In Virtual Reality 2 ☆ The Eternal Bus (2/4)

The man stood on the road in a daze, and then his expression changed to one of surprise.

 

He had actually gotten off the bus!

 

Behind the man, the bus quickly closed its rear door and slowly drove away.

 

***

 

Inside the swaying bus, Wang Zhou Zhou was somewhat impressed.

 

Although the approach was rough, the other man got off the bus safely.

 

He hesitated a little to repeat what the man had done.
The two girls sitting in front of him to his right had their hands clasped and looked like they wanted to try it too.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou made up his mind and then whispered to the pink hoodie beside him, “Excuse me, move over; I've to get off.”

 

“The bus hasn't arrived yet.” The hoodie didn't even look up.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou: “…

 

Of course, he knew it hadn't arrived! But it was still Riverside Station that he'd arrive at.
What if he could never pass the Riverside Station!

 

He gritted his teeth and planned to squeeze through.

 

At this time, the bus stopped again.

 

“— Riverside Station is here! Passengers disembarking, please bring all your belongings and disembark through the back door.”

 

Wang Zhou Zhou paused for a moment.
With a twinkle in his eye, he said tentatively to the hoodie, “Now that we're at the station, can I get off?”

 

The hoodie finally looked up at him.
How did he look? Wang Zhou Zhou lacked the energy to describe and could only recall those ink-tainted eyes.
The hoodie said nothing and just stared at him.
The inhuman eyes made Wang Zhou Zhou's body feel like it had fallen into an ice cellar.

 

By the time he regained his senses, he had fallen helplessly back into his seat.

The rear door of the bus was also closed again.

 

The pink hoodie put their phone away, brushed their hair out of their eyes, and then looked ahead in silence.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou stayed quiet for a long time, not daring to look at them again, but he followed their gaze.
He wasn't sure when an old woman got on the bus.

 

She was hunched over, her blue floral dress covering most of her skin.
Only a pair of dry and blackened hands were exposed.
The old woman stood next to the two girls and stared at them with cloudy yellow eyeballs.
There were vacant seats behind the girls, but she decided to take their places.
The two girls tugged at each other's sleeves, slightly frightened.

 

“Courtesy toward the elderly is a virtue, oh little sisters.”

 

Suddenly, the pink hoodie chanted and smiled as they waved at the two girls, “Come, come, sit over here.
Give up your seat for the old lady.”

 

Their voice woke the two girls like a dream, and they hurriedly squeezed sideways past the old lady.
The old woman slowly sat down in the girls' previous seats.
One of the girls even heard the sound of her bones rubbing together.
She swallowed the scream in her throat and shivered as the other girl pulled her away.

 

“Sit here.” The hoodie, who spoke out to save the day, patted the plastic seat behind them and said meaningfully, “There is no telling what accidents might happen while the bus is moving.”

 

Wang Zhou Zhou sat on the side and trembled.

 

The girls gave them a look.

 

There was no guarantee that the people on this bus were alive except for the three of them.
Even this friendly-looking hoodie.

 

But choosing the best of the worst, the girls decided to sit in the chair behind Wang Zhou Zhou.

 

The bus moved smoothly, and, not surprisingly, the next stop was still Riverside Station.

 

Having just been looked at by the hoodie, Wang Zhou Zhou's legs were still weak, and he turned his head sideways unnaturally, intending not to look at the hoodie.

 

As for getting off?

 

If this pal didn't get off first, how could he cross the hoodie and get off?

 

This is not a joke!

Wang Zhou Zhou's gaze moved to the window.

 

“!”

 

What was that…?

 

Like a gelatinous poster, a human face was clinging to the bus window.

 

The vehicle was moving at high speed, but the human face stuck tightly to the window without falling off.

 

It was only ten centimetres away from Wang Zhou Zhou's own face.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou: “Ah-woo!”

 

The person in the pink hoodie sitting next to him stretched out their right hand and covered his mouth, making him swallow back the scream that filled his throat.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou's eyes rolled up in disbelief.

 

The hoodie looked at their phone, almost sinking their nails into Wang Zhou Zhou's face as if nothing had happened.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou was stopped, but the hoodie forgot about the girls behind them.

 

The girls, attracted by their movements, caught a glimpse of the human face pressed against the window glass, and a high-decibel duet struck Wang Zhou Zhou.

 

In a daze, he heard the hoodie sigh softly.

 

However, the hoodie's next manoeuvre left Wang Zhou Zhou dumbfounded.

 

He saw the hoodie let go of him, then got up, leaned over Wang Zhou Zhou, who was sitting frozen, pulled open the window, reached out, tore off the human face stuck to the car window and let it go.

 

A series of movements were carried out fluidly.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou: “???

 

The girls' duet also came to an abrupt end.

 

After finishing this fluid action, the hoodie closed the bus window, clapped his hands and sat down.

 

“…”

 

Wang Zhou Zhou felt more and more like they weren't human.

 

What normal humans could tear a person's face off with their bare hands!

 

But speaking of it, that face was very familiar.
As if he had seen it somewhere before.

 

“…”

 

It was the man who got out of the bus.

 

It was his face!

 

That human face just now looked very soft and flexible, as if it had only melted away the inside of the person, leaving only a little fat to hold the human skin together.
The skin was still somewhat thick, and the open mouth was opening and closing on the glass window as if to say…

 

【Get out of the bus.】

【Why don't you get out of the bus?】

【Get out of the bus.】

【I'll wait for you on the side.】

 

Wang Zhou Zhou's hair stood on end, and goosbumps sprang up.

 

From the back seat came the small sobs of two girls.

 

It didn't look like it was safe for them to get out of the bus; rather, they would look like that man once they got out.

 

At the recollection of the textured human face, Wang Zhou Zhou turned pale almost to the point of gagging.

 

“Keep it clean on the bus.” The hoodie spoke softly.
“Whatever you vomit, you lick it back up.”

 

Wang Zhou Zhou: “…

 

He let out a dry heave, barely stopping his overly rich imagination.

 

But in this way, Wang Zhou Zhou probably got something clear.

 

According to the reasoning in the short video owned by Old Li, someone must have tried to get off the bus in the original [seven-person bus] incident.

 

Maybe the difference was that someone got off at the station, and someone got off halfway.

 

If those that got off midway turned into human skin husks, then those who got off at the station…

 

Wang Zhou turned his head to look at the hoodie next to him.

 

This guy was still calm as if there had been no episode of them tearing off that human skin face by hand.

 

But apart from the three of the people in this car, this hoodie was the only one with whom they could strike up a conversation.
And looking at the other person's calmness, they must know something.

 

“Brother,” after thinking for a long time, Wang Zhou Zhou finally gritted his teeth and asked in a low, tentative voice, “Do you know what will happen when you get off at the station?”

 

“If you get off at the station, you get off at the station.”

 

Wang Zhou Zhou: “…”

 

He held his breath and changed his words.
“Just, what happens if I get on at Riverside Station and get off at Riverside Station, ah?” As he said this, Wang Zhou Zhou inexplicably felt a cold wind blowing around him.

 

The hoodie glanced at him, and Wang Zhou Zhou then realized that their eyes no longer looked filled with ink and appeared more normal.
The other person held out their index finger and tapped it on their lips.

 

But they didn't say anything back.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou failed to understand what they meant and wanted to say something else, but a pair of hands reached out from the back seat and covered his mouth with quick precision.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou: “!”

 

'Again?'

 

The girl behind him turned pale but continued covering Wang Zhou Zhou's mouth, not letting him voice his question.

 

She covered it tightly for a few minutes, and finally –

 

“— Riverside Station is here; please bring all your belongings and get off through the back door.”

 

The rear door was opened with a bang.

 

The hoodie turned his head sideways and answered at a normal volume, “If you get off early, you'll have to wait for another bus.
After all, you must get to the stop you're getting off at.”

 

The girl let go of Wang Zhou Zhou's mouth.
But he stared blankly at the hoodie and didn't speak.

 

He was thinking.

 

'You can't get off midway; you can't get off early at the station.'

 

The girls looked out the window.
This time there were no human faces.
But outside the window, apart from the bus stop marked [Riverside Station], the view outside the station was shrouded in a thick fog.

 

There was no telling what was inside the fog.

 

If he got off the bus at the station early, he had nowhere to go and would have to wait for the next eternal bus.

 

He might be stuck here forever.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou slumped into his seat in dismay.

 

The bus came up with three or five more people at this time, and no one got off, causing the empty seats on the bus to be quickly occupied.

 

If there had been a few more trips, the bus seats would have been filled.

 

Those few people, like the passengers on the bus, had hollow faces and moved mechanically back and forth.

 

“Driver!”

 

The hoodie suddenly said loudly, “How many more stops are there to Rising Signs (志兴Zhi Xing) Mansion Station?”

 

The ghost passengers all moved with a start.

 

After a few seconds, Wang Zhou Zhou heard the driver's low voice: “There are seven more stops.”

 

“Okay, thank you, driver!”

 

The rear door was closed, and the bus continued on its way.

 

Rising Signs Mansion was a Wang Zhou Zhou stop.

 

Was it a coincidence? His heart started to beat extremely fast.

 

But there were still seven stops to…

 

The hoodie was still looking at their phone, and after asking that question, they never opened their mouth again.

 

Wang Zhou Zhou decided to trust them.

 

….
He wanted to go home.

 

——— Translators Notes ———

 

Rising Signs Mansion

志兴: Zhi-Xing: Zhi = aspiration / ambition / the will/ sign / mark / to record / to write a footnote; Xing = to rise / to flourish / to become popular / to start / to encourage / to get up