...

The carriage felt like a mausoleum, chill pooling in the corners, silence heavy as wet clay. Both buses held a mixed clutch of riders. Xiaoxiao Ji curled into a shadowed nook, hands frozen, mind blank.

It was only her second time seeing her ghostly elder sister clash with other spirits. That cocky, sky-high swagger felt unlike Ling Jiang’s usual calm, yet eerily familiar, like a face seen in rain.

By her side, a Black Great Axe had appeared from nowhere, long as a man and coal-dark. It looked like a toy looted from a player city, but it wasn’t. It was a true war axe.

Its edge was so clean it hurt to look at, a thin line that made the eyes sting, like wind slicing through winter reed.

How many more secrets did her ghost sister hide beneath that white dress and quiet stare?

Nana Toki’s words had just fallen when the masked man advancing on her halted. His deep black eyes locked on the Black Great Axe resting on Nana Toki’s shoulder.

Danger, his gut whispered, the kind of danger that prowls before a storm. One step closer and he’d be scattered like ash. The thought rang in his skull.

He was a ghost, true. Mortal steel shouldn’t bite him. Yet instinct surged like a siren: the woman with the white triangular headscarf was deadly.

“Calmed down yet?”

Nana Toki didn’t drop her voice, but in the tomb-still carriage, the question thudded loud as a drum.

The masked man stayed silent—no, he didn’t dare speak. Her pressure pressed like a mountain. For a heartbeat, resistance couldn’t rise at all.

“You’ll get everyone on this bus killed if you keep this up!”

Tension lined the masked man’s words, a tremor he couldn’t hide, like a wire humming.

“I won’t. If I cut him down, you won’t be in danger. Right?” Nana Toki tossed Kexin Li a crooked smile. Kexin shivered and looked away.

Had hauling her onto the bus been a mistake? The blood-stained dress felt colder now. Regret pooled like damp.

Nana Toki ignored the other passengers. She needed answers, urgently, and they started with the Protagonist Lord.

She straightened the last slumped figure at the rear. A familiar profile slid into view. Protagonist Lord, no mistake.

But Lu Ming’s state wasn’t like the others she’d roused. His eyes were open, yet empty, glassy as river stones. A dead man’s stare.

He didn’t just flatline, did he?

She muttered it under her breath, but her hands didn’t slow. Kexin Li, closest, watched Nana Toki fish an Amber Talisman from her pocket and press it to his brow.

The old-yellow talisman kissed skin. The instant her fingers lifted, flame bloomed out of nowhere. Xiaoxiao Ji nearly cried out.

Lu Ming didn’t flinch. The fire licked without heat. His face stayed as still as a pond at night.

The orange tongue shrank, ember nibbling away the last fibers. When the final spark ate the paper, Lu Ming shuddered. His head snapped up.

“It’s you? Why are you here?”

He stared at the white-dressed ghost floating before him, stunned for a beat. Then his gaze cut to the watching riders. A fine brow knit.

“How is this a Soul Carriage?”

He remembered boarding a normal bus. Somewhere, the world had shifted, like a rug pulled in silence.

“Sir, welcome back from the dream. Got any special feelings you’d like to share?” The ghost’s smile was professional, polished, and wrong. His doubts deepened.

“Back from a dream? What are you even saying?”

“You didn’t notice you were in a dream. Since you boarded this Soul Carriage, it’s had you under. Without your considerate red-dressed female ghost, who knows where you’d be delivered.”

Nana Toki’s smile raised goosebumps up Lu Ming’s arms, tiny thorns in a field. Controlled by a Soul Carriage—unheard of. And she’d said red-dressed female ghost.

When did Kexin Li come along? Why hadn’t he noticed?

Lu Ming searched the seats. No trace of Kexin Li’s silhouette.

“You’re her master. If you doubt me, ask her.”

Nana Toki saw the suspicion on his face. “You and that red-dressed one are close, aren’t you?”

“...”

“Thanks.”

After a few seconds, Lu Ming drew a breath and answered softly. “No need to ask. I’ll trust you.”

“No need for thanks. Call it a favor you owe me.” Nana Toki’s eyes curved, a trickster’s grin, impish and bright.

“...” Why did this ghost keep tabbing his favors? He wasn’t a big shot.

“Good. Since you’re awake, for our future safety, use the time. Tell me, word for word—what did you dream?”

“Our?” Lu Ming eyed Nana Toki, not getting it.

“Our.” Nana Toki tugged Xiaoxiao Ji forward. “You stirred a big mess. I’m cleaning it, so we’re tied to the same rope now.”

She kept it to the essentials. Soon, she’d sketched their ride on Route Fourteen, and how they met Kexin Li.

“So by your account, this Soul Carriage likely belongs to some powerhouse from Longvine Academy?”

But why would Longvine Academy target him? He’d never even been there.

“How should I know? Longvine Academy is definitely not a good place.” If ghosts call it an academy, imagine the curriculum.

“Anyway, tell me your dream. Maybe there’s a clue.” Curiosity pricked Nana Toki like needles.

“My dream doesn’t have anything you’d care about...” Lu Ming rubbed his nape. “It was just me. Sitting alone on a normal bus.”

“That’s it?” Nana Toki stared.

“That’s it.”

“...” No heart-stopping scenes? No death match with fierce ghosts bristling like boars?” She tried to coax a memory that never existed.

“You think this is a novel? What Spirit Exorcist boards a random bus and runs into fierce ghosts?”

Lu Ming gave her a look. “If anything mattered, it’s that I was controlled and didn’t notice. Honestly, if you hadn’t woken me, I’d still think the dream was real. Oh, and the sky there stayed bright. Not this gray.”

He pointed toward the window. Outside, clouds hung like soot.

“...” Useless news.

“By the way, why were you busing it to Longvine Academy?” Nana Toki squinted. “Don’t tell me you’re a lone wolf.”

“...” Lone wolf? Why was she suddenly so chuunibyou?

“Don’t go dramatic. I just overslept. Nothing weird.” Lu Ming sighed. “I was up late on personal stuff.”

“What are you, an elementary kid before a field trip, too excited to sleep?” Nana Toki filled in the blanks all on her own.

“...”

Who’d care about that boring exchange event? This Spirit Exorcist lost sleep over her talismans, not the trip.

Back at Xiaoxiao Ji’s place, Lu Ming had taken one Talisman from outside. Thinking Nana Toki might’ve been a Spirit Exorcist in life, he studied it all night.

He learned nothing and overslept. Bad luck rolled like dice.

Ding. The vehicle has started. Hold tight. Next stop, Longvine Academy. Passengers preparing to disembark, please get ready.

While Nana Toki and Lu Ming spoke, Route Fourteen had passed a few more stops. The terminal slid near like a dark dock.

But the passengers sat still, unmoving as statues. No one rose. No one even breathed loud.

“What’s wrong, Sister Ling Jiang?”

Xiaoxiao Ji noticed Ling Jiang’s change and asked softly, like a sparrow testing wind.

“Nothing. Let’s get off. We’re there.”

Nana Toki felt it too—the air had shifted, faint and sour—but couldn’t pin the thread.

“Anyway, be careful when we step off.”