Mysterious Revival

The rural countryside outside the bus windows was old and desolate, steeped in dim light, oppressive and dilapidated.

Places like this felt deeply eerie—like they didn’t belong to this world. Yet, judging by the scale of the village, it must have been prosperous at some point. Though the wooden houses had aged considerably, the carved floral patterns on them were still visible.

However, the passengers on the bus had their attention elsewhere.

The village lay a certain distance away from the road. Although its sinister appearance gave everyone chills, since no one planned on spending the night there, the concern was minimal. What unnerved them was the sight of someone standing at the bus stop near the village entrance.

In a place like this, amidst such an environment, would anyone really be waiting for the bus at that stop?

Everyone’s minds instinctively settled on one word: ghost.

The one waiting for the haunted bus wasn’t human, but a malicious spirit preparing to board.

“Can we really be this unlucky? We’ve only traveled one stop, and now there’s a ghost about to climb aboard. And the bus is full too—this can’t end well.”

The courier known as Eagle was ordinarily calm and collected, but now, unease gripped him profoundly. He cast a quick glance at Leuk Qingqing.

Leuk Qingqing’s gaze was equally heavy, her expression betraying faint traces of deep worry.

The same went for several unfamiliar passengers. Though they weren’t couriers, they had inexplicably stayed aboard the haunted bus. Faced with the looming danger, they were visibly tense.

“I have an idea. A whole group of people boarded earlier and filled all the seats. Once this ghost climbs aboard at the next stop, the lack of seating will surely lead to fatal consequences. Instead of passively waiting for disaster, why not take the initiative?”

“Kill someone now and free up a seat for the ghost. That way, we’d defuse this crisis altogether.”

A man seated near the front of the bus spoke coldly and bluntly.

It was evident he was also a ghost tamer, unfamiliar to most, and hadn’t been aboard for long.

“It’s a decent idea, but do you dare to act on it? Ghost-eye Yang Jian’s right next to you. If you kill one of his people, do you think you’ll survive to reach the next stop? Just moments ago, Ni Sheng stuck around on the bus longer than he should’ve. He was taken out by Yang Jian in a single move. How long have you been on this bus? Five days? Six days?”

Fan Xing, a city official seated nearby, sneered derisively.

“You don’t know your limits, rookie. Picking a fight with a Captain-level figure—are you tired of living?”

Someone else silently shook their head, convinced the man was courting his own death out of sheer ignorance.

It was clear to those paying attention that Yang Jian had been prepared when the haunted bus stopped in Dachang City earlier.

He had deliberately waited for the bus’s arrival before leading his team aboard.

In other words, the people Yang Jian brought aboard weren’t going to stay long. Their purpose wasn’t to ride indefinitely but to reach a specific destination.

Under these conditions, avoiding conflict was already a struggle; picking a fight would be outright foolish.

Yang Jian was currently analyzing and observing some changes in the driver’s seat, paying absolutely no mind to the stranger’s earlier remarks. He responded indifferently, “If you want to clear out a seat by taking someone out, I have no objections. Just make sure you can go through with it. If you can’t, then I’ll take you out instead.”

Hmm?

Those words made several faces subtly shift.

What did he mean?

Was he giving tacit approval for someone to act and eliminate one of the existing passengers?

Or was this a warning and a show of dominance?

Whatever the case, Yang Jian’s statement caused a ripple of unease among the couriers. They felt a sudden and inexplicable surge of crisis deep within.

If it came down to an actual confrontation, none of them felt confident about surviving.

“They wouldn’t really resort to violence, would they?” Yang Xiaohua murmured, her unease evident.

She sat clutching a red balloon, trying her best to maintain composure. Despite being an ordinary person, as long as she didn’t reveal this fact, who would suspect her true nature?

Besides, there was something undeniably peculiar about her.

After all, who rides a bus while holding a red balloon the entire time?

