Last Bus of Route 13

The old lady’s declaration that she wanted to cremate herself startled me so much that I instinctively took a step back.

Before I could fully process what she’d said, Shi Tou’s voice called out from behind me.

“What are you doing?”

Turning around, I saw Shi Tou and quickly explained, “Shi Tou, this old lady just said she wanted to…”

I hadn’t even finished my sentence when a middle-aged man, dressed in mourning clothes, rushed into the lobby. He glanced at the two of us and spoke in a low voice, “Could you please help me cremate someone tonight?”

I turned back to look for the old lady, but she had already disappeared.

Shi Tou gave the man a cold glance and replied flatly, “We’re closed. Come back tomorrow morning.”

The middle-aged man looked desperate, his eyes welling up with tears. “Please, I’m begging you. My mother was superstitious, and before she passed, she repeatedly asked me to make sure she was cremated today. It’s her dying wish. She’s already been brought to the front door.”

The old lady who had just vanished claimed she wanted to cremate herself, and now this man was asking to cremate his mother. My heart started pounding uncontrollably. Could the old lady I saw earlier have been this man’s deceased mother?

Seeing the man’s distress and his genuine grief, I felt a pang of sympathy. Turning to Shi Tou, I suggested, “Shi Tou, why don’t we just cremate one more? I don’t mind staying late.”

Shi Tou’s expression darkened as he stared at me coldly. “No cremations after 10 p.m.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

The middle-aged man, seeing Shi Tou’s firm refusal, wiped away his tears in frustration.

Shi Tou had made it clear, and as a part-time worker, I didn’t dare to make any decisions on my own. After some thought, I said to the man, “Since you’ve already brought her here, why don’t you leave your mother in the mortuary for now? We’ll cremate her first thing tomorrow morning.”

The man sighed deeply at my suggestion, then turned to call out to the people waiting outside.

Soon, a group of people carried a stretcher into the lobby. Lying on the stretcher, covered with a layer of white cloth, was presumably the middle-aged man’s mother.

I glanced at the corpse on the stretcher, and an inexplicable chill ran down my spine. Leading the group, I guided them to the mortuary.

The mortuary operates 24/7, and tonight’s attendant was a tall, thin man named Zhu Hou. Shi Tou had introduced him to me earlier, mentioning that he’d been working here for three years. Zhu Hou had done it all-carrying corpses, cremating them, and even serving as a mortician for an extended period. Shi Tou had said I could ask Zhu Hou about any procedures I didn’t understand.

When Zhu Hou saw me leading a group into the mortuary, he frowned and asked, “What’s going on? Why are they bringing someone in at this hour?”

I explained that the cremation would take place first thing in the morning and briefly told him the reason behind it.

Zhu Hou looked troubled, pondering for a moment before reluctantly saying, “Alright, since she’s already been brought here, we can’t exactly send her back home now.”

With that, he instructed the group to transfer the body onto the funeral home’s trolley and arranged for it to be placed in one of the mortuary rooms.

Throughout the process, I couldn’t shake the curiosity nagging at me. Was the cold corpse lying on the trolley the same old lady who had earlier claimed she wanted to cremate herself?

After everything was settled, the family members left in tears.

I deliberately stayed behind, unable to resist the urge to lift the white cloth and see for myself if it was indeed the old lady.

Returning to the mortuary, my trembling hand reached out to lift the white cloth covering the corpse. Just as I was about to uncover it, a sharp voice rang out behind me: “Don’t move!”

The piercing tone startled me so much that I nearly jumped out of my skin.

It was Zhu Hou.

With a furrowed brow, he lowered his voice and said, “Do you have a death wish?”

I took a deep breath, realizing how reckless I had been.

“Sorry, I just wanted to take a look at the deceased. Earlier, I think I might have seen her.”

Zhu Hou let out a scoffing laugh. “Seen her earlier?”

He crossed his arms and leaned against an empty bed. “You’re new here. Some things are better left alone. Don’t overthink them-it’ll be better for you.”

I understood the implication behind his words and replied quietly, “Got it. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head out for the night.”

As I made my way toward the door, Zhu Hou called out again, “I heard you drive the last bus, right? No wonder you’ve got guts. But why take up a part-time job here?”

I stopped in my tracks and answered, “Ran out of money, that’s why.”

Zhu Hou snorted coldly.

“Listen, buddy, you seem like a decent guy. Let me give you a piece of advice: stick to your schedule, clock in and out, and don’t meddle in extra stuff like this. It’ll save you trouble.”

The seriousness in his tone caught me off guard. I asked, puzzled, “This is a funeral home, not a hospital short on beds. I figured lending a hand wouldn’t hurt.”

Zhu Hou dropped his arms and stepped closer. “Let me make it simple for you: mind your own damn business.”

With that, he shot me a meaningful look, slammed the door, and left.

I stood there, baffled by his outburst, feeling thoroughly unsettled. Was he annoyed because I’d added to his workload by bringing someone to the mortuary?

I muttered a curse under my breath and headed out.

Thus ended my first day on the job. Back at the dormitory, Old Li told me Xiao Liu had another episode today-he’d been staring blankly at the window and struggling fiercely against his restraints.

