Chapter 12: Exchanging Information

Chapter 12: Exchanging Information

Shifting his gaze from Zhang Yibu, Su Bai quickly scanned the interior of the Route 444 last bus.

Aside from him and the rookie trio, the white-qipao figure, with hands transformed into paper and heavily painted makeup, still sat beside Qin Ge. From Su Bai's perspective, he noticed that not only were her hands transformed, but even her legs had turned into thin paper sheets. Her entire lower body, though wrapped in the white qipao, hung limp and soft on the seat, swaying back and forth in the wind blowing through the bus door.

At first glance, it looked as though only half a body was placed there.

The ghost bride in the last row remained seated upright, still bleeding. Her wedding dress was embroidered with intricate and ornate patterns, and beneath the bridal veil, one could vaguely make out an equally magnificent phoenix crown. Unlike other wedding dresses, however, the four corners of her bridal veil were tied with silver bells, though they made no sound since she sat completely motionless.

Su Bai knew that the ghost bride's name was A Xi. She had been drugged and sold by others because of her gambling-addicted brother, and unfortunately, the one who bought her was not a "person" but a terrifying ghost village with a tradition of eerie marriages. A Xi lost her life because of this, but the vengeful spirit, having lost its memory and rationality, continued to linger on the path to the ghost village even after death. It wasn't until she was about to kill Su Bai that she gradually regained her memories due to their similar fates, even choosing to become his first piece of the "Evil Ghost Puzzle" at the end of the game.

But Su Bai also knew that in this lifetime, the ghost bride sitting in the last row of the bus at this moment was not yet A Xi. Only the ghost bride who had regained her memories and rationality was A Xi; the one without memories or rationality was merely an ordinary vengeful spirit that killed according to set rules!

Moreover, A Xi, who had accompanied Su Bai like a sister for ten years, was still deeply hidden within Su Bai in the form of a "puzzle." So, after clarifying this, Su Bai felt no additional emotions when he looked at the ghost bride in the last row.

Aside from these two conspicuous supernatural entities, there was also a middle-aged man in a crumpled suit sitting in the row to the right of Qin Ge and the white-qipao figure, his face flushed as if drunk. There was also the nurse who'd boarded at the community hospital stop earlier; her crying seemed not only to irritate people but also to awaken unpleasant memories in their hearts.

The white-haired elderly woman who had been sitting behind Su Bai must have already gotten off the bus.

On the Route 444 last bus, there were currently eight passengers.

Earlier in the Mist Shop, Xiao Wu had claimed to be the search engine of the nightmare world, but Su Bai hadn’t asked him how to clear the Route 444 last bus game. Perhaps this was because Su Bai already had a plan and had figured out how to beat this game.

After all, it was just a beginner's game, without many complications.

Glancing once more at Zhang Yibu, Su Bai walked directly to the row behind him and took a seat, right between Zhang Yibu and Qin Ge. Judging by the expressions on Wan Shasha and the others' faces, they clearly hadn’t expected Su Bai to return so quickly and choose to sit right in the middle of their trio.

"What exactly are you?" Qin Ge, from behind him, was the first to ask. "What did you mean by 'don’t get off at the terminal stop'? That kid said he knew you in the real world. Are you human or a ghost? I remember when we entered the game, the voice clearly stated that this is a game for beginners. If you’re also a beginner, why do you seem to know so much?"

After settling comfortably into his seat, Su Bai stretched. Though his clothes were still half-dry, the red moon's influence made Su Bai feel exceptionally comfortable all over.

Su Bai could sense that, even without the support of the Mist Shop, his efficiency in absorbing the red moon's power in the nightmare world was much faster than it had been in his previous life.

Though he was just a newcomer who had barely entered the nightmare world, his rate of absorbing the red moon's power was faster than during his peak in his previous life. Su Bai believed he would have more cards up his sleeve now than at his strongest in his past life.

"Just an ordinary high school dropout, and for now, still alive," Su Bai leaned against the window, looking at Qin Ge's reflection in the glass, smiling with harmless charm. "Information exchange should go both ways. I’m also very curious about Mr. Qin's identity. After all, not many people could sit calmly next to a 'special passenger' and chat, right?"

"You’re right. My identity isn’t that important, and it’s nothing I can't share," Qin Ge nodded in agreement. "Even if you didn’t ask, I would have told these two later. After all, my situation is pretty dire, and I might be the first one to be targeted among everyone."

"So, before my situation worsens, there are indeed things I must tell you."

Even Zhang Yibu and Wan Shasha turned to look in surprise. Having been on the bus for so long, they already knew that talking and turning around wouldn’t alarm the terrifying ghost bride in the last row. Even the white-qipao figure beside Qin Ge wouldn’t respond to their movements; it was just slowly turning its entire body into paper.

