As the number of ghosts on the bus increased, the situation on this bus became much more complicated than imagined.

If it weren’t for some unknown restriction on board that confined the behavior of these ghosts, the horror here would have already surpassed that of an S-class supernatural event. Each of these ghosts, if let loose individually, could potentially cause an unsolvable supernatural incident, not to mention now that they were all gathered together.

“What on earth is this bus, how does it know the exact location of each ghost, and what is making these ghosts willingly board?”

Yang Jian’s expression grew solemn, as he could see that every time the bus stopped, it was at a site of supernatural significance.

Such places did not belong to any known location on Earth but resembled barren spaces constructed akin to the Ghost Domain, an incomprehensible realm.

The bus seemed capable of disregarding certain boundaries, freely traversing them to pick up and drop off fierce ghosts.

Upon further thought, Yang Jian felt that there must be some incredible secret hidden behind this.

“There are already four ghosts, but based on the timing of these stops, it’s unlikely that the bus will be at full capacity by dawn tomorrow. However, as the number of fierce ghosts grows, the situation inside the bus will only become more complex. My previous caution was right. As long as I keep myself safe, there is no need to confront the ghosts boarding head-on.”

Yang Jian rallied his spirits, planning to hold out during this period and wait for a chance to get off at the next stop.

Given that this bus would stop in the city area, it meant that it wouldn’t always pick up ghosts; there had to be a moment when things would go back to normal.

And that would be his opportunity to disembark.

The vehicle continued to advance along the dark highway.

No matter where this bus went, there was always a road ahead. Yang Jian tried to locate his position using his cellphone, only to find that his GPS seemed to be malfunctioning.

Sometimes the location would show up in the south, sometimes in the north, and sometimes it would even appear to be overseas.

The signal was intermittent and inconsistent.

It was similar to the situation with the cellphone signal from Xu Feng received earlier, which was also erratic and couldn’t pinpoint a specific location.

At this moment, the inside of the carriage was eerily silent.

Yang Jian sat motionless, his gaze fixed intently on the few ghosts within the bus, fearing they might act out. He also remained silent to maintain his cool and avoid triggering the horrors around him.

Behind him, Xu Feng seemed to have fallen asleep early, as there was no movement.

Zhang Haw and the two girls next to him had shrunk into their own little worlds out of terror, trembling all over with unmistakable fear.

The time showed 1:30 a.m.

In the meantime, the bus hadn’t stopped again, which was good news; no stops meant no new ghosts boarding.

But unexpectedly, the event everybody dreaded soon took place. The bus, which had been traveling at a steady pace, suddenly began to slow down as if someone were pressing the brake.

A sudden stop.

Everyone leaned forward, and those not seated securely nearly fell over.

The bus.

Had stopped.

Eerily stationary in the middle of the road, without entering a station or reaching any end point, the situation was entirely different from before.

But what sent chills down Yang Jian’s spine in the next moment was the sight of the Crying Tomb Ghost, dressed in white mourning clothes, slowly standing up from the seat by the door. It turned around and began to move towards the back of the bus.

The white cloth hid the Crying Tomb Ghost’s face, only outlining a hollow visage; its stiff body advanced, exuding a chill that carried with it the stench of rotting soil, triggering fear from just one glance.

“What’s going on? The bus has stopped, and now the ghosts are moving,” Yang Jian’s eyes flickered with apprehension as he kept his gaze locked on the Crying Tomb Ghost.

Was the ghost getting off?

Or was there another reason?

But before he could ponder further,

The bride clad in the red qipao, with a red scarf over her head resembling a dark brown Dried Corpse Bride, also stood up and started making her way to the back of the bus.

Two visible ghosts were stirring into motion.

As for the unseen ghost, it was uncertain whether it was also beginning to move.

“Bang~!”

The next moment.

Before Yang Jian had time to think further, the rear door of the bus, which had never been opened before, suddenly swung open.

The cool breeze of the night poured in, making one shiver uncontrollably.

At this moment, the number of passengers on the bus’s electronic display changed from 4 to 3.

A certain ghost had chosen to get off.

