"What do we do? What do we do?" The people on the bus were like ants on a hot pan, spinning in place in full-blown panic, completely out of ideas.
"Is this… a ghost loop?" Jianye, who had just lost his brother, slumped against the window. The pregnant woman's corpse was still there—but his brother had vanished completely, as if he'd evaporated, not even a trace left behind.
Yuan Feng's face turned dark. He suddenly pulled out a switchblade and pressed it to the driver's neck. "I don't buy this ghost crap. Tell me the truth! Are you screwing with us?"
"Bro, what's this got to do with me? This is my first time driving Route 14…" The driver didn't dare move, sweat dripping from his face nonstop. "You drive other buses, it's just over three thousand a month. But Route 14's last run? Only four shifts per month, and you get a four-thousand bonus."
"I needed cash fast to get married, that's the only reason I took over for my master. If I'd known this was gonna happen, you couldn't have paid me enough to come tonight!"
His voice cracked with fear—he really didn't sound like he was lying.
"If you try anything shady, don't blame me when this knife goes in clean and comes out bloody!" Yuan Feng snarled, then tucked the blade away and turned to me. "You got a plan? You look calm—don't tell me you know something?"
"What could I know? I'm not a damn immortal," I said, gripping Yiyi's hand. "We can't just sit here forever. Tell the driver to keep driving. Go around the pregnant woman's body. Maybe if we complete another loop, we'll break free."
It was all we could do now—try. But after another half hour, the despair was written all over everyone's faces.
"We're back again?!"
Outside the window, the massive billboard stood silently by the road. The desolate rose field looked like a dug-up grave, waiting to bury Bus 14.
"What do we do now?"
"All you people do is ask that! Can't any of you think for yourselves? I'm not the only one on this damn bus!" I barked. We were nearly at the final stop, and yet trapped in a ghost loop—I had my own anger to swallow.
Jianye sat silently, still mourning his brother. Wang Chunfu clutched the jade Guanyin pendant around his neck and muttered scripture no one understood. Only Yuan Feng stood at the front, expression shifting by the second.
"There's more than one person on this bus, yeah. But let's be honest—you're the one acting the most suspicious." Yuan Feng slipped his hand into his left pocket. I remembered clearly—that's where he kept his switchblade.
"I'm the one acting strange?" I almost laughed. Yuan Feng was actually starting to suspect me?
"That's right. Ever since you got on, you've been calm. Every move you made had a purpose. Don't think I'm accusing you without reason."
He kept at least two meters of distance between us. That he'd evaded capture so long despite being wanted showed how cautious he really was.
As he spoke, the others started looking at me strangely—except Yiyi, who stayed loyally by my side.
"Have I done anything to hurt any of you?" I looked around at these people whose worst traits were bubbling to the surface. "You've all chosen your own path to death."
"Maybe you haven't hurt them," Yuan Feng said coldly, "but I think you are a threat to me." He leaned against the front door. "You're a cop. Back when we fought, you held back—but your movements, your holds, they were textbook. That's criminal police training."
I didn't expect him to be that sharp. "So what if I am? What does that have to do with you? I'm just helping a friend bring her daughter back to her mother—that's my only job tonight."
At this point, I had no choice but to play dumb. As long as Yuan Feng wanted to survive, he wouldn't risk a full-blown confrontation.
"Uncle, you're a cop?" Yiyi's eyes sparkled with excitement. In her heart, the police were heroes.
"Officer, in that case—what do you think we should do?" Sure enough, my identity shifted the mood. Even Wang Chunfu's attitude softened.
I touched the talisman tucked inside my shirt. There was a way—but not unless things got truly desperate.
"Let's go around one more time. Everyone stay sharp. We might discover something."
"Loop ten more times, it'll be the same," Yuan Feng muttered. Then he walked to the back of the bus and grabbed Zhang Rong, who was still sitting on the floor.
"I have a way to get us all out of here."
