"Hey, there’s a convenience store. It looks shabby." Fatty said, "Let’s go shopping, beers, soft drinks and other stuff. The destination on the map is marked as ‘Hilton Vacation House’. Although we are not here for holiday, we should get what we need over there."

"You fat ass! You really are preparing to enjoy the stay! Let’s just go check out what the store has for us. I’ve just found a wallet here, there’s no identification, but there’s some cash. Should be enough."

"Great."

Fatty pulled over by the store and got off.

Ego also got out of the car. Seeing Su Bai still sitting in the car, he asked with doubt,

"What?"

"I think I’ll stay outside, just on guard."

"Everything has just started, what can possibly happen?" Ego felt a little confused, but he didn’t go into it seriously, just nodded, "Alright, you stay here and keep an eye on the car. I’ll go shopping with Fatty."

Ego and Fatty went to the store while Su Bai lowered his head a little. He was thinking what he should do. To follow the pattern before, or to start Main Task 1 right now? For now, Su Bai didn’t have much clue. He didn’t know the real identity of that black-haired girl; Sophia should be still with her friends before she really entered the task.

But there was another key reason why Su Bai stayed in the car instead of going shopping as he had done last time.

The poster!

Su Bai could remember their conversation: Fatty asked why there was a poster at the back of their car, and Ego replied it looked like bad luck and should be torn off.

This time, before they got in the car, Su Bai had checked it personally and there was no poster.

And that meant, someone had sneaked by and put a poster of "Final Destination" on the car when they were in the store last time.

Su Bai couldn’t tell if that person was watching here in the darkness all the time, or if that person would decide not to come to put the poster after realizing he was not in the store. But he had no other clue, so he could only hope more clues would come to him if he could stick to what he had already got.

After all, since main task 1 requested them to find the source of the river, then most things and clues concerning these audiences should be related to that river source.

Su Bai kept his head lowered in silence, but he never let down his guard.

Suddenly, a tiny rustle came to him.

He immediately pushed the door open and rushed to behind the car.

Just then, a knife was thrown to Su Bai in a curve.

Su Bai lowered his head at once; the knife went over his head and stuck into the earth.

Then a person jumped down from the car and rushed to another direction.

Su Bai went after that person without hesitation. The figure wasn’t clear. It must be hidden with something, so it looked rather obscure from behind; he even couldn’t tell if it was male or female. But luckily, the person wasn’t very fast, so the distance between them was shortened during the chase.

Soon, they entered the woods. At last, the person seemed to realize that it would be impossible to get rid of Su Bai, so the person turned around and showed two cold lights in both hands. It must be two daggers. Then the person came at Su Bai.

Even till now, Su Bai still couldn’t tell if that person was an audience or a resident in the woods. But after that person got closer, he finally knew who he had met. He hmphed heavily, then his body wizened and became a mummy. The change was rapid and was completed in a flash.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

The two daggers hit Su Bai’s arms and sounded like metal, because Su Bai had produced an ice layer covering his skin. The daggers never actually touched his skin.

Then, Su Bai abruptly turned his wrists, grabbed the daggers and pushed with both arms. Fearing to touch his freezing hands, the person let go of the weapon and stepped back.

Su Bai didn’t go on, and the person didn’t run away.

"Ha ha, you recognized me?" There came a clear voice. Then, the vague figure finally became clear: it was that long-haired girl who was the first one to get across the river.

"I didn’t recognize your body, but I remembered your smell."

The girl blushed. She pouted at Su Bai and said, "I’m just here for a little help at the beginning of the story. Sophia helped me last night, but something went wrong and we failed again. So this time, I want to find you first, and then Sophia."

"You’re here especially for me?" Su Bai asked.

"Oh, I know what you’re thinking about. I found this when I got here."

The girl showed him a stone statue. It was an ugly demon with a poster in its hand. The girl smiled, threw the statue to Su Bai with the poster still in its hand.

Su Bai caught it. It was carved with common stone from a long time before. But he could feel that there were traces of energy waves left in it. Then, Su Bai opened the poster. As he had expected, it was the poster of "Final Destination".

"Actually, from the beginning, there has been a force preventing us from accomplishing the task. Or so to say, there is a force against the Dreadful Radio. But this force is aiming for survival and Dreadful Radio allows it just for fun, I suppose. After all, in a story world, I don’t think there can be anything strong enough to fight against the Dreadful Radio."

Su Bai threw the statue onto the ground and tore up the poster. "So I should leave with you now?"

"All we’ve got is from now on till the next daybreak. So we’re running out of time."

"I’ve got two partners. They’ll realize something’s wrong if I’m gone like this."

"So? Is there a problem."

"I feel like there’s gonna be a problem."

"That’s conservative. You should be more flexible. You know, next time, someone else may show up by the river, go across it and push you off the list."

"Then what?"

"Then, next time you will start over like this time, but I will not come to you, because I have found a new target. I will be working with someone else, again and again, while you have become a past tense! But you will know nothing. You will think that you have found something, and you will take the next time and every time after as this time. You will feel confident, thinking yourself as one of the pioneers, but in fact you’re out, from long, long ago!"

Su Bai smiled. He didn’t answer, just turned away and left.

The girl stood there looking at Su Bai’s back, pouting her lips in displeasure.

——————

"Bai, you really know how to loaf on the job!" Fatty put everything in the trunk and got in, "But I should be the best person to be lazy!"

"Forget it, let’s hit the road," Ego said.

Fatty nodded, started the car and kept driving according to the map.

Su Bai just sat there quietly, smoking and shaking off the cigarette ashes outside the window from time to time. Neither Fatty nor Ego had told him anything strange in that convenience store, such as a dozen of western young men or the odd black owner.

He understood that it was just a signal indicating that he had been excluded him from their two-person group. A most obvious sign was the detail of refusing to share information.

When they arrived at Hilton Vacation House, Fatty and Ego complained how this shabby cabin didn’t match with the name. Su Bai just quietly picked up their stuff, moved them into the cabin and pretended to be tidying things up. In fact, last time, Fatty and Ego went into the cabin while Su Bai went to the river; he was sure that he had missed something. Otherwise, Fatty and Ego wouldn’t have sent him away. When the Dreadful Radio story changed, the cabin collapsed. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

After Fatty and Ego got in, Su Bai walked to a corner in the living room. But he secretly held a piece of mirror and put it on the sill. He pretended to be admiring the scenery while watching over Fatty and Ego.

Just as he had speculated, Fatty seemed to be surprised when he got in. Apparently, he had found something. Then, he peeked at Su Bai. Seeing Su Bai was rather far from them, he walked to Ego, pretended to be picking up a beer and whispered something into Ego’s ear.

Ego’s eyes lit up. Then he stood up, cast a glance over Su Bai, then looked around the house and nodded.

"It’s getting dark," said Su Bai, who had been looking out of the window.