Escaped a Brush with Death?

"What was wrong with that bus? I've ridden it plenty of times. The driver doesn't know me, but I know him. How could anything be wrong?"

Strange things had happened all day, but the bus had been full of people, and the driver was someone he recognized. Naturally, Jiang Yue didn't see anything wrong with it.

"The bus was fine, and so was the driver, but..."

San Gou hesitated, as if trying to find a way to put it that wouldn't make his second brother angry while still convincing him.

"But what?" Jiang Yue pressed.

"Second Brother, you believe me about Tangtou, right?" San Gou asked instead of answering.

Jiang Yue studied San Gou. After a moment, he said nothing and simply nodded.

"Then will you believe whatever I tell you, Second Brother?" San Gou asked again.

"I will." Jiang Yue patted San Gou's head.

"Second Brother, there was nothing wrong with the bus or the driver! But... but there were things coiled over the roof. Lots of horrible things. Didn't you see them?"

Things coiled over the roof?

Jiang Yue recalled the bus coming closer, stopping, then driving away.

He replayed the whole sequence in his mind several times. As far as he could remember, it had been a normal bus. The engine had sounded normal, the tire tracks had looked normal, and even the sound of the tires scraping the road when it braked had been ordinary. He hadn't seen anything on the roof, either.

"Second Brother, you really didn't see them?" San Gou's voice trembled.

"What did you see? Don't be scared. Tell me everything."

"They looked neither human nor ghost. They were almost transparent, and their shapes kept changing. They were more agile than monkeys. Some were coiled over the roof, some were hanging from the rearview mirrors, some were clinging to the windows, and some were lying on the tires. I just don't get it. With all that going on, how could no one on the bus see them?"

The deserted mountain road, the empty wilderness, the gloomy sky, the drizzle, and the dark mountains all around them made the world feel even more desolate and frightening.

And what San Gou had described was so bizarre...

Deep in the mountains, out in the wilderness, with no one around...

The mountain wind howled, and clouds swirled and shifted among the peaks, as if countless unseen horrors were closing in from every direction.

"Second Brother..."

"San Gou, stop talking. Come with me." Jiang Yue felt like crying inside. Was this weirdness never going to end?

There was no way they could go back to Panshi Ridge. Jiang Yue made the brave decision to head to town.

It was thirty li to town along the mountain road. Even walking fast would take two hours, but at least it was still early.

When San Gou heard they were going to town, he balked, afraid of walking right into danger. Once they got there, his aunt wouldn't let him wander around. But Jiang Yue wouldn't budge, and San Gou couldn't change his mind.

They'd missed the bus, and the city was over a hundred li away. Walking all the way back to Star City was out of the question. Maybe they could hire a car in town. It would just cost them a little extra.

The mountain road was a muddy mess, slippery every other step. Walking was much harder than usual.

San Gou complained the whole way. "Second Brother, why do you keep making me drink water? I'm so full I can barely walk."

"Drink. Drink more! Don't you see I'm drinking too? The more water you drink, the more you'll pee."

"What do we need all that pee for?" San Gou was already sick of having to keep pulling out his little bird to pee.

"Heh, just listen to me. I know what I'm doing." Jiang Yue prayed silently. They said a boy's urine could ward off evil. Hopefully, peeing all along the way would do some good.

Maybe the boy's urine really did work. A few minutes after half past five, they arrived in town, covered in mud from head to toe. They hadn't run into any major trouble along the way.

His aunt almost didn't recognize them.

"You two little rascals, what on earth happened to you? Dressing up like ghosts to scare your aunt for Qingming Festival?"

His aunt had always had a sharp tongue, but a good heart. Seeing her two nephews from her family looking so bedraggled naturally made her worry.

After washing up, they finally looked almost human again. But when Jiang Yue said he wanted to hire a car back to the city, his aunt's expression changed several times.

"What's wrong?" Reading people was one of Jiang Yue's strengths, and his aunt's expression clearly meant something was up.

"Yue, you don't know? The people in town are practically going crazy. Who'd be in the mood to drive you back? Besides..."

"What happened in town?"

