Chapter 75: First Stop
Inside the bus cabin, silence fell.
Everyone stared, stunned, at the driver lying on the floor.
But soon, someone discovered the crucial point.
Without a driver, how was the bus still moving?
A chill crept into everyone’s heart.
A terrible guess formed.
“It’s… it’s a prank, right…” a heavily made-up woman with disheveled hair said, looking at the driverless bus in disbelief.
“He’s dead, he’s really dead!”
The boy swallowed, looking at the fallen driver.
This was definitely a dead person.
“This is a ghost bus!” the boy stated the conclusion with difficulty and despair.
He looked up at everyone, “We got on the wrong bus!”
The boy’s expression was flustered, his eyes filled with fear.
A ghost bus!
A thing only heard of in legends, novels, and on television, and today they had actually encountered it.
But how was that possible!
How could there be ghosts in this world?
Living in a new era, they had only ever received scientific education.
Ghosts and supernatural phenomena were merely feudal superstitions.
They were fabrications by scholars and writers, conjured from their imaginations to scare children or those with guilty consciences.
How could they be real?
“Impossible, this must be a prank!”
“You’re in on it with them, right? Yes, you must be in on it with them.”
“Don’t they have shows like this abroad? Ones that prank people on the street.”
“Hurry up and tell me, tell me it’s a prank!”
The woman yelled at the boy, her emotions running high.
The crowd became agitated, the bus cabin turned noisy.
The boy remained silent, his fear growing.
Some people used things to hit the bus windows, others pulled and kicked at the bus doors.
Chaos reigned inside the bus cabin.
Everyone seemed to have gone mad.
The moment the boy fell silent, when the driver’s corpse still lay in the aisle, and when they found no filming equipment on the bus.
When they discovered their mobile phones had no signal, and their GPS showed they were in the middle of the ocean.
They lost their minds.
The bus continued to drive steadily on the roads.
The madness inside the bus cabin did not affect its journey at all.
The chaos soon came to an end.
They couldn’t open them, they simply couldn’t be opened.
The bus windows were made of some unknown material, exceptionally strong; their impacts left not even a single mark.
As for the bus doors, they wouldn’t budge at all.
They couldn’t even damage the seats inside the bus.
Someone attempted to drive the bus.
Then they discovered they couldn’t budge the steering wheel at all, no matter how much force they used, the steering wheel wouldn’t move an inch.
Finally, they completely accepted the fact that they had boarded a ghost bus.
Lin Qian observed the calm after the frenzy.
They sat in their seats, powerless, their expressions despairing.
The scenery outside the window had, at some point, turned dim.
The bus had, unknowingly, driven into a completely unknown place.
A dim sky, desolate roads.
The vegetation on both sides was withered and grew in strange ways.
At four in the afternoon, the bus had brought them into a bizarre world.
The atmosphere inside the bus cabin was eerie.
Those who looked out at the scenery outside gradually fell into despair.
Where was this place outside, why was it so eerie?
Where was this ghost bus taking them?
The driver’s corpse still lay in the aisle.
Everyone kept a wide berth from the dead man.
The boy sat in his seat in silence, his gaze occasionally stealing glances at Lin Qian outside the window.
Lin Qian also noticed the other’s gaze.
But he paid it no mind.
The scenery outside was bizarre, undoubtedly, they had entered a supernatural land.
It would be difficult for ordinary people to survive and leave.
“Do you know something.”
Suddenly, the woman who had previously questioned if it was a prank turned to Lin Qian and asked loudly.
It was an accusation.
“Yes, you must know something. Just now, we were all trying to open the bus doors and windows, even trying to control the steering wheel to stop the bus.”
“But you just sat here watching, not saying anything, not acting, as if you knew all our efforts were in vain.”
The more the woman spoke, the more certain she became.
At her words, everyone’s gaze snapped towards Lin Qian.
Lin Qian looked around and realized everyone was looking at him, and then he understood that they were talking about him.
“Did you know from the beginning that this was a ghost bus!” The woman stood up, walked a few steps towards Lin Qian, looking down at him with extreme anger.
Lin Qian looked somewhat confused, he pointed to his face, “Look at my pale complexion, I’m clearly sick.”
