The matter had already been dropped, but now she brought it up again. A shadow of gloom immediately flickered across Aunt Zhang's face, and faintly, a wisp of black energy could even be seen rising—clearly, this was a ghost.
This Qu Jiaojiao was daring to take such a risk, directly probing a ghost for information!
But Chen Mo also understood that these old ghost ladies gathered together, chattering away—if there wasn't something fishy going on, he wouldn't believe it even if you killed him. Qu Jiaojiao's risk was obviously an attempt to fish for information from these ghosts' gossip.
This woman was definitely a veteran!
Although Aunt Zhang's face was clouded with gloom, the other two old ladies were brimming with interest. After all, they were naturally drawn to such gossip, only held back by their "plastic sisterhood" friendship from digging too deep. Now that someone else had brought it up, it perfectly satisfied their curiosity, and the two immediately chimed in.
"Since it's just a rumor, let's treat it like a story. Just listen—it won't cost you a piece of meat."
"Exactly, we've got nothing else to do anyway. Why not tell us?"
The two played off each other, and Aunt Zhang couldn't vent her anger. She sulked in silence, her face dark. The other passengers on the bus, though minding their own business, seemed drawn in by the old ladies' chatter, their gazes casually flicking over.
As for the old lady who had been deliberately holding back, she could barely contain herself. Now that she had successfully whetted everyone's appetite, she cleared her throat twice and immediately launched into her tale.
"What I'm about to tell you today is a secret from when Longjing Bay was being built—a strange affair."
On the late-night bus, with her eerie tone, she managed to spook the other two old ladies, fear showing on their faces, though their curiosity only grew stronger. Only Aunt Zhang snorted angrily from the side: "If you ask me, it's all lies!"
"Whether it's lies or not, let us hear it first."
"Exactly, exactly."
Unable to sway her two plastic sisters, Aunt Zhang finally fell silent, turning her face away and sulking.
"Hurry up and tell us—what's this strange affair?"
"Well, the strange thing is, just as the bridge was about to be finished, eight workers went missing."
Hearing this, Qu Jiaojiao's pupils contracted. She looked up at the rearview mirror, her gaze meeting Chen Mo's.
"Workers missing? Eight whole people? How is that possible? Wouldn't that cause a huge incident?"
"That's why it's called strange," the storytelling old lady said, casting a slightly disdainful glance at the other two. "Let me finish. Why do I say they went missing? Because the families of these eight workers suddenly couldn't reach their loved ones and came to find out what happened. But the contractor in charge insisted the eight had quit and gone home, even producing evidence of their wages being settled, proving they'd taken the money and left the site."
"These workers were all laborers from impoverished mountain areas. They'd earned a hefty sum, so logically they should have gone straight home. But after that, these eight vanished into thin air—no trace of them! Tell me, isn't that strange?"
At this point, the old lady suddenly gave a mysterious smile. "And that's not all. There's something even stranger..."
As she said this, nearly everyone on the bus pricked up their ears.
"The even stranger part is that one worker's family member, as they were leaving, inexplicably turned back for a look. That glance was no small thing—they spotted their brother standing high up on the unfinished bridge, his face pale and ghastly, utterly bloodless!"
"Ah!"
"That's not... that's not the..."
The two old ladies beside her seemed frightened, their faces turning pale.
"After seeing this, the family rushed toward him. But when they got to the bridge, there was no one there!"
"Though they didn't find anyone, those family members insisted they couldn't have been mistaken. If there was no one on the bridge, then what did they see?"
"Sister Li, your story is a bit scary."
"From what you're saying, this Longjing Bay Bridge really is a bit eerie."
The storytelling old lady, whom the others called Sister Li, revealed a somewhat odd smile. "That's how the rumor of the Longjing Bay Bridge construction site being haunted spread. Some say those eight workers didn't go home—maybe they had money and couldn't resist temptation, running off to live it up elsewhere. Others say the site never had those eight workers at all, and the families made up an excuse to extort money from the site. Although management strictly forbade discussing it, it's said that people still occasionally see those workers' figures on the bridge!"
"Actually, there's another theory about these eight: that they never left and died in an accident on the site. Think about it—so many dead at once. What if the families kicked up a fuss? The construction company would be in deep trouble, and with the bridge nearly complete, such an incident would be very unlucky. So they put their heads together and came up with a way to cover it up: sealing the eight workers' bodies into the bridge with cement overnight!"
"Of course, no wall is airtight. The higher-ups in charge of the bridge's construction all knew, but for the sake of their own achievements and to avoid bad luck, they helped cover it up. It's just a pity for those eight workers—alive, no one saw them; dead, no one found their bodies. They couldn't even return to their hometowns in spirit."
After saying this, the old lady sighed and wiped her eyes, as if genuinely saddened.
"Sister Li, don't be upset. These are just rumors."
"Exactly, didn't Aunt Zhang just say they're rumors spread by people with ulterior motives?"
Wiping her eyes, which had no tears, "Sister Li" looked up. "It's not just that I feel sorry for them. Think about it—if those eight workers really died in a foreign land and were buried in the bridge, how much resentment would they have! And since people have seen them standing on the bridge, I think that's their ghosts appearing. These ghosts died unwillingly, and such ghosts will cause trouble!"
"Gasp, Sister Li, what are you saying!"
"Don't talk about causing trouble—you can't just say things like that!"
The gossiping old ladies chattered on, but Qu Jiaojiao's expression had changed repeatedly. She silently stared at the bus route map posted by the door.
Starting from the main bus terminal, ending at the oil refinery, the 404 bus route's second-to-last stop was clearly marked as Longjing Bay.
That meant this 404 bus, before reaching its final stop, would inevitably pass that haunted bridge!
This Longjing Bay Bridge, those eight workers buried in the bridge structure... it wasn't just idle chatter from a few old ladies. It was a sign that something terrifying would happen when the bus crossed the bridge!
Just then, in the darkness ahead, a massive shape appeared again. That ghostly 404 bus roared toward them for the third time!
-- PS: New month, asking everyone for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets. A new writer with a new book—please support me, I'm counting on you all~!
Thanks to classmate Orange Cat for the ten-thousand reward, thanks to classmate yiayiaer for the ten-thousand reward, thanks to Dongling Zui, Wang Xiu, and fellow readers for the rewards. Truly grateful. I don't have any special talents, so I'll just do a split for you all~