"Where are the ghosts? Hehe..." The driver surnamed Zhou let out a sinister chuckle. "I think they're right among those students."
"W-why do you say they're ghosts? What's the evidence?" Zhou Junzhu's heart was already in her throat, trembling with fear, almost wanting to bolt from the car. But the mission's rules were absolute—before completing it, any unauthorized violation might lead to something worse than death.
"Evidence? Of course there's evidence." The driver surnamed Zhou chuckled again, lowering his voice further. "Look at those students—they're clearly wearing raincoats, but why is water still dripping from inside?"
"So what?" Zhou Junzhu was baffled, but she casually glanced over and indeed saw small puddles forming at the students' feet, the water seeping out from under their raincoats.
Yet, after a moment's thought, she found it plausible. "Maybe they got soaked wading through water."
"Look closer, young lady," the driver said, his voice carrying a strange, hypnotic quality. "Even if they waded, it'd only wet their pants cuffs. Why are these students drenched all over, as if they'd been pulled from the water?"
His words made Zhou Junzhu's heart tighten. She realized he was right—the clothes under the raincoats were completely soaked, clinging to their bodies. Regardless of comfort, how could they get so wet while wearing raincoats? It was indeed odd.
Before she could figure it out, the driver pulled out his phone, fiddled with it, and held it in front of her.
On the screen was a news page. After reading just a few lines, Zhou Junzhu's face turned pale again.
The news reported that ten days ago, a group of students camping in Shiren Mountain had gone missing in a heavy rainstorm. Due to a flash flood, police suspected they'd been swept into caves or rivers, and they'd been missing for over ten days.
And the number of missing students? Exactly five!
"Could it be..."
Zhou Junzhu stepped back, covering her mouth. Could the five people on the bus be those students swept away by the flood ten days ago? Meaning they were already...
"W-what should we do?"
Though she was almost certain the five students were ghosts, Zhou Junzhu was at a loss in her panic.
"Don't panic, young lady." The driver waved his hand. "First, don't let those ghosts catch on. They haven't revealed themselves yet, which could mean two things. One: they don't know they're dead, so they're following residual memories. Two: they're not malicious ghosts, just wanting to fulfill a wish to go home."
"I think the first is more likely, so we can't alert them. We just need to get them off the bus."
"Okay..." Zhou Junzhu nodded, a thought striking her—this driver's suggestion aligned with their mission.
"But how do we get these five people... I mean, ghosts, off the bus?"
To her, that was the hardest part—not alarming the ghosts while making them leave.
"Simple." The driver smirked dismissively. "Just stop somewhere, say the bus is broken, and tell them to get off!"
"Well..."
Zhou Junzhu paused. It wasn't a nice trick, but it was a decent one. She'd often seen buses break down and passengers get off for transfers. But this was the last bus, and leaving people in the wilderness—would they agree? Plus, there were two other passengers besides the five students. What about them?
"Easy. I'll talk to that young man. Once the ghosts are far off, you restart the bus and take us to the terminal."
Zhou Junzhu thought it over and found it feasible, but she needed to discuss it with Zhang Yaqi.
Feigning nonchalance, she walked to the driver's seat and quietly relayed the driver's account and her observations.
"Can you be sure... those five students... are really ghosts?"
"Forget it, better safe than sorry. Let's get them off first."
Zhang Yaqi made a quick decision. The driver's plan seemed workable. After a silent agreement, they drove a bit further before the bus jolted to a stop on the mountain road.
Zhang Yaqi pretended to restart the engine a few times, deliberately stalling it. After some fuss, he stood up with a dejected look under everyone's concerned gaze.
"Driver, what's wrong?" The driver surnamed Zhou immediately played along, raising his voice theatrically.
"Damn it, broken again! Those repair guys are useless!"
Zhang Yaqi mustered some anger and shouted in frustration.
"What? The bus is broken?"
"What do we do now?"
"This is the last bus!"
"Driver, can you fix it?"
"Yeah, or what are we supposed to do?"
The bus erupted in chatter, all passengers looking uneasy.
"Sorry, there's no way. The bus is done for." Zhang Yaqi shook his head. "I'll have to ask everyone to get off..."
"Driver, how can you do this!"
Just then, one of the five students stood up, furious. "You're doing this on purpose! I heard what you were discussing. Driver, you don't really think we're ghosts, do you?"
Zhang Yaqi and Zhou Junzhu were stunned. They'd kept their voices low—how had this student overheard them?!
Being caught calling them ghosts made their faces turn deathly pale again.
"What?"
"Someone thinks we're ghosts?"
"That's ridiculous!"
"Do we look like ghosts?"
The other students also stood up, arguing indignantly. Now even Zhang Yaqi and Zhou Junzhu were confused—were these five students really not ghosts?
If they weren't ghosts, then where were the ghosts?
But Zhou Junzhu remembered the driver's warning: "If you say you're not ghosts, then explain your clothes. Why are you soaked through under your raincoats?"