The group then looked at the boy huddled in the corner, trembling with fear.
"Hello," Zhao Duohui greeted.
"Whoa!" the boy cried out in alarm, even more frightened now.
"Don't frighten the child," Zhao Ruying said softly.
Zhao Duohui awkwardly touched the bridge of his nose.
"What... what do you want to do?" the boy asked, his shock not diminishing his senses. He still remembered the gunshots and knew that the people in front of him were definitely not simple. Whether they were soldiers or bandits, they were not people he could afford to mess with.
Shi Chang smiled gently, "Why did you shout for help just now? And what was chasing you?"
"Monster! It's a monster!" The boy cried, recounting his terrifying experience incoherently.
His name is He Ming, and he is indeed a high school student. He was in class as usual when the sky suddenly turned dark. At first, he thought it was going to rain, but later the school received an emergency evacuation notice.
The teachers and students had no idea what was happening, and their cell phones had lost signal; panic quickly spread.
Although the authorities required citizens to stay at home and avoid going out as much as possible, He Ming was very worried about his grandmother in his rural hometown, so he hailed an unlicensed taxi and drove out of the city.
On the way, they encountered several green, half-human, half-ghost monsters. They were incredibly strong and fast; even a car couldn't kill them.
He Ming escaped unscathed not because he ran faster than the monster, but because he ran faster than his companions and was lucky enough to encounter Shi Chang's Supernatural Bus stalling.
"It seems to be the Ghost Slave. Could the Source Ghost be nearby?" Zhao Duohui looked out the window warily.
"Watch out, they seem to be here!" Shi Chang shouted, staring intently into the darkness outside.
Zhao Ruying was startled, and just then, a crashing sound suddenly rang out.
Thud--
A blurry figure suddenly darted out of the deep darkness and crashed headfirst into the car window.
This time, Hu Jiu didn't break the glass, and everyone saw the thing in person.
Indeed, grass was growing on its head. Not only that, but green new shoots were also proliferating on other parts of its body. There seemed to be many grass blades wriggling under its skin. At first glance, it looked like a worm, slowly piercing through the skin and crawling out, brazenly exposing itself in front of the group.
He Ming, a high school student who had just escaped death, was now witnessing Nightmare he would never forget. It was as if all his attention had been taken over by this monster. He was stunned and unable to think, his eyes wide open, the blood vessels in his eyes becoming more and more prominent.
The next moment, the sound of impact rang out again.
Thud--
Another "straw man" crashed into a bus, with such force that it seemed to be about to pierce through the vehicle, a truly terrifying sight.
He Ming squatted down and curled up into a ball, muttering things like "May Buddha bless you" and "God bless you."
With each impact, the bus trembled and swayed. Hu Jiu guarded a broken window, but nothing could get in; instead, the other windows were breached.
Click--
With the sound of shattering glass, Zhao Duohui quickly raised the gun in his hand. The next second, a gunshot rang out along with the sound of bones breaking.
Hu Jiu saw a Ghost Slave covered in grass crawl in through the car window and crash into Zhao Duohui's left shoulder at an extremely fast speed.
His burly body was dented, and the severe fractures made him look pained. He gripped his gun, firing as he retreated toward the front of the car.
Thump thump--
The gold bullets delayed the Ghost Slave's actions but couldn't bring him down completely. Zhao Duohui hadn't expected to be the first in the group to be injured. He had no time to treat his wound and could only urge Shi Chang to find a solution.
"Damn it!" Shi Chang cursed inwardly. Why did Zhao Duohui have to walk this way?
--Of course, it's because I think you're both strong and reliable!
Given Zhao Duohui's simple values, he would naturally seek help from the strong when faced with a crisis.
The current arrangement inside the carriage is as follows: Shi Chang and Zhao Duohui are at the front of the carriage, Ghost Slave is getting closer and closer to them, Hu Jiu is in the middle, and He Ming and Zhao Ruying are hiding at the back of the carriage.
The sounds of the bus being hit became more and more frequent, and the bus was shaking more and more violently.
Shi Chang tried to restart the bus, but the engine kept running intermittently, like someone suffering from tuberculosis, tormenting his nerves.
Snap--
Another Ghost Slave broke into the carriage, this time closer to the back. Unfortunately, it crashed into the railing, its head deformed, but no bodily fluids flowed out; only wriggling weeds grew at the wound site.
"Huff~ Huff~" He Ming gasped for breath, his body trembling like a leaf, trying to minimize his presence, but the second Ghost Slave still approached him in a strange posture.
