Hidden Dead Ends-Chapter 55

He wasn’t particularly concerned about Li Chengjiu herself; he knew her well enough from past memories. She was cold and selfish, so nothing she did would surprise him. What concerned him was the impact her associations could have on their honest, good-hearted parents, who could be put in danger by her reckless behavior.

“I don’t want to deal with any family issues while investigating dead-ends. If it’s feasible, I’d like to remove this potential threat entirely,” Li Chengyi stated.

His words cast a sudden chill over the car.

Zhang Sinda glanced at him, a little taken aback. Not long ago, Li Chengyi had been an unassuming newcomer to dead-ends, seemingly still quite innocent. But now…

He wasn’t the same person who’d entered that first dead-end.

“Seems like you’ve been through a lot in the dead-ends,” Sima Gui remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. My first dead-end, and so far the only one, was much harder than Fog Street. Three of us went in, and only I made it out, barely surviving on my third entry,” Li Chengyi replied.

“Then you’re a tough one. Most dead-ends aren’t that dangerous; they’re just hard to escape,” Sima Gui nodded, giving him a thumbs-up.

The car suddenly braked to a stop.

“Alright, we’re here,” Song Ran, the driver, interrupted.

"I’m thirsty. Anyone want something while I grab drinks?" Sima Gui asked as he opened the car door.

“Sparkling water,” Zhong Ying said.

“Bean cola,” Zhang Sinda replied.

“Tata Tonic,” Song Ran added.

Li Chengyi shook his head, declining. He wasn’t a fan of the bean cola, a soda similar to regular cola, nor the Tata Tonic, a sweet drink with a mild stimulant.

They got out of the car one by one, with Li Chengyi putting on his AR glasses. A holographic overlay projected a map of Xuezhong Road from over a century ago.

They’d parked on an old street called Tianxing Road, where an elderly man in a dark green camo jacket approached, holding a ticket book to collect a parking fee.

After paying, Song Ran handed him a receipt, and the group began surveying the surroundings.

Tianxing Road was paved with small white tiles, giving it an old-world feel.

Buildings on either side stood around ten meters tall, their façades grayish-white with hints of a foreign architectural style. Each had rounded balconies and mostly arched windows, and stores lined the ground floor.

Some shops were open, with rectangular signs, while others had closed their shutters.

Li Chengyi noticed soot stains on the walls near the buildings’ lower levels.

He walked to a store called "Blue Ocean Pearl" and inspected the sign attached to the building by three black metal clamps. He reached out, rubbing his finger along the back of the sign, and when he checked his fingers, they were coated in a layer of soot.

“Looks like there was a fire here at some point,” Song Ran said, approaching him quietly.

“Yeah, the smoke stains are still obvious,” Li Chengyi nodded.

“We’re just here for the Wu Ji Convenience Store. That’s where we think the slot machine came from,” Song Ran reminded him.

“Got it. I’m waiting to see if I get a memory flash,” Li Chengyi replied.

If there was a dead-end nearby, he was likely to experience a memory flash due to his high mental resilience, which made him sensitive to dead-end phenomena. This was one of the primary methods they used for investigation.

“Alright, stay alert,” Song Ran nodded.

“Oh, by the way, when I experience a memory flash, what does it look like from the outside?” Li Chengyi asked, curious about his appearance during such moments.

“You disappear,” Song Ran replied seriously. “You vanish, and then when the memory flash ends, you reappear. The worst part is, whatever state you’re in when you return feels strangely normal to us. This causes a disorienting, conflicting feeling that’s hard to describe.”

“I see,” Li Chengyi replied thoughtfully.

“Alright, let’s split up and search,” Song Ran patted his shoulder and went to inspect shops on one side of the street.

Sima Gui took the right side, while Zhang Sinda and Zhong Ying checked the shops across the road.

Seeing everyone occupied, Li Chengyi strolled down the middle of the street, scanning left and right.

Tianxing Road had minimal traffic, so he only had to step aside occasionally.

He used his AR glasses to cross-reference the historical map from over a hundred years ago.

With each marked point on the map, they were increasingly convinced that Tianxing Road was, in fact, once known as Xuezhong Road.

He noticed Zhong Ying chatting up an old man sitting by a shop front, likely asking him questions. Meanwhile, Zhang Sinda was conversing with a passing young woman. The two seemed to have their roles divided effectively.

“Based on the map, I’m at the approximate location of Wu Ji Convenience Store,” Sima Gui’s voice came through the AR headset.

“I have drinks here, and if this map is correct, this should be where Wu Ji Convenience Store was.”

He paused.

“But… something’s not right.”

Everyone could hear him, as they were all connected through the AR comms system.

“What’s wrong? It’s normal if it’s no longer a convenience store. It’s been a long time, so it’s bound to be something else by now,” Zhang Sinda commented.

“No, it’s not that…” Sima Gui hesitated. “You should take a look yourselves.”

A sharp click sounded as he took a photo and uploaded it to the AR interface.

Li Chengyi tapped "Yes" to view the photo.

The image that appeared made him pause, surprised. He moved to the side of the street to avoid any oncoming cars as he studied the picture.

“This doesn’t make sense. Based on the map, this should be where the store was located?” Zhong Ying sounded frustrated.

“Yes, according to the map from over a hundred years ago. But times change,” Zhang Sinda began, only to be interrupted.

“No matter how much things change, it doesn’t make sense for the area to become this,” Zhong Ying said sharply.

“Indeed, in just over a hundred years, you wouldn’t expect this…” Li Chengyi added.

In the photo was no store, no building, not even a street. Instead, there was a wide, dark, greenish-blue lake with gentle ripples.

On the left side of the lake, they could barely make out the corner of the old buildings on Tianxing Street. To the right was a stark white stone bridge.

“Maybe the original building was demolished, revealing a body of water behind it?” Song Ran speculated.

“I asked one of the locals here. There were never any buildings in this area. This spot used to be an overgrown burial ground, completely undeveloped. Later, the government undertook a reclamation project, transforming it into Xuezhong Road, now Tianxing Street,” Zhang Sinda reported through the AR system.

“Could the map be wrong?” Zhong Ying questioned, beginning to doubt their information.

“We obtained the map from official records and cross-checked it with national archives. It’s highly unlikely to be incorrect,” Song Ran replied.

“So where is this Wu Ji Convenience Store?!” Zhong Ying’s voice betrayed her impatience.

Everyone remained silent. Their primary lead had now turned into a dead end, and they were at a loss on where to start.

“Sima, any memory flashes over there?” Zhang Sinda asked.

“Nothing,” Sima Gui replied.

“Same

here,” Li Chengyi added.

“It seems that there are no dead-end phenomena nearby. The Fog Street dead-end may not be connected to this place after all…” Zhang Sinda concluded.