The rural countryside outside the bus windows was old and desolate, steeped in dim light, oppressive and dilapidated.
Places like this felt deeply eerieâlike they didnât belong to this world. Yet, judging by the scale of the village, it must have been prosperous at some point. Though the wooden houses had aged considerably, the carved floral patterns on them were still visible.
However, the passengers on the bus had their attention elsewhere.
The village lay a certain distance away from the road. Although its sinister appearance gave everyone chills, since no one planned on spending the night there, the concern was minimal. What unnerved them was the sight of someone standing at the bus stop near the village entrance.
In a place like this, amidst such an environment, would anyone really be waiting for the bus at that stop?
Everyoneâs minds instinctively settled on one word: ghost.
The one waiting for the haunted bus wasnât human, but a malicious spirit preparing to board.
âCan we really be this unlucky? Weâve only traveled one stop, and now thereâs a ghost about to climb aboard. And the bus is full tooâthis canât end well.â
The courier known as Eagle was ordinarily calm and collected, but now, unease gripped him profoundly. He cast a quick glance at Leuk Qingqing.
Leuk Qingqingâs gaze was equally heavy, her expression betraying faint traces of deep worry.
The same went for several unfamiliar passengers. Though they werenât couriers, they had inexplicably stayed aboard the haunted bus. Faced with the looming danger, they were visibly tense.
âI have an idea. A whole group of people boarded earlier and filled all the seats. Once this ghost climbs aboard at the next stop, the lack of seating will surely lead to fatal consequences. Instead of passively waiting for disaster, why not take the initiative?â
âKill someone now and free up a seat for the ghost. That way, weâd defuse this crisis altogether.â
A man seated near the front of the bus spoke coldly and bluntly.
It was evident he was also a ghost tamer, unfamiliar to most, and hadnât been aboard for long.
âItâs a decent idea, but do you dare to act on it? Ghost-eye Yang Jianâs right next to you. If you kill one of his people, do you think youâll survive to reach the next stop? Just moments ago, Ni Sheng stuck around on the bus longer than he shouldâve. He was taken out by Yang Jian in a single move. How long have you been on this bus? Five days? Six days?â
Fan Xing, a city official seated nearby, sneered derisively.
âYou donât know your limits, rookie. Picking a fight with a Captain-level figureâare you tired of living?â
Someone else silently shook their head, convinced the man was courting his own death out of sheer ignorance.
It was clear to those paying attention that Yang Jian had been prepared when the haunted bus stopped in Dachang City earlier.
He had deliberately waited for the busâs arrival before leading his team aboard.
In other words, the people Yang Jian brought aboard werenât going to stay long. Their purpose wasnât to ride indefinitely but to reach a specific destination.
Under these conditions, avoiding conflict was already a struggle; picking a fight would be outright foolish.
Yang Jian was currently analyzing and observing some changes in the driverâs seat, paying absolutely no mind to the strangerâs earlier remarks. He responded indifferently, âIf you want to clear out a seat by taking someone out, I have no objections. Just make sure you can go through with it. If you canât, then Iâll take you out instead.â
Hmm?
Those words made several faces subtly shift.
What did he mean?
Was he giving tacit approval for someone to act and eliminate one of the existing passengers?
Or was this a warning and a show of dominance?
Whatever the case, Yang Jianâs statement caused a ripple of unease among the couriers. They felt a sudden and inexplicable surge of crisis deep within.
If it came down to an actual confrontation, none of them felt confident about surviving.
âThey wouldnât really resort to violence, would they?â Yang Xiaohua murmured, her unease evident.
She sat clutching a red balloon, trying her best to maintain composure. Despite being an ordinary person, as long as she didnât reveal this fact, who would suspect her true nature?
Besides, there was something undeniably peculiar about her.
After all, who rides a bus while holding a red balloon the entire time?
Adhering to the principle that âthe stranger something appears, the more dangerous it might be,â few were inclined to target her.
