Horror revival: I Own a Ghost Bus

As expected, the blond youth's reckless actions triggered another anomaly—the bus stopped once again, and the interior was plunged into darkness.

This time, Jiang Yan felt a deep, creeping fear as he sat in the pitch black. This darkness felt different from before.

Although the blond youth had caused this stop, the darkness still posed a random threat to everyone. Jiang Yan knew he wasn't safe.

Unlike the previous darkness, this one was filled with a bone-chilling cold, as if the air itself had frozen into icy torrents, sending shivers through everyone. It felt like being locked in a freezer overnight, the kind of cold that seeped into your bones and made life feel unbearable.

"How long is this darkness going to last?"

Jiang Yan was reaching his limit, his soul feeling like it was being pierced by shards of ice. His consciousness began to blur.

Would he die if he lost consciousness here?

A sense of dread crept over him—could he be the target this time?

Just then, the bus engine sputtered back to life, and the oppressive cold faded.

The dim, yellowish lights flickered back on, and the engine's hum filled the bus as it started moving once more.

It was over… for now.

Jiang Yan exhaled in relief. For a moment, he'd thought he was done for, and though he'd survived this round, he knew his luck might not hold next time.

But just as he was calming down, a sharp scream sounded beside him.

It was Zhang Tiantian. Although she'd been sleeping earlier, the freezing cold had roused her, and upon waking, she'd seen the bloodied, mutilated bodies of the passengers across the aisle.

Hearing her scream, the tour group members slowly turned, their empty, blood-streaked eyes fixing on her.

Seeing their gaze, Zhang Tiantian grew even more terrified, about to scream again, but Jiang Yan quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Stay quiet. Don't draw their attention," he whispered, pressing her gently back into her seat.

Tears streamed down Zhang Tiantian's face as she looked up at him, nodding rapidly like a frightened chick.

Once he was sure she had calmed down, Jiang Yan removed his hand and glanced around the bus.

A quick look confirmed the result of this round—this time, the blond youth had been the victim.

But his death was peculiar; his entire body was gone, leaving only a bloodied, severed head resting eerily on the seat.

Beneath his disheveled hair, his eyes were locked in a grim, rage-filled stare. Clearly, he had died with anger and regret.

Jiang Yan wasn't surprised the blond youth was the one who perished, given that he'd caused the bus to stop.

With the blond youth's death, Jiang Yan deduced another rule of the bus.

Interfering with the driver's actions would cause the bus to stop, triggering an even darker and more dangerous event, with harsher consequences for those caught in it.

Now only one woman from the streaming team remained.

She was the team's makeup artist. With the blond youth gone, she'd lost the last person she could rely on. She looked around, panic-stricken, her despair mounting as she realized she was the last survivor of her group.

Her next thought terrified her—she would be the next to die.

Unable to hold back any longer, she stumbled out of her seat and threw herself at the man in the black hat, clutching his leg desperately.

"Please, save me! I'll give you anything you want!"

She had overheard the conversation between Jiang Yan and the black-hatted man, and she believed he must have a way to avoid death.

After all, each time someone had died, it was one of her companions. Meanwhile, the black-hatted man, Jiang Yan, and Zhang Tiantian were all unharmed. This only deepened her belief that he knew how to survive.

The man in the black hat looked down at her, his voice cold. "Save you? What could you possibly give me?"

"I have money! Lots of it!" She hurriedly unlocked her phone, showing him her bank balance—millions in her account. "Take it all, it's yours!"

The man sneered. To him, money meant nothing in the face of life and death.

Seeing his disinterest, she grew desperate. After a brief hesitation, she tore open her blouse, exposing her pale, full chest. "If you save me, I'll be yours. I'll do anything you want!"

The man smirked, unimpressed. At the edge of death, such desires were meaningless.

Realizing she had nothing else to offer, she broke down completely, her voice growing hysterical. "Please, I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

Her screams soon attracted the attention of the tour group passengers.

The man in the black hat frowned, speaking quietly. "Sit next to me."

Hearing this, the woman's face lit up with hope. She scrambled to the seat beside him, grateful for the reprieve.

The man sighed, knowing full well he couldn't actually save her. He'd only told her to sit down to keep her from panicking and causing more trouble, like the blond youth had.

Jiang Yan glanced back at them, unsurprised by the man's response. If he were in the black-hatted man's position, he wouldn't want to take on a burden either.

Then he turned to Zhang Tiantian beside him, feeling conflicted.

She clung to his arm, her delicate body trembling uncontrollably. She looked up at him, her voice quivering. "Jiang Yan, we're… we're not going to die here, are we?"

If anyone else had asked, he would've given them the harsh truth without hesitation. But Zhang Tiantian was his girlfriend; he couldn't be so heartless.

Gently, he patted her head and replied softly, "Don't worry. We'll make it through this."

He knew full well that his promise was a lie—a lie to comfort her.

Her eyes filled with a flicker of hope, and she tightened her grip on his arm, her voice trembling. "We'll stay together, right? We won't leave each other?"

"Mm," he murmured in response, though he wasn't nearly as optimistic as she was.

Stay together? That was unlikely.

With only four survivors left, there was a fifty percent chance that either he or Zhang Tiantian would be next.

Jiang Yan's heart began to race with anxiety. Time was running out; he couldn't afford to wait passively any longer. He needed to act, to crack the rules of this cursed bus.

He had a few ideas, but he needed to confirm them. He turned to the man in the black hat and asked, "Have you figured out another rule?"

The man, who had been resting with his arms crossed, opened his eyes and replied in a low voice, "Of course. I have that blond fool to thank for it. It's simple: as long as we don't interfere with the driver, the bus won't stop. If we behave, we can avoid the worst."

"Hmm, that's what I thought too. But I think there's something else you may have overlooked." Jiang Yan's gaze was sharp.

"Oh? What did you figure out?" The man in the black hat looked intrigued, sizing up this college student with growing curiosity.

"There's an old saying: 'The safest place is often the most dangerous.' And conversely, the dangerous places may hold safety. We've been sitting in our seats, avoiding the attention of the tour group and the driver, thinking that's the safe move. But that could be exactly what's putting us in danger."

"What do you mean?" The man in the black hat seemed caught off guard, unable to follow Jiang Yan's train of thought.

Jiang Yan smirked. "Have you considered that these 'rules'—the passengers' stares and the driver's space—are actually confining us? And that by remaining passive, we're sealing our fate?"

"So, what do you plan to do?" The man in the black hat's expression grew serious as he watched Jiang Yan, now with a glimmer of respect.

"It's simple," Jiang Yan said, his voice resolute. "Break the bus."