Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Zhang Rong
The bus door slowly opened, and the young couple walked out hand in hand.
"Hold on!" I grabbed the handrail and blocked their path.
"What's your problem?" the man asked in a cold tone, his eyes flashing with malice.
I didn't have time to reason with him. If I publicly accused his girlfriend of being a ghost that takes lives, he'd never believe me.
So, I thought of a rather extreme approach. Standing with one hand on my hip, I scolded like a shrew: "You two shameless lovebirds think I'm invisible, huh?"
"Looking for trouble? Get lost, you crazy woman!" The man pulled the woman closer, his attitude clearly saying: "This is my girl!"
"Disgraceful! Stop right there!" I shoved the man aside, grabbed the woman's right hand, and straightened her middle finger. "Everyone, take a good look! You can still see the mark left by a ring on this finger! This hussy has already been engaged to me, yet she dares to seduce another man!"
I had been quietly observing the details about the woman. Her palms were calloused, her right middle finger bore marks from wearing both a thimble and a ring, and a corner of a sleeve protruded from her bag. Considering that the previous stop before Miyun Mansion was a textile factory, she was likely a married textile worker during her life.
Combined with the dream where the woman seduced and brutally killed a man, it was evident that the two weren't husband and wife, just casual lovers.
The woman's face froze in shock. She clung to the man and protested, "I don't know him! Feng, you have to believe me!"
"Still denying it after I caught you red-handed? Get back home with me now—Big Brother and Little Brother are waiting for you to feed them!"
I sternly scolded, making the woman look pitiful. She clutched the man's arm and begged, "Feng, let's go. Don't pay attention to this crazy person."
"Crazy?" I pretended to be outraged and kicked the woman off the bus. "Get lost and take care of the kids at home!"
"You dare lay hands on her, you psycho!" The man, who was called Feng, was enraged and pulled out a switchblade from his pocket.
"Of course, he's not a decent guy," I thought, remaining calm while dodging the knife and wrestling with him.
"What a show! City life sure is lively—riding the bus feels like watching a drama," commented three drunken workers sitting at the back, laughing but making no move to help.
The young driver was too focused on wiping his sweat and nervously tapping on the dashboard, occasionally glancing at the time.
It was the enthusiastic middle-aged woman who came over, scolding us: "If you want to fight, take it outside! Don't disturb the other passengers."
She grabbed both Feng's and my arms, trying to drag us off the bus, while the woman pretended to help break up the fight.
"You want me off this bus? No way!" After experiencing the despair in the dream, I refused to give in to them.
I shook off the woman's hand and ran to the front of the bus, shouting as I went, "You scheming hussy! Go home and take care of your kids! I'm going to teach this pretty boy a lesson today!"
Feng, consumed by rage, charged at me with the knife, and we started fighting again near the front of the bus.
What struck me as odd was that the woman and the middle-aged lady, after getting off the bus, seemed unable to reboard. They could only pound on the door.
The driver ignored the scuffle between Feng and me, focusing only on the electronic timer at the front. After about two or three minutes, he pulled a lever, closing the bus doors. The vehicle started moving.
"Stop the bus! Let me off!" Feng shouted, but the driver showed no intention of stopping.
The driver cast a pale glance at Feng and stammered, "Stopping at a station for more than five minutes will attract… other passengers."
"Other passengers?" I caught the odd phrasing and asked for clarification.
"The kind of passengers who aren't like you…" He didn't elaborate, concentrating on driving instead.
Looking out the window, I saw that the figures of the woman and the middle-aged lady had completely vanished, as if they'd never existed.
Feng also noticed the eerie atmosphere on the bus. He sheathed his knife, sat back in his seat, and kept quiet.
The loosely shut windows let in a cold draft. After the drama I had orchestrated, the bus grew even more silent.
"At least we dodged a bullet," I thought, knowing the dream's guidance ended here. What lay ahead was unknown.
I pulled out my phone and checked the livestream. A particular comment caught my attention:
"Host, you shouldn't have saved that man. He seems to be a fugitive serial killer." The user's name was Police Dog Loves Rice.
"A serial killer?" I searched online for more information. With the nationwide police database interconnected, it wasn't hard to look up fugitives.
Matching his appearance and nickname, I quickly found his profile.
"Yuan Feng, 25 years old, 173 cm tall. Also known as Feng or Lunatic.
"On May 12, in Jiangcheng Huaxin District's Shanju Garden, a fatal stabbing occurred. The victim, Wang Amei, was a textile worker at Huaxin Textile Factory. Investigators identified Yuan Feng as the prime suspect. He is currently on the run. Yuan Feng speaks with a Beijing accent, is about 173 cm tall, and has a medium build. During his escape, he was last seen wearing a white plaid shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers. A reward of 50,000 yuan is offered for tips leading to his capture or for individuals aiding in his apprehension."
After silently reading the details, I was overwhelmed with emotion. "I saved a murderer?"
The female ghost had clearly wanted Yuan Feng to pay with his life, but I had accidentally interfered.
"If I survive tonight, I'll make sure he's brought to justice. Matters involving the living should be handled by the living." Glancing out at the pitch-black night, I put away my phone and clenched my fists.
The next two stops were Martyrs Street and Red Nine Brick Factory. No one boarded or alighted, but the driver still opened both the front and rear doors at each stop, waiting no less than three minutes but no more than five.
"Attention passengers, the bus is departing. Please hold on to the handrails. Welcome aboard Bus 14, a self-service route. Please prepare exact change and deposit one yuan in the fare box. Boarding passengers, please move towards the rear exit. The next stop is Qicun Maternal and Child Health Hospital."
As the bus started moving, the curly-haired woman's phone rang, the piercing ringtone breaking the silence.
She answered, and a man's furious voice erupted from the speaker: "Zhang Rong! Why did you send our photos to my wife? Damn it, don't you know she's pregnant?!"
"She's pregnant? And what about the child I'm carrying—isn't it yours?!" Zhang Rong snapped, her pent-up anger finally boiling over. "Li Zijian, if you won't tell her, I will! I took plenty of photos of you while you were asleep. If you don't give me a proper explanation, I'll ask your wife myself! I'll even frame the ones she likes best and send them straight to your home!"
"Shut up! Stop it!"
"Why should I? Why am I the one who always gets hurt?" Zhang Rong screamed. "We're both carrying your children, yet she gets to lie in your villa on a fancy mattress, while I'm stuck on this crappy bus being harassed by hooligans!"
"Zhang Rong, let me be honest with you. I will never divorce her. If you truly care about our relationship, you'll get rid of that baby immediately! I'll compensate you..."
"Bastard! Say that again?" Zhang Rong, who had expected comforting words, was devastated. To him, she was nothing more than a disposable toy.
"Our relationship was a mistake from the start. I don't want to make it worse. If you keep being stubborn, it'll hurt us both. Zhang Rong, I've said my piece. Take care of yourself."
The call was abruptly disconnected, the beeping tone cruel and unrelenting.
Zhang Rong's pale hand gripped her phone tightly, her face twisted in a grotesque expression of rage. "Fine, I'll get rid of it! Just as you wish! But Li Zijian, don't you dare regret it!"
Her hand pressed against her stomach, her long nails clawing deep red marks into her skin.
She breathed heavily, her lips bleeding, and her tear-streaked makeup left her looking neither human nor ghost.
Bus 14 continued its journey, carrying a group of unrelated individuals bound together by fate. They came from different places, but the destination of this bus was singular.
Time flowed quietly through the night. Before long, the announcement came again.
"Ding dong! Qicun Maternal and Child Health Hospital. Please collect your belongings and exit through the rear door. Watch your step as you alight."
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