"Earlier, Wan Shasha mentioned the 'missing persons' cases in the real world. In fact, the relevant authorities have been following up on the 'missing persons' cases, and there have indeed been instances where 'missing persons' suddenly returned after a few days—some severely injured, some even left with mental illness. And every returned missing person acted as if controlled by something, as if they knew something but would rather die than speak."

"Until two months ago, a strange letter was delivered to the relevant authorities. The sender was a writer who had published many works and was also one of the 'missing persons' previously investigated by the authorities. That writer had also refused to speak about the 'disappearance' but sent a thick letter at that time."

"The envelope was stuffed with seven or eight pages, but what was written densely on each page wasn’t text but chaotic, utterly indecipherable codes. The authorities went to question the writer again because of the letter, but he categorically denied having sent it."

"The investigation into the letter lasted over a month. Just as the investigation team was about to give up, something extremely bizarre happened," Qin Ge paused. "The codes in the letter turned into readable text and numbers overnight."

"'If everyone can read this letter, it means I am already dead, died in a place no one can find, becoming a permanent missing person,'" Qin Ge intoned solemnly. "For me, this is an expected outcome, but I hope the following content can save more 'missing persons' who are not yet dead.'"

"This was the first paragraph of the letter. The rest was still filled with dense numbers and symbols, but we soon realized these numbers and symbols were different from the previous codes—they were decipherable ciphers. For example, '1-23-12-10' meant the tenth character of the twelfth line of the twenty-third page of the writer’s first published book. He had hidden the entire content of the letter within his published works."

"By deciphering all the codes, one could read the writer’s final work," Qin Ge sighed. "In the letter, he mentioned the nightmare world, the horror games the chosen ones must undergo. Those who clear the game can choose to stay in the nightmare world or return to the real world, and almost everyone chooses the latter. But when the next carefully designed game begins, the chosen ones are brought back into the world called 'nightmare.'"

"However, perhaps out of the red moon's mercy, those who clear the first game are given a 'trait.' These traits may sound meaningless at first, but if the holder keeps developing it, the trait gradually evolves into a useful ability."

Qin Ge could see the astonishment in Zhang Yibu and Wan Shasha's eyes and noticed that Su Bai's reflection in the window showed no change in expression, as if he already knew all this.

"The trait granted to that writer was called 'Occasionally Wins at Hide-and-Seek in Kindergarten.' As strange as it sounded, it was one of the easier traits to explore and study among many."

"He became very skilled at hiding things—whether hiding specific objects or hiding himself. After discovering the function of his trait, he began researching how to spread the secrets of the nightmare world, but he failed repeatedly, as if a special force was always preventing him."

"The writer persisted and continued trying, finally completing the entire letter in code and using his hide-and-seek ability to 'hide' the letter. It wasn’t until the writer died in a nightmare world game that the 'hiding' ability on the letter vanished, and the true content of the letter was finally revealed."

"The letter recorded all the information the writer knew about the nightmare world, as well as some games he had participated in and methods to clear them," Qin Ge took a deep breath. "Additionally, the writer speculated on the reason they were selected into the nightmare world. He believed it was likely because they had encountered incomprehensible eerie events in the real world, possibly even without their knowledge."

"The investigation team formed by the relevant authorities used this as a starting point, gathering a group of volunteers to visit various rumored sites of eerie events, attempting to send more internal members of the investigation team into the nightmare world and obtain more information related to it," Qin Ge said, pointing to himself. "I am one of them."

So, he’s from the authorities.

Qin Ge's self-introduction didn’t surprise Su Bai. When he first saw Qin Ge, he could tell his physique wasn’t something achieved through gym workouts and protein powder. The various scars faintly visible on his body clearly indicated rigorous and professional training.

In his previous life, Su Bai had met many such people—they were either from the authorities or operated in the gray areas of the real world.

In contrast, Zhang Yibu and Wan Shasha’s eyes lit up after hearing Qin Ge’s account.

"Hehe—"

Just then, an eerie laughter and the sound of paper rustling in the wind were heard. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw that the white-qipao figure sitting behind Zhang Yibu had completely turned into a pale paper figure, including its head and body. Its originally heavy but delicate makeup had become crude, graffiti-like features, with a red line drawn into a smile stretching to its ears, making one's blood run cold at first glance.

Other than that, the white-qipao paper figure still did nothing, sitting upright beside Qin Ge as before, its thin paper hands still folded properly in front of it.

But perhaps it was an illusion—the white-qipao paper figure seemed to have shifted slightly, moving closer to Qin Ge, as if it were about to press against him any second.

"The doors are about to close. Please ensure your safety," the driver's voice drifted over slowly. "Next stop, Happy Community Station. Please get ready to get off if that's your stop."

The doors closed, and with no wind in the cabin, the white-qipao paper figure became even quieter and did not move closer to Qin Ge.

"Now, can you tell us your identity? Why can’t we get off at the terminal stop?" Though trained, Qin Ge’s lips were still pale. He tried his best to suppress the tension in his voice as he continued questioning Su Bai. "What you say might provide clues to clearing this damn game!"