Shi Mo should've known better than to board that bus.
But it was raining, Zhou Zhi had begged for a late-night snack run, and she didn't feel like sitting alone in the dorm with her thoughts—especially not after Fu Yunshen's continued silence.
The streetlights flickered as they stepped onto the bus.
It was old. Too old.
The kind of old that didn't belong in a city like Yingnan anymore—cracked windows, green vinyl seats, and a dull interior light that buzzed with fatigue.
Still, Zhou Zhi dropped coins into the machine and plopped into the nearest seat. Shi Mo followed, eyes scanning the bus automatically.
There were no other passengers.
Not one.
She frowned.
"We're the only ones here?" she asked.
Zhou Zhi shrugged, already opening his snack bag. "More legroom."
The doors hissed shut behind them.
As the bus pulled away from the curb, Shi Mo's Gu stirred uneasily.
"Wrong. This is wrong," it whispered.
She gripped the seat.
The outside world seemed to blur.
Street signs twisted. Trees became shadows. The buildings were no longer familiar.
And the driver—silent, unmoving—never glanced their way.
Zhou Zhi frowned. "Why is it getting so foggy?"
Shi Mo stood. "We need to get off."
"What? We just got—"
"We're not on the normal route."
She reached for the stop bell and pulled it.
Nothing happened.
The bus kept moving.
The fog outside thickened, pressing against the glass like something alive.
Then—
The first figure appeared.
Sitting in the far back, where there had been nothing before.
A girl in a school uniform. Her head tilted. Her skin gray.
Then another figure—two rows closer.
Then another.
Zhou Zhi's voice cracked. "Shi Mo…?"
"I know."
"They're… they weren't there."
"I know."
Her hands moved quickly now, reaching into her sleeve and pulling out talismans.
She slapped one against the metal pole and whispered a chant.
For a moment, the fog pulsed—as if reacting—but then the bus jerked.
A lurch that tossed them into the aisle.
When they scrambled up, more figures had appeared.
Dozens now.
Silent. Watching.
Unmoving.
Zhou Zhi, panicked, whispered, "I thought ghosts were supposed to be subtle!"
Shi Mo's eyes narrowed. "These aren't residual spirits. They're bound."
"To what?"
She turned toward the driver.
Who was no longer human.
Its head had turned—fully around.
Its face was featureless.
Just smooth, blank skin.
"Don't talk," Shi Mo ordered. "Don't look directly at them."
"What do we do?"
She pulled out a bottle from her bag.
Zhou Zhi stared. "Is that…?"
"Yes."
"Virgin urine?!"
"Yes."
"I'm so disturbed."
"Hold still."
She splashed the liquid at the base of the bus doors.
They sizzled.
The spirits screamed.
Inhuman, echoing cries filled the bus as light pulsed from the talismans she threw next—lining the aisle, the windows, and finally—
The emergency lever.
She yanked it.
The door slammed open—and outside, the fog split like a curtain.
"GO!"
Zhou Zhi didn't hesitate. He dove.
Shi Mo jumped after him.
They rolled onto the sidewalk in a heap as the bus screeched away, swallowed by mist.
Just… gone.
No headlights.
No taillights.
Nothing.
They sat in silence for a moment.
Then Zhou Zhi wheezed, "That was the worst Uber experience of my life."
Shi Mo dropped onto her back, eyes staring at the dark sky.
"I hate ghosts."
[System Notification]Unbound Curse Bus Encounter Resolved: Escape SuccessfulTemporary Spirit Trauma: -15 HPBrotherhood Value +80 (Shared Life-Threatening Event)Current Total: 1,065 / 1,000,000
Back in the dorm, wrapped in blankets and drinking hot tea, Zhou Zhi asked quietly:
"Do you think Fu Yunshen would've come after us?"
Shi Mo looked into her cup.
"…Maybe."
But she wasn't sure.
Not anymore.