Last Bus of Route 13

Zhou Zhuang’s shoveling left me completely drained, so much so that I couldn’t even muster the strength to beg for mercy.

All I could do was watch helplessly as he continued to shovel dirt onto me, one scoop at a time.

I never imagined that after all my fears and anxieties, I would end up dying at the hands of my own old classmate.

Just when I had lost all hope and was waiting for death, suddenly, Zhou Zhuang seemed to see something terrifying, threw the shovel, and ran off as fast as he could.

Barely able to open my eyes, I looked around and, to my astonishment, there stood a chick right next to my grave pit.

I wanted to climb out, but a severe headache overcame me, and I passed out.

…

When I woke up again, it was the next morning. I was covered with a blanket, lying on the kang, and Old Liu was sitting beside me, anxiously watching over me.

Opening my eyes and seeing Old Liu’s aged face and his characteristic green pupils, I almost burst into tears.

“Old Liu, where did you go last night? I almost died!”

As I spoke, I tried to sit up, but before I could, I realized it wasn’t just Old Liu watching over me.

Zhou Zhuang and Xiao Chu were there too!!

Despite being knocked out, I hadn’t lost my memory. Zhou Zhuang had tricked me into going up the mountain last night and almost buried me alive.

Now, seeing Zhou Zhuang again, I panicked and jumped up.

“Zhou Zhuang, are you out of your mind?”

I cursed as I clenched my fists and swung at Zhou Zhuang.

Zhou Zhuang looked utterly bewildered, dodging while shouting:

“Bro, what’s wrong? Stop hitting me!”

“Stop hitting you? You tricked me into going up the mountain to bury me alive, and now you want me to stop?”

At this, Zhou Zhuang froze, looking innocently towards Old Liu.

Old Liu waved his hand and said:

“Hold on, don’t hit him yet. Explain to me clearly what exactly happened?”

Suppressing my anger, I turned to Old Liu and said:

“After we parted at the village fork yesterday, I met him. He told me the Zhang Family was taking a corpse up the mountain. Little did I know, after luring me up there, he knocked me out and was about to bury me alive!”

After hearing this, Old Liu furrowed his brows and asked in a low voice:

“Repeat that, when did you two go up the mountain, and where did you start?”

Angrily, I replied:

“We went up the mountain at nine o’clock at night. I was waiting at his house all this time for you, but you never came back.”

Old Liu, after hearing this, unexpectedly looked up and exchanged glances with Zhou Zhuang.

Frustrated, I shouted:

“What are you trying to say, Old Liu? Isn’t it clear what I’m telling you?”

Leaning on his stick, Old Liu sat on the edge of the kang and said softly:

“I’ve been with them since six o’clock yesterday evening; it was you who disappeared overnight.”

“What?”

Old Liu’s words confused me even more. It was clear that I had been waiting at home with Zhou Zhuang for most of the night, how had it turned into me disappearing?

Seeing my growing anger, Old Liu slowly continued:

“I did come back late yesterday, but I met Zhou Zhuang and his wife at the village chief’s house. We came back together and when we didn’t find you at home, we went out and only found you at the foot of the mountain in the middle of the night, with a shovel in your hand.”

This was getting stranger and stranger!

Old Liu never jokes with me, I know that. But he actually said he was with Zhou Zhuang the whole night.

Then who was the Zhou Zhuang that went up the mountain with me?

I suddenly lost all my bluster and sat down on the bed, deflated. Had I been possessed again?

I quickly recounted everything that happened after I parted ways with Old Liu yesterday, including helping the old man find the chick and encountering the shrew in the warehouse.

Old Liu frowned as he listened, then pulled at my eyelids and examined my head from side to side. He then cut his finger on his stick, using his blood to draw a strange circle on my forehead.

As soon as the circle was completed, I shivered all over and felt a cold breeze blow across the back of my neck.

With the breeze, a chicken feather drifted down from my head.

Old Liu caught the feather, frowning as he examined it closely.

Where did this chicken feather come from? Could it have stuck to me when I was helping the blind old man catch the chicken?

But as I looked closer, this light yellow feather, though not very long, was quite thick. It definitely wasn’t from a chick.

That’s right, yesterday I didn’t just encounter that chick; I also came across that soul-transferring rooster in the warehouse!

Old Liu stared at the feather, his brow furrowed, and said slowly, “You’ve been hit with an eye obstruction technique, mistaking a chicken feather for a person.”