Then Yang Jian saw that the Dried Corpse Bride, who was closest to the rear door, also slowly walked off the bus, using the recently opened door, and the number of passengers on the electronic display dropped from 3 to 2.

The second ghost got off.

In the end, the approaching Crying Tomb Ghost, like the ghosts before, slowly made its way off the bus without choosing to attack the living seated at the back.

Inside the bus, the number of ghosts had drastically decreased.

At first glance, this seemed like very good news; at least the ghosts that boarded earlier had now all left the bus, yet the passenger count on the display still showed 1.

All the ghosts had disembarked, but this last remaining ghost still hadn’t left.

Yang Jian watched the changing numbers, and although it wasn’t a complete clearance, the situation was much better than before, which allowed for a temporary sigh of relief.

However, before he had time to think further, Xu Feng, who had been sleeping at the back, suddenly stood up from his seat.

Without any explanation, he hurriedly prepared to get off the bus, seeming not to want to stay a minute longer.

“He’s choosing to get off at this time?” Yang Jian was immediately stunned.

The bus was stopped in the middle of the road, with three ghosts having gotten off; if a normal person were to follow suit, they would likely die the moment they disembarked, considering the ghosts might have not gone far and could still be lurking nearby. Without the protection of the bus, the previously disembarked ghosts would not continue to stay quiet.

“Knowing how dangerous it is, Xu Feng still chose to get off. There must be a reason, maybe compared to those ghosts outside, the bus is even more dangerous… Did the bus suddenly come to a halt in the middle of the road because of some special reason?” Yang Jian’s mind raced.

But before he had time to think further,

The headlights of the bus suddenly went out, and then the lights in the aisle quickly followed suit.

A wave of darkness instantly spread from the front to the back of the bus.

Extreme danger~!

As darkness enveloped him, Yang Jian felt an unprecedented urgency, his Ghost Eye restless and uneasy, almost unable to be suppressed even with Ghost Shadow.

As for Zhang Haw next to him and the two girls, they were overwhelmed by fear and confusion, utterly unable to tell whether this development was good or bad.

“Let’s get out of here.”

After quick consideration, Yang Jian gritted his teeth and chose to leave the bus.

He was now certain that there was something wrong with this bus, and that it was deadly for the people inside – no, perhaps not just the people, but the ghosts too.

With a flash of red light,

Yang Jian disappeared from the bus along with Zhang Haw and the two girls.

They stood up too late; only Ghost Domain could be used to instantly teleport them away.

And with the bus doors open, Ghost Domain could extend outside the bus.

No sooner had Yang Jian left than the bus was plunged into complete darkness.

One couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, and a silence as deep as death set in.

But the road outside was also dim, with only silhouettes barely visible.

“The engine died again, Xu Feng. It seems we’re really unlucky; who knows if we’ll make it out alive this time.”

Outside the bus, a voice abruptly sounded, revealing a man in a baseball cap who was squatting by the roadside with a strange, cold laugh. It seemed he had gotten off the bus much earlier, and how he had managed to get off without being noticed was a mystery.

The person who had been in the back row next to Xu Feng turned out not to be a ghost, but a human.

From his tone, it appeared he had been on the bus with Xu Feng for some time.

“That newcomer seems to have died on the bus. I was thinking of helping him grab a seat to prevent any accidents. Since the bus has stalled, it’s just his bad luck. If he were to die out here, the revival of the fierce ghosts would cause quite a bit of trouble. Only if you die on the bus are you safe.”

Xu Feng’s face was grim as he spoke. His purpose in helping Yang Jian was to secure a seat, and as for the real reason behind securing a seat, probably only those who had spent a long time on the bus would know.

Chapter 308.5: Petty

Looking at the bus that had stopped with its engine turned off, Xu Feng’s complexion wasn’t good, because the engine cutting out meant he had to leave the temporarily safe bus and head outside.

If he forced himself to stay on the bus, he was certain to die, and it was the same for a ghost controller, without any exception.

