Chapter 17: The No Longer Safe Safe Zone

Chapter 17: The Safe Zone Is No Longer Safe

There are currently 7 passengers on the Route 444 last bus.

When an ordinary bus returns, it travels from the terminal station back to the starting station. This means that if departing from Ghost Village, the next stop should logically be Lover's Lake Station.

However, when the Route 444 last bus left Ghost Village, it didn't turn around. Instead, it plunged straight ahead into the mist.

The bus traveled through the mist for a long time. When it finally emerged, what awaited everyone was not Lover's Lake Station, but the Driver's offhand comment—

"Next stop, Community Hospital Station."

Wan Shasha looked back at the others in confusion. Su Bai understood the other players' surprise, as Community Hospital Station was the first stop they encountered after entering this nightmare game.

To them, "Community Hospital Station" was the starting point.

After leaving the terminal station, the Route 444 last bus had, after passing through a stretch of mist, returned to its starting station.

Everything was starting over.

No, not starting over.

Among the new players on the bus, perhaps only Su Bai, the "cheater," knew that the second round of this game was completely different from the "relaxed bus tour" of the first round.

"Something's wrong." The first to notice the change was Qin Ge, sitting behind Su Bai. His voice was taut, sounding anxious.

Su Bai and the others glanced back. The paper doll sitting next to Qin Ge still looked as eerie as before. The delicate white qipao was wrapped around the thin, rough paper figure. The qipao's originally exquisite and vibrant makeup had long since devolved into crooked, crude paint scribbles. The paint at the corners of its mouth stretched all the way to its ears, forming a grim and bizarre smile.

Unlike before, the paper doll's thin paper arms had somehow pressed against Qin Ge's shoulders. The paper doll's hands were made of five rough, casually cut strips of paper, with crimson-painted nail tips lightly brushing Qin Ge's shoulders without any wind.

The paper was very thin, looking as if it would tear with the slightest tug.

But in the few seconds Su Bai and the others looked back, the paper doll's originally thin five fingers inflated like balloons. Though the material was still paper and the surface just as rough, they had become three-dimensional.

The commonly referred-to paper dolls are not just thin sheets; the funeral industry first uses bamboo or wooden strips to create a frame, then applies paste to the frame before covering it with paper. Finally, paint is used to draw the facial features and makeup, making them more three-dimensional and eerie.

"Driver, the bus is safe, right?" Although Wan Shasha hadn't known Qin Ge for long, while Su Bai remained silent, this Mr. Qin from the relevant authorities had given them a sense of security. If possible, Wan Shasha didn't want anything to happen to Qin Ge.

But this time, the Driver gave no response.

"Hehe."

As they spoke, the white qipao paper doll's head also began to become three-dimensional, and its laughter grew clearer and closer.

"We can't wait any longer." Su Bai could no longer hold back. With a plan already in mind, he dropped his casual demeanor and spoke seriously. "It was said before that the mist in this game environment is a protection for newcomers, but it also means that within the entire game scene, only this bus has humans present."

"Evil ghosts crave human flesh and are naturally drawn to them. Other evil ghosts will inevitably catch the scent and board the bus."

"Previously, the evil ghosts didn't act easily not because this bus or that Driver possessed any special qualities, but simply because the ghost bride's power suppressed those special passengers weaker than her."

"But what happened earlier in Ghost Village…"

Su Bai didn't finish his sentence, but from Qin Ge's expression, it was clear he had understood some of what Su Bai meant.

Evil ghosts devour humans, so they are attracted to the humans on the bus and choose to board it. However, evil ghosts fear the ghost bride's power and know that the bus is her "chariot." Even if eager to feed, they ultimately dare not act on the bus.

This made the Route 444 last bus a relatively safe environment.

But after passing through Ghost Village, everything began to change.

The ghost bride's performance in Ghost Village was enough to let the evil ghosts on the bus know that although her power was immense, she was merely a vengeful spirit bound to this dilapidated bus by her own restraints.

Even if they did something on the bus now, the ghost bride likely couldn't break free from the invisible chains and shackles binding her to the back seat!

It was like an exclusive club with high standards and mediocre food suddenly turning into an all-you-can-eat buffet!

So, the white qipao could act at any moment!

If other human-devouring evil ghosts boarded at the next stop or the one after, they would also act after witnessing the white qipao's move!

This was the biggest change in the second round of the game—even the inside of the bus was no longer safe.

Su Bai took a deep breath and stood up right in front of the transforming white qipao. He glanced at the paper doll, and its now three-dimensional head instantly turned to look at Su Bai. The twisted eyes painted with red pigment showed nothing, but the grim smile stretching to its ears was even more eerie than when it was flat.

But Su Bai only glanced at the white qipao before moving aside.

On the right side of the bus, the Nurse who had boarded in the previous round had been sitting there very quietly. She was the only special passenger besides the ghost bride and the white qipao who hadn't gotten off yet.

Just like when she had boarded, although the Nurse wore a nurse's uniform and cap, the white clothes were stained with dirty marks and even some unknown bloodstains. Her bare feet were covered in mud.

However, unlike her constant crying when she first boarded, the Nurse was now silent. But upon closer observation, one could see that this Nurse, who had been keeping her head down, was covering her mouth and weeping silently.

She had never stopped crying.

The white nurse's cap was crookedly placed on her head, and her hair looked very disheveled, hastily tied up and tucked under the cap. But even though it seemed hastily done, it couldn't hide the bloodstains seeping from her hair, which had dyed the edges of the nurse's cap red.

As a deceased person, the Nurse's wound seemed to be on her head.

When Wan Shasha had asked the Driver earlier, he had said that the "community hospital" hid some cruel and ruthless characters. This Nurse must have been bullied by those things.

Su Bai even thought that this Nurse might be a ghost who had escaped from a group of evil ghosts.

This wasn't baseless speculation. During his earlier meditation, Su Bai vaguely recalled a certain "community hospital" he had once cleared in the nightmare world, along with some information related to that "community hospital."

Moreover, with the next stop being "Community Hospital Station," before any unforeseen variables occurred, he had to give it a try.

And it was worth a try.

"Nurse." Su Bai walked softly to the Nurse's side and then sat down next to her.

Hearing the sound, the weeping Nurse raised her head. Two grim blood-tear tracks were on her face, but no blood-tears were flowing. Her eyes didn't hold much sorrow but instead held some confusion at being addressed by Su Bai.

Su Bai turned his head to look at the Nurse, a perfect smile on his face—

"Nurse, could you please have a good cry?"