"What way?" Even I was curious.
Yuan Feng smiled cruelly. "Simple. That pregnant woman died because of her. If we stop next to the corpse and toss this bitch off, we might break the loop."
"No! Please don't throw me out!" Zhang Rong clung to his leg, screaming in pain as her hair was yanked. "There's a ghost outside—a woman in red—she's been out there this whole time! If I go out there, I'll die!"
"You deserved to die a long time ago, you poisonous woman." Yuan Feng kicked her aside. "Isn't karma a Buddhist thing? I say if Zhang Rong dies, the rest of us live."
To someone like him, life meant nothing—except his own. Everyone else could burn if it meant he survived.
"All in favor, raise your hand. Minority yields to majority."
Including the driver and the weird little girl in the back who hadn't spoken a word, there were nine people left on the bus.
"Let's vote now," Yuan Feng said, raising his hand first. Then Wang Chunfu and Jianye followed.
"Think it through. This vote decides whether we live or die. No room for sympathy here."
Hearing that, even the driver raised his hand. "I'm sorry. My fiancée's waiting at home. I'm the breadwinner—I can't die here."
That made it four to five. Yuan Feng looked at me. "So, you're gonna sacrifice us all just to save her?"
I furrowed my brow, just about to speak—when the little girl at the back raised her hand.
"Five to four. You two, come help. When I give the signal, open the door and we throw her out!"
Zhang Rong thrashed wildly, but the three men were merciless. They pinned her arms and carried her horizontally like luggage.
"Open the door on my count. One… two…"
They were already beyond reason. To save themselves, they were really going to murder her.
"Stop!" I shouted. Even if my heart were made of iron, I couldn't watch them kill someone like this. "What you're doing is murder. Even if you survive the night, you'll all be criminals!"
"Spare us the lectures. If we don't kill her, we all die!"
The bus was arriving at a stop. The driver reached for the rear door.
I knew I couldn't wait any longer.
"Let her go—I have a way to save us!"
I strode to the front of the bus, phone in hand, and pulled a talisman from my inner pocket: a Maoshan Guide Talisman.
"Half-Immortal, are you there?" I called out into the livestream. "I think we're trapped in a ghost loop. Can the Maoshan Guide Talisman break through this illusion?"
Sure enough, Liu Banxian from Qingcheng Mountain didn't let me down.
"You always seem to have some strange talismans on you, little friend. Fortune favors the prepared. That talisman, drawn by a Maoshan Celestial Master, is more than enough to break a ghost loop."
"Thank you, Banxian. But what's the incantation and hand seal I need?"
"Now that's tricky. Qingcheng and Maoshan are a thousand miles apart—I can only share Qingcheng's guidance incantation. Try it. After all, the Great Dao leads to the same truth."
"I'm in your debt, Banxian." I bowed toward the stream. Without him, we'd have been doomed.
"Listen carefully—I'll only say this once: 'By the decree of Clear Heart, a path shall be carved. Guide us forth, Talisman of the Way. As urgent as law demands!'"
"That's it? The Heaven Thunder Talisman's chant was way longer."
"There are Lesser, Common, Greater, and Supreme tiers of talismans. The Guide Talisman is just a Common one—naturally, its chant is simpler."
I thanked him again, then pressed the talisman between two fingers and stood at the front.
"Who's he talking to?"
"Why is the cop suddenly acting like a Daoist? Is that… a talisman?"
The three men paused. Freed, Zhang Rong scrambled to the back, hiding under a seat.
Yuan Feng approached me. "What are you pulling now?"
"Step aside and watch." I snapped, shutting everything else out. Like when studying the Eye of Heaven Compendium, I cleared my mind and focused between my brows.
"By the decree of Clear Heart, a path shall be carved. Guide us forth, Talisman of the Way. As urgent as law demands!"
The talisman burst into flame between my fingers—and the night outside shattered, falling away like broken glass.
"It worked!"