He had once witnessed such a scene, when almost half the people in the bus had died, including a ghost controller stronger than himself. That time, he had been utterly clueless and only managed to survive by dumb luck, which made him understand the terror of the situation afterwards.

“There are three ghosts outside, I don’t know if they have left. If they have, everything will be easy to handle. But if they’re still lingering nearby, I can only continue to stall for time and wait for the bus to restart. I hope the situation won’t continue to deteriorate further,” Xu Feng glanced to the side.

He didn’t stray far from the bus that had stopped, all the while staying alert to everything unusual around him.

“Never mind the dangers outside for now, I heard your conversation just now. That newcomer is also a ghost controller who tracked your signal. He should’ve been here to help you. Was it really okay to sell him out without saying a word?”

The man in the duckbill cap suddenly teased with a laugh, also monitoring their surroundings.

Xu Feng’s expression remained very calm, “What does it matter to me if he dies out of ignorance about the bus’s rules? Without my warning, he would have died during the first stop. Strictly speaking, I helped him. What can I do if the bus suddenly stops? In this situation, nobody would want to be involved.

With the three ghosts lingering outside already very dangerous, plus the possibility of that newcomer turning into a vengeful ghost after death, our survival chances out here would be minimized.”

“So, strictly speaking, this is saving us.”The man in the duckbill cap said, “Maybe the other person is an expert. If you gave him a hand, it’s very likely he would cooperate with you to fend off the ghosts that might appear at any moment. This would greatly increase our chances of survival.

You also said earlier that having more people on the bus is good, and after all, encountering multiple ghost controllers on the bus isn’t something that happens easily. We’ve been waiting for days and have only encountered one.”

“It’s precisely because it’s hard to come by that I don’t have high hopes. I don’t even know when his seat will come into play. If there’s no trouble, I could give him a hand, but not when there’s an incident. So, it’s better to take care of the present. If we can’t survive the present, talking is useless,” Xu Feng said.

“As for the expert you mentioned, that’s even more unlikely. I have gone through the files at the ghost controller headquarters. The latest update was fifteen days ago. I remember the names of all the top ghost controllers, and he’s just a pure newcomer. Relying on him to be of great help? Here, the only truly capable people are just you and me.

If it weren’t for being trapped by this bus, we would definitely be among the top existences in the ghost controller circle now,” he said with strong self-confidence in his words.

“What’s there to be confident about with a freak accident?” the man in the duckbill cap commented.

The conversation between the two men wasn’t hidden from anyone.

Perhaps they were accustomed to this kind of exchange, since they spent all day in the eerie bus, and after someone died, only ghosts remained. So it didn’t matter what secrets came to light. Even if someone heard, ordinary people couldn’t easily leave the bus and they would soon become dead.

And the dead can’t remember secrets.

However, Xu Feng had overlooked the presence of Yang Jian.

He hadn’t seen Yang Jian get off and thought he was already dead on the bus. After all, that was the experience in the past, no exceptions.

However, Yang Jian managed to leave by using the Ghost Domain in the last moment before the lights inside the bus went out.

Not only did he get off, but he also spontaneously helped Zhang Haw and the other two ordinary people.

Yang Jian was now standing by the side of the road, only about ten meters from Xu Feng and the man in the duckbill cap. However, hidden as he was within the Ghost Domain, they hadn’t detected him. ṝÅℕỗᛒËṥ

The two men seemed to have no resistance against the ability of the Ghost Domain.

“This strange bus can also stop running? People who stay on it after it stops are bound to die. Xu Feng needs someone to ’hold a seat’ on the bus, and not just anyone, but a ghost controller… He purposefully stepped off at the very last moment just to secure my position, to leave me, the one closest to the door, inside the bus, ensuring my death.”

Yang Jian’s gaze shifted slightly; he had overheard the entire process.

But he wasn’t angry about Xu Feng’s selfish actions.

For survival and self-preservation, it was not surprising for a ghost controller to do such things. If it had been him, he wouldn’t have saved Xu Feng either if he were in trouble. The only difference was that he wouldn’t deliberately trap others.

Of course, not being angry didn’t mean he had no opinion about Xu Feng.