I sighed in frustration. Who knows if that Lao Liu from the library was reliable? I spent the whole day tending the cremation furnace, surrounded by the acrid stench of burning corpses. The smell was like scorched rubber-absolutely nauseating.

I didn’t eat a bite of dinner and ended up vomiting nothing but stomach acid.

How much longer would I have to endure this before the Yellow Paper Man finally appeared?

The next evening at six, I arrived at the funeral home for my shift. To my surprise, a large crowd had gathered outside the entrance. Men and women alike were crying and wailing, clutching a long banner in their hands.

Curious, I stopped to take a closer look. The banner read:

“Machine swallowed a life-take full responsibility! Heartless funeral home, shame on you!”

Judging from the message, it seemed there had been some sort of accident or dispute, and the family was here demanding justice.

I decided to ask Shi Tou about it later. Skirting the crowd, I entered the first floor and ran into the day shift cremator finishing his handover.

This guy was short and dark-skinned, earning him the nickname “Di Pi.” Seeing him reminded me of a description from one of Guo Degang¹‘s comedy routines: “Four-foot-tall, a face full of scruffy beard, and a single palm’s worth of chest hair.”

Di Pi froze for a moment when he saw me, then quickly nodded, almost nervously.

I gave him a small smile as a greeting and asked, “Hey man, do you know what’s going on with that crowd outside holding the banner?”

Di Pi glanced at me, looked around cautiously, and then lowered his voice. “You should ask Shi Tou about that. He’s the one who-”

He stopped mid-sentence, seemed to think better of it, and then clammed up. His eyes darted around, and without another word, he hurried off.

Half-spoken words-nothing more frustrating.

This funeral home was just full of secrets. Everyone here acted like they were part of some covert operation. It was almost laughable.

I let out a dry chuckle and headed off to change into my work clothes. Afterward, I made my way to the crematory to find Shi Tou.

Today marked my official start in the cremation process. The machine itself was pretty straightforward-press a button to open the furnace, slide the body in, press another button to increase the pressure, and twenty minutes later, what went in as a person came out as a pile of ash.

Shi Tou was at the controls, operating the buttons, while I handled the sliding bed to push the bodies into the cremation furnace. The first body of the day was an old man, clearly advanced in years. I made a conscious effort to avoid looking at his face.

As I pushed the sliding bed toward the furnace, I asked, “Shi Tou, when I came in earlier, I saw a crowd outside. Is there some kind of dispute with the company?”

Shi Tou nodded slightly, his expression as impassive as ever. “Yeah. One of our employees died in an accident last month.”

I blinked in confusion. “An employee? But this is a funeral home, not exactly a high-risk job. What kind of accident could’ve happened? Did they die of fright?”

Shi Tou glanced at me with the same cold expression and said flatly, “He tripped while pushing a body into the cremation furnace during the night shift. Fell in with the corpse.”

“What?!”

The shock hit me so hard that I lost my grip on the sliding bed. The old man’s body tumbled off and hit the floor with a dull thud.

Shi Tou frowned, quickly stepping over to help me lift the body back onto the sliding bed. My hands were trembling uncontrollably.

“A night shift cremator, like me?” I asked, my voice shaky.

Shi Tou didn’t answer. He simply pushed me aside, slid the bed into the furnace, closed the door, and started the cremation process.

I glanced at the cremation furnace. Sure, the opening was large, but it still required manual operation. Unless someone deliberately climbed in, how could they just trip and fall into it?

Shi Tou noticed me standing there frozen and pointed toward the door. “Don’t worry about that for now. Go to the mortuary and bring over the old lady who was delivered last night.”

Numbly, I nodded and walked out.

On my way to the mortuary, a thought struck me. No wonder the manager had been so thrilled when I applied for this job. With the last guy dead, they must’ve been desperate to find someone-anyone-to fill the position. And here I was, walking right into it like a fool.

Funeral homes are always surrounded by rumors of supernatural occurrences, but it’s rare to hear about actual staff deaths.

I took a deep breath. I’d taken this job to save my own life, but if I ended up dying here, wouldn’t that make all my efforts pointless?

No, this wasn’t going to work. There were two funeral homes in the city. If this one was this sketchy, I’d quit tomorrow and try my luck at the other one.

With that resolve in mind, I entered the mortuary and retrieved the old lady’s body that they were in such a hurry to cremate.

As I looked at the corpse covered by a white cloth, my thoughts began to churn. Was this the same old lady who had said last night that she wanted to be cremated urgently?

I prided myself on having seen my fair share of ghosts, but to be honest, I’d never actually matched a ghost to its corpse. Even with Tang Yao in her red dress, I knew she was dead, but I’d never seen her body up close.

If the body under this white cloth was the same old lady from last night, then I’d have undeniable proof that I’d seen a ghost.

Curiosity is a dangerous thing. Once it takes hold, it’s hard to resist.

Should I take a peek?

I bit my lip, my heart pounding with an uncontrollable urge. Slowly, with trembling hands, I reached out to lift the white cloth.

The moment I saw the face beneath, I recoiled in shock, stumbling backward.

It wasn’t the old lady.

It was Di Pi-the short guy I’d just spoken to!

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