Xiao Gu listened to Chen Ge's words over the phone in a daze.
Why did his boss know so much about ghosts? Not only was he completely unafraid, but he was also personally teaching Xiao Gu how to win a ghost's favor, and every sentence dripped with experience and insight.
He was curious, but that was all—just curiosity. He would never suspect that Chen Ge meant him any harm. To him, Chen Ge was a very special person.
This boss, who looked so unreliable on the surface, had twice pulled him back from the brink of death.
The first time was when a schizophrenic woman had drugged him and nearly dismembered him. Chen Ge had kicked the door in and saved him.
The second time was again at the Fanghua Yuan residential complex. He had accidentally wandered into Building 3, pursued from behind by a featureless white figure, and had passed out from dizziness. When he came to, the police told him that Chen Ge had once again come to his rescue.
"This is the third time."
Xiao Gu stuffed his phone into his pocket. He felt that his life was incredibly dangerous, and that only by following Chen Ge could he live in peace.
The call hadn't ended. Xiao Gu wore his earbuds and leaned against the car window, carefully committing every word Chen Ge said to memory.
The rain grew heavier. Outside the window, everything was pitch black—completely impossible to see the road. Xiao Gu could only silently count the time, calculating the child's position and keeping himself ready to get off at a moment's notice.
Five minutes later, the car began to slow down. Xiao Gu tensed his calf muscles and said in a very low voice, "We're almost there."
"The moment the door opens, don't hesitate. Strike immediately. Don't give that middle-aged woman any time to react." Chen Ge's voice came through the earbuds.
"Got it."
Through the window, he could already make out the silhouette of the bus stop. The red figure was still standing there, keeping watch.
The suburban stop had no rain shelter. The woman in the red raincoat stood alone in the downpour, strikingly visible amid the torrent.
As the car slowed and was about to pull in, a phone suddenly rang.
Huang Ling, sitting in the front row, had just unlocked her screen when her husband's call came through. Maybe because he had calmed down a bit, she didn't hang up immediately and pressed the answer button.
"Huang Ling! Get off the bus! Get off now!"
A man's desperate, frantic shout poured out of the phone. Huang Ling hung up before he could even finish. Honestly, she had been badly shaken.
"What's wrong with him?"
The call had barely ended when the phone rang again—it was her husband once more.
Huang Ling turned the volume to its lowest and looked around apologetically. Only then did she notice that every passenger around her was staring at her.
Those faces wore strange expressions, half-smiling, half-not, all fixed on her—and the scrutiny made her blood run cold.
"I'm sorry…" The phone in Huang Ling's palm kept vibrating, emitting a low buzz.
"Why don't you you answer the call?" The old woman sitting behind the driver spoke for the first time. Her face was covered in wrinkles like bean-curd skin, and her eyes were veiled by a thin white film. When Xiao Gu had first boarded, the old woman hadn't looked like this—he had no idea when the change had started.
The old woman's appearance was frightening. Huang Ling clutched her phone, unable to read the old woman's intentions, and could only keep apologizing.
"I think you'd better answer his call. The longer you don't, the more worried he'll get." The man in the white coat chuckled, his gaze flicking between Huang Ling and Xiao Gu. The red string around his wrist had vanished at some point, replaced by row upon row of dark reddish-brown wounds.
Huang Ling ignored the doctor. Behind her, the child had started coughing violently again. The middle-aged woman's patience had finally run dry. Her already plain face twisted into something grotesque—her features warped and skewed as she glared viciously at the child beside her, her eyes filled with a terrifying malice.