Chapter 28 Beware Your Corpse

Raindrops fell from the sky in a steady drizzle, the pattering sounds drowning out the shouting and sealing the bus off from the outside world.

But in a way, this wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Rainy weather would urge Chu Ning to hurry back sooner.

At this moment, Tanya’s hair was a tangled mess; her pale face was flushed from desperate struggling, and her breaths grew heavier. Beneath her white dress, her chest rose and fell with each gasp. The snowy white dress was now blooming with red ripples, and Tanya stared vacantly at the shambling corpses before her. Blood began to drip from the pure black glove on her left hand, her form growing increasingly insubstantial.

“Welcome to Bus 24, our future companion!” croaked a man with a gaping wound at his neck, blood gurgling from his throat. He offered Tanya an apologetic smile and tried to press his hand to the wound, as if to appear more amiable.

“Join us! Don’t you want to know who killed you? If you join us, you’ll naturally learn the answer you seek.”

The driver, his head lolling to one side, straightened it with some effort. Like a devil, he tempted Tanya to join them; the bus was still short of a full load, and they needed more passengers. Only when the bus was filled could these unfortunate souls, condemned to die in another’s stead, be released from their torment.

He knew she would not deceive them—just as she had promised to recover their bodies, she had kept her word before.

The driver, with a kind of nostalgia, picked up a piece of decaying flesh that had fallen from his shin, gingerly wiped it clean, and, after a difficult grimace, quickly stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed.

“Still as disgusting as ever, ahahaha!” The driver’s manic laughter echoed through the bus, as though he’d just heard the world’s funniest joke. A line of bloody tears traced down his cheek, followed by a putrid eyeball.

Tanya bit her lip and watched his performance in silence. She remembered Chu Ning saying that one form of horror film was to use grotesque spectacle to shatter the limits of human disgust.

“Disgusting!”

She spat the word. There was nothing terrifying about the scene before her—only a nauseating filth that sullied the very art of fear itself. These damned walking corpses.

Truly, there could be no alliance between them; they were not the same kind of ghost at all.

As for the driver’s claim that they knew who the murderer was, that sort of childish trickery couldn’t fool her.

They’d never had any contact; unless the killer was someone on the bus, it was impossible for them to know the truth.

“Do you really know?” she sighed, a deep sorrow in her voice. Her white dress was now utterly crimson, and the chill night wind seeped through the cracks in the door, sending her blood-red skirt billowing.

“Do you really know?” she repeated.

“Do you really know?” The shrill, mournful wail shook the bus, the repeated question accusing every passenger as if they were her murderer.

For three seconds, a heavy silence reigned. Then, a cacophony of ghostly cries and deranged laughter erupted. Madness twisted every face on the bus—how naïve these newcomers were! To think she could scare them with such tactics—how innocent!

Tanya forced herself to stand her ground, refusing to retreat. She swallowed hard to moisten her throat, lowered her voice, and yelled herself hoarse in a desperate, hysterical shout.

She couldn’t help but marvel at how difficult it was to frighten ghosts.

“Chu Ning, why are you not back yet? Hurry!” Tanya silently pleaded. She had never cared so much about another person’s whereabouts.

She was reaching her limit. No matter how fiercely she feigned malice, she couldn’t cow these ravenous spirits leering at her.

To be honest, she considered herself rather kind-hearted.

Chu Ning, I really can’t hold out much longer! As the ghouls crept closer, Tanya involuntarily edged back half a step.

These mutilated corpses truly sickened her, especially the thought of their putrid flesh and rancid pus staining her own form. To be born a ghost—she truly apologized for it!

One passenger in particular was covered with bite marks, her body mangled beyond recognition. Tanya could only imagine the horrors she had endured, and her terror only deepened.

That half-step back was a show of weakness. The passengers surged forward in a frenzy, none willing to lag behind—like a mob storming a supermarket sale.

“My new eyes are finally within reach!”

“I want her pearly teeth—old age has worn mine away; it’s time for a new set.”

“Don’t anyone dare take her face from me! Oh, such flawless perfection! That fair, oval face, a nose like jade, lips like cherry blossoms, brows arched like willow. My face will be too beautiful—how thrilling!” A woman with a dozen knife-slashed scars across her face eyed Tanya hungrily, warning those around her to spare the face when they tore her apart. She wanted to peel it away, layer by layer, as one would an onion.

Tanya’s hands trembled as she gripped the medical kit, steeling herself for a desperate fight, praying with all her heart for Chu Ning’s swift return.

Thunder crashed and lightning flashed, illuminating the bus door. In that stark light, a dark figure appeared silently at the entrance.

Every eye in the bus was drawn to the shadow at the door; through the rain-streaked glass, it was just possible to make out Chu Ning’s form.

“Driver, could you please open the door?” Chu Ning’s urgent knock and voice reached inside.

“One moment, I’ll open it right away!” the driver called, glaring resentfully at Tanya before waving the trembling passengers back into order.

A sense of safety rushed over Tanya. She watched the retreat of the passengers with wary eyes, unwilling to let her guard down until she was sure they wouldn’t attack her in the chaos. Her heart gradually eased, and she waited anxiously for Chu Ning’s return.

Just as she began to relax, the driver threw out a cryptic warning: “Watch out for your corpse.” She couldn’t guess what he meant, nor what hidden threat lay behind his words.

She forced herself to resist the urge to use her abilities to uncover the truth. Today was already fraught with misfortune; she had to preserve her strength.

Tonight, there would be clues to investigate. To exhaust herself now would be unwise—especially since she hadn’t forgotten the mysterious assailant from earlier that day.