Last Bus of Route 13

Seeing Mr. Wang’s body missing left the three of us utterly dumbfounded. How could a corpse, frozen for a month, still be on the move?

I steadied myself and signaled Bun Hairstyle to quickly check on the hearse.

We dashed out of the mortuary and looked over.

The hearse had already been started and was slowly driving out of the yard.

The body was gone, and the hearse was being driven away!

Who would have thought the old man’s joke would come true?

Bun Hairstyle, trembling, asked me, “Bro-bro-brother, do you think that hearse was really driven away by the corpse?”

I sighed. “Who knows? We finally found the car, and now it’s gone again. Who knows if it’ll ever come back?”

Bun Hairstyle swallowed hard, staring blankly at the tire tracks left by the departing hearse.

We had finally found the car, only for such an unexpected event to occur!

Now the trail was cold, and we’d have to search for the car all over again. Bai Fan’s recovery was still uncertain.

Thinking of Bai Fan in her coma made my heart ache.

This was indeed my fault. If I had informed her before going to Yangcaogou, she wouldn’t have gone to the company looking for me and wouldn’t have been harmed.

But then I felt something was off. From what Tang Yao had said, I initially thought it was a colleague trying to sneak into the second floor, discovered by Bai Fan, and then killed in retaliation.

But was it really worth it over something so minor?

Now, with the car driven away by the deceased Mr. Wang, were the two events connected?

…

By the time I returned to the hospital, it was late at night. I sat by Bai Fan’s bedside, holding her hand for the first time. She was still unconscious, and doing this might not be entirely appropriate.

But I truly cared for her. If it turned out that she was implicated because of me, once she woke up, I would break up with her, even though we had never officially been a couple!

I would stay as far away as possible to avoid dragging her into this mess.

In the following days, Bai Fan remained in a coma. She underwent numerous tests from head to toe, but the doctors still only diagnosed a mild concussion, finding no other issues.

As Old Liu had said, Bai Fan could only receive IV fluids in the hospital. Only by finding the hearse that hit her and restoring her soul could she wake up.

But despite several days of searching, neither Bun Hairstyle’s social connections nor the police’s official channels found anything.

Xiao Liu had been driving the night shift for half a month. I couldn’t bear to see it any longer, so I entrusted Bai Fan to the care of the nurse and Tang Yao, and took over the night shift from Xiao Liu to let him rest.

There weren’t many fellow villagers on the bus tonight. Many passengers recognized me and warmly greeted and chatted with me upon seeing me back behind the wheel.

The journey to the Paper Mill was uneventful. As usual, I got off the bus for a quick bathroom break before heading back for the return trip.

Looking after Bai Fan and searching for the car day and night had been exhausting. Just ten minutes into the return trip, I was already yawning incessantly. I shook my head to stay awake and glanced at the rearview mirror.

In the mirror, I saw a white van furiously chasing after my bus.

This road is usually deserted, especially at this time of the night. Aside from my Last bus of Route 13, there were barely any other vehicles on the road.

I leaned over to the window to take a closer look and jumped in shock. The vehicle that was chasing me was the hearse I had been desperately searching for these past few days!

I was nervous yet excited. The hearse was right behind me now. I wanted to hit the brakes, but seeing the speed at which the hearse was moving, I feared that the driver might not be able to stop in time and cause a rear-end collision.

Moreover, I wasn’t even sure if the person driving this hearse was actually Mr. Wang’s corpse!!

I deliberately sped up, but within a minute or two, the hearse was closing in. To my horror, it showed no signs of slowing down!

With a loud “Bang,” my bus was violently hit from behind.

The powerful impact sent me lunging forward, my forehead slamming hard against the steering wheel.

I quickly stepped on the gas to speed up, but to my astonishment, the hearse chasing me relentlessly maintained its high speed.

Another loud “Bang!” echoed as the back of my bus was struck again.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

I cursed, staring into the rearview mirror. The hearse was becoming more aggressive with each hit, and I could feel the engine cover at the back of the bus being smashed away.

The more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt. If the engine was damaged, I would have to urgently stop the bus, but it seemed like the hearse was deliberately forcing me to stop!

A chill ran down my spine. I definitely couldn’t stop the bus, especially if it was indeed being driven by a corpse!!

Clenching my teeth, I shifted gears, pressed the gas, and steered all in one fluid motion, using all the tricks of an experienced driver to accelerate the bus to its limits on this rural road.

After speeding up, the hearse couldn’t hit me anymore, but it still relentlessly followed close behind.