I was shocked and asked, “Eye obstruction technique? Old Liu, are you saying that the whole time yesterday, it wasn’t Zhou Zhuang with me, but this chicken feather?”

Old Liu nodded, took a lighter from the bed, and burned the feather, tossing it to the ground.

This was just too ironic. I had spent the entire day talking to a chicken feather, going up the mountain with it, and ended up digging a hole to bury myself!

Thinking back to the dangerous events of last night, it felt like they were right in front of me. If that chick hadn’t appeared at the end, I might have really killed myself.

The thought made cold sweat break out on my forehead.

After burning the feather, Old Liu glanced outside and said, “If you’re alright, get up quickly. Today is the third day after the Zhang Family’s son’s death. By now, they might be carrying the body up the mountain for burial.”

Though my head was still a bit dizzy, I couldn’t worry about that after hearing Old Liu’s words. If the Iron Weight was really hung on the corpse’s feet for burial, it would be too late for everything. I didn’t dare delay, quickly putting on my shoes and following Old Liu and Zhou Zhuang to the west mountain.

Having just been to the west mountain last night, I was still quite scared to go up again.

Zhou Zhuang carried Old Liu, and we followed the ox cart’s wheel tracks all the way up.

We reached a spot halfway up the mountain, just in time to see the Zhang Family about to lower the coffin into the grave pit.

Seeing this, I mustered all my strength and shouted, “Stop!!”

The group was in the middle of carrying the coffin, and my sudden shout startled them so much that a few of them fell to the ground.

A man from the Zhang Family turned around, saw it was me, rolled up his sleeves, and came over, pointing at me and cursing, “What the hell are you shouting about, you idiot?”

At this point, it wasn’t wise to confront them directly. I approached the man from the Zhang Family humbly and said, “I’m not here to cause trouble. I was indeed at fault a few days ago. I just want to pay my respects to your son before he is laid to rest.”

The man from the Zhang Family looked me up and down and replied, “You’re quite sensible. You caused quite a stir at Da Lao Wang’s place, so it’s only right for you to pay respects to my son. Go ahead.”

Seeing his approval, I quickly slipped past the crowd and approached the coffin. Pretending to kneel down, I seized the moment when no one was watching and pushed the coffin lid with all my might!

The Zhang Family was bewildered by my sudden action, taking a moment to react. Several men nearby rushed to pull me back, but not before I caught a glimpse inside the coffin!

The Iron Weight wasn’t tied to the red cloth on the corpse’s ankle!

Not only was it absent, but there was no Iron Weight in the coffin at all.

I was dragged aside and inevitably received a beating. After enduring the punches and kicks, I managed to make my way down the mountain, barely breathing.

With Zhou Zhuang supporting me, I walked along the village road, weakly asking Old Liu, “Old Liu, since the Iron Weight wasn’t tied to the foot, does that mean the soul transfer went smoothly? Da Lao Wang must be Semi-Immortal Xu, right?”

Old Liu glanced at my bruised and battered face and said gravely, “Without the Iron Weight, there shouldn’t be any major issues. But who knows if the eye obstruction technique with that chicken feather last night was his doing.”

“So, are we going to cast the second divination today?”

Old Liu nodded and said, “Yes.”

With that, I instructed Zhou Zhuang to return to the fields and, despite my physical state, accompanied Old Liu to Da Lao Wang’s place to cast the second divination!

Upon arriving at Da Lao Wang’s house, it seemed as though he was expecting us. He was sitting in the yard, basking in the sun, and greeted us warmly, inviting us into the house.

Da Lao Wang was momentarily surprised by my beaten appearance but didn’t inquire further. He pulled out his two worn-out walnuts from his pocket.

This time, however, he didn’t rush to shake and throw them. Instead, he looked up and smiled at me, saying, “Young man, this second divination is much harder to cast than the first. It requires a drop of your blood.”

My blood?

Instinctively, I glanced at Old Liu, who nodded in approval. Only then did I agree to prick my finger and let a drop of blood fall onto his walnuts.

Da Lao Wang held the blood-stained walnuts in his hand, muttering as he did yesterday, and then tossed them onto the kang.

My heart was in my throat. What would this second divination reveal?

Da Lao Wang studied the arrangement of the walnuts, his face breaking into a smile. Looking at me, he said, “The divination looks good. You’re saved!”