Mysterious Revival

The tense and oppressive atmosphere aboard the supernatural bus eased ever so slightly at this moment.

This was because the malevolent ghost with the yellow paper covering its face had disembarked. Not only had the number of ghosts lessened, but a seat was also freed up.

This was extremely critical.

The freed seat meant that the bus wouldn’t hit maximum capacity for now. Even if a ghost boarded at the next stop, it wouldn’t result in the same violent clash as before, since there were also ghosts that disembarked after each stop.

However, having only gone through two stops, the couriers on the fourth floor of the post office already felt a suffocating and oppressive presence.

This was the flavor of despair.

Compared to this haunted bus, the post office almost felt like the comfort of home.

Even though the post office had its own ghosts, they didn’t compare to the overwhelming number on this bus. And no matter how dangerous the post office was, it never felt like imminent death was lurking at every moment the way it did here.

“We must get off after the third stop. Staying here any longer, and no one will make it to dawn. Judging by the others’ reactions, what just happened doesn’t even seem to be the most dangerous part yet.”

The Falcon took a deep breath as he observed several ghost tamers onboard.

Each of these tamers was extraordinary. They seemed accustomed to staying on the bus and displayed no signs of tension—only showing urgency and unease when Yang Jian boarded or when the bus reached capacity.

In other words,

This current situation of sharing a bus with malevolent ghosts was already the best-case scenario.

“One more stop to go. What horrifying situation will we encounter next?”

As Qin Kai pondered this, he cast an uneasy glance at the seat beside him.

The stiffened corpse of a woman, frozen all over, still leaned her head unnaturally and stared at him with an eerie gaze.

It was as if he had already been marked.

Only the supernatural nature of the bus had kept her from attacking him—for now.

Qin Kai quickly looked away and began observing the other couriers.

They weren’t faring much better.

All around them, near or far, were the figures of malevolent ghosts, though a few lucky ones had ghost tamers instead of ghosts seated next to them.

But those individuals were no less dangerous.

Offending them could just as easily lead to death for the couriers.

Fortunately, the survival conditions on the bus had temporarily improved. Without any pressing tension, the living wouldn’t turn on each other for the time being. After all, everyone was here to survive, not to seek death.

As the bus continued traveling for a longer period,

A growing sense of unease and anxiety began to bubble up in everyone’s hearts.

Since departing from that eerie county city earlier, the bus had been driving for a full half an hour. During this time, nothing out of the ordinary had happened; everything seemed unnervingly calm.

But everyone knew full well,

The third stop of the bus wasn’t far away.

At this moment, Yang Jian had abandoned his attempts to figure out how to drive the bus. He shifted his focus instead to observing the changing scenery outside, as he too felt that this was an unusually long stretch of road and that the stop must be approaching soon.

“This time, the route of the bus is completely different from the last time I rode it. The stops we’ve encountered are significantly different. Looks like this is an entirely new route.”

He recalled the events from his first ride aboard this haunted bus.

There was no match to the current ride.

However, this time, the delivery task involving that ancient mansion and the Ghost Cabinet’s demand for him to open a specific room within it—they had to be linked. Piecing all this information together left no doubt: the third stop on the bus’s route was a place it would inevitably pass through.

As the bus continued moving forward, a few drops of water suddenly struck the glass windshield.

As the vehicle advanced, the rain intensified, and the glass of the bus was soon filled with the sound of relentless pelting. The dense raindrops, like countless fingers, continuously tapped on the windows.

The outside world dimmed even further.

The rain fell heavier and heavier, to the point where it seemed even the headlights of the bus were being swallowed by the downpour.

“No way, it’s raining outside?”

“Looks like it. This is the first time we’ve encountered such weather here.”

“Don’t look at me; this is my first time seeing rain here, too. It seems like the third stop is almost here. I think all of this is connected in some way. For example, that strange county at the second stop—why did the bus stop there? It’s because there was a malevolent ghost on the bus with a yellow paper covering its face, and the bus’s task was to return the ghost to its original place.”

“Makes sense. At the first stop, because no ghosts needed to return to the strange village, none disembarked—only more boarded.”

“I think this stop isn’t meant for us. It’s likely for the ghost that disembarked in Dachang City earlier. I still remember it clearly: that ghost carried a black paper umbrella. If ghosts are carrying umbrellas, then it must mean it was raining somewhere, which makes this a plausible correlation.”

A particularly sharp ghost tamer quickly analyzed some of the clues.

Piecing together everything that had occurred so far, one could begin to discern a faint logic behind the supernatural bus.

The bus’s purpose was to return ghosts to their rightful places.

Yang Jian’s eyes narrowed when he overheard this conversation, as their interpretation coincided with some of his own theories.

The ghost with the black umbrella should have disembarked at this stop. However, for some unknown reason, it had exited the bus prematurely, disrupting its intended route and purpose.

“At the Dachang City stop, the ghost disembarked early. Perhaps it was because someone in Dachang City triggered the ghost’s specific killing criteria. The ghost, seizing the right conditions and with the bus doors coincidentally open, took the opportunity to leave,” Yang Jian speculated in his mind.

If this hypothesis was true, it was terrifying.

Because this bus had no driver and was in a state of supernatural chaos, situations like the ghost with the black umbrella disembarking at the wrong stop could keep happening. As long as the bus continued running, more ghosts would invade the real world by traveling to the wrong destinations.

“Was this why Old Qin took on the task of driving the bus in the first place? If that’s the case, then it all makes sense.”

The doubts lingering in Yang Jian’s mind began to unravel.

It felt as though he was stepping closer and closer to the truth.

“Look, the next platform is visible now.” Someone lowered their voice, speaking gravely.