“What do you want a sick person like me to do?”
“Do you understand what late-stage leukemia means?”
“You want someone with a terminal illness like me to do manual labor?”
“To kick doors and smash windows with you all?”
The woman’s angry expression froze.
The others, upon hearing Lin Qian’s words, averted their gazes with sympathy.
A person with a terminal illness, already on the verge of death, and now on this ghost bus.
Sigh…
Someone sighed inwardly, unable to bear looking at Lin Qian.
The woman opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn’t know what to say.
“Who told you not to say it earlier?”
The woman snorted coldly, turned, and returned to her seat.
Lin Qian: ???
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, his eyes grew cold.
This woman, having nothing else to say, was now blaming him.
What did she mean he didn’t say it earlier?
Was that something he could have said earlier?
He didn’t know this woman would come and question him.
If he had known earlier, he would have fabricated the story beforehand.
The others looked at the woman, inwardly grumbling.
This woman was so unreasonable.
But they didn’t scold her.
They were all in trouble themselves now, who had the energy to argue with someone else?
Zhang Liao heard Lin Qian’s answer.
“Late-stage leukemia?”
“Looking at his complexion, it does fit the symptoms.”
But for some reason, he still didn’t quite believe it was just late-stage leukemia.
The bus cabin fell completely silent.
Everyone’s mood was heavy.
They gazed at the scenery outside, filled with worry.
This feeling of impending death and danger, coupled with their powerlessness, tortured their hearts.
Time passed slowly.
During this period, some people still tried to escape the bus.
But without exception, they all failed.
Gradually, no one tried anymore.
Everyone sat in their seats, as if mourning the dead, staring at the passing scenery outside the window.
After an unknown amount of time.
The bus suddenly began to veer to the right.
Then the speed slowed down.
“The bus is slowing down!”
Someone shouted.
Instantly, everyone became alert, standing up and looking forward.
“Is it stopping?” someone asked.
No one answered.
They all looked ahead.
Ahead lay a dim and eerie place.
Several old graves were situated there, shrouded in darkness.
In the depths of the gloom, more old graves seemed to faintly appear.
This was actually a graveyard.
The bus began to slow down and soon came to a halt.
It stopped steadily in front of the graveyard.
With a soft hiss.
The front and rear doors opened simultaneously.
A bone-chilling gust of wind immediately blew in.
“Get off quickly!”
Someone shouted.
And was the first to rush out.
Hope of survival appeared.
This bus, from which they could not escape, could now be left behind!
No one hesitated; they all rushed out in a single surge.
Soon, only two people remained on the bus.
Lin Qian, and that boy named Zhang Liao.
“Aren’t you getting off?”
The boy swallowed, glanced at the people getting off, and then looked at Lin Qian.
Lin Qian tilted his head slightly, “Do you want to die?”
His narrow eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of coldness flickering within them.
The boy’s heart skipped a beat, and he instantly realized that this person in front of him was definitely not just suffering from late-stage leukemia!
This person likely knew something.
He gritted his teeth and sat back down.
He would take a gamble, betting that staying on the bus was safer!
Lin Qian gazed out at the eerie, sinister graveyard.
Old graves floated in the air, gently swaying.
The ancient graves stood like a nest for old ghosts, eerily situated there.
Over a dozen people ran off the bus and stood outside the graveyard.
The gloomy environment quickly dispelled their joy of escaping the ghost bus.
Silence, absolute silence.
The bus remained there, motionless.
The bus doors were open, and dim light spilled out from inside the cabin.
Well, we’re off the bus. They finally escaped that ghost car.
What then?
How are they going to get back?
They looked around blankly.
The eerie environment was filled with strangeness everywhere.
Can they go back the way they came?
Inside the graveyard.
In front of an old grave, a kneeling figure suddenly moved.
The figure was dried up, wrapped in black rags.
The dried-up ‘person’ slowly stood up, black rags hanging down from its chest and scattered around its waist.
The figure dragged its dried body, turned, and walked towards the graveyard exit.
Suddenly.
Someone pointed at the graveyard and shouted, “There’s someone!”
“There’s someone inside!”
Everyone at this moment looked towards the inside of the graveyard.
