Song Zang’s vision went black, and the shrill, violent screech of brakes suddenly exploded beside his ears.
When he opened his eyes again, the six of them were already inside an unfamiliar coach bus.
The vehicle appeared somewhat old. The doors and windows, covered in strips of repair tape, creaked constantly, while yellowed route maps of Tianhai City still hung on both sides. The maps featured adorably clumsy-looking cow and sheep mascots, but they were now buried beneath a thick layer of dust.
It appeared to be a privately operated coach converted from an abandoned public bus—and not a particularly legitimate one.
Song Zang was seated in the rear corner beside the window.
The light above his head had a faulty connection. As the bus shook violently, it flickered on and off in the darkness of the night, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
The girls sat together on a row of three seats near the front. They held one another’s hands nervously, not daring to make a sound.
Xie Chun Ye was seated in a double seat near the rear door, with an unfamiliar little girl beside him.
Under the momentum of the sudden braking, the girl was violently thrown forward and nearly struck her head. Fortunately, Xie Chun Ye reacted extremely quickly. The moment he opened his eyes, he calmly reached out and pulled her back from the brink.
The girl appeared to be no more than seven or eight years old. Her cheeks were rosy, and she wore a pretty but obviously counterfeit princess dress, paired with black leather shoes. Her hair was arranged in two elaborate pigtails.
She gradually recovered from her fright and met Xie Chun Ye’s indifferent gaze with wide, round eyes. Although slightly shy, she still gathered her courage and said in a soft, childish voice, “Thank you, Big Brother.”
“…You’re welcome.”
For some unknown reason, Xie Chun Ye’s tone became faintly gentler.
But the gentleness lasted only for an instant. Immediately afterward, he turned and swiftly swept his gaze over his teammates with a hint of scrutiny, then silently began examining every detail of the bus.
Xie Chun Ye’s gaze lingered longest on Wang Shu.
Song Zang followed his line of sight and discovered that Wang Shu was sitting directly behind the driver—the safest yet most dangerous seat on the entire bus.
His slightly overweight build made the seat appear somewhat cramped, and he was leaning against the rectangular advertisement board behind the driver.
Wang Shu made no unusual movements. He kept his head lowered, his arms trembling faintly and his eyes opened wide. His body language revealed how tense and rigid he currently was.
It was as though the situation had been too overwhelming for him to accept, leaving him frozen in a state of excessive terror.
That was understandable. An honest, simple middle-aged man who suddenly encountered such an unexpected and bizarre upheaval would naturally adapt less readily than younger people.
Song Zang decided to learn from Wang Shu’s flawless display of cowardice. He therefore silently lowered his own head, wrapped both arms around his knees, and quietly curled up in the rear corner.
“Fuck all of you!”
An enraged roar, accompanied by an angry blast of the horn, shattered the silence inside the bus.
It came from the driver who had just slammed on the brakes.
“Crossing the road in the middle of the night—are you in such a hurry to report to the King of Hell?! Trash! Food even Mother Mountain wouldn’t touch!”
The driver viciously rolled down the window and leaned outside to shout several strange curses, paying no attention to whether he disturbed his passengers. Only after venting to his satisfaction did he restart the bus while continuing to swear.
The bus swayed forward. Song Zang raised his eyes slightly and looked through the window in the direction the driver had been cursing.
Illuminated by the high beams, several drunken young men and women stood at one side of the road. Judging by their clothing, they were tourists who had come to camp in the mountains. With their arms slung around one another, they carried beer cans and half-eaten skewers, appearing thoroughly carefree.
Alcohol had deprived them of reason. They did not realize that the fate of being crushed into meat paste had only just brushed past them.
Song Zang stared steadily at them, several traces of envy passing through his eyes. The light made his face appear deathly pale.
In the end, he bit his lip, quietly looked away, and stole a glance at the equally stiff Wang Shu. His expression grew even more uneasy.
【Special Title: Mask (8/100)】
The number had changed.
Aside from the other five players, the only people on the bus were the driver and the little girl, both NPCs.
Leaving aside whether the NPCs had even noticed his existence, not even Xie Chun Ye would suddenly begin believing him within such a short period.
In that case, where exactly had these secretly increasing numbers come from?
Perhaps something invisible was staring at him from the darkness, observing him and mocking his cowardice.
Excellent. If deceiving ghosts counted as well… Song Zang would not mind having a few more appear so he could raise the number.
Special titles could continuously advance, and their bonuses would improve accordingly. Song Zang was curious to see what kinds of surprises it might bring him in the future.
While his thoughts wandered, the drunken tourists receded like the tide, and an endless expanse of deep night spread beyond the windows.
The creaking old bus struggled up the mountain road, carrying with it the volatile instability of its irritable driver.
Xie Chun Ye signaled everyone with his eyes not to act rashly, then turned his head and began speaking softly with the little girl.
“Little girl, what’s your name? Where are your parents?”
The girl revealed an extremely sweet and obedient smile. “My name is Ning Si Si. I don’t know where my mommy and daddy are either.”
Xie Chun Ye considered his words for a moment. “Si Si, when you go out in the future, you need to stay with your parents. Riding a bus alone is dangerous. Do you understand?”
“I understand!”
“Then how about Big Brother calls the police and asks a police officer to take you home?”
“Okay. Thank you, Big Brother,” Ning Si Si answered without hesitation.
The handsome big brother had saved her earlier and spoke gently, so she swiftly placed him on her list of trustworthy people.
“By the way, Si Si.” Seeing the trust in her eyes, Xie Chun Ye seized the opportunity to gather information. “Do you know your parents’ names and phone numbers?”
Upon hearing this, Ning Si Si looked confused for a moment. She scratched her head and thought hard. After a while, she suddenly remembered something and eagerly began rummaging through her fluffy princess dress.
