My House of Horrors

The thick layers of cloud filled up the sky. There was no light shining through. The darkness fell, and there were shadows flashing within the buildings by the road. Many vicious eyes were spying on the road in the dark. In the empty city, a man rode an e-bike to chase after the bus.

“You’ll need to stop at the next station, so why not stop now‽” Chen Ge hissed through gritted teeth. This was his first encounter with the hearse, and the enemy did something out of his expectations.

“Does the bus only allow entry to dead people and ban living people from entering? But that doesn’t seem right. How come no one stopped Huang Ling and Xiao Gu when they stepped onto the bus?”

The e-bike had limited fuel. At most, Chen Ge could chase for four stops before he needed to use human power to propel him forward. He was so caught up in the mission that he ignored the directions. All those precautions that he told himself to take were tossed to the wind as he chased after the bus like his life depended on it. “I’m going to need a reason when I catch up to you on why you refuse to let me on the bus!”

It was hard to use an e-bike to catch up to a bus. However, that was not impossible. Perhaps because the bus itself was too old, or maybe there was some other reason, but its speed was quite slow. Chen Ge chased after it relentlessly but could not close the gap between himself and the bus. He could only hope that the bus would stop at the next station.

The buildings on the side receded into the background. The rain soaked Chen Ge’s shirt. After a long time of chasing, he finally saw the next bus stop.

“Someone is waiting for the bus?” Chen Ge clearly saw that there was a middle-aged man standing at the next stop. He was wearing a winter coat, a scarf, a hat, and a mask to cover his entire face. The bus pulled up to the stop and started to decelerate. Before it parked fully, the door opened.

The driver seemed to wave at the man, telling him to get on the bus. The middle-aged man looked confused but got on the bus after hesitating for a moment. This little interaction enabled Chen Ge to drastically close the distance between himself and the bus.

“This is my chance! The purpose of this hearse seems to be to transport the special passengers waiting at the bus stops to a certain place, so if there’s ‘someone’ waiting at the platform, it will stop.” The middle-aged man was still confused after he got on the bus. The bus had continued moving toward the next stop.

The cold rain hit Chen Ge’s face. The buildings on the side turned unfamiliar and strange. The rain became heavier, but none of that was going to stop Chen Ge. Ever since obtaining the black phone, he had not failed a mission.

“If this was any other mission, I might have given up already, but this is related to the unlocking of the other missions in Eastern Jiujiang, so I have to succeed!” Chen Ge was placing his life on the line. Riding an e-bike to chase after a hearse at midnight, a normal person would never do something like that.

After crossing several junctions, Chen Ge saw the next stop. There was a strange figure standing there. His body movement was extremely uneven, giving off the feeling that he might topple over at any moment. The bus decelerated as it flew into the platform, and the doors opened.

The strange figure who was squatting on the ground noticed something and was hesitant. The atmosphere inside the bus was strange, so he did not hop on immediately. A passenger opened the bus window to wave at him, but the strange figure could not understand it. This short hesitation made Chen Ge’s day. He stepped on the pedal and rushed forward. After a short interaction, the strange man eventually got on the bus.

The driver seemed to have noticed the approaching Chen Ge. He skipped the broadcast inside the bus, closed the doors, and sped away.

“Soon! If there’s a passenger at the next stop, I should be able to catch up to it!”

Chen Ge pretended not to notice the fuel and gave it his all. Several minutes later, the third bus stop appeared in the distance.

A couple was standing at the platform, their bodies glued tightly together. The bus pulled up to the stop, and the doors opened. The driver shouted through the door. The man prepared to get on the bus, but the woman stopped him. She tried her best to make him stay and even started crying.

There was conflict between the two. Earlier, they had been sweet as honey, but in the blink of an eye, they started to argue. The man said something like, it was already the seventh day, so they had to leave. He gripped the handle on the door, but the woman refused to let him go and even started to bite the man.

“This is my chance!” Chen Ge saw this from afar and became excited. There was not much fuel in the e-bike. If he missed this chance, it would all be over. The couple was still arguing. The driver inside the bus felt like he was about to go insane. He glared at the couple and started to yell at them.

Seeing that Chen Ge was not far away, he decided not to wait anymore and directly closed the doors. However, this time, the man was determined to get on the bus, and he used his body to stop the door from closing. The woman yanked him out, but the man held onto the handle inside the door and refused to let go.

The driver grew agitated. He almost stood up to give the man a kick. The couple continued to tussle, the driver screamed, and the other passengers’ expressions all changed. They could feel something.

The man blocked the door, but the driver could not wait anymore. He started the engine, but at that moment, everyone inside the bus heard the sound of electric whirring. It did not come from inside the bus.

“Finally, I caught up to you!” A growl came from outside the bus. Chen Ge rode past the bus and parked the e-bike before the bus. His palms were wet with sweat. The fuel was running out, and he had almost failed the mission.

Standing by the door, Chen Ge did not waste his energy arguing with the driver. He reached into his bag to take out the hammer.

The arguing couple saw the scary weapon and immediately turned docile.

“Don’t worry, it’s because of two of you that I could catch the bus, so I will treat you well.” Chen Ge raised the hammer and looked at the driver, who was sweating. “Are you going to open the door on your own, or do you want me to open it for you?”

The driver’s Adam apple moved and unwillingly opened the bus’ front door.

“You’re driving a public bus, and everyone has the right to take public transport, so why are you discriminating against me?”

Under the watchful gazes of all the passengers, Chen Ge picked up the e-bike and told the man, “Brother, do you mind lending me a hand?”

The man was rather confused, but he still followed Chen Ge’s order and hauled the e-bike into the bus.

“You two, hop on as well.” Chen Ge told the couple.

The man wanted to reject, but Chen Ge grabbed his sleeve. “Don’t worry. With me here, the driver will not dare bully you.”