Chapter 49: Chapter 49: A Ghost on the Bus
I couldn't help but suspect that the strange dream I'd just experienced was somehow connected to the two talismans in my possession. However, I didn't know the proper way to use them. I hadn't performed any hand seals or chanted any incantations. So how had they activated on their own?
I voiced my doubts, and Liu Banxian explained, "The Mother-and-Child Dream-Linked Talismans don't require specific incantations. As long as you care deeply about something or someone, obsess over it, or even feel a spiritual connection to it—dreaming about it, for instance—the talismans will activate naturally."
Ever since I'd gotten the talismans, my mind had been fixated on the events surrounding Bus 14. As they say, "What you think about during the day, you dream about at night." Unintentionally, I had triggered the Child Talisman's "soul-linking" effect. With the Mother Talisman's "dream-calculating" ability, I'd experienced that bizarre dream.
"Streamer, you're truly blessed. If the talisman hadn't pulled you into that dream, the events you just witnessed might have become your reality," Liu Banxian remarked.
"Indeed," I said, still feeling shivers of fear as I recalled the dream. "No wonder time felt so erratic—it was just a nightmare."
Across the road, the elderly woman was still wailing loudly. Recalling the scene from my dream, I walked over to her.
"Grandma, please accept my condolences. The dead cannot be brought back to life."
The grieving woman looked up at me. "Go away! Don't block the firelight. My old man's eyesight is poor—he won't know where to get off."
"Get off? Grandma, could you explain that in more detail?"
"Leave me alone!" she cried, scattering handfuls of joss paper into the air. Her wails echoed far into the night.
I stepped back quietly. From her cries, it was clear that she was burning paper offerings for her deceased husband. The couple had weathered more than fifty years together—a bond I could scarcely imagine.
The flames burned fiercely but inevitably died down. When the paper offerings had turned to ash, the old woman wiped away her tears and hobbled back toward the distant village.
Once she was gone, I crouched by the iron basin and sifted through the layers of ashes.
Just as in my dream, beneath the remnants of the burnt paper was a glass photo frame. Inside was a black-and-white photograph of a solemn-looking elderly man.
The photo seemed to have been taken in winter. The man wore a thick cotton coat and a scarf.
Carefully replacing the photo, I bowed three times in respect. A couple who had grown old together like this deserved to be honored.
I returned to the Bus 14 stop and checked the time again. Midnight.
"Excuse me, sir, is this the stop for Bus 14?"
A voice sounded from behind me.
I didn't turn around immediately; I recognized that familiar tone.
"Yes, this is the Bus 14 stop."
"Thank you," she said sweetly, standing next to me. She seemed curious about me—a strange man lingering at a bus stop in the middle of the night. Her big eyes kept glancing in my direction.
Everything was unfolding just as it had in my dream. But in the dream, my fate was to die at Shan Ju Garden. The middle-aged woman and the woman from the couple were both ghosts.
"Why are you at a bus stop so late at night? Shouldn't you be heading home?" I asked her for the second time. Her reaction was identical to the one in my dream.
Instead of answering directly, she kicked a pebble by the roadside and countered, "Why are you out here so late, waiting for a bus?"
I lit a cigarette, my eyes darting around. "Actually, a mother asked me to come here to pick up her daughter. I don't know what her daughter looks like, so I can only wait here."
"A mother?" she murmured, seemingly slipping up. She unzipped her backpack and handed me a photograph. "Does this look like her?"
The photo showed a woman in a pale yellow dress sitting on a park bench. Beside her, a younger version of the girl—clearly upset—was holding a melting ice cream cone.
"Yes, that's her." I returned the photo, feigning surprise. "You're not—you're not Yiyi, are you? The girl I'm supposed to pick up is named Liu Yiyi."
"That's me! I'm Liu Yiyi!" she exclaimed with excitement.
I didn't know why she seemed so happy. Despite the pang of guilt from deceiving her, I knew it was the only way to keep her safe.
