Chapter 49: Deception

Chapter 49: Deception

"Fang Xiaoxiao... there's... there's someone behind you," she stammered, trembling.

Without turning my head, I motioned for her to be quiet with a finger to my lips and mouthed a question to her.

[Is that person outside or inside the bus?]

"Inside... outside the bus," Fang Xiaoxiao replied in a hushed tone, visibly terrified as her legs shook uncontrollably.

I exhaled a sigh of relief.

As long as it was outside the bus, we had the metal shell of the vehicle as a barrier.

The bus was eerily silent, filled only with our labored breathing and pounding hearts. I turned my head slowly, attempting to discern what exactly was lurking there.

Outside the bus, it was pitch black, like an impenetrable ink stain. The dim interior lights allowed me to make out only a vague silhouette.

It was a figure suspended upside down on the front windshield of the bus. On either side of it appeared to be two membranous wings, resembling those of a gigantic bat.

Fang Xiaoxiao looked at the darkness ahead with terror-filled eyes and said, "Why isn't that thing leaving? Could it be that our car's lights are too bright? Let's turn them off..."

I shook my head and held her back. "It's not about the lights. That out there is likely a giant bat. Bats have poor vision; they navigate using echolocation, so..."

Before I could finish, Fang Xiaoxiao suddenly turned to the side window in horror, her scream piercing through my eardrums.

"There are so many... So many bats... They're looking at me..." Fang Xiaoxiao stammered in fear, her finger trembling as she pointed outside the window. She slumped to the ground.

I was so frustrated that I almost wanted to give her a scolding.

Her sudden scream stood out starkly in the darkness. Soon, I heard the fluttering of countless wings, followed by the thuds of shadows slamming against the car windows.

"We need to do something! I don't want to die... Think of something!" Fang Xiaoxiao cried, grabbing the sleeve of my shirt.

"Shut up now, and we might just survive." I covered her mouth and whispered.

Muffled by my hand, Fang Xiaoxiao couldn't cry, but tears continued streaming down her face.

This state persisted for about five minutes. When I saw that things had quietened down outside, I released my grip on her mouth.

"Fang Xiaoxiao... What should we do now?" After shedding some tears, she whispered to me, her voice quivering.

I shook my head, confessing that I had no idea.

And it was true; I genuinely didn't know.

Firstly, I had no clue where we were. Secondly, I was unaware of how we'd entered this place. And thirdly, I had absolutely no idea how to escape.

Though Fang Xiaoxiao was crying, I, too, felt the urge to weep. Never before had I missed Li Fan as much as I did in that moment. If he were here, I wouldn't be so terrified.

But he couldn't possibly tie me to his belt and carry me around everywhere. There would always be times when I had to face danger alone, just like now.

The silence outside the car was deafening, making my heart race. It seemed as if the two of us were the only ones in this pitch-black expanse.

This place was undeniably abnormal.

A layer of cold sweat broke out on my skin. As I prepared to peek through the car window to assess the situation, I suddenly heard footsteps echoing from a distance.

The footsteps were hurried and heavy, accompanied by labored breathing. Soon, the person located our bus.

"Xiaoxiao! Xiaoxiao, are you still there? I found an exit! Come quickly, we're saved!" A young man's voice echoed from outside.

A look of delight crossed Fang Xiaoxiao's face as she promptly replied, "Really? I'm coming right away!"

"Xiaoxiao, wasn't there another girl in the bus with you? Call her, let's leave together!"

The voice outside was thrilled, yet it trembled slightly with excitement.

However, Fang Xiaoxiao didn't detect anything amiss. She grabbed my hand, ready to open the door.

I quickly stopped her, saying, "Calm down. It's so dark out there. How can you be sure that it's your boyfriend and not something else pretending to be him?"

"How could you say that?" Fang Xiaoxiao looked at me unhappily. "Don't I know the voice of my own boyfriend?"

With a complicated expression, I looked at Fang Xiaoxiao, feeling that this girl had some serious issues with her judgment.

Voices are so easy to disguise, aren't they? A simple voice changer would do the trick.

Moreover, with all the noise her boyfriend made sprinting over, doesn't she fear that opening the door might invite a swarm of bats?

I shared my thoughts with Fang Xiaoxiao, who looked slightly conflicted. However, her boyfriend outside the car grew anxious.

"Xiaoxiao, what are you hesitating for? Don't you want to get out?"

Fang Xiaoxiao bit her lip and said reluctantly, "Darling, could you come closer to the window so I can see your face first?"

Upon hearing Fang Xiaoxiao's response, the voice outside the car instantly turned irate.

"What do you mean by that, Xiaoxiao? Are you still doubting if I'm real?"

"Stop wasting time, Xiaoxiao. The exit I found has a time limit, and I risked my life to find you on the way here. Yet now, you doubt me?"

"You don't trust me but believe a stranger instead? Forget it, I was being overly sentimental. I'm leaving!"

The voice vanished, followed promptly by the fading sound of footsteps.

Fang Xiaoxiao panicked and scrambled to her feet, rushing to open the door.

"Darling, don't be angry, I'll be right there!"

With that, she turned back and gave me a glare.

"It's all because of you. My boyfriend came back out of concern, but you had to suspect him maliciously, making him angry. I'll see how you get out of this!"

"No, I still advise you not to go out. Your boyfriend is acting strangely now; it's uncertain what might happen if you leave now…" I tried to persuade her.

"Shut up!" Fang Xiaoxiao glared at me. "It was your fault from the start. You turned on the lights, attracting all those monsters. Now you want me to stay here with you?!"

I sighed inwardly and mentally lit three incense sticks for Fang Xiaoxiao.

In this situation, I knew that anything I said would be futile.

As the old saying goes, kind words can't persuade a stubborn ghost.

Given my limited abilities, it was already challenging enough to protect myself, let alone risk my life to save others.

The bus doors' control switches were located in the driver's cabin, and Fang Xiaoxiao quickly found them, creaking the front and rear doors open.

Outside the car, it was pitch black, but I felt as if numerous pairs of eyes were fixed upon me.

"Darling, I'm here!"

Fang Xiaoxiao paid no attention to me and leaped out of the car. The rusty door creaked shut behind her.

No sooner had the door closed than I heard a spine-chilling sound.

It was the tearing of flesh and gnawing of bones, intertwined with Fang Xiaoxiao's pained screams, which only attracted more bat-like creatures to her.

Simultaneously, a quivering voice reached my ears.

"I've lured her out... Can't you let me go now... Aaaahhh!"

But there was no reply. His cries were the only response he received.

Huddled on the seat, I dared not make a sound, my heart pounding wildly.

I never could have imagined that this would be how it all ended.

Fang Xiaoxiao is just an ordinary girl; it's only natural that she would believe her boyfriend more than a stranger like me.

Yet, she never expected that the person she trusted the most would be deceiving her.

After an indeterminate period, the noise outside ceased, and silence once again enveloped our surroundings.

However, this tranquility didn't last long. I felt the floor tremble, accompanied by creaking sounds ringing in my ears.

The bus was moving.