Whether it was the intentional reminder not to get off earlier or the decision to leave him inside the bus, both actions were purposeful, taking advantage of his knowledge to manipulate him, a newcomer to the bus.

“Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to discuss me in front of me like this?”

Yang Jian suddenly became visible at this time, his figure appearing out of nowhere on the road, watching them with a cold gaze.

Hmm?

Upon hearing his voice, Xu Feng shivered violently and then looked at Yang Jian with extreme shock, “Weren’t you on the bus? How could you possibly be here?”

Just now, he had deduced that it was impossible for Yang Jian to have gotten out of the carriage.

Even if he moved very quickly, he would have been trapped inside.

“I’ve got quick feet, so I got off the bus quickly, and that’s why I left,” Yang Jian said. “Sorry to disappoint you, but it looks like this newcomer is going to be a bother for you.”

“Interesting.”

The man in the duckbill cap next to them was startled for a moment before laughing, “I thought someone who was supposed to be dead had actually survived and left the bus. I was keeping an eye on you the whole time; the moment the carriage went dark, you disappeared. I thought you were dead for sure, but you managed to escape.”

After all, as a ghost controller, he had seen many strange things and quickly stopped finding them strange.

Those who could control vengeful spirits were not to be judged by common standards.

“And here I was, thinking the person sitting in the back row was a ghost. Turns out it’s a human. When did you get off the bus?” Yang Jian asked.

“There’s a window in the back row; I escaped through the window,” the man in the duckbill cap said, shrugging his shoulders, looking pretty relaxed.

Yang Jian said, “The windows can’t be opened. I tried.”

“They can’t usually be opened, but once the engine is off, they can open, just like the doors. The doors won’t open while the bus is running; when the engine is off, the restrictions are lifted. This is an emergency situation on a Ghost Car and doesn’t happen often.

Once it occurs, all spirits and passengers must get off; otherwise, it becomes extremely dangerous, more perilous than facing a vengeful spirit. For people like us, that’s a checkmate situation, with no chance of survival. Fortunately, this time it wasn’t so bad. There were only three ghosts on the bus, and… they’re not here now. They must have left,” the man in the duckbill cap said.

“Since you’re not dead, let’s cooperate and strive to survive together. As long as you can leave the Ghost Car with us afterward, there will be unexpected gains,” Xu Feng immediately changed his tune, seeking cooperation.

Yang Jian looked at him and said, “I refuse to cooperate with you.”

“Why? Is it because of what just happened? There’s no need for that. In the adult world, it’s not about right or wrong, just pros and cons. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same, all in the name of survival.”

He spoke righteously, without the slightest sense of shame about his previous actions.

“That’s true, but people always have their tempers. You could have withheld information from me, but you shouldn’t have deliberately set me up. After all, I’m a bit petty,” Yang Jian said.

Xu Feng said, “Whatever, if that’s the case, then we’re on our own. I won’t rescue you. Good luck to you.”

If Yang Jian refused, then Xu Feng wouldn’t press it; a newcomer wouldn’t be much of a help in cooperation, so seeking an ally was better than having one more enemy.

“Before I leave this Ghost Car, at some point, I’m going to attack you. If you survive that, we’ll call it even. If not, well, goodbye,” Yang Jian said.

He held up a finger and very seriously told him, “I’m giving you a heads-up as a return for the warning you gave me earlier, so you can be a bit more prepared.”

“Are you saying this to get me to finish you off right here?” Xu Feng’s face turned cold, and he spoke with a hint of threatening intonation.

Yang Jian smiled slightly, “I may be new, but do you think a newcomer has to be easy to deal with?”

“Another arrogant young man. Gets a little skill and thinks he’s above everyone else,” Xu Feng said with a cold laugh

“Then try and see if you can take me down,” Yang Jian replied calmly.

As the two faced off, a mournful wailing suddenly drifted from the dark woods by the roadside.

A chilling sense of dread arose in everyone’s heart.

The Crying Tomb Ghost… hadn’t left.

We appreciate you reading! If you loved this chapter, don’t forget to bookmark us or share with your friends!