10 Chapter 10
◎Boss Ye, are you letting ghosts give up their seats? ? ?◎
"Get on the bus...put in the coin..."
The broadcast was still going on. There were wolves in front and tigers behind. Xia Zihan froze on the steps, not daring to move. He wished he could faint now and never have to face everything again.
She looked sad and said, "Get off the bus, I want to get off..."
A figure blocked her way, and the folding car door, which had been wide open, made a deflated sound and suddenly closed quickly.
"Can't you see there are still people who haven't gotten on the bus? Why are you in such a hurry to close the door?"
Ye Ping'an pushed open the car door that closed quickly in front of the steps. The rusty metal hinges were a bit dilapidated and made a harsh squeak before bouncing back.
As I squeezed into the car, I heard Xia Zihan muttering softly.
Ye Pingan looked at the time and wondered, "It's the last bus. You don't want to get on the bus and walk back? You'll be exhausted. Hurry up and get on. Don't squeeze me. Otherwise, there will be no place to stand."
Ye Pingan glanced over Xia Zihan's head and suddenly realized, "This bus 140 is so old that there's no place to scan the code. You don't have any money with you, right?"
Ye Pingan reluctantly took out a coin from his pocket and said, "I'll give it to you. Remember to pass it to me later."
Money? What money?
Xia Zihan listened to the familiar voice talking to itself, and in front of him was the coin box that was becoming increasingly red like blood. He was sweating coldly.
Is it necessary to leave your life behind and “put in the coin to get on the bus”?
Ding-Dong~
Ye Ping'an squeezed next to Xia Zihan, raised his hand, and threw a beautiful parabola. The two coins brushed past the coin box and made a crisp metallic sound. There was no sound of falling for a long time, only a vague swallowing sound.
It was as if they were not thrown into the box, but into the monster's stomach.
Xia Zihan stared blankly, and after confirming that there was indeed someone beside him, he finally came to his senses, "Wait a minute—Boss Ye, why did you really give me money?!"
Ye Pingan was even more surprised than her, "You don't pay for the ride?"
Xia Zihan was speechless for a moment.
But! But there's something wrong with this car. Who would pay to get on a ghost car?!
"I know you like to make money, but you shouldn't do such immoral things."
Ye Ping'an smiled subtly, speaking righteously as he whispered in her ear, "Next time you see someone trying to evade the fare, just whisper to me. If you're yelling so loudly, I'll definitely have to pay. Oh, I'll lose another two dollars."
Xia Zihan: ...Who wants to evade the fare?! She works part-time to earn her money cleanly, okay? Boss Ye, don't you have some moral issues? No, that's not the problem!
Xia Zihan grabbed the young boss who was about to get into the car, and whispered tremblingly, "There are dirty things here, let's get off..." Walking back would be tiring, but it was better than being eaten by ghosts.
The car's lights seemed even more eerie, flickering now and then. The passengers cast long shadows, forming inhuman, clawed, and threatening shapes, ready to move.
Xia Zihan didn't dare to look up to see what had happened to the car, so he lowered his head and shrank back.
Ye Ping'an touched her forehead and said speechlessly, "You don't have a fever. How can you talk nonsense when you just have a cold? I told you not to be superstitious. You must have been reading ghost stories again, right? There are no ghosts. Aren't everyone waiting for you to get on the bus so we can leave?"
"Let's go, watch the road and be careful of the steps." Ye Ping'an dragged Xia Zihan, whose legs were weak, to the car.
Xia Zihan was startled and quickly pulled her away, "Boss, is there really—?!"
When he looked up, Xia Zihan was stunned.
The lights in the carriage were no longer flickering, remaining as dim as when we first boarded. Most of the passengers had their heads bowed, some sleeping, others busy.
The driver's fat body was squeezed in the isolation glass of the driver's seat. He sat upright with his eyes straight ahead, his hands on the steering wheel, and looked serious as if he was ready to drive at any time, as if the eerie peeping he just saw was just an illusion.
Except that everyone's faces looked a little paler, there were more passengers, and the bus was a little older, it was no different from any other bus.
The coin box stood obediently in front of the car door, and the coin slot was a normal size. Looking at it now, the red paint was bright, but there was nothing scary about it.
Only the driver had a rather unhappy expression, perhaps because he was annoyed by the passenger's dawdling or because he simply didn't want to pick up the passenger.
Xia Zihan rubbed his eyes again and again.
Really... was she seeing things? There wasn't really a ghost?
Xia Zihan followed Ye Ping'an inside. His eyes inadvertently swept across the car window and his heart skipped a beat.
As the car door closed, the familiar bus stop at the village entrance was no longer visible outside the car window. It was pitch black outside the window, as if the starless and moonless night had arrived early.
Both headlights could only illuminate a small area of the road around the car. In the dim shadows, there were vague blood-red words.
——It’s a coin box!
The darkness outside the car door was clearly a larger coin box, waiting for her to get off with its mouth open!
Xia Zihan reacted immediately and cold sweat broke out on his back.
If Boss Ye hadn't stopped her, she would probably have been eaten by the ghost by now.
"Boss, wait for me!" Xia Zihan's soft legs suddenly regained strength. She trotted two steps to catch up with Ye Ping'an and followed her closely like a baby bird that had just learned to walk.
