Chapter 25
Wei Chengzhi struggled to walk onto the bus, carrying two large bags of daily necessities and fruit.
He lived nearby and worked at a small company, but recently people started flocking to other places, and the company couldn't operate normally. He inexplicably lost his job.
Although he didn't know what had happened, he still planned to stock up on some food.
Before me stood an elderly man with white hair, his body hunched over, carrying a portable shopping cart.
There were quite a few people boarding at this station. Wei Chengzhi felt a force pushing him from behind, and he could only hold onto the handrail next to him with difficulty to keep his balance.
As the bus moved forward, a group of people swayed from side to side. Not far away, a thin old man seemed to have been hit and fell to the side unexpectedly.
Wei Chengzhi quickly helped the person up, and only after seeing her face clearly did he realize that she was an acquaintance: "Aunt Chen?"
The landlord looked much older than she had seen in just over a week. Her once stylish brown-yellow curly hair had grown a lot of white hair because she hadn't taken care of it in a long time, and the wrinkles on her face were more obvious.
"Xiao Zhi," Aunt Chen recognized the young man in front of her with her cloudy eyes.
"I thought I had mistaken you for someone else since you used to live here."
Wei Chengzhi slightly turned his body to create a safe space to prevent the elderly person from being hit again.
"There aren't as many cars here as in the city, it's quiet. Otherwise, the car horns at night keep me awake. Are you working here now?"
"Yes, I'm in this area, just came out to buy something." He didn't mention that he was unemployed; he had enough money to last him a few more months.
As more people got off the bus, there were empty seats, and the two sat down next to each other.
A fragrance wafted into the carriage. Wei Chengzhi sniffed; it smelled like some kind of flower and was very pleasant.
He looked up and saw a bright potted plant next to the driver's seat. Through the glass, he could see the petals and leaves swaying gently as the car moved.
The older women behind me were chatting, and their voices were exceptionally clear.
“There have been quite a few deaths in our neighborhood recently. I don’t know what happened, but I’ve already spent almost two thousand yuan on funeral gifts.”
"Something happened where you are, and it happened here too. We've been having a series of people carried out recently. The family next door to me was still talking to each other yesterday, and this morning the person was gone."
"Is it because it's gotten cold lately? People tend to die when it gets cold. Several people from the previous generation passed away every winter."
"No, they were all young people in their twenties and thirties who died."
Hearing their words, Wei Chengzhi felt a chill run down his spine.
A chill ran through him, and he glanced at the sun outside, which was barely warm, and hugged his arms tightly.
A middle-aged man coughed nearby.
At first, there were only two or three coughs, but then they became more and more frequent. The man bent over and looked at the floor, as if he was coughing up his heart and lungs.
"Are you alright?" someone asked worriedly. "I have some water here, would you like to drink some to soothe your throat?"
"Thank you, but no need, it's just an old problem of mine."
After he finished speaking, he coughed a few more times.
The bus swayed and bumped along. This area was considered the suburbs, with few vehicles and flat, wide roads.
"Xiao Zhi, would you like to come to my house for dinner later? My daughter went abroad recently and bought a lot of groceries today. I can't finish them all by myself."
The elderly woman, who had been so energetic not long ago, had aged considerably. Wei Chengzhi vaguely remembered that Aunt Chen's husband had passed away three years ago, and now she lived alone.
"No need, I'll be there in a few stops."
Suddenly, the middle-aged man fell to the ground, his unzipped briefcase tumbling out and scattering documents all over the floor.
Someone has fainted!
A gasp came from the side.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"Why did it suddenly collapse? Driver, someone has fainted!"
The passengers on the bus were startled and shouted all at once.
The driver braked abruptly and walked through the crowd to the middle-aged man.
"Is there anyone who is a doctor or knows any first aid?" the driver shouted, looking around.
But the car was full of elderly people who had come out to buy groceries, and no one dared to go forward.
"I know some first aid techniques. Please call an ambulance immediately, and driver, please drive to the nearest hospital."
Wei Chengzhi knelt down and used the method he had learned before to press on the man's heart and lungs with both hands. He pressed more than a dozen times, but the man still did not respond.
"Brother, please drive faster. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is useless."
