Horror revival: I Own a Ghost Bus

Seeing the horrific death of the male streamer, Jiang Yan was thoroughly shaken. It seemed his friends' warnings had come true.

There was indeed something unclean lurking in Lugang Mountain.

The streamer's death was far too brutal to be a mere murder—it happened in just a few seconds of darkness. To kill a strong, healthy man so quickly and viciously was simply impossible under normal circumstances.

Two of the streamers in the front seats turned around at the scream, immediately seeing their friend's gruesome fate.

One of the female streamers collapsed in her seat, paralyzed with fear. The blond young man, shocked and furious, stood up, scanning the other passengers.

The killer was somewhere among them.

His gaze landed on the man in the black hat, and he stormed over, grabbing the man's collar.

"Hao Ming—did you kill him?"

The man wore a black hat, mask, and sunglasses, giving off a strange aura. He was also sitting right next to Hao Ming, which made him the prime suspect in the blond guy's eyes.

Though Jiang Yan knew this wasn't a murder by human hands, he was still curious to see how the man in the black hat would react.

The man, despite being held by the collar, exuded an intimidating calm. His large frame and steady composure made him look unshakeable.

"You've already caught their attention. If you don't want to die, get back to your seat now," the man in the black hat said, his voice icy.

"Their… attention?" The blond youth froze, his gaze shifting to the other passengers in the tour group.

What he saw made his hair stand on end.

In the dim bus interior, all the members of the tour group had turned their heads at impossible angles, staring directly at the two of them in the aisle.

These passengers were no longer human. Their faces were pale and mottled, like long-decayed corpses, with hollow eyes dripping with blood, locked firmly on the blond young man.

Terrified, he immediately released the man's collar and stumbled back to his seat, trembling.

As he did so, the corpses in the seats slowly turned their heads back.

The three streamers were petrified, especially the two female streamers, who began crying silently, not daring to make a sound.

Jiang Yan was horrified as well. He hadn't expected that the entire tour group was… not alive.

And from what he'd just observed, making too much noise and drawing the attention of these "tourists" could lead to deadly consequences.

The man in the black hat seemed to understand this well.

Thinking quickly, Jiang Yan leaned in and whispered, "Uncle, just how much do you know?"

The man in the black hat glanced at Jiang Yan, a bit surprised.

After all, following that terrifying incident, even the boldest ghost-hunting streamers were now quiet as quails. Yet here was this college kid, calm enough to speak to him directly.

"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is survival. The only way to stay alive is to understand the rules of this bus," he replied, his voice low and steady.

"Rules?" Jiang Yan pondered his words. Clearly, the man knew much about this situation, but the critical part was learning the rules of survival on this bus.

"Yes, rules. Malevolent spirits kill according to rules. Only by uncovering these rules can we stay alive. So, kid, what rules have you noticed so far?" the man asked in a quiet voice.

Jiang Yan thought for a moment, his expression serious. "When the bus is moving, we can't draw the tour group's attention, or else terrible consequences follow. When the bus stops, it goes completely dark, and someone dies."

"Good." The man in the black hat smiled slightly but looked worried. "But that alone won't keep us alive. Keep observing."

He was right; what Jiang Yan had figured out so far only covered the basics, but didn't offer a way to avoid these lethal rules.

Beside him, Zhang Tiantian was still asleep, resting her head on his shoulder, oblivious to the horror around her.

Unlike her peaceful expression, Jiang Yan was tense, his mind racing as he scanned the bus, his palms sweating.

Where was the way out?

What loopholes were hidden within these rules?

Now there were only six true humans left on the bus. That meant there was a one-in-six chance he'd be the next to die the next time they stopped.

The longer they stayed, the slimmer his chances of survival became.

If staying on the bus was a death sentence, maybe escaping from it could be a solution?

His gaze shifted to the window, where he saw nothing but thick fog outside, now tinged with a strange, sickly yellow.

He looked up at the bus's ceiling. The weak, flickering lights cast a dim yellow glow, and it seemed that night had fallen, making the fog appear yellow under the lights.

Jiang Yan stared intently at the fog outside, trying to discern if there was any sign of the real world beyond it.

If he were to jump out and escape, he needed to know if what lay outside was genuine.

But after a long time of staring, he couldn't make anything out, so he whispered to the man in the black hat, "What's beyond the fog?"

"Oh, planning to jump out, are you?" The man chuckled mockingly but answered seriously. "I'm not sure. It could be the real world, or it could not be. I've never tried to go into the fog myself. But if you had the ability to open your 'Yin-Yang Eyes,' you might see through it."

"Yin-Yang Eyes?" Jiang Yan was taken aback. Wasn't that a Taoist mystical skill?

"Seems like you're interested," the man remarked, his tone meaningful. "But remember, as you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you."

Jiang Yan understood what he meant. Despite his curiosity, he still preferred to live the simple life of a college student—gaming in the dorms with friends was far more appealing than mingling with malevolent spirits.

Just then, the bus engine cut out, and its speed began to drop.

The tour group members at the front of the bus ceased their conversations, and the overhead lights started to flicker ominously.

Jiang Yan, the man in the black hat, and the three streamers held their breath, not daring to make a sound, knowing well that someone was about to die.

The bus slowed further and further, until it gave a loud, creaking groan and came to a complete stop, rocking slightly as it halted.

And in that instant, the bus was swallowed by an absolute darkness.

A darkness so pure that it seemed to devour even the faintest glimmer of color.

Jiang Yan was on high alert. He knew that this darkness brought danger, yet it also presented an opportunity—a chance to discern the patterns of these murders.

In the pitch-black silence, he couldn't feel his own body, couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was as if his very soul was isolated, trapped.

But he felt something else—a sensation, the faint brush of icy wind passing by.

Could these cold drafts be the key to the killings in the dark?

Just then, the bus engine roared back to life, breaking the silence. This round was over, and those still alive breathed a collective sigh of relief.

As the sickly yellow light flickered back on, they all looked around, eager to see who hadn't made it this time…