There is a ghost in front and a ghost behind. Every second you live counts.
Surrounded by ghosts, only familiar people made her feel at ease.
The car started slowly, and the dull broadcast voice changed to a new one: "The vehicle is moving. Passengers who have just boarded, please go inside. Passengers without seats, please sit down and hold on to avoid danger. Passengers without seats..."
The second sentence of the broadcast began to repeat, and Xia Zihan immediately remembered the strange changes just now.
Ghost, are you going to take action again?
Calm down! Calm down! Xia Zihan desperately reminded himself to observe his surroundings.
According to the urban horror legends and various ghost stories she had searched for, encountering a ghost does not necessarily mean death. If you can find the pattern of ghosts, you may be able to escape.
You have to pay a coin to get on the bus, and then you should find a seat...
There were a lot of people in the carriage. There were odd-numbered seats on the side near the door, and double seats on the other side, until the last row where there were consecutive seats.
The seats are a bit like those in the subway, with a one-piece backrest and only shallow raised ridges separating adjacent seats.
But almost every seat was occupied, with only one empty seat in the middle of the last row.
The dim light became brighter, as if it was specially lit for the empty space.
To be precise, half.
There were three people sitting in the last row of four seats: a gray-haired man sleeping leaning against the window, a little boy of two or three years old holding a red ball, and a woman sitting by the window on the other side, her head bowed, her long hair obscuring her face.
The man was sleeping crookedly, his legs spread out wide, blocking half of the empty seat.
Xia Zihan's heart sank.
There's only one seat. Is that the only person on the bus alive? Or will they have to kill each other to survive?
No, no, when Boss Ye patted her, his palm was warm, she could feel it. There must be another way to avoid being harmed by ghosts.
Xia Zihan was thinking hard when the little boy in the back row seemed to wake up after hearing the broadcast. He patted the ball and put it on the empty seat next to him.
He held the ball, raised his head stiffly, and grinned at the front. His smile lacked the innocence of a child, only a cold malice.
The little boy's eyes were dead, and there was dried red on the corners of his mouth. A lot of red was splashed on his collar and chest, as if he had chewed on something and hadn't had time to wash it off.
Oops, the vitality is blocked by the awakened ghost.
Xia Zihan grabbed the young boss's sleeve and almost cried, "It's over, there are no seats left..."
Ye Pingan said with a smile, "Now you look at the sky falling because there are no seats, why did you want to walk back just now? Aren't there seats at the back? There's no need to cry."
Ye Ping'an walked straight to the last row. "There are a lot of people here today. It's not easy for everyone to go to work. Let's be considerate of each other. Come on, squeeze in and let us sit down. Those who have children should take care of them. If you can hold something, please hold it and don't take up a seat."
Xia Zihan was dragged backwards in a daze, his mind a little confused.
Boss Ye, who are you talking to? Aren't they the only two?
The man who was sleeping sideways seemed not to have heard anything at all, but his eyelids were slightly lifted to peek.
The child and the woman showed no reaction, even the smile on the little boy's face remained unchanged, as if it was fixed at an angle, waiting maliciously for the new passenger to collapse in despair in front of him.
As he got closer, Xia Zihan could smell the blood coming from the little boy more clearly.
She was tense all over, and if the car door hadn't been closed and the radio hadn't been urging her, she would have wanted to turn around and run.
Ye Pingan tutted his words, "That's why I hate naughty kids and Lao Deng the most. They don't understand what we say at all."
"Make way, make way. Move your legs closer, they're so wide apart. You only have so little stuff, and you still want to live in a single room?" Ye Ping'an kicked the man's calf in disgust.
Xia Zihan shuddered with fear and nearly screamed: "Boss Ye, are you really that brave?! Giving up your seat for a ghost?! Damn it! They're all doomed if they startle a ghost..."
The kick was light and seemed to involve little effort, hitting the man's calf.
The moving bus suddenly shook.
Click.
There was a faint sound of bones cracking, and Xia Zihan even suspected it was an illusion.
"Ah--!" The old man's face was distorted and he let out a beast-like roar. He raised his dry arms and grabbed Ye Ping'an.
"Tsk, you're not pretending to be asleep anymore?"
Ye Ping'an was too lazy to pay attention to him. He lowered his head and patted the little boy's head. "Little boy, you're on the bus for free and you're still taking up two seats? Be good and put your ball away."
"Ah——!" The little boy stared at her, his grinning mouth opening even wider.
The childish, sharp and piercing screams were like countless steel needles piercing the brain. Xia Zihan covered her ears and felt dizzy.
In a trance, she saw a human face appear on the surface of the red ball in the little boy's hand.
That's not a ball, it's clearly a human head.
The face is becoming more and more familiar, like... her face?
"Didn't you hear what your sister said?"
Ye Ping'an's polite tone lasted only a second. He impatiently grabbed the little boy's collar and stuffed it directly into the raised hand of the old man next to him. "Go sit with your father."
The distorted old man's face and the little boy's vicious smile were face to face in a second.
The screams and roars stopped at the same time.
Ye Pingan happily patted the two empty seats and waved to Xia Zihan, "Sit down."
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