"Alright, since you're Liu Yiyi, you'll come with me later. The night is dangerous, and if you want to see your mother, you'll have to listen to me."
"Okay." She nodded earnestly, looking very obedient.
"At 1 a.m., Bus 14 will arrive. Onboard will be a woman with a perm playing with her phone, a long-haired woman in red, a middle-aged woman, a young girl about your age, a couple, and a man in hospital clothes. Yiyi, remember: once you're on the bus, don't move or speak. Leave everything to me."
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
Mistaking me for her mother's friend, Yiyi was noticeably more compliant compared to the dream.
"Alright. Tonight's real horror begins now. Who is human, and who is a ghost? I'll figure you all out."
Time flew by, and soon it was 1 a.m.
In the distance, the dim yellow-green headlights of the bus pierced through the darkness as the battered Bus 14 slowly pulled into the station.
"Ding-dong, Miyun Mansion has arrived…"
The bus doors opened, and an elderly man wearing a scarf stepped off from the back door. He was bundled in thick winter clothes. He looked at me and gave a kind smile.
I'd seen that face twice before—on the black-and-white photograph.
Bowing slightly in respect, I led Yiyi onto the bus through the front door.
The young driver clutched the steering wheel nervously, his eyes fixed straight ahead, saying nothing.
I guided Yiyi to sit in the seat directly behind the driver and scanned the rest of the passengers.
"Middle-aged woman, the couple, hospital gown, young girl, woman with a perm… Wait!"
My eyes twitched as I realized something was amiss. One person was missing!
"The long-haired woman in red who had been leaning on the woman with a perm—where did she go?!"
Trying to recall the dream, I remembered how everyone had ignored the woman in red. Only I had been able to see her!
Sitting in my seat, I couldn't shake my unease. The bus seemed to hold nine people now, but in reality, there were ten.
The woman in red was undoubtedly sitting in the back row, leaning against the woman with a perm.
"Ding-dong, please hold on. The vehicle is starting…"
"Bang!" The bus door was slammed open as three drunken workers stumbled onboard. Their actions, demeanor, and speech—every pause—matched my dream exactly.
"Welcome aboard Bus 14, an unattended fare collection vehicle. Please have your coins ready. Fare is one yuan. Passengers, please move toward the rear door. Next stop: En Village."
As the bus shook into motion, I turned to glance behind. A man named Wang Chunfu was lying across the back row.
Looking closely, it seemed as though only Wang Chunfu and the woman with a perm were in the last row. But I knew the truth: Wang Chunfu's head was resting on the lap of the long-haired woman in red, her flowing hair draped over his face.
"Why is there an extra person in my dream? That woman in red must not be human. But why can't even the ghosts see her?"
Questions filled my mind as the events from the dream continued to play out.
The woman with the perm was harassed, moved to the front to make a phone call, and Wang Chunfu became increasingly aggressive—until Liu Yiyi stepped in.
"Ding-dong, En Village has arrived. Please take your belongings and exit through the rear door."
I kept my head down, saying nothing. "This is the second stop."
As five mourners dressed in white boarded, the bus's temperature plummeted to freezing. Only the man in the hospital gown continued muttering incoherently.
Bus 14 set off again, and sweat began to form on my palms. The next stop was Shan Ju Garden. This time, I absolutely couldn't get off the bus with the middle-aged woman.
Looking at the couple near the rear door, I noticed the woman drawing circles on the man's chest flirtatiously. The man, however, wore an ominous, scheming expression.
"If I save one more life, I get an extra point. Should I intervene?" The man looked like trouble, but in the dream, he was the one killed by the woman.
"For the sake of the points, I should save him."
…
"Ding-dong, Shan Ju Garden has arrived. Please take your belongings and exit through the rear door."
As the announcement played again, I stood up and walked toward the rear door.
The couple also rose from their seats, preparing to disembark.
Everything was unfolding just as it had in the dream—at least at the start.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone