After leaving this message abruptly, the monitor remained silent, but three questions appeared on the scrolling electronic screen:
1. Why was the minibus able to pick up the granddaughter?
2. Why was the grandmother unable to reunite with her granddaughter?
3. Where did they go?
After the question scrolls through the pages, the last sentence appears: Please provide the correct answer within three hours.
A ding sound.
Cheng Shuang noticed a change in her gaze.
She can see much higher now; her field of vision, which used to be 1.4 meters high and overlooking all living beings, has been reduced to about 1.6 meters.
Although the bus ride suddenly turned into a dark, uninteresting, and even a bit eerie suburban landscape, the little girl was still very excited, but this excitement did not last more than two seconds.
She felt as if her body was carrying a heavy load, and just by twisting her upper body to look at the scenery on the left and right, she felt a stiff, sore, and numb sensation in her waist.
The little girl subconsciously rubbed her lower back, and her straight body involuntarily hunched over.
Then a flash of insight struck her, and she raised her hands in a daze. By the dappled light under the trees, she saw that the backs of her hands were covered with wrinkles and spots, skin that did not belong to a young person at all.
Cheng Shuang swallowed hard. Her suspicions made her eager to take out a mirror from her spatial storage to check her face. However, her body had broken away from her consciousness and formed a separate posture.
She moved slowly forward, her gaze constantly scanning her surroundings before settling on an inconspicuous forest path.
There was a whimsical little bus with cute animal illustrations and a sunny lawn painted on it. At first glance, Cheng Shuang held her breath, and a surge of anger and urgency that didn't belong to her welled up in her chest.
The little girl took a deep breath, trying to adjust her unfamiliar mindset. Her body was still out of her control, and she quietly and unsteadily approached the path.
She had experience with the Gate of Reincarnation's screening process and remembered that there was a level where Du Jun controlled the group to pass through the game level. So after repeatedly trying to fight for the body rights without success, she quickly relaxed and focused all her attention on observing the little bus.
As they drew closer, Cheng Shuang began to see through their scheme.
The shape of this minibus is a bit strange, more like a seven-seat nanny van, but the front is bulging... The little girl is too young to know that in the past, a type of vehicle called a minivan was very popular on the streets and alleys. It could carry both goods and people.
This vehicle should be described as the small bus that Du Jun mentioned, which stops when you wave it down and charges one to two yuan depending on the distance.
The only difference is that the little bus's exterior is painted with innocent and childlike colorful pictures, which instantly makes it less simple and more cute.
Even if there was a discrepancy in the knowledge points, it didn't mean the little girl would ignore the doubts in her heart. She carefully observed the car body again and finally found the inconsistency.
The cute animals, flowers, and sun painted on it seem no different from those on every kindergarten school bus, but if you look closely, there are traces of the kindergarten logo on the side of the bus being painted over and repainted.
This is exactly the same school bus that Cheng Shuang remembers riding in from her kindergarten. The kindergarten she attended had undergone a name change and restructuring, which is why the school bus had its name repainted on it.
So... the minibus was created based on her description or memory?
No, that's not right. The minibus is an existing objective condition, while the patterns on it are based on the 'passengers' speculation.
The little girl, meticulously unraveling the mystery, immediately sounded the alarm.
In other words, every word and action of the passengers entering the 'small instance' is under the surveillance of the instance's owner? Or, to put it another way, they have been under surveillance ever since they entered this realm of death.
But if that's the case, why would such distant memories be retrieved? She mentioned that the little bus shown on the monitor might be a kindergarten school bus, but she didn't specifically describe its shape. The unknown surveillance footage behind her, however, was able to extract the appearance of the school bus from her memory, adorning the actual little bus with beautiful, childlike drawings.
If it weren't for the blue sky, white clouds, and a group of running animals, Cheng Shuang would have long forgotten the details of her kindergarten school bus.
For some reason, the little girl had a thought—it was just based on the memories in my mind, and the appearance of the minibus was forcibly changed! In order to confuse the 'passengers' judgment and prevent them from combining the facts to deduce the correct answer.
The moment the idea came to mind, my eyes glazed over. Looking again, the car had lost its vibrant appearance; it was now a dull, gray vehicle parked on the sidewalk, exuding a simple, unassuming charm that blended into the crowd.
She guessed right!
Cheng Shuang wasn't surprised. If it really was a fancy kindergarten school bus, the police wouldn't have been unable to track the vehicle for so long.
Therefore, her previous analysis was incorrect, and the first question has not yet been answered.
The little girl had already reached the back of the car. She could sense the old and frail body, as well as the burning emotions within its heart.
Grandma was excited about finding clues, but she also felt scared, nervous, and angry.
Cheng Shuang recalled the description on the monitor, which did not mention the police or any relatives other than the grandfather and grandson. She initially thought that the copy was unwilling to provide too many details for the passengers to refer to. However, there was another possibility: the police had not been able to track down the criminal and had temporarily filed the case, or the grandfather and grandson did not have any other close relatives alive.
The car wasn't empty; a man's arm was propped against the window, a cigarette butt between his fingers casting a flickering glow.
Cheng Shuang reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn-out little cell phone. She had seen a similar version in her mother's collection box; it was an earlier model than flip phones and was no longer available on the market.
Therefore, the world of the small instance should be pushed back by ten or twenty years. Correspondingly, the surveillance equipment on the road was not as complete as it is now, so the police were unable to track down the criminals under various harsh conditions.
The little girl's mind raced, and then her stiff fingertips dialed three numbers: 110.
After a few very faint rings, the call was answered. The old woman stepped forward and suddenly appeared at the side window, startling the tired man in the driver's seat who was resting with his eyes closed. He cursed, "Damn it, old lady, are you trying to get yourself killed by playing the ghost in the middle of the night?!"
Cheng Shuang could sense the old man's turbulent emotions, but his words were full of pleading, "Please, give me back my grandson, please!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" the man spat, his nerves twitching as he stuck his head out the window to check carefully who was with the old woman.
Judging from his expression and actions, no one would believe that this man was unrelated to his granddaughter's disappearance; the guilt and panic in his eyes could not fool anyone.
The old woman felt a pang of heartache. She took a deep breath, suppressing all her anger, and continued to plead humbly, "Please, my only family is my precious grandson. He's still so young. I can trade with him for her. Please, please, let my little grandson go! Please!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
