A Tragedy?

Little Dog, restless as always, wanted to discuss the strange events of last night with James but felt it wasn't appropriate with outsiders around, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

The driver, Mr. Brown, was a local and usually delivered goods for people. He traveled from south to north with a quick wit, telling various anecdotes along the way, most of them inappropriate and not caring if Little Dog was a minor or not. Driving with his hands and talking non-stop, he displayed excellent driver qualities.

People who drive for years on the road are particularly reluctant to talk about strange things on the road. The entire trip took two or three hours, and Mr. Brown never stopped talking but didn't mention anything about the bus trip yesterday.

James lived in the east side of the city, while Mr. Brown lived in the north side. They had to drop them off at a fork in the road.

They hailed a taxi by the roadside, got in and directly reported their destination.

"Take us to Crescent Bay."

Crescent Bay was built more than ten or twenty years ago and was popular at the time, having quite a reputation in Nova City. Taxi drivers were naturally familiar with it.

Taxi drivers have a mental map in their minds. When they heard that they were going to Crescent Bay, they automatically planned the route in their minds.

"Brother, we have to detour today. Lilly Leaf Avenue near Nova City Second Hospital is under traffic control," said the taxi driver.

"Traffic control on that section?" James sounded skeptical.

Lilly Leaf Avenue is one of Nova City's main roads, especially the section near Nova City Second Hospital which is often congested even during non-peak hours. If there was traffic control at this time of day, who knows what the surrounding sections would be like.

"Isn't it weird? I've been driving taxis for eleven years and have only encountered traffic control on Lilly Leaf Avenue twice. The last time was when the leader visited Nova City a few years ago."

"Did the leader come again these days?"

"Not this time, I heard it's temporary traffic control. Just over half an hour ago, I picked up a passenger from the Second Hospital. I heard from other drivers that there was an accident there."

"What happened?" James felt uneasy when he heard about accidents.

"They said a patient jumped from the ICU ward."

"Is it worth controlling traffic just for someone jumping?" Even Little Dog, who was young, couldn't be fooled by this reason.

James, on the other hand, remained silent.

Regardless of whether the taxi driver's words were first-hand or second-hand information, there were strong suspicions in them.

Patients admitted to the ICU are completely incapable of taking care of themselves.

Moreover, anyone who has been to a hospital knows how sturdy the windows in the wards are. Even a healthy strong man might not be able to open them, let alone a patient in the ICU.

Even if this information is true, there's no need for traffic control across the entire section.

The taxi driver spoke with an exaggerated tone and lively expression: "They said it was so strange."

"How strange?"

"The door of the ICU ward wasn't open. The patient had to break open the window to jump down. The ICU is on the top floor of the building with 18 floors. They say the concrete floor was smashed into a hole."

"If you jump from the 18th floor and don't make a hole in the ground, that would be strange."

"It's not strange that there's a hole in the ground. What's strange is that there were no traces of blood or body at the scene... Nothing but a hole! That's what's strange!"

At this point, even the taxi driver felt goosebumps and glanced at his rearview mirror with guilt.

If James's physics teacher was present, they would certainly use formulas to calculate how much potential energy and force would be generated by jumping from the 18th floor, and then draw a scientific conclusion - not only would death be certain, but it would also be quite gruesome.

18 floors...

James couldn't help but wonder what kind of thought process the building's designer must have had to set the total number of floors at eighteen?

Of course, some taxi drivers have a professional habit of spreading rumors and then embellishing them for fun and to attract attention.

James just treated it as a story.

Even if it was just a story, there were quite a few details in it that couldn't withstand scrutiny.

Naturally, James wouldn't argue about its authenticity.

The car stopped at the entrance of their neighborhood with a fare of twenty pounds. Being a student, James didn't use mobile payments often and preferred to pay cash.

He handed over thirty pounds, and the driver skillfully handed back five pounds coins in change.

As James received the change, he suddenly grabbed the driver's wrist. Staring intently at the driver's palm, his face showed a hint of surprise.

The driver was startled by James's sudden move: "Brother, I'm not into that sort of thing!"

This guy had a fat face and greasy skin but didn't prevent him from having deviant thoughts. He thought that James was acting on impulse due to attraction.

James immediately let go of his hand and smiled faintly: "You're overthinking it."

Then he added: "Just one more thing - you're in big trouble."

The taxi driver grinned, revealing his yellow teeth: "What do you mean? Are you trying to scare me? I may not have been in the underworld for many years, but with one phone call I can summon hundreds of guys. Do you believe me?"