In the distance, through the pouring rain, lights flickered beside the road. Though the outline was blurry, it was unmistakably the shape of a platform.

Starting from Dachang City, the supernatural bus had reached its third stop.

The torrential rain around the area seemed endless, encapsulating the world in a watery cage. Besides the platform on the roadside, nothing else was visible.

But Yang Jian sensed that the surroundings weren’t truly empty—it was just that the rain was so heavy they couldn’t see clearly.

The bus began slowing down as it approached the platform.

It was about to stop.

“If the previous guesses are correct, this stop won’t see a ghost disembarking due to the black umbrella ghost having already left. Instead, there’s a higher possibility of a ghost boarding.”

Yang Jian’s eyes flickered with calculation. He needed this experience to prove his theories.

Relying solely on conjecture wasn’t reliable.

“Look closely. Near the platform—there’s something there… a vending machine.”

Suddenly,

As the bus drew closer, everyone peered through the rain-covered windows to make out the scene near the station. It looked like any other standard bus stop with nothing particularly unusual, except for an old vending machine sitting next to the platform.

The vending machine flickered unsteadily, its lights occasionally turning on and off as if there was a loose connection.

No one could clearly see what was being sold inside due to the relentless rain obscuring their view.

“Zhou Deng, don’t do anything foolish this time. That vending machine looks strange, but this place is way scarier. It’s pitch black and pouring outside—who knows what could happen if you step out?” someone warned.

“If anything happens, it’s my business. What are you so afraid of?”

Zhou Deng sneered, “If you’re scared of dying, you shouldn’t have gotten on this bus. Since you’re here, be prepared to meet a horrible end. Stop acting like you’re my dad or something.”

“I’m just trying to give you sound advice so you don’t get yourself killed,” the other person retorted darkly.

“Save your breath. You’re clearly just afraid I’ll bring the ghost back with me and jeopardize everyone. Well, relax—I’m not getting off this time. That vending machine is too big; I can’t carry it by myself,” Zhou Deng shook his head, offering an excuse.

The other passengers darkened at his words.

Was this guy really not disembarking simply because the vending machine was too large to carry? Meaning that if it were easier to move, he wouldn’t hesitate to leave the bus?

“This lunatic and troublemaker should just die already,” many silently cursed him in their hearts.

But none of them had the ability to kill with malice alone, so they could only fume internally.

Yet suddenly, Zhou Deng suggested, “Yang Jian, how about the two of us team up and get off the bus together to move that vending machine? I think that thing is way more valuable than the copper basin from before.”

“Zhou Deng, don’t pull us into your harebrained ideas!” someone immediately snapped in frustration.

All of the couriers focused their gaze intently on Yang Jian, deeply fearful that he might actually agree to Zhou Deng’s plan and step off the bus.

“I’m not interested. I’ll be getting off after this stop anyway, and I don’t want any accidents along the way. Plus, I… dislike rainy days,” Yang Jian replied coldly, glancing at the weather outside.

“What a pity. If we teamed up, we could’ve earned a massive windfall,” Zhou Deng remarked indifferently upon hearing the rejection.

When the collaboration failed to materialize, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

But then, Yang Jian added, “This stop will probably see a ghost board the bus. If the seats aren’t enough…”

He trailed off without finishing his thought.

Even though one seat had been vacated, there was no guarantee that only one ghost would board at this stop. If two ghosts got on, they’d have to think of a way to force someone off.

These words caused everyone’s nerves to tighten once more.

At this moment,

The bus came to a halt.

The third stop had arrived.

The doors opened, letting in wild gusts of wind and rain that splattered into the cabin. The air carried a strong, putrid stench, as though the rain wasn’t normal water but some kind of filthy liquid soaked with decaying corpses—an indescribable stench.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything visible on the platform. The chance of a ghost boarding doesn’t look high,” everyone whispered as they stared intently at the platform.

They saw nothing, only the dimly flashing vending machine nearby.

But at that moment,

A sudden chilling gust swept through, and a large sheet of rainwater poured through the front door into the bus cabin.

Then,

Footsteps echoed faintly, splashing through the rainwater outside the door.

There was no visible figure—but in the dim rain, a blurry human-like silhouette emerged.

It was a rain-soaked ghost.

The ghost moved rapidly, drawing closer to the bus.

“Damn it, it’s a ghost!” There was no need for anyone to sound an alarm.

Everyone’s eyes were already sharpened to catch even the slightest anomalies.

A vague and eerie figure walked onto the bus through the rain but vanished the moment it crossed the threshold—completely invisible now.

“Interesting, yet another ghost that can only appear through a medium like rainwater?”

Yang Jian thought back to his previous experience with the Ghost Dream incident in his hometown.

It seemed that ghosts without tangible forms required specific mediums to manifest.

This rain was anything but ordinary; imbued with supernatural power, it had been chosen as the medium.

“There’s a wet footprint on the ground…” someone whispered cautiously.

Inside the cabin, a single wet footprint trailed down the aisle, step by step, before slowly fading away.

Shortly afterward,

A puddle of water appeared on an empty seat—as though it hadn’t been wiped dry.

But reflected in that small puddle was a chilling silhouette: someone soaking wet, indistinct in appearance, with water dripping continuously off their body.

“Whew. Only one ghost boarded—what a relief,” someone muttered under their breath.

Indeed, no second ghost appeared after this one.

The haunted bus resumed its journey. The doors shut, and it accelerated onward.

The third stop had ended in relative calm.

But what came next would be the deadliest challenge.

The couriers had to get off the bus after the third stop.

This meant that something was bound to go wrong between the third and fourth stops.

There were only two things that could result in a bus malfunction: an engine breakdown or a ghost blocking the road.

In either case, the danger would be immense.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com