A little after one in the afternoon, the sun was somewhat glaring.

Yang Qi drove out of the Zoo and headed for the Hongshu District. He was on his way to meet up with Song Wan, as they had arranged, to help her pick out a cat at a pet store.

When Gao Zhenyue heard about it, he said he had nothing better to do and wanted to come along for the fun, so he had already gone on ahead.

To avoid traffic jams and too many red lights, Yang Qi took the elevated highway, maintaining a speed of around seventy.

Traffic on the highway wasn’t too heavy, and the drive was smooth.

As he drove, Yang Qi’s thoughts turned to the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array.

Suddenly—

VROOOM—ROOOOAR—

An incredibly aggressive engine roar, accompanied by blasting music, approached rapidly from behind, sounding like a roaring beast.

It was so loud that it could be heard clearly through the car’s frame and windows. It was obviously a modified sports car, and it was speeding.

Yang Qi frowned.

Just as he was about to check his rearview mirror, his peripheral vision caught a flash of bright red. Across the median, in the outermost lane of the oncoming traffic, a red car shot past his left window like a meteor, moving at an astonishing speed!

The crucial part was, the red sports car was traveling in...

...the same direction as Yang Qi!

’Driving against traffic?’

’And speeding, too?’

’This is an elevated highway!’

Yang Qi was stunned.

This went beyond simple reckless driving; it was toying with their own life and the lives of others.

Immediately, Yang Qi slowly eased his foot off the accelerator and gently applied the brakes, beginning to slow down.

He didn’t slam on the brakes, but steadily brought his speed down from over seventy to between thirty and forty.

The vehicles behind Yang Qi had apparently also seen the sports car. Seeing him slow down, they began to reduce their speed as well.

However, the cars in the adjacent lane maintained their speed and quickly passed him.

BOOM!!

Just then, a muffled, tremendous crash suddenly erupted from the bend in the road ahead.

Right within Yang Qi’s field of view, in the oncoming lane across the median, a medium-sized box truck that had been driving normally suddenly swerved hard. It lost control and violently crashed through the flimsy plastic median barrier.

Its massive frame, trailing shattered plastic and dirt, barreled violently into Yang Qi’s lane!

It all happened too fast.

After bursting into the lane, the box truck first smashed head-on into a black sedan that was unable to get out of the way in time.

CRASH—

SHATTER!

The black sedan was instantly thrown into the air like a toy. It flipped over mid-air before slamming back down onto the pavement and sliding to a stop, its roof caved in and all its windows shattered.

Meanwhile, the box truck itself lost its balance from the force of the impact and its own momentum. The massive vehicle toppled onto its side with a roar, scraping along the pavement with a deafening screech of metal on asphalt as sparks flew everywhere.

CLANG~!

The sliding truck then slammed into a white SUV that tried and failed to evade it, knocking the SUV sideways and severely crumpling its front end.

A chain-reaction pile-up, all in a split second!

Having been on guard and remaining vigilant, Yang Qi had witnessed nearly the entire accident as it happened.

Though shaken by the sight, his movements were perfectly controlled. He calmly pressed the brake, bringing his car to a steady stop at a safe distance, still dozens of meters from the scene of the crash.

The car following him also stopped in time, managing to avoid rear-ending Yang Qi.

But the few cars in the adjacent lane that had passed him moments before weren’t so lucky.

They were going too fast and had just come around the bend. By the time the drivers saw the truck sprawled across the lanes, the overturned sedan, and the SUV, it was already too late.

SCREEECH—

The ear-splitting sound of slamming brakes echoed across the highway.

BANG! BANG! BAM BAM BAM!

A series of dull impacts rang out in quick succession.

The car at the front still lightly tapped the SUV despite braking hard, then came the second car, the third...

A whole line of cars, following too closely to brake in time, caused a chain of rear-end collisions.

In an instant, the acrid smell of burning tires, the piercing sound of twisting metal, the muffled pop of deploying airbags, and the terrified screams and pained cries of the dazed drivers and passengers all mixed into a chaotic din.

The once-orderly flow of traffic on the highway was instantly paralyzed.

The other vehicles in both directions were startled by the sudden accident and came to a stop.

Drivers and their passengers pushed open their doors and stared, dumbfounded, at the horrific, chaotic scene. Faces paled with terror and the chilling realization of what could have been.

Meanwhile, the red supercar that had been driving against traffic had already raced off the highway, its blasting music fading into the distance.

"Quick... Help them! Save them!"

"Call someone! Call the police!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Call an ambulance! And the fire department!"

"..."

After a brief, dead silence, some people frantically started making calls while others bravely began to approach the heart of the accident.

Yang Qi also got out of his car and walked toward the crash, immediately activating his Spiritual Sense, which far surpassed that of an ordinary person.

He extended both his hearing and his sense of smell.

The air was thick with the acrid smell of burning rubber, the sweet scent of spilled coolant, and the faint metallic tang of blood...

’And... the smell of gasoline?’

’Is a fuel line leaking?’

Yang Qi’s eyelid twitched as his gaze quickly scanned the core of the accident site.

The overturned truck showed no obvious signs of a leak for the moment. However, liquid was steadily seeping from underneath the black sedan—the car that had been hit the hardest. The smell was coming from there!

Yang Qi’s expression changed, and he immediately sprinted toward the severely mangled black sedan, which was lying wheels-up.

Seeing Yang Qi spring into action, a few courageous young men who also wanted to help subconsciously started to follow him.

As he neared the sedan, the smell of gasoline grew stronger.

The driver’s side was the most heavily crushed, and the door was severely warped.

Through the shattered window, Yang Qi could see a heavyset man in the driver’s seat. His head was covered in blood, and he was unconscious.

’No time to look for tools.’

A sharp glint flashed in Yang Qi’s eyes. Magical Power instantly circulated through his body as he grabbed the edge of the twisted, warped car door with both hands.

He channeled the Small Transport Technique, and at the same time, the muscles in his arms bulged, fully unleashing the physical enhancement of his Bear’s Strength.

With a low grunt, under the astonished gazes of the few people trying to get closer to help, Yang Qi brute-forced the severely warped and jammed car door, bending it more than halfway open!

He yanked the door open.

Yang Qi quickly leaned in, unbuckled the unconscious man’s seatbelt, and then, carefully supporting the man’s head and body, dragged him out of the crumpled cabin.

The man was not light, weighing well over two hundred pounds, but Yang Qi’s strength was now far beyond an ordinary person’s. He carried the man with sure, steady steps.

He quickly carried him away from the center of the accident, moving toward the relatively safer upwind direction.

Two quick-thinking young men saw Yang Qi carrying the large man by himself and, thinking he was struggling, rushed over to help.

"Don’t come any closer! Get back!"

Yang Qi shouted the order, his expression changing upon seeing them approach. He picked up his pace at the same time.

The two young men froze, and the other onlookers also looked at Yang Qi in confusion.

In that brief moment of hesitation—

BOOM!

A deep, muffled explosion erupted from behind Yang Qi.

The leaking black sedan had suddenly burst into flames, either from a short circuit or some other cause.

Leaping flames instantly engulfed the wrecked vehicle as a massive shockwave, carrying a blast of heat and debris, radiated outward in all directions...