Chapter 46: The Strange Passenger
I hesitated to approach her. Watching the flames rise and hearing the heart-wrenching cries, my mind drifted, but my feet refused to move.
"She's burning joss paper in the middle of the road. Could it be that her family passed away here?"
"Or perhaps she's mourning workers from the Miyun Mansion who died in an accident?"
"Crying so sorrowfully—whoever passed must have been dearly close to her."
My mind was inexplicably filled with stray thoughts. The flames dwindled as the bag of joss paper burned quickly.
"Uncle, can you tell me if this is the stop for the Route 14 bus?" A sudden voice startled me from behind.
I turned to see a girl.
She looked about twelve or thirteen, probably not yet in middle school.
"Yes, this is the stop for Route 14," I replied.
"Thanks," she said with a sweet smile, standing still beside me.
I was puzzled. Looking back to the other side of the road, the elderly woman had vanished, leaving only the remnants of burnt paper money on the asphalt.
"She's gone?" I had no idea when the old woman had left—it felt like only moments had passed.
"Gone where?" The young girl, swinging her pigtails, glanced at me with curiosity.
"Nothing, just an old lady I didn't know." I dusted myself off and stood up, stealing a glance at the girl beside me.
She was about 150 centimeters tall, youthful and innocent, dressed adorably like a budding flower eager to show her beauty to the world.
"Hey, what's your name?" I asked.
"Liu Yiyi," she replied.
"Why aren't you home so late? Why are you waiting at the bus stop?" I couldn't understand it. The girl, already a budding beauty, had even put on light makeup. She looked pure and charming—if she encountered bad people, the consequences would be unimaginable.
She didn't answer directly but kicked at a pebble on the ground and asked in return, "Then why are you out here late at night waiting for a bus?"
"I…" Her quick wit left me speechless. "Just go home. Look, there isn't even a single streetlight for hundreds of meters around."
"I'm not going back. I'm waiting for the bus."
"Waiting for what bus? Can't you see the sign? The last Route 14 bus left at 9:30. It's long past service hours. Where are you going? If you're stranded, I'll give you money for a taxi."
"My mom says I shouldn't take things from strangers," the girl said firmly. Her twin pigtails swung behind her, looking quite amusing.
"I bet your mom also said not to wander around after dark. Go home quickly; don't let her worry."
She lowered her head, pausing for a moment before saying, "My mom isn't home. I'm going to find her."
She was a stubborn girl, and I couldn't persuade her otherwise, so I had no choice but to wait with her.
"Do you think the Route 14 bus will come?" she asked after a moment of silence, her big eyes looking at me pitifully.
"It'll come," I replied. In truth, I hoped the Route 14 bus wouldn't show up. I would rather stand by the road all night than take that notoriously late-night bus.
Around one in the morning, as I sat on the curb nearly dozing off, a pair of yellow-green headlights pierced through the darkness on the uneven road in the distance.
"Route 14—it's here!"
The bus moved slowly. From the moment I saw the headlights to when it pulled into the stop, five minutes had passed.
"Ding-dong! Miyun Mansion, please collect your belongings and exit through the rear door. Mind your step when alighting."
"Vehicle entering the stop. Pedestrians and vehicles, please stay safe. This is the Route 14 unmanned fare bus. Please board through the front door and deposit one yuan. Exact change only."
The familiar announcement jolted me awake. I jumped up, startled.
"No way. It's one in the morning, and the Route 14 bus is still running? And it's carrying passengers? Could the rumors be true?"
Miyun Mansion was shrouded in thick darkness. The only light came from the bus headlights.
The front and rear doors of the bus opened. I stopped Liu Yiyi, who was holding a one-yuan bill, from boarding immediately, signaling her to wait.
Moments later, an elderly man stepped off through the rear door. Though it wasn't yet autumn, the man was bundled in a thick coat and scarf. He looked gravely ill, yet he walked quickly. In the blink of an eye, he reached the other side of the road and stopped beside the pile of burnt joss paper.
