Chapter 949 916: Escaping into Old Lin

Get off the bus!

As the haunted bus fully shut off and the doors swung open, every passenger onboard had only one thought at that moment: get out as fast as possible.

Once the ghostly bus shut off, staying onboard was no longer an option. Forcing oneself to remain would mean inviting a tragic and terrifying fate.

Not to mention, there were thirteen restless ghosts stirring inside the bus.

Even someone as experienced as Yang Jian would retreat in face of such a number of vengeful spirits.

Let alone the ghost tamers aboard who came here seeking survival.

The moment the doors opened, one ghost tamer immediately dashed out and put as much distance as possible between themselves and the bus.

Yang Jian moved swiftly as well.

After getting off, he activated the Ghost Domain. The moment his foot left the bus, he reappeared dozens of meters away in an instant.

Even at this distance, he remained vigilant. Knowing his cautious nature, he would only feel at ease after traveling several kilometers away. However, he couldn’t afford to leave the area completely, as the ancient manor nearby posed its own dangers if he strayed too far from it.

“Who else managed to get off the bus?”

Yang Jian kept a watchful eye on the passengers disembarking near the bus.

He saw Fan Xing safely leave the bus and quickly move away, unharmed by the vengeful spirits. He also spotted Zhou Deng donning the Human Skin Mask once more, barreling out without hesitation. He, too, avoided the attention of the ghosts.

Besides them, several other ghost tamers escaped successfully, though they didn’t dare to stray too far. They were teetering on the brink of ghostly resurgence themselves.

Without the suppression of the haunted bus to keep the ghosts in their bodies at bay, these ghost tamers wouldn’t survive for long.

Thus, they lingered close to the bus, waiting for it to start again, hoping to board and escape.

But while the idea seemed hopeful, reality was cruel.

“Ah!”

A blood-curdling scream broke through the oppressive darkness of the bus. A passenger had triggered the ghost’s killing rule, and before they could get off, they had fallen victim to a horrifying attack. It was clear their fate was sealed.

“Damn it, that thing is coming for me!”

Someone else shouted in horror. Though they had made it off the bus, a ghost had now fixated on them. It left a trail of wet, lingering footprints.

One of the ghosts, which had boarded the bus in the downpour at the last stop, had begun killing.

The victim was another ghost tamer—a person who had even been one of the first to flee the bus. Yet, for reasons unknown, the ghost had chosen him as its target. Fear and panic consumed the man.

However, this brought a sliver of relief to the others.

For as long as the ghost focused on him, it wouldn’t attack anyone else.

Li Yang also got off the bus. While he wasn’t among the first group to flee, he didn’t lag far behind.

Yang Jian’s gaze lingered on him for a moment before he exhaled in quiet relief. Li Yang’s luck hadn’t been as poor as Yang Jian had feared—he’d managed to avoid the notice of the vengeful spirits. He was safe.

Seeing this, Yang Jian immediately used the Ghost Domain to envelop Li Yang and bring him to his side.

Meanwhile, Yang Xiaohua was running toward them with the red balloon in her hand. Her face was pale with terror, her breathing ragged, and she didn’t dare to look back. She only focused on dashing toward Yang Jian as fast as her legs could carry her.

Old Lin and Leuk Qingqing also disembarked.

However, Leuk Qingqing seemed to be under attack from a ghost. Her expression looked peculiar—though she was off the bus, she glanced about suspiciously, as if constantly on guard against something unseen.

Da Qiang and Wang Feng made it out alive too.

But Qin Kai wasn’t so fortunate. As he exited, a frozen corpse clung tightly to him, its icy limbs wrapped around his body, refusing to let go.

He had, too, fallen victim to a ghost’s attack.

The one attacking him had been sitting beside him on the bus earlier.

“Damn it!”

Qin Kai growled, his voice filled with helpless rage. Though he made it off the vehicle, each of his steps became increasingly labored. His body seemed to freeze, his breath misted with cold vapor, and a layer of frost formed over his skin and eyebrows.

In only a few moments.

He completely transformed into a frozen corpse, mouth agape in a silent, resentful scream, frozen in the posture of defeat.

Qin Kai clearly had unutilized countermeasures, but it was too late. The ghost’s attack had come too ferociously, leaving him no time to fight back before he perished.

“Qin Kai is dead,” Yang Jian murmured, his eyes flickering slightly.

The messenger from the fourth floor proved not to be much stronger than the average ghost tamer.

Though they had some ability to resist supernatural forces, it wasn’t enough to withstand prolonged attacks.

With Qin Kai’s death, the frozen female corpse resumed its eerie activity, its icy pupils darting around as if seeking out its next victim.

Drip, drip.

Suddenly, rain began to fall around the bus. It wasn’t heavy, just a sparse drizzle, but the air quickly filled with a nauseating stench.

“We have to leave! This place is becoming more dangerous by the second,” Yang Jian said sharply, retreating swiftly.

He left the main road and started along a winding path that led through the Old Forest toward the ancient manor.

It would be foolish to waste any more time here.

Yang Jian’s movements immediately drew the notice of others. Though he remained within the Ghost Domain, he didn’t bother to conceal himself, so his actions weren’t hard to spot.