Instead, most of the scrutiny landed on Wang Feng, Qin Kai, Eagle, and Da Qiang.
From their appearances and attire, they seemed indistinguishable from ordinary people. This either meant they were exceptionally powerful ghost tamers or terribly weak ones, barely touched by supernatural erosion.
Most likely, it was the latter.
Given Yang Jianâs reputation in the ghost-taming community, his strength was widely acknowledged. If any of these companions were remotely noteworthy, word of them would have spread by now.
âNo point in provoking Yang Jian. Once the bus stops, thereâs a chance a ghost might get off.â
Someone muttered a cautionary remark, hoping to deter any missteps that might lead to an all-out battle aboard.
Such a statement had an immediate calming effect on everyoneâs thoughts.
True enough.
A ghost might disembark at the next stop, which would naturally free up a seat.
In the end, no one acted on the idea of killing to free a space.
The couriers seated in the bus secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
âYang Jian⊠to think just his name alone can suppress these hardened fighters whoâve dealt with malicious spirits. Itâs almost unreal. What kind of history does Yang Jian have to command such fear?â
Eagle clenched his fists, his gaze drifting toward the driverâs seat occupant.
Though Eagle knew little of Yang Jianâs background, he could feel that to intimidate such brutal figures, Yang Jian had to be even more ruthless and terrifying.
From their previous interactions, Eagle had gathered that Yang Jian had his methods but didnât seem overwhelmingly fearsome.
So⊠was his perspective too limited? Could he only glimpse the tip of Yang Jianâs iceberg?
âThe bus is stopping.â
Someone, voice barely above a whisper, announced.
No matter what had transpired aboard, the haunted bus operated without interference. Slowing gently, it came to a stop beside the station near the eerie village.
Only now did the passengers get a clearer look at the figure waiting at the station.
It was a hunched-over elder, gaunt and lifeless, dressed in a black cloth jacket. One frail arm held a bamboo basket covered in floral fabric.
The figure resembled an old villager returning home from the marketplace in earlier times.
âAn old woman⊠no, a sinister granny.â
âLooks humanâcould it really be?â
âSomeone lingering here? Are you out of your mind?â
The haunted bus halted, and its doors abruptly swung openâboth the front boarding door and the rear exit door.
All eyes swept across the interior, vigilantly checking to see whether any ghosts would get off.
Meanwhile, the eerie old woman slowly approached, prepared to board.
Yet, no one on the bus made any move.
Not a single ghost disembarked.
âDamn it.â
Realizing this, many passengersâ faces darkened instantly.
They understood fully well that if a ghost planned to leave the bus, it wouldâve acted by now. The lack of any movement meant only one thing: this stop would see arrivals but no departures.
The ghost would board.
If there was no seat available, trouble would escalate quickly.
âThis old woman looks⊠familiarâŠâ Leuk Qingqing stared at the approaching figure, fragments of memories from a bygone era surfacing faintly.
Sheâd seen her beforeâor rather, encountered her somewhere.
âThe source of Dachuan Cityâs Ferocious Ghost District, Room 301âcould it be that horrifying old woman?â
Sitting in the passenger seat, Yang Jian fixed his gaze indelibly on the boarding figure.
Initially, he also felt a sense of familiarity.
But it wasnât until he noticed the basket in the old womanâs hands that realization solidified in his mind.
This granny was the owner of Room 301 in Dachuan City.
âThatâs impossible. That old womanâs already deadâher corpse was lying on the rickety bed in the room to the left of 301. How could she be here?â Yang Jianâs expression shifted unpredictably.
This defied his understanding.
He couldnât fathom a reasonable explanation for it all.
No matter his thoughtsâŠ
The old woman climbed aboard nonetheless.
As she did, the electronic screen displaying the passenger count flickered noticeably.
Previously, it had read 11. Now, suddenly blinking, it displayed 13.
The count had jumped by two.
One figure had boarded, but the bus recorded the addition of two ghosts.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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