The moment the elderly lady in a black cotton shirt stepped onto the bus, the digital screen inside the bus abruptly changed its displayed numbers. It jumped directly from 11 to 13.
Two whole numbers were added.
This number wasnât random; it precisely recorded the count of ghosts onboard.
This meantâ
The old lady, though appearing to board alone as a single ghost, had actually brought another ghost aboard.
âIs she a human or a ghost?â
Sitting at the driverâs seat, Yang Jianâs restless Ghost Eye swiveled continuously, fixating intensely on the elderly lady.
There was a fear born out of familiarity.
The last time he encountered this ghost in Dachuan City, he nearly got wiped out by her; he only managed to come back thanks to the rebooting.
Yet his Ghost Eye couldnât discern her true nature. Staring at her, Yang Jian saw an elderly woman seemingly on the brink of death, yet he faintly sensed traces of lifeâa mixture of a living personâs presence and a ghostâs menace. He couldnât definitively determine if she was a ghost.
After boarding, the elderly lady carrying a bamboo basket let her dim, cloudy eyes shift slightly, landing momentarily on Yang Jian at the driverâs seat.
âHmm?â
Yang Jian immediately gripped the cracked long spear beside him, preparing for a confrontation with the ghost.
But the elderly lady made no move, only let the corners of her mouth curl into a faint, almost sinister smile before proceeding inward down the aisle.
âAre you a person or a ghost? Based on your age, you should have lived from the Republic of China era to now, but I saw your corpse in Room 301 in Dachuan CityâŠâ
Without hesitation, Yang Jian asked directly.
The others were visibly unsettled by Yang Jianâs boldness.
âDoes Ghost Eye Yang Jian think this elderly lady isnât a ghost, but a human?â
âNo, the captain isnât sure. Heâs probing to confirm her identity.â Li Yang, fully aware of Yang Jianâs methods, explained.
When facing ghosts, his first instinct is to figure out a way to test them, then quickly analyze the situation to decide the next course of action.
It seems reckless, but in reality, itâs calculated and strategic, far from impulsive.
The elderly lady acted as though she hadnât heard anything, continuing to walk forward at her own pace. She moved to the back of the bus and finally halted there, standing motionless.
The bus was full now.
There were no seats left for her.
The passengers at the rear broke into a cold sweat, desperate to flee and distance themselves from this old lady.
But they didnât dare to act.
Because there was nowhere to escape.
âThe haunted bus isnât startingâŠâ Yang Jian soon noticed that the vehicle wasnât moving. It seemed stalled, as if someone had cut the ignition, while the doors remained open.
Apparently, as long as the elderly lady didnât take a seat, there was no way for the bus to leave.
Still, the bus engine hadnât been shut off.
Which meant the cabin was at least temporarily safe.
The elderly lady stood motionless, like a corpse, seemingly waiting for a seat to become available.
However, with no ghosts exiting the bus, every seat was occupied.
âHuff! Huff!â
Outside, a chilling wind began to pick up, and the scenery beyond started to shift again. In the dim spectral village, lights appeared suddenly. No, those werenât lightsâthey were lanterns glowing with eerie candlelight.
The lanterns flickered, swaying as they approached the bus.
The shadows cast around the lanterns revealed sinister, terrifying figures.
And as time went by, the number of lanterns steadily increased, all converging toward the station.
âThe ghosts from the village are emerging! Damn it, if this keeps up, everyoneâs going to die. Someone must give up a seat for that old thing to sit down, or else this bus wonât start and weâll all perish,â an experienced passenger urgently hissed.
From afar, a swarm of ghosts clutching eerie lanterns closed in.
The bus door was open, and once the spirits boarded, death would come for everyone in the cabin.
A choice had to be made: sacrifice one, or lose everyone. That much was clear to everyone.
In an instant, the tense, oppressive atmosphere inside the cabin flared into explosive hostility.
If the ghosts couldnât leave, perhaps the humans could be forced off?
âThis is bad.â
The messengers who had followed Yang Jian onto the bus were now acutely aware of the dire situation.
Once the bus was full, a sacrifice was inevitable to get it moving; if no one acted, the stall would attract the surrounding ghosts to board, sentencing everyone to death.
But at this moment, no one dared to make the first move.
Everyone was wary of each other, unsure of their opponentsâ capabilities. Attacking the wrong person might lead to self-destruction.
Tensions mounted, and the atmosphere grew heavier, primed for a brutal conflict.
Suddenly, a man sitting inconspicuously in a corner spoke up calmly: âYang Jian, at times like this, we need to step forward and maintain order, or everyone dies. Iâll take out one ghost-wielder, and you take care of one messenger. What do you say?â
Messenger?
The mention of the messengers from the Post Office startled everyone.
Eagle, Leuk Qingqing, Qin Kai, Wang Feng, and the others looked in shock at the man.
