this? Still copying people by robbing the road. Who carries cash these days?"
"If there's no cash, does that mean we stop robbing?"
The person from before directly opened his phone and produced a QR code. "Here, you scan me!"
At this moment, the person behind him returned Xiao Xun's phone. "Let me tell you, don't play any tricks, or we'll drag you into the mountains and bury you."
Xiao Xun took his phone and put it directly into his pocket. The four of them stared in disbelief. "What do you mean? Do you look down on us, thinking we won't dare to act?"
Xiao Xun shrugged, looking regretful. "I know you dare to act, but if I wanted to give it to you, someone wouldn't be happy!"