Just as I tried to take a closer look, Liu Yiyi broke free of my grip and boarded the bus on her own.
Left with no choice, I pulled out a one-yuan coin and boarded through the front door.
This was an old, battered bus—a manual-shift "Minsheng" model with a broken windshield wiper and a grimy interior that reeked of something strange.
While there was no visible trash, the paint was heavily peeling, and the wooden seats felt like sitting on coffin planks—particularly uncomfortable.
"The vehicle is starting. Please hold on to the handrails. Welcome aboard Route 14, an unmanned fare bus. Please have exact change ready. Next stop: En Village."
Instead of sitting down immediately, I took my time pretending to find a seat, discreetly observing each passenger.
The driver was a young man, seemingly younger than me. He wore a transport company uniform and kept his eyes fixed on the steering wheel, his forehead drenched in sweat.
"Is it really that hot? Or is he sweating from fear?"
His employee ID badge was worn backward, with the photo side facing in, concealing any information.
Directly behind the driver sat Liu Yiyi, who had taken off her backpack and was making funny faces at me.
A few seats away, there was a middle-aged woman dressed casually, like someone who had just finished a square-dancing session and was heading home.
"At one in the morning, shouldn't someone her age be asleep? Where is she headed on the Route 14 bus?"
Behind her sat a mismatched couple. The woman, in her early twenties, leaned into the man's arms, unwilling to let go. However, the man wore a frown, looking annoyed.
Across the aisle, a man in a hospital gown with bandages wrapped around his head sat restlessly. His face was unnaturally pale, and he muttered incessantly while his leg twitched involuntarily.
"Of everyone on this bus, he looks the strangest. Yet, why does he feel the most normal?" The word "normal" carried different meanings as I continued my observations.
In the second-to-last row, there was another girl about Liu Yiyi's age. She seemed to have been crying, her eyes swollen, clutching a school bag in her arms.
"Two girls?" I recalled the phone call when the Hell Show assigned this mission. A woman had begged me, "Promise me, please don't let my daughter get on the bus! Promise me!"
"Which one is your daughter?" This task from the Hell Show was undoubtedly complex. It wouldn't be unraveled easily. With so few clues, I could only go with the flow.
On the last row of the bus sat a woman with heavy makeup, her hair styled in large waves, dressed like a hostess from a karaoke bar.
Beside her was a figure cloaked in a red robe, hair entirely obscuring her face. She leaned partially against the made-up woman, who, oddly enough, seemed oblivious to her presence, engrossed in her phone.
"What kind of combination is this?" I withdrew my gaze and took a seat behind Liu Yiyi.
"Uncle, where are you getting off?" In the deathly silent bus, Liu Yiyi's voice rang clear.
"Don't talk, don't move. When it's time, get off the bus quickly, understand?" I lowered my voice, replying cautiously. Inwardly, I wondered, "Can't this naïve girl see that no one on this bus is normal?"
Just as the driver prepared to start the bus, someone grabbed the half-closed door. "We made it! Hurry up!"
Three men wearing hard hats boarded the bus. Their clothes were speckled with paint, and their boots were caked with mud. After paying their fare, they found seats, arms draped over one another.
"Wait a minute. The Miyun Mansion construction site has been abandoned for years. How could there still be workers boarding so late at night?" Their breath smelled of alcohol, their faces flushed—they had clearly been drinking heavily.
"Do ghosts drink alcohol?" I shook my head. Perhaps they were just nearby farmers hired for repairs.
Once the three men settled in, the doors closed, and the Route 14 bus began to move slowly. My third Midnight Thriller Live Room broadcast had officially begun.
"The engine rumbles, the road stretches ahead, and the bus heads north. Liu the Blind gave me three pieces of advice, none of which I followed…" I smiled bitterly, gazing out the window.
The remnants of burnt joss paper scattered in the wind. The scarf-wrapped elderly man had vanished. All I could make out was a black-and-white photo in the iron basin by the roadside. In the photo, the old man seemed to be smiling at me.