Chapter 500 The Midnight Bus

Chapter 500: The Midnight Bus

After having a good, face-to-face talk with Wu Hang inside the Misty Shop, that guy who always showed up before him in various ways vanished once again. After that, the shop was as quiet as ever, with the green plants on the walls swaying, as if only they could prove that the conversation had indeed taken place.

Looking at the Thread-Wrapped Doll still lying on the counter and sensing that "Yao" within his Evil Ghost Puzzle had also fallen into an unresponsive sleep, Su Bai wasn't particularly surprised this time.

From what Wu Hang had said earlier, Su Bai could easily deduce that this legendary Lord Ghost Witch not only wasn't on the side of the Red Moon Association, but even all by himself, he was a being that made the Red Moon Association wary.

However, the Red Moon Association was, after all, a vast and powerful organization. The relationship between them was destined to be one of mutual suspicion and checks and balances.

Moreover, the fact that the Ghost Witch could traverse between different worlds wasn't a complete secret in the Nightmare World. The Red Moon Association had always been monitoring the Ghost Witch, who possessed such power, and would occasionally cause trouble for Wu Hang. This was also the reason why "Xiao Wu" and "Yao" had been periodically dormant and inactive lately.

But Su Bai always had a feeling that they... or rather, he, would appear when he needed him most.

Su Bai took a deep breath, lifted a finger to gently touch the corner of the Thread-Wrapped Doll, as if testing something. His movement paused for a moment, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if he had already seen through something.

As for other times, Su Bai could protect himself and would strive to prevent the Red Moon Association from sensing his existence.

"Be careful of the gaps in the Void Sea. Those gaps no longer exist only in the world of the Red Moon."

What worried Su Bai were the last words Wu Hang had spoken during their previous conversation.

The gaps no longer exist only in the world of the Red Moon?

Su Bai remembered that in the Mirror Apartment, the Mirror Ghost had said the Void Sea existed within those cracks. Whether it was the fractured edges of a mirror or the tiny fissures on a wall, they could all become entrances to the Void Sea. However, Su Bai had originally assumed that such gaps connecting to the Void Sea were limited to the Nightmare World.

It was precisely because the number of gaps connecting to the Void Sea, or rather, the gaps the Void Sea connected to, was so vast that it was one of the reasons why the Red Moon Association, despite exhausting the mermaid race, hadn't achieved results that satisfied them.

If the gaps of the Void Sea no longer existed only in the Nightmare World, could it be that...

Su Bai walked along the late-night streets of the real world. The surrounding silence was occasionally broken by the engine sounds of passing vehicles. A few shops along the street emitted faint glimmers of light, their neon reflections painting lonely, cold hues on the empty sidewalks. Looking up, a crescent moon hung in the sky, utterly ordinary, devoid of any of the Red Moon's eerie strangeness. Yet, this very tranquility made him frown. In his memory, the silhouette of the Red Moon had briefly appeared in the sky above Honghuai No. 1 Middle School.

In his previous life, Su Bai had also heard rumors about Eerie Entities of the Red Moon Association appearing in the real world, as if at a certain time and place, the Nightmare World and the real world had coincidentally overlapped.

Could such a situation be related to the gaps in the Void Sea?

And as Su Bai pondered this question...

On a nearby street, a No. 666 bus with a peeling shell came rattling along. The patches of missing paint on its body faintly reflected the weak streetlight, and its wheels emitted unsettling creaks as they rolled. A mist had quietly risen at some point, enveloping the area the bus passed through. The further it traveled, the thicker the fog became, as if trying to swallow the entire vehicle whole.

Following the bus's direction, a lonely bus stop gradually came into view. Near the stop, several people were quietly waiting for the bus's arrival in the near-midnight darkness.

A few young people who looked like university students were hunched over, scrolling through their phones. The glow from their screens made their faces appear pale.

A man wearing a tank top was carrying a gym bag, seemingly having just come from a nearby fitness center, his muscles bulging. He kept checking his watch, looking impatient.

There was also an office worker who had worked overtime, wearing a wrinkled shirt, standing wearily to the side, his eyes holding a desperate urgency to get home at midnight.

The most conspicuous, however, was a thin, elderly woman leaning on a cane. She stared blankly into the distant fog, and it was unclear why someone her age would be at a bus stop at midnight.

With a screech of brakes, the rusted, very old-looking No. 666 bus slowly pulled up in front of the stop. The door, worn from years of disrepair, emitted a grating sound but seemed to be stuck, refusing to open.

The people waiting on the platform for the last bus near midnight were all anxious in their own ways. When they saw the dilapidated vehicle and the door shaking and seemingly stuck, expressions of dissatisfaction appeared on everyone's faces to varying degrees.

The muscular man from the gym frowned and stepped forward, reaching out to forcefully pull the door open.

Just then, a hurried voice shattered the night's calm.

"Everyone, don't get on the bus!"

A young man wearing a forest-green windbreaker suddenly ran over from the distance. He was holding up a round mirror high in his hand. The light reflected from the mirror shone into the fog, and it was attached to a handle for easy gripping, making it look rather strange.

When the strange young man stood panting beside the bus stop, the other waiting passengers who glanced over could notice his expression was both urgent and tense. When he spoke again, his voice even carried a slight tremor—

"This bus... it's not normal! It's definitely not the last bus everyone is waiting for, so please, everyone, absolutely do not get on! Please, everyone, wait for the next real last bus!"

The people on the platform were stunned, looking at the young man in surprise. Meanwhile, the lights inside the No. 666 bus flickered slightly, faintly revealing through the windows the silhouettes of some "people" already seated inside.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" the weary office worker said, gesturing with his phone. "This is the time for the last bus. If we miss this one, how long do you expect us to wait on this road where there aren't even any taxis? Or should we just walk back?"

"I'm getting on. I'm planning to go to the terminal with my friend!" one of the students also shook his head.

The muscular man in the tank top didn't say anything at all. He simply stepped forward and forcefully yanked the door open. Although he let out a muffled grunt, it didn't seem to require too much effort.

"I'm from the relevant authorities! I'm here specifically to investigate this problematic bus!" the young man hurriedly rushed over to continue trying to stop them.