Communication between people is indeed a laborious task.

James swallowed the words he was about to say. Seeing that the other party didn't seem like a good person, why bother with such thankless tasks?

He pushed open the car door and got out.

"Idiot!" The driver cursed and sped away.

"James, what happened?" Knowing James well, Little Dog was sure that he must have had a reason for his actions just now.

"That driver probably encountered something evil, or just did something bad. The lifeline in his palm is clearly being devoured by a black line," explained James.

"What does that mean?" Little Dog asked curiously.

"It doesn't mean anything else. According to my calculations, he'll lose about twenty years of his life."

"Is it really that mysterious?" Little Dog was surprised.

"It really is that mysterious. Only those who are destined to hear it will believe it. That's why I didn't mention it earlier."

"It's best not to mention it. Judging by his tone, he's quite annoying. If you had told him, he might have asked you for a solution and then mocked you."

"People have their own fate and cannot be forced. But this incident is indeed quite strange," James furrowed his brows.

"What's so strange?"

"That black line is very strange. Usually, such lines are faint and not so easy to see. His black line is like an earthworm burrowing into his palm, fierce and obvious. This means that this disaster came suddenly for him..."

"Is there going to be an accident on the road?"

"It doesn't seem like it will happen in a car accident as there are no signs of bloody disaster."

"Is it because of illness?"

"It doesn't seem like it either. That's why I find it strange."

James couldn't figure it out as he had never heard of such palm lines before.

Entering the neighborhood at noon in the rain, there weren't many people wandering around outside.

James's house was on the 11th floor of a mid-rise building, with a layout of two elevators and four units per floor. They lived in unit 801 on the 8th floor, which was on the east side.

As soon as they opened the door, Little Dog rushed into the house without waiting for James to pull out his key. He was about to throw himself onto the sofa when James called him back.

"Little Dog, wait a moment."

James had a strange feeling in his heart, quickly walked forward, turned to Little Dog's back, stared at his buttocks, and his face looked a bit off.

"James, why are you staring at my butt?"

"What happened to your pants? How did they get so torn? Where did you find them?"

"How could it be? These pants were bought during New Year. I just put them on this morning," Little Dog defended himself.

James signaled him to take off the pants and see for himself.

Looking at the hole in the buttocks area of his pants, Little Dog was dumbfounded. He held the pants, staring blankly. He had put on these pants before leaving the house and they were fine then.

It's not strange for a pair of pants to have two holes.

What's strange is that the worn-out and faded fabric in that area would take at least eight to ten years to reach such a degree of wear.

The problem is, these were new pants bought at the beginning of the year.

It felt as if someone had intentionally aged the pants in that area.

Because in contrast, other areas of the pants were clearly intact, with at least 85% or more of their original color and fabric intact.

Such a bizarre contrast appeared on the same pair of pants!

James remained silent.

Using his powerful memory, he began to recall his experiences from this morning until he entered his home.

When Little Dog left the house, his pants were indeed fine.

There was no doubt about it.

They left home, took Mr. Brown's car, got off, took a taxi home, got off and walked into their house.

After sorting through all the steps, the doubt surfaced and James exclaimed: "That taxi."

A corresponding piece of evidence was the strange black line on the taxi driver's palm...

A faint answer seemed to be emerging.

James quickly grabbed Little Dog's hand and observed it closely for a while but saw nothing unusual.

He checked Little Dog up and down again but found nothing unusual either.

"James? Was that taxi unclean?"

James pondered: "I remember he mentioned at the time that he had just picked up a fare from Nova City Second Hospital a few dozen minutes ago?"

"Did he bring something dirty from the hospital?" Little Dog looked uneasy.

"Based on the timeline, that should be our previous business."

Connecting this to the taxi driver's story about the jumping incident, James couldn't help but feel goosebumps.

James had initially treated the jumping incident as a story.

Now, after this commotion, James was inclined to believe it.

Of course, if what the taxi driver said was true and not exaggerated, there would be more to this story.

As for whether the jumping incident was related to the driver's previous fare, James had no strong evidence to deduce it at the moment.

Fortunately, Little Dog didn't encounter the evil head-on but only experienced a bit of the aftermath. But even the aftermath was extremely bizarre.

Without any aging techniques, turning a perfectly good pair of pants into such a ghostly state is incredibly strange.

This was already beyond James's understanding.