Just as the Ghost Slave's hand was about to touch He Ming's neck, a White Sash caught the Ghost Slave and pulled him backward forcefully.
Sizzle--
The White Sash was torn by the struggling Ghost Slave.
Hu Jiu's eyes narrowed.
At the same time, the bus engine finally restarted, and as the bus sped away, the sound of the Ghost Slaves pounding on the bus disappeared.
The two Ghost Slaves who broke into the car were quickly subdued by Hu Jiu and Zhao Duohui and thrown out through the broken window.
"That was close!" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Shi Chang's face was gloomy. In that critical situation just now, none of them were willing to take action. Zhao Duohui only fired a few shots, and Zhao Ruying didn't even move. Hu Jiu's performance was slightly better than theirs, but he was also just going through the motions.
'Compared to his subordinates, these Ghost Tamers are far too shrewd, selfish, and lack any sense of the bigger picture,' Shi Chang thought to himself.
If anyone heard him say that, he'd definitely get a tongue-lashing. The employees are just pretending to be stupid for their wages; do you really think you're some kind of genius?
"These Ghost Slaves are ridiculously strong." Zhao Duohui clutched his shoulder. Such an injury was nothing to Ghost Tamer, but when he was bumped by the Ghost Slave just now, he actually felt the Fierce Ghost within him being suppressed!
If even the Ghost Slave are this terrifying, how terrifying must the true Source Ghost be?
The windows of the Supernatural Bus shattered, Bloodstained White Silk was torn. Shi Chang and Hu Jiu could also directly feel the power of the Ghost Slave.
"If the population of the four cities were to be converted on a large scale into those Ghost Slaves..." Zhao Ruying, her voice trembling, as if she had just thought of something.
With that kind of intensity, speed, and sheer numbers, even a powerful Ghost Tamer would likely have no choice but to detour around such a horde of Ghost Slaves. Like a merciless torrent sweeping across the land, humanity has no option but to flee.
The bus continued its smooth journey, the previous experience seeming like a nightmare, with only the broken windows serving as evidence of the terrifying ordeal.
A silence was spreading.
He Ming was utterly shaken and exhausted, feeling drowsy. He sat behind Hu Jiu, struggling to keep his eyes open and avoid falling asleep. He didn't know what these people meant by "Ghost Slaves," but he knew he had encountered something extraordinary today. Beneath the technologically advanced world order, there were still unknown aspects hidden, and perhaps he too might have a chance... to embrace the extraordinary?
Everyone else remained highly vigilant, especially Shi Chang, who announced some bad news, "This car won't last much longer; it might stall again at any moment."
"What! Is this a bus powered by Supernatural forces? How come it can't function after just one bump?" Zhao Duohui was astonished.
Shi Chang frowned. "I don't know either. In short, the driving resistance is getting greater and greater. Perhaps it's due to some kind of Supernatural interference from the outside world?"
Upon hearing this, a hint of suspicion flashed in Zhao Duohui's eyes. He glanced at Shi Chang discreetly a few times, but said nothing more.
The bus was indeed gradually slowing down. He Ming pinched his inner thigh, forcing himself to stay awake. Once the bus stopped, danger would surely follow!
Splat--
A figure suddenly jumped onto the slowing car, pressed their face against the front window, stared intently at the person inside with cloudy eyes, and pounded hard on the glass with hands covered in weeds.
Shi Chang seemed startled by the sudden accident. His hand trembled, and the car lost its balance, almost tipping over. It bounced violently for a while before calming down.
The carriage was a mess. Zhao Duohui steadied himself and checked on Zhao Ruying's condition again.
Zhao Ruying gripped the chair with both hands, her face betraying her panic.
Hu Jiu got up and looked up. The front window was broken, Ghost Slave was nowhere to be seen, the driver's seat was empty, Shi Chang was nowhere to be seen!
"What's going on?" Zhao Duohui exclaimed in a low voice.
Looking around, in the pitch-black environment outside, a faint, eerie light flickered.
"What should we do next?" Zhao Ruying was completely at a loss.
"It's not far from Xihe City, but staying in the wilderness might be more dangerous. Although it's dark outside, I've been here many times and can find my way with my eyes closed," He Ming suggested tremblingly, trying to demonstrate his value.
Zhao Duohui nodded. "He's right. Although the Ghost Domain is fraught with danger, at least the safe houses are in the city."
