Horror revival: I Own a Ghost Bus

Perhaps due to the failure of the previous killing attempt, the bus abruptly stopped once again, plunging the three of them into darkness.

The cold wind howled, fiercer than ever, a bone-deep chill pressing in on them as if the bus intended to wipe them all out this time.

"Is it not working?" The man in the black hat muttered anxiously, visibly tense.

In previous rounds of darkness, he hadn't experienced such unbearable cold. Now, the icy winds penetrated to his very bones, a clear sign that this time the darkness had chosen him.

Despite his ghostly coat, the chill cut through it with ease, offering no protection whatsoever. This realization left him terrified.

It became clear that the bus's level of power was far beyond that of his ghost coat, which was being completely suppressed.

The cold intensified, and a sickening scent of blood began to fill the air, growing stronger with each passing moment.

Then, just as he felt on the verge of succumbing to the chill, the sound of the bus engine roaring back to life broke through the silence. The cold and darkness receded in an instant, and the bus lights flickered back on.

The three of them awoke from the nightmare-like darkness, gasping for breath, their faces pale with terror. They looked at each other in shock and relief.

"We… we survived… We really survived…" Zhang Tiantian whispered, gazing at Jiang Yan with newfound admiration.

"I can't believe it actually worked," the man in the black hat muttered, still shaken but reluctantly convinced. Though it sounded crazy, this was indeed their way to survive.

Jiang Yan finally allowed himself to relax. Although he'd expected his plan to work, going through it for real had been nerve-wracking. Only now that they'd made it out was he truly able to breathe easy.

But soon, the man in the black hat realized a serious problem.

"You've found a way to stay safe, but it's only temporary. We still have no way back to the real world. Not only that, but the broken window is still open. My ghost coat can hold back the fog for only about thirty minutes. After that, we'll be done for."

He'd hit on a key issue, one that Jiang Yan was also worried about.

In fact, it was partially his fault they were in this mess. If he hadn't shattered the window, they wouldn't be in such dire straits.

But even if the window were intact, they would still be trapped here with no way out, eventually starving to death.

And the bus had already undergone several changes. There was no guarantee the "sitting in a corpse's seat" trick would work again the next time it stopped.

"You're right. We have to escape," Jiang Yan replied. "There's only one way I can think of." He glanced toward the front of the bus, fixing his gaze on the driver's seat.

Following his line of sight, the man in the black hat quickly caught on, his eyes widening in shock. "You don't mean… you want to sit in the driver's seat?"

"That's right. The seats are the key to the bus's rules. If I can sit in the driver's seat, I may be able to take control of the bus. That's the only way to truly resolve this."

There was logic in Jiang Yan's reasoning, but the man in the black hat couldn't agree with him. "If your theory is correct, sitting in the driver's seat would mean directly confronting the ghostly bus. You'd have to overpower it to take control. Right now, we don't have the strength for that."

"Why not? Don't you have the ghost coat? With that, we have a fighting chance," Jiang Yan said, looking at him steadily.

The man in the black hat gave a bitter smile. "I'll be honest with you. I'm currently controlling two ghosts. It took a tremendous effort and a high price to keep them balanced. If I attempt to control a third ghost, that balance will break. Not only will I die, but after my death, the ghosts I've bound will resurge with even greater ferocity."

Jiang Yan was taken aback. He'd been counting on the man in the black hat to control the ghost bus, but now it seemed that was out of the question.

"So… there's really no other way?" Jiang Yan's face grew troubled.

The man in the black hat hesitated before turning to him. "Actually, there's still one option—you could try to take control of the ghost bus yourself."

"Me?" Jiang Yan was stunned. "I'm just an ordinary college student. How could I possibly go up against a ghost?"

He scoffed, "When I controlled my first ghost, I thought the same thing. But I managed to scrape by through sheer willpower. As long as you have a strong enough will, it's not impossible to control the ghost bus."

Jiang Yan hesitated, weighing the risks. If he succeeded, he'd become like the man in the black hat—a ghost wielder constantly at risk of losing control to the ghost, never able to live an ordinary life again.

Was he really prepared to take that step?

He glanced over at Zhang Tiantian, who was watching him with a worried expression.

At that moment, Jiang Yan made up his mind. If it was the only way to survive, he would try to control the ghost bus.

"Fine. I'll give it a shot," he said, his gaze steely with determination.

"Good." The man in the black hat nodded approvingly. "It takes real courage to face a ghost head-on. While you're attempting to control it, I'll use my ghost coat to help suppress the bus's influence."

Jiang Yan nodded, then walked to the driver's seat.

The driver's corpse was in terrible condition, its arms completely severed, its body a grotesque mess of exposed bone and muscle.

On the dashboard, the steering wheel slowly turned on its own, as if guided by an invisible force—the essence of the ghost bus itself.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Yan carefully lowered himself onto the driver's legs.

Immediately, an icy chill surged up from his feet, numbing his body as if the bus were asserting control over him.

In an instant, the cold climbed up to his neck. Although Jiang Yan fought against it with all his willpower, he felt the chill creeping upward, slowly overtaking him.

"Hurry, I can't hold out much longer!" he shouted, calling to the man in the black hat for help.

"Hold on!" The man quickly swung his coat, stretching one sleeve like an elastic band and hooking it firmly onto the steering wheel.

The moment it latched on, Jiang Yan felt the ghostly chill weaken, as though something were counteracting the bus's grip on him.

Three minutes passed, and the cold had receded to his abdomen, allowing him to regain feeling in his upper body.

But then the chill stopped receding. They had reached a stalemate.

"Don't you have another ghost? Use it!" Jiang Yan urged.

The man frowned, looking frustrated. "My other ghost is more of an immaterial presence. It won't help against the bus!"

Jiang Yan's face darkened. His willpower was fading, and the cold was beginning to creep back up. With his lower body numb and immobile, if he lost control, he would be entirely consumed by the ghost bus.

Was there truly no way to break free from this trap?

Break free…?

A sudden thought struck him, and he glanced at the red emergency hammer in his hand.

Only a ghost can fight another ghost… If this hammer could shatter the window, could it be a ghost in its own right?