The middle-aged woman took out a lighter, lit a cigarette, took a drag, and blew the smoke towards Xia Linyin, saying irritably, "Why are you asking so many questions?"
"Sorry." Xia Linyin smiled apologetically at the middle-aged woman, then ignored her request for the remaining cigarettes and hurried towards the back of the bus.
There were two seats in the middle of the bus facing the door. Xia Linyin walked to those two seats, flipped down a stool, and sat down.
The middle-aged woman was unaware that she was on bus number 44.
Clearly, this middle-aged woman is a character in the story, equivalent to an NPC in a game. If she's not mistaken, more NPCs will gradually board this bus, and one of these NPCs is a ghost. Her mission is to find the ghost hidden among the NPCs.
Xia Linyin originally wanted to sit in the last row because that would offer the best view and make it easier for her to observe everyone.
However, at the same time, she felt that this position was also the most dangerous. In those horror movies, ghosts love to target the people who are alone and walking at the back. So she was afraid that if she sat in the last row, she would be killed by a ghost without even knowing when.
This is probably the best position; she can see what's happening on both sides just by turning her head left or right.
Xia Linyin tensed up, wondering if there were other players in this game.
At this moment, the bus stopped again.
Xia Linyin saw a girl in a school uniform, with a ponytail and a backpack standing in front of the bus stop.
The girl took a few steps back in fright after seeing the bus.
The bus didn't start moving, and the driver didn't urge him, but patiently waited for the girl to get on.
"Damn it!" The middle-aged woman threw her cigarette butt on the ground, stomped on it, rolled down the car window, stuck her head out, and yelled furiously, "Are you getting in or not?! If you're going to get in, get in now!"
The girl shrank back when the middle-aged woman yelled at her, but after regaining her composure, she slowly moved towards the car.
She looked terrified, trembling like a leaf, her face as pale as paper, devoid of any color, her expression as if she were on her way to the execution ground.
This is a player!
This must be a player like her!
This means that she's not the only player in this game. If they all have the same task, working together to defeat the ghost will greatly increase their chances of completing the mission.
Correspondingly, the risk rate will be much lower after the risk is shared compared to bearing the risk alone.
That's great! She's not fighting alone! She has companions!
Xia Linyin looked at the girl excitedly, and when the girl looked at her, she curled up the corners of her mouth and revealed a friendly smile.
However, the girl screamed in fright and then sat down on the ground with a thud.
His expression was terrified, as if he had seen something horrible.
Xia Linyin looked at the girl in surprise, then looked away and looked at the car door opposite, where her reflection was mirrored.
Her face was as white as if she were wearing a mask. Her eyeshadow had smudged due to sweat, her lips were as red as blood, and her long, wavy hair was disheveled. She was wearing a bright red dress. At first glance, she looked like a female ghost in red sitting there.
No wonder the girl was so scared when she saw her.
The girl sat down in a double seat at the front of the bus, curling up like a quail, her hands clasped together, and muttering incantations. You could vaguely hear words like "Namo Amitabha Buddha" and "May Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Lao Tzu protect me."
Then, a woman in white boarded the bus. She was wearing a long white dress that looked a bit like a nightgown, with long, flowing, straight black hair and bangs. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes and looked somewhat lifeless.
The woman walked so lightly and silently that she appeared as a ghost as she sat down behind the middle-aged woman.
The girl in the school uniform lowered her head even further.
When the bus stopped at the next stop, an elderly woman dressed in what appeared to be ethnic minority clothing boarded the bus. She was carrying a bamboo basket covered with a black square scarf.
Xia Linyin secretly observed the old woman from head to toe, her gaze falling on the bamboo basket in the old woman's hand, wondering what was inside.
The old woman was slightly hunched over, with a dark blue headscarf wrapped around her head. She took out a folded handkerchief from her pocket, unfolded it, and put two yuan into the coin box.
Then she took two steps into the car and stopped in front of the double seat where the girl was sitting. "Girl, come in and sit down. This old woman wants to sit here."
The sound was rough, like the cawing of a crow, and it sent chills down one's spine.
The girl jumped up from her seat when the old woman stared at her with her cloudy eyes, and then fled to the side as if escaping.
The middle-aged woman and the woman in white turned to look at her.
Upon realizing the woman in white was looking at her, the girl's face contorted with terror, and she ran towards the back of the carriage.
"You—" Xia Linyin had barely uttered a word when the girl turned to look at her, then immediately screamed and stumbled and fell to the ground as she climbed the steps.
Ignoring the pain, the girl scrambled to hide behind the chair.
"You're crazy!" The middle-aged woman turned around and cursed when she saw the girl's crazy behavior.
The bus stopped again, and Xia Linyin quickly looked out of the window. There stood a woman in a suit jacket.
The woman was dressed very smartly and neatly, her hair was neatly combed, giving her the appearance of a strong woman. However, at this moment, she was standing there crying helplessly, her frail appearance like a small white flower trembling in the wind.
The woman stood there hesitating for a long time. She really didn't want to get on the bus, but she was afraid that something even worse would happen if she didn't.
She had tried to escape before. Ever since she saw the words in her palm, she had started running for her life. But every time she ran in any direction, she would end up back where she started, back at this empty bus stop.
It's like being trapped in a maze.
The night wind grew stronger, howling like ghosts and wolves. The woman glanced at the pitch-black surroundings and finally decided to get on the bus.
The woman boarded the bus, trembling. She covered her mouth tightly, afraid to cry out, and with her eyes red and swollen from crying, she cautiously looked around the bus.
The strangely dressed old woman, the middle-aged woman with an unfriendly expression, the woman in the white dress and the woman in the red dress, and the man sitting motionless in the back row—the woman felt that none of these people looked normal.
Especially these two young women, one looked like a female ghost in red, and the other looked like a female ghost in white.
She didn't know where to hide.
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