"I should have known better than to cause all this trouble. That guy surnamed Shi patted his chest and assured us that his car was safe, saying that there's strength in numbers, and he insisted on gathering us all on his turf." Perhaps due to excessive nervousness, Zhao Ruying couldn't help but mutter to herself.
"Since things have come to this, let's not say anything more." Zhao Duohui abruptly pushed open the car door and got out.
Zhao Ruying He Ming followed closely behind, with Hu Jiu at the very back. It wasn't until they got out of the car that they could see clearly that the vegetation around the road was exceptionally lush, with wildly growing weeds growing in abundance.
The road surface underfoot was a bit soft. Looking down, I saw that the road was also covered with grass, like a soft lawn. The tracks left by cars were quickly closing up and disappearing. The tires of the bus were also filled with grass blades with extremely tenacious vitality, swaying in the wind.
"Something's not right. Where did all this grass come from in autumn?" Zhao Ruying said.
The weeds were inconspicuous, and since it was dark and they hadn't turned on their headlights, they hadn't noticed the changes around them at all.
"Those Ghost Slaves before were covered in grass. Could it be that the Source Ghost this time is in the form of a plant?" Zhao Duohui speculated. As he was speaking, he vaguely heard some rustling noises. Zhao Duohui immediately turned around and drew his gun on alert.
Hu Jiu listened intently, but heard nothing; instead, it was unusually quiet.
Such lush grasslands usually teem with small animals, and the wind would make sounds as it blew through them. But now, it was unusually quiet, without the slightest sound.
"Ah!!" A piercing scream suddenly shattered the eardrums, like the final lament of a dying person, sending chills down one's spine.
"Ahhhh..." Another series of screams erupted.
"It's Shi Chang!" Zhao Duohui walked towards the direction of the voice.
He trampled a narrow path through the grass. Behind him, all was quiet. When he turned around, Hu Jiu, Zhao Ruying, and He Ming were still standing there, staring at him with inexplicable expressions.
Zhao Duohui was taken aback and hesitated. The shouts were still coming from very close. They had already taken so many steps, and turning back would mean all their efforts were in vain. It would be better to try to bring Shi Chang back.
After walking a few more steps, the ground beneath his feet became increasingly soft, and the weeds grew taller and taller. Zhao Duohui took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. A beam of light pierced through the lush grass and shone directly onto a bald, overweight man.
It's definitely Shi Chang.
"Are you alright?" Zhao Duohui asked anxiously.
"Ah... ah..." Shi Chang opened his mouth with difficulty, but could only make short sounds. His arms were twisted unnaturally, and his lower body was hidden in the grass, which looked very strange. No one knew what had happened to him in such a short period of time.
"Don't move, I'm coming to save you right away," Zhao Duohui said, but his steps were already backing away.
He wasn't particularly smart, but he wasn't stupid either. All signs pointed to Shi Chang's strange state, especially under the light, where Shi Chang's M-shaped bald head even appeared faintly green!
"Ah..." Shi Chang continued to wail.
As Zhao Duohui retreated, the surrounding weeds began to sway rhythmically, as if a terrifying monster was lurking in the Silence darkness.
Shi Chang's eyes were already cloudy, and blades of grass were sprouting from his ears, nostrils, and mouth.
The grass in his mouth swayed without wind, forcing Shi Chang to make "ah ah" sounds, seemingly as a deliberate cry for help to lure his kind into the trap.
If Zhao Duohui were to rashly walk over there, there could be terrible consequences.
"Hurry up, stop dawdling!" Zhao Ruying shouted.
Zhao Duohui quickened his pace. The smell of soil and grass gradually became stronger. Having finally rejoined the group, he quickly set off towards Xihe City under He Ming's leadership.
He Ming was flustered. He didn't really want to be at the front, but he had no choice at this point. He had to take the initiative to show his value, and maybe he could get better treatment.
My neck suddenly felt itchy, as if some insect had landed on my collar and was trying to burrow inside.
Just as He Ming was about to reach out and grab him, someone else did it for him. Hu Jiu reacted faster than him, tearing a blade of grass from his collar.
The blades of grass landed in Hu Jiu's palm, still twisting and turning, trying to take root in his skin, but they couldn't.
"What is this?" He Ming was startled.
Hu Jiu's gaze shifted to Zhao Duohui and Zhao Ruying. Zhao Duohui had previously injured his left shoulder, and now, beneath his tight black hoodie, something could be faintly seen wriggling, even piercing through the fabric. A splash of vibrant green, a symbol of life, seemed utterly out of place at this moment.
Thud--
The Supernatural Bus, left standing still, made another impact sound...