“Ohhh, I’m alive again, alive. Nothing in this world beats a hot milk tea when you’re frozen stiff.”

Under the station shelter, with midnight close at hand, Dr Chen gripped the milk tea the delivery guy had just brought him with both hands. The warmth made him forget the cold a little.

“When did this thing rust up? Doesn’t the bus company maintain it?”

He looked up at the stop sign, then realized, oddly enough, that it was already battered beyond recognition. The paint had peeled off, and rust covered it. Had he just not noticed earlier? This place was so run-down.

Then again, he was here to see ghosts. If something paranormal happened, that was normal too.

Beeeeeeep—!

The instant the hour hand on his watch pointed to twelve, a long horn sounded from the dark street in the distance. Dim lights slowly emerged, and an old, beat-up bus came rolling over at a slow pace.

It stopped in front of the platform. The front door opened, but no passengers got off.

“Pretty punctual. That alone makes it better than most buses.”

Dr Chen stuffed the half-finished milk tea into his shoulder bag and got on without thinking much about it.

Sure enough, the moment he stepped inside, a shiver ran through him on its own. It was even colder in here than outside. His breath came out as white mist.

“Next time I do a mission, I’m definitely wearing more thermal layers. Why is every one of these cursed places colder than the last?”

He muttered to himself, then picked a seat near the front, close to the door.

If anything happened later, it’d be easier to run from here. He wouldn’t even need the driver to open the door. He just had to twist open the hydraulic valve under it.

“Twenty minutes, huh?”

Thinking about the mission, Dr Chen looked around the bus as he sat down. The driver wore a gloomy face and said nothing. The few passengers were the same. Every one of them sat silently in their seats, like wooden carvings.

Most importantly, in the entire bus, only Dr Chen’s mouth was breathing out white mist.

Which meant he was the only one breathing.

If all he had to do was sit like this for twenty minutes, that wouldn’t be hard. The only problem was getting off later.

Once he settled in, he looked out the window. At some point, the bus had already entered a desolate road. Dense forest surrounded them on all sides. It had only been a few minutes. How had they already left the city?

The abnormal scene didn’t surprise Dr Chen too much. He just sat there quietly, and before long, twenty minutes passed.

“Really? Nothing happened at all? That’s way too weird.”

Puzzled, Dr Chen walked to the door. Only then did he notice that all six people on the bus were staring at him in a bizarre way. Their eyeballs tracked him as he moved.

The thought that those ghosts had been staring at his back for a full twenty minutes made his scalp go numb. He quickly bent down and twisted open the pressure valve on the bus door.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The driver, who had stayed silent the whole time, finally spoke. His neck turned stiffly toward Dr Chen, and his eyes bulged as he glared at him.

“I’m getting off.”

Dr Chen kept his head down and ignored the driver. He knew that even if he asked, the other party definitely wouldn’t stop.

And sure enough, he was right.

“Getting off? This bus only stops at the final station.”

The driver’s voice sounded strange, like he had a mouthful of water in his throat.

“Mind your own business!”

Once the valve was opened, the door lost pressure. With just a light push of his hand, it swung open. But at that moment, the driver slammed the gas pedal to the floor. The bus surged forward so violently that Dr Chen nearly lost his footing. He grabbed the handrail just in time to keep from falling.

At the speed from before, jumping out might’ve only left him with some scrapes. But now, that clearly wasn’t happening.

“Brother, this is for your own good. Don’t force me.”

Because those ghosts hadn’t shown any hostility earlier, the Malevolent Ghost big sister on him hadn’t made a move. But now, the moment they heard Dr Chen say he wanted to get off, all of them stood up and started walking toward him.

Their faces grew more and more twisted. The skin on their bodies began to rot little by little. For some reason, their clothes were soaked through, and a trail of water was left behind wherever they passed.

“You have to stay and keep us company.”

“Keep us company!”

“Keep us company!”

...

Repeating the same line over and over, they raised their pale ghostly hands and reached toward Dr Chen.