“Yang Jian is heading toward the ancient manor? Follow him! This cursed place isn’t safe—we won’t last until the bus restarts.”

Fan Xing, though not a messenger himself, decided in this critical moment to follow Yang Jian and move away.

“Yang Jian? I see. He must’ve noticed something. Sticking with him might help us avoid danger.”

Others quickly caught on and chose to follow as well. Sitting idly here seemed fruitless; finding a safe place to hide seemed like the smarter option.

“The ghosts are already disembarking. If you don’t want to die, stay far away from here! Don’t die near me, or you’ll risk causing another ghost to awaken, which will be a nightmare to deal with.”

A strange unanimity arose among the remaining passengers—they began converging in Yang Jian’s direction.

This was pure desperation.

It wasn’t necessarily that Yang Jian’s path was the correct one but rather that danger loomed in every other direction. None of them were willing to venture too far alone and risk getting lost in this haunted domain.

Sticking together seemed to improve the odds of survival.

And Yang Jian, who attracted the largest group, appeared to be the safest bet.

Moreover, wherever he moved, no ghosts seemed to follow. The direction he chose seemed to radiate safety.

All these factors combined made the path Yang Jian took resemble a lifeline of hope.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone following me?” Yang Jian was momentarily stunned by the scene.

He was heading to the ancient manor to deliver a letter. These passengers weren’t messengers and had nothing to do with the delivery task—following him was pointless.

Still, Yang Jian didn’t try to stop them.

At this moment, everyone was seeking survival. If he interfered, these desperate people might turn on him with everything they had.

“Keep moving to the ancient manor; don’t linger here,” he said.

Yang Jian, along with Li Yang, Yang Xiaohua, Old Lin, and the others who had caught up, quickly entered the dense Old Forest, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the lifeless, silent bus.

The ominous, dim sky sprinkled with light rain.

The rain wasn’t natural. It was supernatural, tied to the presence of the ghosts.

Yang Jian’s Ghost Domain enshrouded their surroundings, shielding them from the eerie rain’s effects and isolating them from other supernatural threats. He had no intention of drawing more ghosts to them—it would only complicate the letter delivery mission.

“Since we can’t stay here any longer, we might as well check out the ancient manor. Waiting for the bus to restart seems increasingly unlikely.”

Hidden behind the eerie silhouette of the Human Skin Mask, Zhou Deng seemed to entertain this thought.

He suspected the ancient manor held some secret worth uncovering. It seemed a better prospect than engaging in a losing battle with the ghosts.

The passengers who had fled the bus had now split into three distinct groups: those who were actively being pursued by ghosts and forced to flee, those who had been killed outright by the unleashed ghosts, and the remaining survivors who had chosen to follow Yang Jian to the ancient manor in hopes of finding safety.

Even with the risks posed by the manor, it appeared preferable to facing the relentless ghosts disembarking from the haunted bus.

Screams of agony echoed intermittently through the silent, oppressive realm.

The cries came suddenly and ended just as abruptly.

Soon.

The area around the haunted bus fell into a deep, deathly silence.

Only a few lifeless bodies and wandering, nightmarish ghosts remained near the site.

The narrow forest trail through the Old Forest quickly became crowded with fleeing survivors.

Oddly enough.

Once they entered the forest, none of the ghosts seemed to pursue them. Though the haunted bus loomed nearby, the ghosts didn’t step into the woods. Instead, they lingered at the forest’s edge, as though some unseen force barred their entry.

“This place is safe; the ghosts didn’t follow us.”

“Unbelievable! This forest can repel ghost attacks! I made the right choice earlier—otherwise, I’d be dead by now.”

“But what difference does it make if we survive? The bus is so far away now. If it restarts, will we even have time to make it back? Without the bus, we’ll soon die from ghost resurgence.”

“Forget it! Survival comes first. If you want to go back to the bus, be my guest. I, for one, won’t go near that damned thing again.”

Low conversations broke out among the survivors, most expressing relief and gratitude to have escaped. Whatever happened next, they would deal with it later.

“Leuk Qingqing hasn’t caught up yet. Is she dead?” Wang Feng muttered from within the crowd.

Old Lin replied, “Not sure. She seemed to be under ghost attack—her fate is unclear. But I doubt she’d die so easily. I only saw Qin Kai meet his end. He was wrapped up by a frozen female corpse. Da Qiang, however, is still alive. He got off quickly and put distance between himself and the bus, avoiding the ghosts’ attention.”

“What really baffles me is that Yang Xiaohua, an ordinary person, is still alive. It’s downright unnatural.”

He glanced toward the front of the group, where Yang Xiaohua clutched her red balloon.

An average person had managed to survive from the second-floor domain to the fourth-floor domain, enduring three station stops, and had even survived the bus stalling without falling victim to a ghost. Her survival bordered on the miraculous—it was as though she were a living charm of extraordinary luck.

“Maybe Yang Jian has been protecting her. She and Li Yang are both under his wing,” Wang Feng suggested.

“Perhaps,” Old Lin said, his expression shifting slightly. His hand remained tucked in his sleeve, where he tightly gripped an old handgun.

In this escalating situation, whether or not such a weapon would prove useful was uncertain.

But he was acutely aware that the real danger would come during the letter delivery mission that lay ahead.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.