I wanted to call Bun Hairstyle to ask him to intercept the vehicle, but the situation was too critical to even make a call.

I focused intently on steering, trying to keep the bus as steady as possible. The hearse was still in hot pursuit, ready to catch up if I let my guard down for even a moment. My nerves were taut, with only one thought in my mind:

Just get past the road ahead, and I’ll be in the city. With more vehicles and wider roads in the city, I’ll be safe!

Just as I was momentarily distracted, another “Bang!” the hearse hit me again.

After this hit, I could distinctly hear a buzzing sound from the rear of the bus. I inwardly cursed, realizing the engine was damaged!

Fortunately, I was about to leave this road and enter the city. I finally breathed a sigh of relief and floored the gas pedal.

With a whoosh, my bus instantly passed the last intersection, and I was finally in the city!

I relaxed a bit, but then I was suddenly stunned into silence by what I saw next!

There were no city lights, no smooth asphalt roads. The ground was still the rural dirt road, and the sides were still lined with rushing flora.

I had fucking gone back to the beginning!!!

Everything I saw was just like the road I had taken when leaving the Paper mill.

How did I end up starting from scratch again? Instantly, my heart sank to the bottom―Ghost Wall!

I glanced nervously at the rearview mirror; that white hearse was still doggedly pursuing me. It felt as if someone was pouring water over my head, the sweat drenching me!

I had no other choice but to run.

Half an hour later, I burst out onto the road connecting to the city again, and just like the first time, the moment I passed through the intersection, I mysteriously returned to the very start of my journey.

When will this endless loop ever end? What would happen if I stopped the car? The extreme fear of nearing death crawled over me once again.

Worse still, the sound of the damaged engine grew louder; I didn’t know how much longer it could hold on.

The sweat in my palms had soaked the steering wheel, and the car was no longer stable, occasionally swaying from left to right. I comforted myself over and over in my mind to stay calm; I had to remain calm.

The third time I burst through the intersection, then the fourth, then the fifth…

Every time, the outcome remained unchanged. I was trapped on this road, endlessly repeating the same journey, back and forth without end!

With each dashed hope, my confidence gradually ebbed.

Could I survive tonight?

No!

I hadn’t yet rescued Bai Fan, and Xiao Liu was also entangled in this perilous affair.

If I died, it would cost two more lives!

I reaffirmed my resolve, clenched my teeth, and firmly grasped the steering wheel, continuing the life-or-death chase with the pursuing hearse.

“Bang!”…

The engine damage was severe, my speed ever decreasing, and the hearse behind caught up, beginning to ram into me furiously!

I hadn’t given up, firmly controlling the direction of the car, and after countless times bursting through the intersection, I ended up back at the starting point from the Paper mill, just like the first time.

Countless collisions finally pushed my engine to the brink of collapse; my car could no longer withstand such violent impacts and came to a halt!

It finally stopped. Through the rearview mirror, I saw the hearse also stop by the roadside, just as I had predicted; its goal was indeed to force me to stop.

I couldn’t see clearly who was driving the hearse, but I noticed its door slowly opening.

I sighed in relief; I had made it to the final step!

The driver of the hearse had just extended a leg when suddenly, a streak of sunlight appeared from the distant horizon!

The sunlight was not strong, but it was enough to illuminate the surroundings and dispel the darkness.

Daybreak!

I watched the sun slowly rise from the east, overwhelmed with emotion. Was I saved?

I quickly looked back at the hearse, only to find nothing behind my car!

The hearse had disappeared!

Heaven had not forsaken me! I laughed foolishly at the rising sun for a long while.

The engine was severely damaged; when I tried to start it again, it moved as slowly as a snail. Yet, at this pace, I drove toward the intersection leading to the city for the countless time.

This time, I did not start over from scratch. Everything in the city came into view, my vision suddenly cleared, and even the speed of the car surprisingly returned to normal!

I finally drove the car back to the station smoothly. After parking, I was so drained that I collapsed to the ground as soon as I stepped out of the car.

Xiao Liu always had the habit of rising early, and just then, he happened to pass by the courtyard. Seeing me, he hurried over and asked:

“Brother, I woke up this morning and realized you hadn’t come back all night. What were you doing with the car?”

I weakly raised my hand, pointing at the car and said:

“Ghost Wall, I damn near didn’t make it back; the car was totaled.”

Xiao Liu looked up in confusion and said:

“This car looks fine to me.”

I propped myself up to take a look back, and almost had a nosebleed:

The front and back of the car were completely intact, without a single mark of collision!