Thick clouds piled up across the night sky, oppressive and gloomy, not allowing a sliver of light through.
Darkness fell. In buildings with blurred outlines, shadows flitted past, and poisonous gazes turned toward the highway.
On the outskirts of the empty city, a man on an electric scooter was desperately chasing a bus ahead.
"I don't believe you won't stop at the next stop!"
Chen Ge gritted his teeth. This was his first encounter with the Route 104 ghost bus, but its reaction had exceeded his expectations.
"Could this bus only allow the dead to board, forbidding the living from entering? That doesn't make sense either — why did nobody stop Huang Ling and Little Gu when they got on?"
The electric scooter had limited battery. After at most four more stops, he would have to rely on pedal power alone.
He was anxious about the mission. He didn't bother memorizing the route, threw every other chaotic thought to the back of his mind, and chased the ghost bus ahead with everything he had.
"You won't let me on? Just wait until I catch you!"
Chasing a bus on an electric scooter was extremely difficult, but it wasn't entirely hopeless. The ghost bus — whether because of severe aging or something inherent to it — simply couldn't drive very fast.
Chen Ge gave it everything he had, yet he couldn't close the gap with the Route 104 ghost bus. All he could do was hope that it would stop at the next bus stop.
The buildings on either side blurred past at speed. Rain drenched Chen Ge's coat. He had no idea how long he'd been chasing when he finally spotted a bus stop up ahead.
"Someone's waiting for the bus?"
Only after activating his Yin Eyes could Chen Ge see clearly — there was a middle-aged man on the platform, dressed in winter clothes, wearing a scarf, hat, and mask that completely covered his face.
The Route 104 bus pulled into the stop and, under Chen Ge's watchful gaze, began to slow down. Before the bus had even come to a complete stop, the doors flew open.
The driver inside seemed to be waving at the man outside, urging him to hurry on.
The middle-aged man, confused about the situation, hesitated for a while before boarding.
That brief delay was enough — Chen Ge had closed the distance to the Route 104 bus considerably.
"There's a chance! It seems like the whole purpose of this ghost bus is to transport those special passengers waiting at bus stops to some destination. So as long as there's a 'person' waiting at a stop, it should stop."
The middle-aged man had barely figured out what was going on before the Route 104 final bus was already pulling away, heading toward the next stop.
Cold rain pelted his face, but Chen Ge refused to let up.
The buildings on either side grew increasingly eerie and blurred, and the rain grew heavier still. None of it dared to stop Chen Ge.
Since obtaining the Black Phone, he had never once failed a trial mission.
"If it were any other mission, maybe I'd let it slide — but the Ghost Bus mission is tied to unlocking other trial missions in the eastern suburbs. This one has to succeed!"
Chen Ge was risking his life. Chasing a ghost bus on an electric scooter in the dead of night — it was the kind of thing ordinary people wouldn't even dare to imagine.
After passing through several intersections, Chen Ge soon spotted another bus stop. This time, a strange-looking person was squatting there, his limbs wildly uncoordinated, giving the impression that he might topple over at any moment.
The ghost bus pulled into the stop, slowed down, and the doors opened directly.
The strange person crouching on the ground seemed to sense something was off. Something about the atmosphere inside the bus felt wrong, and he didn't get on immediately.
Someone on the bus opened a window and gestured at him, but the strange person couldn't make sense of it at all.
This hesitation made Chen Ge absolutely thrilled. He clenched his teeth and surged forward.
After a brief exchange, the strange person finally boarded.