Last Bus of Route 13 - Chapter 72 - The Unknown Entity

Seeing the car completely intact, I couldn’t feel any relief.

Last night, that hearse rammed into me so hard that my heart was practically bleeding. How could there not be a single scratch on it?

Xiao Liu hurried over and pulled me up from the ground, saying, “I told you to let me drive and keep an eye on Bai Fan, but you wouldn’t listen. Look at you now, all jittery and paranoid. You’re making me anxious just watching you.”

I stood up, still unwilling to give up. I circled around the back of the car twice, inspecting it carefully. There really wasn’t a single mark from the collisions.

I touched my forehead and could still feel the pain. It seemed that my head hitting the steering wheel last night wasn’t just my imagination.

Still shaken, I followed Xiao Liu to the cafeteria and had a bowl of porridge before heading back to my dorm to rest.

I slept until one in the afternoon when Bun Hairstyle suddenly called. The moment I picked up, he shouted excitedly, “Bro, guess what?”

Still groggy and with a pounding headache, I replied weakly, “Guess what? You’re dropping this on me out of nowhere. How am I supposed to guess?”

Bun Hairstyle continued, “That hearse has been found. It’s parked on Liuying Road in the suburban area.”

Liuying Road?

That place wasn’t unfamiliar. Not long ago, Old Liu and I had been there. The Midnight Library was nearby.

“Are you sure the car is parked there?”

“Absolutely. I’ve seen the photos. It’s the same car.”

The same car? Could it really be? Last night, I was racing for my life against that hearse, and in the end, it all seemed to vanish like a dream.

I hung up the phone, got out of bed, and started getting ready. I didn’t even bother with lunch and rushed downstairs.

Before I could leave the courtyard, I ran into Old Wu. He glanced at me and asked in a low voice, “You look terrible. Where’ve you been messing around these past few days?”

I knew what Old Wu meant. He was worried I was still digging into the car accident case.

Suddenly, I remembered Bai Fan mentioning the thief who tried to sneak into the second floor. I asked, “Old Wu, let me ask you something. Besides you and me, does anyone else know about what’s hidden in the second floor?”

Old Wu glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, “Of course not. That second floor has been abandoned for over a decade. Among all the drivers in our company, you’re the only one who’s ever been in there.”

I mulled over Tang Yao’s words. She mentioned the thief was thin. But the drivers in our company spend all day sitting behind the wheel, and each one is bulkier than the next. None of them could be thinner than me.

“Do you know if anyone in the company has shown a particular interest in the second floor?”

Old Wu frowned at my question.

“Li Yao, don’t scare me. It’s bad enough that you’re involved in this mess. From the way you’re talking, are you saying someone else in the company knows about the car accident too?”

Seeing Old Wu’s confused expression, I realized he probably didn’t know anything about this mysterious employee either.

“Never mind, just asking.”

I was about to leave when Old Wu grabbed my arm and whispered, “Don’t you dare tell outsiders about the car accident from ten years ago. I’m warning you, this is trouble you can’t handle. People who dig too deep into this tend to end up dead!”

Old Wu’s words were harsh-“end up dead.” The more he tried to scare me, the more intrigued I became about these car accidents.

I didn’t respond and walked out the gate with my head down.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to listen, Old Wu cursed under his breath but didn’t press further.

Bun Hairstyle’s information was always spot-on, so I didn’t dare waste any time. I told him to keep an eye on the hearse and quickly hailed a cab to Liuying Road.

When I arrived, I saw him pacing in circles, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his face full of worry.

The moment he spotted me, he flicked the cigarette away and nervously pulled me close.

“What’s with the drama? Where’s the car?” I asked, puzzled.

He lowered his voice. “It should be just over there, not too far. But I haven’t dared to go near it.”

“Not dared? Why not?”

“The car’s parked in a really creepy spot-right next to a big grave mound. And I’ve got no idea if the body’s still inside. I was waiting for you to show up.”

Though Bun Hairstyle looked tough, his biggest flaw was glaringly obvious-he was absolutely terrified of ghosts. The kind of fear that made his skin crawl.

I nodded and followed the direction he pointed. He hesitated, clearly wanting to stop me, but in the end, reluctantly trailed behind.

The last time I came here with Old Liu, we wandered around this area of abandoned houses for ages. Bun Hairstyle, likely overwhelmed by nerves, had managed to get us lost. One moment he’d say it was this way, the next he’d point in the opposite direction. We kept circling around, and my head was starting to spin.

“Hey, Bun Hairstyle, are you sure your info’s reliable? We’ve been wandering for nearly an hour now. Where’s the car?” I asked, exasperated.

He glanced around at the endless rows of dilapidated houses, sweat beading on his forehead. Pulling out his mobile phone, he checked the photo again. “It’s gotta be here. The picture shows this exact area.”

Curious, I leaned in to take a look. The photo indeed showed the abandoned houses we were wandering through. In the center of the image was a large grave mound, and parked right in front of it was the white hearse.

The angle of the photo was peculiar. I asked, “Who sent you this picture? Why don’t you just ask them?”

Bun Hairstyle nodded and dialed the number.

Disconnected.

His brows furrowed as he redialed several times, but every attempt resulted in the same message: disconnected.

“How can it be a dead number? Who on earth sent you this photo?” I pressed.

Scratching his head, he replied, “I’m not sure. I asked a bunch of my little brothers to dig up some info, and this morning, I got this picture as an MMS. I thought one of them sent it.”

I sighed, took his phone, and studied the photo carefully. Using it as a reference, I led Bun Hairstyle in a new direction.

