Chapter 17: That Driver... Had No Eyes

With a devoted loyalty to his boss, the eerie driver pressed the accelerator harder than usual, significantly increasing the speed. In less than ten minutes, the strange taxi had crossed the entire city and arrived at the western suburban outskirts.

The museum was located in this western suburb, and behind it lay a vast city cemetery.

Chen Mu peered through the car window, studying the surroundings. Although it was already eleven in the morning and the sun blazed overhead, a thick, grayish mist shrouded the museum in the distance.

The fog blocked the sunlight, emanating a chilling aura that made the Mist Museum look eerie and foreboding.

“Looks like the museum has been tainted by the eerie influence, transforming into an eerie scene—the Mist Museum,” Chen Mu nodded with satisfaction. Had he arrived too early before it turned strange, the trip would have been in vain.

In the eerie apocalypse, many of these bizarre scenes did not appear immediately. For example, the Midnight Diner was once just the school cafeteria. A month before the eerie apocalypse, it was still normal, with students eating there after class as usual. Only two days before Chen Mu and his team received their eerie task did the cafeteria become corrupted, turning into the Midnight Diner at the stroke of midnight.

Similarly, the Mist Museum only transformed a week after the eerie apocalypse began, when the museum was altered by the strange forces into the Mist Museum.

The road to the Mist Museum passed through a wooded highway. Driving under the canopy of trees, sunlight was completely blocked, casting the road into darkness and enveloped in a gray, cold mist.

For ordinary vehicles, even with high beams, the fog was impenetrable—visibility barely extended beyond half a meter.

Under such conditions, one could either crawl along slowly, cautious not to veer off the road, or get out and trudge on foot through the dense fog—both physically and mentally grueling.

However, Chen Mu, seated in the Netherworld Taxi, was entirely unconcerned.

Since the Netherworld Taxi itself was an eerie artifact, its headlights could effortlessly pierce the fog, granting a clear view ahead.

Strangely, Chen Mu realized that for the eyeless eerie driver, visibility seemed irrelevant—the driver did not appear to rely on sight to navigate.

This was convenient for Chen Mu, who could clearly observe the surroundings.

Rounding a bend, he noticed a clear set of brake marks on the road, veering off the pavement and vanishing at the cliff’s edge—an unlucky soul had sped recklessly through the fog and plunged off the cliff.

Ironically, Chen Mu’s eerie driver was driving even faster.

With unwavering dedication, the eerie driver maintained a high speed, taking the bend without slowing. In mere seconds, they cleared the wooded highway and arrived in front of the eerie museum.

“Boss Chen, we’ve arrived,” the eerie driver turned to Chen Mu and said, “Boss Chen, are you sure you want to proceed? You haven’t received the Scarlet Note, so you’re not obligated to participate in the Mist Museum’s eerie task.

“But I must warn you, if you venture further into the Mist Museum’s bounds, you will be forced to undertake the eerie task. Only by surviving the mission can you leave.”

Chen Mu nodded, “I understand, but I have to go.”

Seeing the resolve in his boss’s eyes, the eerie driver offered, “How about I accompany you?”

Chen Mu declined with a wave of his hand.

As an eerie scene, the Mist Museum was dominated by the Duke family’s eerie presence.

The eerie driver, also an eerie entity, would only provoke the Duke’s wrath by intruding recklessly.

Like two tigers vying for the same mountain, eerie forces did not tolerate trespassers in their territory.

Finally, the driver stepped out, opened the door for Chen Mu, and respectfully watched him go.

Alone, Chen Mu approached the Mist Museum.

Walking into the dense fog, a shiver of unease crept up his spine.

Frankly, if he had the Death Heavy Armor, even walking alone here would fill him with confidence.

This only reinforced his determination to obtain such powerful equipment.

After several steps, Chen Mu entered the Mist Museum’s domain.

The surroundings were desolate wilderness, shrouded in thick fog, the cold air causing involuntary shivers.

The Mist Museum stood ahead, resembling a medieval European castle. Several black crows circled above, their eerie cries piercing the silence.

Outside the museum’s gates stood a few people dressed in modern clothes.

Chen Mu was not surprised. If he guessed correctly, these individuals had received the Scarlet Note and were forced to bite their teeth and participate in the eerie task.

There were three men and one woman, all looking pale and anxious, clearly terrified.

One man, in his forties or fifties, bald with a large belly, was instantly recognizable—Wang Dafu, a well-known local tycoon frequently featured in the newspapers.

When the eerie apocalypse arrived, even the wealthy were not spared; everyone trembled under the shadow of death, except those with sufficient Underworld Coins.

Besides Wang Dafu, there were two young men.

One had dyed yellow hair, the other green—clearly comrades.

The last was a young woman.

Fashionably dressed and scantily clad, with heavy makeup, she trembled in Wang Dafu’s arms.

Though her age could make her his daughter, Chen Mu knew otherwise.

Most likely, she was Wang Dafu’s kept mistress.

The group all glanced toward Chen Mu as he approached.

The two young men, seeing a peer, hurriedly greeted him, seemingly eager to recruit him.

“Hey, did you get this eerie task called ‘Mist Museum’ too?” one young man asked.

Chen Mu remained silent. Experience taught him that in eerie tasks, there were no friends—not even strangers, let alone close brothers. Betrayal and treachery were all too common; sometimes companions were more dangerous than the eerie themselves.

Only at the apocalypse’s onset did some still hope to form teams, thinking friends could help each other survive.

Those were always the first to perish.

Seeing Chen Mu’s silence, the two men lost interest and turned away, ignoring him.

However, Wang Dafu’s mistress stared at Chen Mu in terror.

“Baby, scared? Don’t worry, I’ve weathered bigger storms than this. Leave this little matter to me,” Wang Dafu crooned with oily charm, soothing the trembling woman even as his own voice quivered.

The mistress, pointing at Chen Mu, whispered in a trembling voice, “I just saw him get out of a taxi. But the driver of that taxi…”

Her eyes flashed with horror.

“That driver… had no eyes!”