"City C, City C... Those going to City C, get on the bus quickly..."
"Freshly shaped glutinous rice balls..."
During the National Day holiday, in addition to various food stalls, the bus station was crowded with people rushing to catch their trains. In the sweltering heat, it was really difficult to endure the irritability and squeeze into the bus station, which was blocked by crowds of people several meters away.
"Huff... huff..."
Heavy breathing accompanied by a thunderous heartbeat drifted into Mo Shuwan's ears like a gentle breeze. One of her pure white earphones had been knocked off and hung down on her sweat-soaked collar along with her long, loose hair.
She was short and could only drift along in the crowd. The sound of her breathing gradually faded from her ears. Suddenly, everything went black before Mo Shuwan's eyes. She instinctively grabbed the arm of the person next to her and collapsed to the ground, completely losing consciousness. Before she could see the young man in uniform squeezing into the crowd, she vaguely saw him.
When she woke up again, she was in an air-conditioned waiting room. Mo Shuwan sat up, licked her dry lips, raised her hand to rub her temples, and breathed softly.
"You just have heatstroke, it's nothing serious. Just drink some water and rest for a while and you'll be fine."
Mo Shuwan was slightly taken aback, only then noticing that someone was beside her. At the other person's prompting, she silently accepted the bottled water offered to her, saying, "Thank you."
Holding the water bottle, she watched the other person leave the waiting room before slowly opening the bottle and taking a sip of ice water. The coolness slid down her throat to her stomach, dispelling the churning discomfort. She then exhaled a comfortable breath of hot air.
After putting away her headphones and water, Mo Shuwan dragged her weak body to the security checkpoint with her bag. As soon as she put her bag on the scanner, she looked up and saw a very good-looking security guard smiling at her. Out of politeness, she returned the smile.
She thought that after being delayed for seven or eight minutes, the bus would be full of people, but to her surprise, when Mo Shuwan boarded the bus, she was the only one on board. She slowly walked to the last row of the bus and sat down on the right side. She took out her phone to let her parents know that she was safe, then put her headphones back on and listened to "Running Towards the Future" on them. She soon became drowsy.
Not long after, several more passengers boarded. The last one to board was a long-haired beauty who had clearly arrived just in time, because as soon as she boarded, an announcement was made in the quiet carriage.
"The car doors are about to close."
The steady, emotionless voice startled everyone, even Mo Shuwan, who was about to fall asleep. The voice was completely unaffected by the song in her headphones, reaching her brain clearly and accurately.
The doors slowly closed, and the loudspeaker blared again, its eerie, whistling sound, as if a hole had been punched in someone's throat, drifting into everyone's ears: "Welcome aboard the Time Bus—New G-01, our first stop: Escape from Death... The bus is about to depart, are you... ready?"
The last question was particularly eerie, as if answering it would drag you into an abyss. But the few passengers on the bus couldn't help but laugh, praising the driver's humor. Some even played along, laughing and shouting in frightened voices that they were ready. Even Mo Shuwan, who was awakened in the last row, couldn't help but laugh along. The last bit of heat in her heart dissipated with the humor of the driver and passengers.
Relaxing her body and leaning back in the chair in the most comfortable position, Mo Shuwan closed her eyes again, preparing to take a nap before arriving at her destination.
But if the bus passengers hadn't drawn the curtains because of the scorching sun, and if they had paid closer attention, they would have noticed that the scenery outside the window was slowly disappearing, and darkness was gradually swallowing up all the light within sight...
Long bus rides can easily make people feel tired. Just as all the passengers on the bus were starting to doze off, that eerie, hissing voice came over the loudspeaker again: "Please press the white button on the right armrest of your seat."
The sound was incredibly penetrating, reaching deep into the brain. Even those who were fast asleep were awakened without experiencing any grogginess or drowsiness after waking up; they were perfectly alert.
Mo Shuwan, who was repeatedly awakened by the broadcast, raised her hand to rub her temples. She had a bad feeling in her heart. She turned her head to look out the window, hoping to use the scenery to ease her mood. However, what she saw made her pupils shrink sharply. She rushed to the window, trying to find any clues that she was walking through a tunnel in the pitch black.
However, with no engine roar, no lights, no other vehicles, and no end in sight, I couldn't convince myself that I was walking through a tunnel. I took out my phone and checked the time: 3:36 PM.
A bad feeling grew stronger in her heart, but before Mo Shuwan could sort out the mess, the broadcast started again.
"The time bus will arrive at the escape site in ten minutes. You have ten minutes to ask me questions, one question per person."
"What...what is this?"
The exclamations from ahead made Mo Shuwan, whose mind was in turmoil, even more helpless. She glanced at the dark window again, then suddenly reached out and pressed the white button on the right armrest. A white panel appeared silently in front of her in an instant. She used all her strength to suppress the urge to scream. Combining the unease she had just felt, an unbelievable thought suddenly popped into her mind.
Paranormal events?
Clearly, not everyone on the bus was as oblivious as the person who had just exclaimed. Some passengers noticed the strange noise outside the window, realized the seriousness of the situation, and, suppressing their unease, got up and rushed to the front of the bus, only to find the driver's seat empty. The bus was still moving, but there was no driver in sight. So where did that sound come from?
When the first person fainted from fright next to the driver's seat, a bloodcurdling scream finally rang out. Realizing there was no driver, the passengers panicked and scrambled to the back, yelling at the top of their lungs, "Smash the window!!!"
Passengers huddled by the windows seemed to wake up from a dream and began smashing the windows with their fists, bags, and even beverage bottles—anything they could grab.
When that didn't work, someone yelled, "Find the safety hammer!"
Infected by the passengers' fear, Mo Shuwan felt her heart beating faster and faster, and her vision blurred. She shook her head sharply to clear her mind and began to read the message on the white panel word by word.
Name: Mo Shuwan
Age: 24
Seat number: 88
Points: 1000
Class: Low-class passenger
After staring at the points for over a minute, as the terrified cries around her gradually weakened and disappeared, Mo Shuwan stiffly raised her hand to pound her chest and asked tentatively, "What can I do with the points? Where will we be taken?"
"Exchange for weapons."
Almost as soon as Mo Shuwan finished speaking, the announcement came out, as if it had been waiting for the question. But what the passengers found amusing when boarding the bus now triggered a series of terrified screams. The next question went unanswered, so it seemed that it was true that each person could only ask one question.
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