As expected, there was indeed someone.
A figure was slowly walking out of the graveyard.
“Let’s hurry and ask him how to leave here!”
Someone shouted excitedly.
At this moment, everyone seemed to see hope.
Everyone walked towards the graveyard in unison.
But suddenly, the figure walking out of the graveyard stopped.
Then, a strange scene occurred. The figure stood still for a while, then turned and walked back into the graveyard.
The people walking towards the figure seemed to not notice anything unusual and continued walking into the graveyard.
“Did… did you hear any strange sounds?”
Inside the bus, the restless boy suddenly looked at Lin Qian.
Lin Qian nodded upon hearing this.
He stood up and went to the back door.
He saw that the living people who had gotten off the bus were now walking towards the graveyard with extremely strange expressions.
Ahead of them, a ‘heh heh’ sound continued to be heard.
Lin Qian narrowed his eyes slightly, “Has the fierce ghost’s killing pattern been triggered already?”
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Why are they following that sound?” the boy asked in terror, watching the people who were heading towards the graveyard one after another.
“They’ve been deceived.”
Lin Qian walked towards the bus. Suddenly, his strange ‘heh heh’ sound became incredibly clear.
His consciousness became hazy, and he instinctively wanted to follow that sound.
But he quickly regained consciousness.
The Faceless Ghost’s supernatural passive ability was triggered.
It protected his supernatural abilities.
Lin Qian reached up and adjusted his face skin.
He reattached the torn edges of his face skin.
He looked at the living people who had triggered the killing pattern and were walking towards the graveyard following the sound.
“Wake up!”
Lin Qian let out a low growl.
In the distance, the deceived living people shivered suddenly.
Those people stood in place blankly, seemingly unaware of what had happened.
“Hurry back!” Zhang Liao did not walk towards the bus but shouted from the back door.
The dazed living people suddenly snapped back to their senses, and then, with terrified expressions, they looked ahead.
Without any hesitation, they turned and ran towards the bus.
Lin Qian watched this scene, his eyes flickering slightly.
They returned to the bus.
Only a few people managed to break free from the deception.
The rest had already walked into the graveyard.
The people who entered the graveyard visibly began to wither.
Their hair turned yellow and began to fall out.
It was as if the moisture and blood in their bodies were being siphoned away by something from afar.
The ghost had killed.
The survivors screamed and ran towards the bus, only now realizing that the bus was actually the safe place.
Those who entered the graveyard turned into dried corpses one by one.
A muffled sound echoed.
Inside the graveyard, figures flickered, and a person, rotten all over and wearing black rags, walked out of the graveyard.
He walked towards the survivors.
“Quick! Hurry!”
The boy shouted anxiously, urging the fleeing survivors.
They tried their best.
But some were still a step too late.
The bus suddenly began to shake.
Immediately after, the engine roared to life.
Lin Qian grabbed the boy standing at the bus door.
The bus door began to slowly close.
“No, don’t!”
Those people panicked as they saw the closing bus door.
The person running at the very front had bloodshot eyes and instantly increased their speed.
They used every ounce of their strength.
Finally.
The person running at the front squeezed in just as the bus door could still accommodate one more person.
The bus door closed.
Bang, bang, bang~!
“Open the door!”
“Let me in!”
“I don’t want to be outside!”
The bus slowly started to move, and a few survivors desperately pounded on the bus door.
“Save me, save me!”
They ran alongside the bus, continuously pounding on it, their eyes fixed on the people inside.
Their eyes were full of hope.
“No! Don’t go!”
“I don’t want to die!”
The bus broke free from their grasp and slowly drove away.
They watched the rapidly departing bus, their expressions filled with despair.
They stared intently at the people on the bus, their eyes filled with venom.
A chilling sensation emerged.
They widened their eyes, and a pair of rotten hands slowly covered their faces.
Visibly, their bodies became withered, while the rot on those rotten hands quickly disappeared.
“What… what is that?” the boy swallowed, looking back at the disappearing scene outside the window with lingering fear.
Lin Qian did not answer, only gazing at the darkness outside the window.
The dangers of this supernatural land were no less than, and perhaps even greater than, that of the ghost painting.