Adhering to the principle that “the stranger something appears, the more dangerous it might be,” few were inclined to target her.

Instead, most of the scrutiny landed on Wang Feng, Qin Kai, Eagle, and Da Qiang.

From their appearances and attire, they seemed indistinguishable from ordinary people. This either meant they were exceptionally powerful ghost tamers or terribly weak ones, barely touched by supernatural erosion.

Most likely, it was the latter.

Given Yang Jian’s reputation in the ghost-taming community, his strength was widely acknowledged. If any of these companions were remotely noteworthy, word of them would have spread by now.

“No point in provoking Yang Jian. Once the bus stops, there’s a chance a ghost might get off.”

Someone muttered a cautionary remark, hoping to deter any missteps that might lead to an all-out battle aboard.

Such a statement had an immediate calming effect on everyone’s thoughts.

True enough.

A ghost might disembark at the next stop, which would naturally free up a seat.

In the end, no one acted on the idea of killing to free a space.

The couriers seated in the bus secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yang Jian… to think just his name alone can suppress these hardened fighters who’ve dealt with malicious spirits. It’s almost unreal. What kind of history does Yang Jian have to command such fear?”

Eagle clenched his fists, his gaze drifting toward the driver’s seat occupant.

Though Eagle knew little of Yang Jian’s background, he could feel that to intimidate such brutal figures, Yang Jian had to be even more ruthless and terrifying.

From their previous interactions, Eagle had gathered that Yang Jian had his methods but didn’t seem overwhelmingly fearsome.

So… was his perspective too limited? Could he only glimpse the tip of Yang Jian’s iceberg?

“The bus is stopping.”

Someone, voice barely above a whisper, announced.

No matter what had transpired aboard, the haunted bus operated without interference. Slowing gently, it came to a stop beside the station near the eerie village.

Only now did the passengers get a clearer look at the figure waiting at the station.

It was a hunched-over elder, gaunt and lifeless, dressed in a black cloth jacket. One frail arm held a bamboo basket covered in floral fabric.

The figure resembled an old villager returning home from the marketplace in earlier times.

“An old woman… no, a sinister granny.”

“Looks human—could it really be?”

“Someone lingering here? Are you out of your mind?”

The haunted bus halted, and its doors abruptly swung open—both the front boarding door and the rear exit door.

All eyes swept across the interior, vigilantly checking to see whether any ghosts would get off.

Meanwhile, the eerie old woman slowly approached, prepared to board.

Yet, no one on the bus made any move.

Not a single ghost disembarked.

“Damn it.”

Realizing this, many passengers’ faces darkened instantly.

They understood fully well that if a ghost planned to leave the bus, it would’ve acted by now. The lack of any movement meant only one thing: this stop would see arrivals but no departures.

The ghost would board.

If there was no seat available, trouble would escalate quickly.

“This old woman looks… familiar…” Leuk Qingqing stared at the approaching figure, fragments of memories from a bygone era surfacing faintly.

She’d seen her before—or rather, encountered her somewhere.

“The source of Dachuan City’s Ferocious Ghost District, Room 301—could it be that horrifying old woman?”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Yang Jian fixed his gaze indelibly on the boarding figure.

Initially, he also felt a sense of familiarity.

But it wasn’t until he noticed the basket in the old woman’s hands that realization solidified in his mind.

This granny was the owner of Room 301 in Dachuan City.

“That’s impossible. That old woman’s already dead—her corpse was lying on the rickety bed in the room to the left of 301. How could she be here?” Yang Jian’s expression shifted unpredictably.

This defied his understanding.

He couldn’t fathom a reasonable explanation for it all.

No matter his thoughts…

The old woman climbed aboard nonetheless.

As she did, the electronic screen displaying the passenger count flickered noticeably.

Previously, it had read 11. Now, suddenly blinking, it displayed 13.

The count had jumped by two.

One figure had boarded, but the bus recorded the addition of two ghosts.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com