With some analysis and comparison, we finally navigated out of the maze-like old housing area. The view ahead suddenly opened up, and there it was-the white hearse, parked right next to a towering grave mound.

Bun Hairstyle pointed at the car and shouted, “Look! It’s really here!”

I nodded and cautiously approached the hearse with him.

“Why do you think the hearse is parked here? Do you think the corpse driving it thought it had made it home and crawled into the grave mound?” he muttered.

The atmosphere was already eerie enough, and his comment left me momentarily speechless.

Thankfully, it was broad daylight, or else that remark alone would’ve been enough to send us running.

We made it to the car without incident. Picking up two large rocks, we crept to the car window and cautiously peered inside.

The car was empty. The keys were still in the ignition under the steering wheel.

Bun Hairstyle let out a sigh of relief, opened the door, and jumped into the driver’s seat.

Last night, a hearse chased me all night long. Despite the engine of Route 13 being completely smashed, it somehow seemed unharmed when I checked the front of the car.

To my surprise, the front of the hearse was also intact without a single scratch.

While trying to start the car, the man with the Bun Hairstyle warned me from the driver’s seat:

“Bro, you’re standing right behind a grave mound, don’t step on it.”

I had almost forgotten about it until he mentioned it, prompting me to quickly turn around and look.

The grave mound had no tombstone and seemed quite old, but strangely, it appeared as if it had been recently turned over, with lots of moist, fresh soil on it.

I stared at it, wondering how an old grave could have fresh soil. Lost in thought, a sudden honk from the Bun Hairstyle snapped me out of it.

Startled by the horn, the Bun Hairstyle started the car and excitedly waved at me through the window, shouting:

“Bro, get in the car!”

After collecting myself, I quickly turned and got into the passenger seat.

The Bun Hairstyle, growing increasingly jovial, said casually:

“It seems the corpse really took care of us, leaving the car keys inside. Let’s drive straight to Old Liu’s place.”

As he put the car in reverse to turn around, I glanced through the window in horror to see the grave mound in front of the car beginning to shift!

I stretched my neck and pressed my face against the window to look out.

Dirt was continuously being pushed up from the mound!

“Holy crap, Bun Hairstyle, drive!”

Suddenly realizing what was happening, I yelled at the Bun Hairstyle in panic.

Startled by my shout, the Bun Hairstyle looked where I was pointing and saw the mound churning up soil.

“Holy crap, I guess I was right; something is trying to crawl out!”

Frantically, the Bun Hairstyle hurriedly turned the hearse around, and once turned, he excitedly looked back at the grave mound and taunted:

“Come on, dig your way out and chase me; I’ll leave you in the dust!”

With that, he floored the accelerator.

The car shot forward as if injected with chicken blood.

As we sped away, the Bun Hairstyle burst into laughter three times.

But we hadn’t gone ten meters when…

“Zzt”

The engine died.

The old man at the funeral home had said that only Mr. Wang could keep this car running; anyone else would surely stall it, and he was right!

“Try it again, quickly!”

Nervously, I looked through the rearview mirror, and the grave mound had been completely dug through, a bloodless hand emerging from the large hole!

My scalp tingled, and I couldn’t bear to look any longer. Turning away, I could hear my own heartbeat.

Luckily, the car started again and we made it into the dilapidated housing area in one go.

The Bun Hairstyle and I both sweat bullets internally, thankful to have escaped, but now the road ahead was like a labyrinth.

This area was full of twists and turns, with countless forks in the road. Without familiarity, you’d end up like us, taking many wrong turns.

Seeing that we had left the grave mound far behind and the car was running smoothly, the Bun Hairstyle finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Bro, do you think the thing crawling out of that grave was the corpse that escaped from the funeral home?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know, who cares what it is? As long as we can drive the car back smoothly, that’s all that matters.”

With a slap on the steering wheel, Bun Hairstyle said:

“Absolutely, once we get past this path and onto Liuying Road, things will be easier. Even if the car stalls badly, we can still find a place to fix it.”

As our conversation picked up, suddenly we heard a loud “thud.”

I perked up my ears and asked alertly:

“What was that sound? Did the car run over something?”

Bun Hairstyle looked at me puzzled and replied:

“No sound. The road condition here is pretty good; it’s unlikely we ran over anything.”

“Thud”

Another sound echoed, like a collision.

This time Bun Hairstyle heard it too, looking around nervously.

“Where is that noise coming from? I feel like it’s right nearby.”

Since Bun Hairstyle was driving, it was difficult for him to move around, so I started to search throughout the compartment.

“What the heck was that? Quickly check, it can’t be under my Driver’s Cabin, can it?”

While speaking, Bun Hairstyle even lifted himself slightly off his seat.

I gestured for him to be quiet and then heard another loud “thud”!

This time the sound was much louder than before, buzzing our ears intensely.

I finally located the source of the noise and shouted frantically at Bun Hairstyle:

“Stop the car, quick!!”

Hearing this, Bun Hairstyle slammed on the brakes and asked anxiously:

“What’s wrong, brother?”

“Get out of the car!”

I didn’t have time to explain, frantically trying to open the car door, but it felt as if it was filled with lead, impossible to open no matter how much I pushed, pulled, smashed, or kicked.

Seeing my frantic efforts, Bun Hairstyle got scared too and asked in a deep voice:

“What’s going on, just tell me!”

Trembling, I pointed towards the back compartment and exclaimed in terror:

“There’s something alive in this Casket Compartment!!”

At this, Bun Hairstyle exploded as if ignited by gunpowder, desperately twisting at the car door.

Before we could get the door open, another loud “thud” resonated from the back:

The metal sheet separating the Driver’s Cabin from the Casket Compartment was torn open by something unknown!!