The man appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, seemingly young but emanating a sharpness beyond his years. His demeanor was both arrogant and chillingly rational, making it impossible to ignore him.
Yang Jian stood from the driverâs seat with his cracked long spear in hand, scrutinizing the man: âI donât know you.â
âYou donât know many people, but now you do. Iâm Zhou Deng, familiar with Cao Yanhua. Weâve collaborated a few times. I missed the captainâs meeting; otherwise, we might have already met,â the man introduced himself as Zhou Deng, revealing his connection to Cao Yanhua.
He seemed to have ties to headquarters.
The previous passenger, Fan Xing, was also a person-in-charge.
It appeared headquarters had sent a considerable number of people onboard, leveraging the bus to suppress the ghostsâ resurgence.
âInteresting.â Yang Jianâs eyes glimmered faintly.
Zhou Dengâs words hinted at many thingsâhis strength was significant, as he was privy to captain-level meetings, which were exclusive to ghost-wielders nominated as captains.
âAre you capable of doing this?â Yang Jian wasnât opposed.
He thought reducing the number of messengers wouldnât hurt in this situation.
âWhat do you think?â Zhou Deng remained silent but suddenly pulled out a peculiar mask and put it on.
The mask resembled human skinâa disturbingly familiar yet alien visage.
Human Skin Mask?
Once Zhou Deng donned the mask, his demeanor shifted completely, becoming strange and ominous as if a ghost were awakening.
Simultaneously, the digital screen inside the bus jumped in numbers.
13 became 14.
This shift was directly caused by Zhou Deng putting on the Human Skin Mask.
Yang Jian paused briefly to think; he trusted Zhou Deng and ordered, âThen what are we waiting for? Take action.â
âThis is bad.â
The most terrified werenât the ghost-wielders but the four-floor messengers like Eagle, Wang Feng, and Da Qiang.
If Yang Jian started attacking, someone was bound to dieâit was just a matter of who.
âDid he target me?â
Spurred by instinctâor perhaps by noticing Yang Jianâs movementsâthe fourth-floor messenger working with Wang Feng shouted.
âYou managed to fend off my Ghost Shadowâs invasion; youâre not bad. Precisely because of that, you canât be allowed to stay.â Before Yang Jian could finish speaking, the cracked long spear in his hand flew out.
It pierced through the seat instantly.
But the messengerâs reflexes saved him, allowing him to bend down and evade the attack.
âIf you want to kill me, youâll have to do better. Iâve been observing you for a long time; Iâve got some insight into your supernatural weapon,â the fourth-floor messenger countered and grabbed the cracked long spear, lunging at Yang Jian.
âThis end of the spear is for pinning ghosts, isnât it?â
The messenger didnât use a Firewood Knife to strike Yang Jian but instead attempted to stab him with the Coffin Nail end of the spear.
âPathetic.â Yang Jian stood motionless.
The messenger suddenly felt a suffocating darkness enveloping him.
A massive shadow crashed into him, sending him flying out of the bus.
His neck snapped upon landing, and he lay lifeless on the ground, blood gushing from his mouth.
âThe gap is too wide. Even with the suppression inside the bus, Yang Jian still holds a crushing advantage. He handled it masterfully,â Qin Kai, Da Qiang, Eagle, and others couldnât help but think as they watched this unfold.
With this realization, they quietly exhaled in relief.
In quick succession, another unfortunate passenger was thrown off the bus.
Zhou Deng had also succeeded.
A ghost-wielder was slain and discarded like a corpse.
âHow was that?â Zhou Deng glanced at Yang Jian.
âImpressive.â
Yang Jian fixed his gaze on another passenger with the long spear in hand: âMove to that seat. Two seats must be freed up.â
The passenger didnât dare resist and immediately changed seats.
With the seats vacated, the elderly lady finally moved. She shuffled over to the empty spot and slowly sat down, placing her bamboo basket on the adjacent seat.
Two seats occupied by a ghost?
This raised eyebrows among some passengers.
No.
The basket itself counted as a ghost.
The clever ones quickly made sense of the situation.
The earlier number jump was due to this.
Zhou Deng then ripped off the Human Skin Mask, and the digital screenâs number changed again: 13.
The number of ghosts on board had decreased by one.
âA Human Skin Mask capable of turning its wearer into a ghost?â Yang Jian glanced at it briefly before resuming his seat at the driverâs position.
The risk of overloading had been resolved.
âBang!â
The haunted bus resumed operation, its doors slamming shut. Slowly, it began to move forward.
Meanwhile, in the eerie village, dozens of lanterns burned brightly, swaying like waves, surging toward the bus station.
But as the bus picked up speed, the lanterns and their ominous glow were gradually left behind, eventually disappearing into the darkness.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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