Xia Linyin took off the black bag slung across her body, emptied its contents, and looked to see if there was anything she could use.
Lipstick, eyebrow pencil, mascara, powder puff...
The cosmetics were piled up haphazardly on the stool. Looking at this pile of cosmetics, Xia Linyin was almost in despair.
Besides cosmetics, Xia Linyin also found a set of keys, a wallet, a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a cell phone.
Inside the wallet was a stack of 100-yuan bills, bank cards, credit cards, and some loose change. Xia Linyin took out her ID card from inside the wallet and glanced at it.
It looks exactly like her ID card.
Perhaps... that's her identity card in the real world.
Xia Linyin opened the makeup mirror. The face reflected in the mirror was covered with thick powder and bright lipstick, her heavy makeup making her stunningly beautiful.
"It looks just like a ghost," Xia Linyin snapped, slamming the makeup mirror shut and then turning on her phone.
"Damn it!" Xia Linyin cursed under her breath. Her phone had run out of battery and shut down automatically, a common trope in horror movies. At the crucial moment, the phone either ran out of battery or had no signal.
She wanted to call the director of the orphanage on her phone, even though she didn't know if the call would go through. But she wanted to give it a try.
I'll give it a try, clinging to a sliver of hope.
She might not see the sun rise tomorrow.
Xia Linyin wiped her face. She felt a little irritable, which, like fear, was affecting her judgment.
After stuffing everything that had fallen onto the stool back into the black bag, Xia Linyin only took out a makeup mirror, a lighter, and a few coins; that was all she could take.
A cold wind blew, like ice shards falling on people. Xia Linyin was dressed in thin clothes, and her teeth chattered from the cold. She hugged her arms tightly and rubbed them vigorously, but the goosebumps did not come off.
Standing up, Xia Linyin walked to the bus stop sign next to her. Naturally, there was no bus number 44 on the sign.
She lingered in front of the bus stop, rubbing her arms as she paced back and forth.
"Tap tap tap tap tap—"
The sound of high heels clicking on the ground echoed clearly in the quiet of the night.
"Ouch—" Xia Linyin had never worn such high heels before, and she accidentally twisted her ankle. She winced in pain, squatted down, and rubbed her ankle.
Fortunately, it wasn't too serious. After rubbing it, it didn't affect her walking anymore. Xia Linyin simply took off her high heels and stepped barefoot on the cold ground.
The bright red high heels were so red they looked like they had been soaked in blood. The heels were thin and high, almost ten centimeters, making them look like menacing weapons.
Xia Linyin grabbed her high heels and swung them around a couple of times, thinking that if she were to smash them down, she could probably smash a hole in someone's head. Unfortunately, what she was facing was a ghost.
However, having such a weapon in hand is better than not having one at all. At least when you're scared, you can smash it a few times like a madman, even though it's not very effective.
"Beep beep—"
Upon hearing the sound, Xia Linyin quickly turned her head to look, and saw a bus slowly approaching.
"Thump, thump, thump, thump!" My heart began to pound violently, striking my chest like a drum.
A chill crept up Xia Linyin's spine; it was a chill that spread from within her heart, even more chilling than the surrounding night wind.
As the bus drew closer, Xia Linyin paused for a moment when she saw the "Route 17" sign displayed on the bus.
The bus didn't stop, and as it drove away from Xia Linyin, the wind made her hair a little messy.
Xia Linyin let out a sigh of relief, her limbs feeling weak as if all her strength had been drained. She raised her hand to brush the messy strands of hair that were sticking to her face behind her head, and when she looked up, her pupils suddenly contracted.
A bus had stopped in front of her sometime during the night!
The bus windshield was marked with "Route 44" in blood-red lettering, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.
With a "click," the bus door opened.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Xia Linyin trembled.
What was bound to happen eventually did. Xia Linyin took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and walked towards the bus door.
Knowing full well that this was a cursed bus, she had no choice but to get on. Xia Linyin didn't know what would happen if she didn't get on the bus, but she dared not gamble.
A label with "2 yuan" was pasted on the coin box, and Xia Linyin put two yuan bills into the box.
The bus driver was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man wearing a uniform blue shirt.
The driver kept his eyes straight ahead, not even glancing at Xia Linyin, and started the bus after she boarded.
The car door slammed shut behind Xia Linyin with a "click".
Xia Linyin gripped the high heels in her hand tightly and scanned the bus with her eyes.
The bus was almost empty, except for her, the driver, and one other person sitting in the last row by the window.
Judging from his build and clothing, he should be a young man.
The man was wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap, with his arms crossed and head bowed, obscuring his face; he appeared to be asleep.
Neither the driver nor this man looks like a ghost, so... where is the ghost?
Is there a ghost...?
Xia Linyin mustered her courage and did something very bold: she squatted down, half-crouched on the ground, and looked under the seats one by one...
Finding nothing, and without a sudden appearance of a hideous ghost face, Xia Linyin stood up, supporting herself on the stool, to avoid collapsing to the ground.
A fine layer of cold sweat appeared on her forehead, and her legs felt incredibly weak.
Suddenly, the man looked up at Xia Linyin, then lowered his head again.
The bus stopped, and a middle-aged woman wearing a large floral dress and with permed ramen-noodle curls boarded. She was wearing flip-flops and glanced at Xia Linyin with a puzzled look as she passed by, seemingly wondering why Xia Linyin didn't sit down when there were empty seats, but instead stood there like a stone.
The middle-aged woman found a seat near the front and looked Xia Linyin up and down. When she saw the lighter in Xia Linyin's hand, she asked, "Do you have any cigarettes?"
"Huh?" Xia Linyin looked at her, then nodded. "Oh, yes."
Xia Linyin rummaged through her bag and took out a cigarette case, handing it to the middle-aged woman. She stared intently at her and asked, "Do you know which bus number this is?"
The middle-aged woman took the cigarette case, frowned at Xia Linyin, and conveyed a message in her eyes that said, "Are you out of your mind? Asking such a stupid question."
But out of respect for Xia Linyin's offer of a cigarette, the middle-aged woman replied, "Route 17."
"Excuse me for asking, but why are you still out so late?" Xia Linyin asked cautiously.
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