He shouted, and the next second, his subordinate's heart suddenly started beating again.
It was a success?
He was half surprised and half pleased, but then he felt relieved.
Suddenly, the man convulsed a few times, and the next second, his brain split open, and a bunch of densely packed worms crawled out from inside.
What is this?
The insects flew out, with eyeballs without eyelids, segmented antennae on their heads, and a cluster of tiny tentacles on their abdomens, which obediently clung to their pale bellies.
What was this thing? Wei Chengzhi stared blankly at this unbelievable scene. He could even see worms wriggling inside the middle-aged man's brain and grayish-white brain matter.
vomit-
He felt like vomiting, and heard screams in his ears.
It felt like a sharp object had pierced his skull. Wei Chengzhi ran his fingers through his hair, but it was just scratching the surface.
I really want to have my brain removed...
"ah--"
The carriage was filled with chilling screams; everyone seemed to have gone mad.
Someone clutched their head in pain and slammed their head against the car window, which was made of hard metal glass. Half of the person's head caved in instantly, and the contents of their brain mixed with blood flowed out and dripped onto the ground.
Get out... get out of here...
It seemed as if someone was muttering in their sleep, but Wei Chengzhi couldn't hear the content.
His vision was shrouded in red, and he opened his eyes wide to see the passengers' bodies scattered in various corners.
The insects flew closer and closer, their teeth clearly visible.
Suddenly, a bloody hand tugged at him from behind.
"Child, hurry up." It was Aunt Chen's voice.
Upon smelling the fresh blood, the black insects instantly became excited and swarmed onto Aunt Chen like leeches, sucking the fresh blood.
They weren't just sucking blood; it was as if those people had been hollowed out, leaving only a layer of human skin on the seats.
The people on the bus gradually died, and the insects followed closely behind the only living creature.
This new type of bus is over ten meters long, with a driver's cabin separated by glass at the front, which is the only enclosed space inside the bus.
Despite his headache, he walked toward the cockpit, with screams echoing behind him.
When his forehead hit the seat, Wei Chengzhi regained consciousness for a moment and suddenly realized that the bus was still moving.
Ahead lies a wide bridge, but at this rate, the car will likely plunge straight into the river.
The cockpit is closed.
He smashed the glass, staggered to the driver's seat, and found the driver's body covered in swarms of insects.
Inside the driver's cab, the potted plants were in full bloom, with many white insect eggs on their petals.
The sweet fragrance of flowers filled the cab, and the white insect eggs were gradually swelling, while the black insects hatched at an extraordinary speed.
The bus made an "S" shape, then swayed left and right before slowly coming to a stop.
"What's wrong with this car? How can it be parked in the middle of the road? Don't they have any morals?!"
Three minutes later, a black sedan pulled up beside it.
The driver got out of the car and walked to the bus while cursing.
He saw some black, viscous liquid on the ground, and then walked to the front of the car with a look of surprise and uncertainty, where the interior came into view.
"ah--"
Security Department of the Special Abilities Bureau
In front of the screen, accompanied by the sound of alarms, the specialists looked serious.
“A strong energy fluctuation has occurred in City S, with the maximum value reaching 5,000. Contact the local operations unit immediately to handle the situation.”
"According to a report from the local operations department, the pollutants were found on a bus on a local main road, resulting in 23 deaths and only one survivor."
"Due to the remote location of the incident, the operations unit did not arrive immediately, which led to the spread of pollutants in the area. The death toll has now reached 40."
"The pollutant is an insect, and it has been collected and sent to the research institute."
When Wei Chengzhi woke up, the first thing he saw was a white ceiling, and next to him was a doctor wearing a white coat.
"Patient No. 37, you're awake. How are you feeling?" The doctor looked very surprised.
Wasn't he on the bus? How come he's at the hospital?
Thinking of that fantastical scene on the bus, Wei Chengzhi froze instantly.
Were those insects and corpses real, or just figments of my imagination?
Or perhaps I really am a mentally ill person who has been locked up, and those paranormal events never happened.
"Vital signs are stable, pollution level is 890, and no abnormal symptoms have been observed so far."
Welcome to Nanshan Hospital.
The doctor's gentle voice rang out, and his life took a different turn from that moment on.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com