Chapter 53: No Retreat, No Surrender

Time ticked away second by second. This wasn't the moment for hesitation. After a brief pause, I spoke decisively:

"All the men here, let's get off the bus together and move the corpse."

"Move the body?" Everyone gasped audibly.

"What the hell! Are you crazy?" Wang Chunfu was the first to shout. "If you want to go, go ahead. I'm not going to touch anything that brings bad luck!"

"Yeah, just run over it," Yuan Feng suggested coldly, with zero compassion. "She's dead already."

I turned my gaze toward the driver. "What do you think?"

"I… I can't leave my seat. The boss said if the driver steps away, the bus will move on its own." His face alternated between pale and green, and it was impossible to tell if he was lying or just terrified.

Checking my phone, I saw only fifty seconds left. "No choice. Open the door. I'll go move the body. If you don't want to die, come help me!"

Reluctantly, the driver opened the rear door. "The rear door only—rules are rules."

I pocketed my phone and motioned to the others, but the only one to follow me was Yiyi. She dropped her backpack on the seat and ran over.

"What are you doing? Get back to your seat!" I scolded loudly. Getting off the bus was dangerous, and moving a corpse even more so, as it invited the wrath of vengeful spirits.

"Let me help you. You can't move it alone."

As the seconds ticked down, I sighed, glancing at everyone else still on the bus. "Fine, but be quick!"

Yiyi and I climbed out the rear door. A chilling cold enveloped us, the presence of a ghost unmistakable.

We acted as quickly as we could, each grabbing one of the pregnant woman's legs. "Pull!"

Normally, moving a body shouldn't be too hard—I'd even carried Guo Junjie on my back while sprinting a hundred meters back at Xinhu High School.

But this pregnant woman's corpse felt as if it were filled with lead. Even with Yiyi and me pulling with all our might, we barely moved her a few centimeters.

"Why is she so heavy?"

"Hurry up!" The people on the bus shouted anxiously. "We're running out of time!"

Yiyi and I were sweating from the effort, yet the corpse seemed to grow heavier with each passing second. My hands felt almost paralyzed.

"Damn it! Just drive over her!" Yuan Feng pressed his face against the windshield, while the driver's foot hovered nervously over the accelerator, his eyes fixed on the countdown clock.

"Someone get down here and help! It's getting heavier!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, veins bulging from the strain. "Help us!"

"I didn't kill her! I didn't kill her! It wasn't me!"

To my surprise, the one who finally stepped forward wasn't one of the men but the patient in the hospital gown. Muttering his mantra, he hugged the corpse by the waist. With all three of us pulling together, we finally managed to drag it.

"Almost there!" The moment we moved the corpse a few meters, it suddenly felt lighter, as if whatever was inside it had left.

"It's done! Get back on the bus!" Grabbing Yiyi's hand, I bolted toward the vehicle. But the driver had only opened the rear door, forcing us to run around the bus to get on.

"I didn't kill her! I didn't kill her!" Behind me, the patient in the hospital gown knelt before the corpse, bowing his head repeatedly.

"Damn it!" I pushed Yiyi onto the bus and rushed back to pull him up, even as the vehicle roared to life. There were only seconds left on the clock.

"Go! Start driving!" Yuan Feng slapped the driver's shoulder, urging him forward.

The curly-haired woman at the back of the bus suddenly screamed, pointing out the window. "She's coming! She's trying to get on the bus! Drive! Now!"

"Wait, not everyone's on yet!"

"No time! Drive!"

Panic-stricken, the curly-haired woman lunged for the driver's wheel.

"Are you trying to kill us all?" Yuan Feng blocked her, but Zhang Rong, driven mad by fear, clawed at him wildly, leaving bloody scratches across his face.

"Damn it! Everyone's crazy!" Yuan Feng shoved her aside. Jianbang caught Zhang Rong in his arms, helping her into a seat near the rear door. "Calm down. Don't worry, we've got your back."

The bus sped up, and I managed to drag the hospital-gown man back inside. Crisis seemingly averted.

"Close the door! Go!" I pushed the man into a seat and collapsed, panting heavily.

As the bus picked up speed, the rear door remained ajar. "Driver, close the door!"

"I did! I already closed it!"

"What?!" I pulled out my phone and pointed its camera at the door. In the screen's center was a blood-soaked woman in a red dress, clinging to the frame. She couldn't enter, but her long, blood-matted hair writhed like water snakes, slithering into the bus.

"Watch out!" My warning came too late. The filthy hair ensnared both Zhang Rong and Jianbang, silently dragging them toward the open door.

"Careful!" I rushed to grab them, but Zhang Rong—heartlessly—stomped on Jianbang's foot with her high heel, then shoved him out of the bus.

With a loud thud, the door finally closed, but Jianbang was gone, swallowed by the night.

The events unfolded in the blink of an eye. It wasn't until then that the others at the front realized someone had fallen off the bus.

"Jianbang!"

"My brother!"

Wang Chunfu and Jianye stared out into the darkness, where Jianbang had vanished.

"Stop the bus! I need to go find my brother!"

"We can't stop before the next station—that's the rule…"

Jianye grabbed the driver by the collar, his eyes bloodshot. "I said, stop the damn bus!"

"Calm down." Yuan Feng stepped in. "The dead can't come back to life. Getting off now will just cost you yours."

"You bastard! What were you even doing earlier?" Wang Chunfu seized Zhang Rong by her hair, slapping her hard. "We saved your life, and you repay us by killing Jianbang? I'll throw you off this bus to join him!"

"Don't! Please, no!" Zhang Rong's screams echoed through the bus, piercing and shrill.

Most of us, myself included, stayed silent. The ugliest sides of human nature were on full display.

"Stop it!" The one to intervene was the youngest among us. Yiyi clung to Wang Chunfu's arm. "You can't do this!"

"Get lost, kid! I don't need a brat telling me what to do!" He flung her aside, but she stubbornly crawled back, hugging his arm tightly.

"Everyone, stop!" I stepped forward, separating them.

"Now's not the time to fight. Fate brought us together on this bus. Let's make it through this night."

"Fate? With you? Screw that!" Wang Chunfu growled, restrained only by my larger stature. "If we'd just driven over the body, none of this would've happened!"

I smirked coldly but held my tongue. There's no reasoning with rabid dogs.

I led Yiyi back to our seats, patting her head gently. "Stay put. Leave the rest to me."

At the back, Zhang Rong lay sobbing on the floor, bleeding from her arms.

Yiyi glanced at her, sympathy flickering in her eyes. "She's hurt…"

"Compared to what she's done, a little blood means nothing," I said, forcing a calm smile. "Stay quiet. We're almost at the final stop."

The dim, oppressive silence of the bus returned. I lowered my head, waiting for the next announcement.

"This night… feels endless."

Half an hour later, the bus screeched to a sudden halt.

"What's going on? We're not at a station yet!" Yuan Feng rushed to the front, only to find the driver trembling, pointing out the window.

"What is it?" I turned to look. In a barren rose field, a massive billboard advertising development loomed at the roadside.

"Uncle," Yiyi's voice quivered. "Haven't we seen this place before?"

I squeezed her hand tightly and nodded, my throat dry. "We're back… at the Garden Complex."

Far ahead, the corpse lay sprawled across the road, its wide-open eyes filled with unrelenting fury.