Two small pockets were concealed along the side of the skirt. Ning Si Si searched through them with her head lowered before taking out a long, folded strip of paper.
“Their numbers are written here.” She extended her short little arm and decisively handed the paper over. “Big Brother, I can’t understand it. Can you read it for me?”
A seven- or eight-year-old girl who was neatly and beautifully dressed, as well as very polite, could not read?
Xie Chun Ye raised an eyebrow slightly. His expression remained unchanged as he accepted the paper with a smiling nod.
The handwriting on it was delicate and elegant. It probably belonged to Ning Si Si’s mother.
He read softly, “Ning Feng. Mobile number: 130xxxx4444.”
“Yes, yes, that’s my daddy! What about Mommy?” Ning Si Si’s eyes sparkled, her voice full of excitement.
Xie Chun Ye paused. A trace of investigation appeared in the eyes concealed behind his glasses. “Jiang Ming Yue. 187xxxx4444…”
No matter how one looked at it, that string of numbers seemed deeply ominous.
Elio’s Notes: The phone number is considered ominous because it ends in 4444. In Chinese, the word for “four” (sì) sounds similar to the word for “death” (sǐ), so repeated fours strongly suggest death and bad luck.
Song Zang listened casually from the side. Tilting his head slightly, he thoughtfully observed the people ahead through the gap between the seatbacks.
He discovered that Wang Shu remained completely motionless, showing no intention whatsoever of participating in the game. His eyes were opened even wider than before.
Upon closer inspection, a faint damp patch could even be seen on his dark-brown suit trousers. It was as though he had encountered something horrifying and had literally been frightened into wetting himself.
Compared with Wang Shu’s rigid terror, the girls were much bolder. After Qiu Shuang and Xiao Li Li exchanged glances, their attention simultaneously settled on the red emergency hammer.
Xiao Li Li, who was seated farthest forward, blocked the driver’s view. Qiu Shuang silently reached out and slowly straightened her body, successfully touching the transparent plastic box hanging beside the window.
An abandoned public bus naturally had no alarm system. She quietly lifted the plastic cover, grabbed the emergency hammer, and swiftly returned to her seat without making a single sound throughout the entire process.
Lin Wen Jing was not idle either. She stretched out her foot toward the trash bin beside the rear door and gently hooked it closer, unexpectedly finding a fruit knife inside.
They were all quite brave and willing to take risks.
While the girls secretly made their moves, Xie Chun Ye had already taken a phone from his trouser pocket. He seemed entirely unaware that there was anything wrong with the two phone numbers and lowered his eyes to dial quickly.
An ominous feeling permeated the oppressive air. Song Zang bit his lower lip lightly, feeling a rare flicker of anticipation.
Beep—beep—
No one answered Ning Feng’s number.
After thinking briefly, Xie Chun Ye called Jiang Ming Yue’s number instead.
The call was answered almost immediately.
“Hello?”
A somewhat hurried female voice came from the other end.
“Hello, is this Ms. Jiang Ming Yue? Your daughter—”
Xie Chun Ye was unable to finish because the violent momentum nearly threw him out of his seat.
Screech—!
“For fuck’s sake!”
Without warning, the bus slammed on the brakes again. The driver’s irritability suddenly skyrocketed as he pounded the steering wheel and spewed obscenities.
On the mountain road shrouded in darkness, an enormous shadow rapidly crawled past. Its posture was bizarre and twisted, and even under the high beams, its details could not be seen clearly. Veins bulged along the driver’s neck as he pointed at it and cursed loudly until it disappeared deep within the overlapping trees.
No one knew what had happened. No one knew what kind of beast it was.
This time, Ning Si Si truly struck the seatback. A large swelling appeared on her forehead. After staring blankly for a moment, she suddenly threw back her head and burst into loud sobs.
“Hello?! Si Si? Is that Si Si?!” The woman’s voice on the phone instantly became frantic. “Si Si, where did you go?! Baby, Mommy has been looking everywhere for you… Si Si! Si Si, come back!!”
Xie Chun Ye did not hang up. He tried speaking quietly with the woman while gently patting Ning Si Si’s back to comfort her.
But Jiang Ming Yue ignored him and frantically called Si Si’s name. Ning Si Si cried even louder, calling for her mother between sobs.
As time passed, the woman’s voice coming from the phone grew increasingly shrill, echoing endlessly through the bus, which was already filled with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
Just then, the driver, who had previously been the noisiest person present, abruptly fell silent. He suddenly raised his head toward the rearview mirror, his gaze almost tangible as he stared directly at Xie Chun Ye’s phone.
Beneath the ghastly white light, the eyes reflected in the rearview mirror bulged unnaturally and had nearly turned bloodred.
He stepped on the accelerator, and the battered bus once again began climbing the sinister mountain road.
Xie Chun Ye’s expression changed slightly. Without hesitation, he ended the call.
But the voice did not stop.
One deathly summons after another desperately forced its way out of the speaker, piercing everyone’s ears like needles.
As though suddenly awakening from a dream, Xie Chun Ye stood and tried to pull open a window, but it would not budge. His gaze shifted, and he immediately strode toward the drafty rear door before forcefully throwing the phone through the gap.
A wet, muffled impact came from outside the bus.
“Si Si! Si Si! Si Si!”
The woman seemed to sense that the phone had been thrown away. Her frantic cries grew louder, more frequent, and increasingly shrill, penetrating the bus from every direction. It sounded like long, sharp fingernails repeatedly scraping across sheet metal—unbearably piercing and eerie.
Xie Chun Ye’s expression became equally grim.
Because he had never turned on the speakerphone.
In the rearview mirror, the bulging, furious eyes continued to swell, as though they would fall from their sockets at any moment.
Futile Devices Scans 
Leave a comment