Chapter 521 The “Heart”

Chapter 521 "The Heart"

The aisle of the bus was crammed with passengers who dared not approach the seats. The flickering interior lights illuminated their pale, weary faces. Some were still catching their breath, others so weak they seemed ready to collapse at a gust of wind, huddled together in the aisle, clearly struggling. Yet, despite their exhaustion, they instinctively kept their distance from the seats, clearly afraid more tentacles might surge forth.

Su Bai stood near the rear door, his gaze sweeping across the compartment. The cramped space, combined with the passengers strewn about, made it nearly impossible to reach the driver's seat without stepping on someone. He might as well let Happy and Xiao Hei deal with the root cause rather than carefully picking his way across the seats himself.

Meanwhile, the small black cat Happy and the fog-shrouded eerie hound Xiao Hei had already darted forward.

Happy nimbly leaped onto a seat, bounding through the air with a lightness that made it seem like a harmless mascot. In contrast, Xiao Hei, who had spent considerable time within the Evil Ghost Puzzle, was a formidable eerie entity. Its body was wreathed in black mist, its fangs bared, exuding an aura of palpable danger.

Xiao Hei moved with blinding speed, pouncing on the steering wheel in an instant. Its jaws snapped shut, viciously sinking its teeth into the wheel!

*Crack—*

A sharp, grating sound echoed as the already worn steering wheel was torn clean off, crashing to the floor and rolling several times before coming to a stop.

But Xiao Hei didn't pause. Its sharp claws swiped down, striking the dashboard with brutal force!

*Bang!*

The hard plastic dashboard shattered under its terrifying strength, fragments scattering. A sizable hole was punched right through the center, its dark interior obscuring whatever strangeness lay within.

Not to be outdone, Happy, who had been playing the mascot, sprang into action. It leaped, its claws digging into the edges of the hole. With a sharp tug, it ripped away more of the plastic panel with a *rip*.

The passengers instinctively turned towards the sound, their faces twisting in horror.

As the dashboard's plastic cover was completely torn open, a large gaping hole was revealed to all. And within that hole—

a massive "heart" entwined with black tentacles was shockingly exposed!

The "heart" pulsed silently, its bulk roughly the size of a curled-up adult. Numerous semi-transparent tentacles coiled tightly around it, resembling some sort of sinister parasite, occasionally contracting slightly, causing small ripples to bulge across the heart's surface.

At first glance, the heart appeared a deep, light-devouring black. But upon closer inspection, one could see its lower half was being stained a vivid, blood-like crimson, as if blood was slowly seeping upwards, gradually spreading to saturate the entire organ.

Bus No. 666, though dilapidated, hadn't been entirely beyond the passengers' comprehension. But the grotesque, ugly "heart" now exposed in that gaping hole utterly shattered their already fractured worldviews.

So they really *had* encountered something supernatural!

A dead silence fell over the bus, broken only by the sound of ragged, intermittent breathing.

"It seems this is the true face of Bus No. 666," Su Bai murmured, his gaze fixed on the heart. "The red part must be the life force it has already absorbed... If the entire heart were dyed red, this thing probably wouldn't be as quiet as it is now."

The words were barely out of his mouth when Xiao Hei attacked again!

The eerie hound, like a cloud of black mist, lunged at the heart. Its savage fangs bared, its sharp claws tore through the protective black tentacles. The heart, now exposed, contracted violently, trembling wildly as if under immense stress, and frantically lashed out with its tentacles in a desperate counterattack!

*Ssssh—*

However, the moment those tentacles made contact with Xiao Hei, they were sliced to pieces by its razor-sharp claws. Black mist oozed from the severed ends, flowing sluggishly like blood.

In the next instant, Xiao Hei's claws plunged deep into the heart's surface with a force meant to rend everything, piercing it viciously!

*Squelch!*

The moment the heart was pierced, the entire bus shuddered violently. Then, the vehicle careened out of control, swerving sharply to one side!

Tires screeched against the pavement. The massive inertia threw passengers off balance, sending them tumbling. Shrieks erupted, some instinctively grabbed nearby handrails, while others were flung against seats with dull thuds. Fortunately, the seats were no longer connected to the tentacles and wouldn't harm the passengers.

*Crash!*

With a tremendous bang, the bus finally slammed onto the sidewalk, its front end plowing into the wall of a street-side shop. The sounds of shattering glass and twisting metal mingled together. The entire compartment shook violently before finally settling to a complete stop.

Silence.

The noise of rolling wheels was gone, the low hum of the engine ceased. Only the sound of frantic panting and pounding heartbeats echoed in everyone's ears.

And at the same time, the once-throbbing heart finally fell still.

It no longer contracted. The black tentacles hung limp, devoid of vitality. The entire heart, like a fruit drained of all nourishment, rolled out from the shattered dashboard. Its black-and-red mottled exterior rapidly faded, turning into a grayish, withered, desiccated husk.

The lights inside the bus went out completely.

Standing by the rear door, Su Bai let out a soft sigh. He gave the rear door a powerful kick.

*Bang!*

The rear door, which the passengers had been utterly unable to open before, flew open under Su Bai's kick!

Night air rushed in through the doorway, carrying a hint of dampness, making it feel as if everything that had just happened was merely a nightmare, and the world outside was reality.

But everyone knew this was no dream.

"Get off this bus!"

Following Su Bai's brief, commanding order, Feng Yan and the passengers who could still move sprang into action.

They had just witnessed Su Bai's "special abilities" firsthand. That eerie hound should have been even more terrifying than the bus itself. Yet, when the task was done, it obediently returned to Su Bai's side, nuzzling his palm. In the eyes of all the passengers, Su Bai's status had reached an indescribable height.

When they saw that eerie hound tear apart the grotesque "heart," they could almost imagine how they, too, would be shredded by those fangs and claws if Su Bai were an enemy.

It was an immense relief that Su Bai was not an enemy.

That was truly wonderful.