"Didn't you hear anything on your way here? A few miles past the western side of Mount Dajin, a huge section of the mountain collapsed. The bus from town to Star City was buried. There were dozens of people on it! They were either from town, related to someone from town, or at least someone people knew. Who'd be in the mood to drive anyone anywhere right now? And the road's been washed out. No one can get through."

"Oh, when your aunt heard about it, her heart's been pounding ever since. I was terrified that you two little rascals had gone to the city and gotten on that bus... How would I go on living if something happened to you?"

As she spoke, his aunt pulled one boy into each arm and burst into tears.

Jiang Yue and San Gou exchanged a horrified glance. Did that mean that by missing the bus, the two brothers had escaped disaster?

His aunt's tears put an end to any hope the brothers had of returning to the city that night.

Once a woman's maternal instincts kicked in, there had to be a way to soothe her.

That might mean sharing a meal, having a chat, or listening to her nag for a while.

With her eldest nephew arriving unexpectedly, his aunt had made an especially lavish dinner.

His aunt's family was fairly well-off by the standards of the town.

Her husband was diligent and dependable. He didn't talk much, but he was honest and kind. He'd never said a bad word about San Gou, the nephew his wife's family had left in their care.

"Yue, eat more. These black pepper short ribs are your aunt's specialty."

"Try this braised pork knuckle. Tell me if my cooking's gotten any better."

"And these prawns are spicy. You loved them when you were little."

His aunt sat to Jiang Yue's right at the table, piling food onto his plate without pause, shoving it in with a force that brooked no refusal.

The look in her sharp eyes made it clear that refusing to eat would bring serious trouble. Jiang Yue could only grit his teeth and get on with it.

Luckily, he was young and still growing, and he didn't mind a hearty meal.

San Gou couldn't help feeling a little jealous.

They were both nephews from her family. Wasn't he still his aunt's favorite little rascal?

Seeing San Gou's crestfallen face, his uncle chuckled and gave him a short rib, then a piece of pig's trotter. "Here, let's make sure San Gou grows big and strong too."

San Gou nearly cried. How had he never realized before that his uncle was so kind and lovable?

Fortunately, his aunt's little one was still too young to understand jealousy. Otherwise, dinner might have turned into a full-blown battle for her affection.

Naturally, talk at the table turned to the bus, and the mood grew heavy. For some time to come, the town would likely be shrouded in grief, with one funeral after another.

San Gou was surprisingly composed. He didn't have the usual urge children his age had to show off. He didn't say a word about the bus or any of the strange things that had happened throughout the day.

Jiang Yue wasn't about to make things worse at such a time, either. Some things had to remain unspoken, buried deep in their guts.

If the story got out, it would spread from one person to ten, then a hundred, and who knew what it would become.

If it caused public panic and serious consequences, the fallout would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, the heavy topic didn't go on for long. His aunt changed the subject and asked about their visit to the graves.

"Yue, no matter how successful you two become or how far away you end up, remember this: Panshi Ridge is your home. Don't be like your father... Ah..."

Talking about her brothers brought another long sigh from his aunt.

She had three brothers. The eldest had died unexpectedly in his twenties, before he'd even married.

The second was Jiang Yue's father. Two years ago, he'd suddenly left a letter and disappeared.

The third was San Gou's father. He hadn't disappeared and was in good health. He and his wife worked in a prosperous city, but after all those years, they had little to show for it. They'd neglected their home, too, and their only child, San Gou, had ended up growing up without his parents around.

Sometimes his aunt couldn't help wondering whether something was wrong with the Old Jiang Family's ancestral graves. Why did the family seem to be doing worse with each passing year?

"Aunt, what exactly is work? Why are my parents always out there beating it? They've been at it for years. Haven't they made a name for themselves yet?"

His aunt's nagging made San Gou miss his parents a little. Holding a piece of pork knuckle in his hand, grease around his mouth and a few grains of rice stuck to it, he asked blankly.

"Don't worry about what it is! Just make something of yourself when you grow up. Don't be like your father, always rushing around for no good reason and never looking after his own kid."

His uncle hurried to smooth things over. "Hey, why do you keep going on about this in front of the boy?"

After dinner and a quick wash, Jiang Yue got an anxious call from his older sister, Jiang Ying. She'd clearly just seen the news, too. When she found out her younger brother hadn't been on the bus, she finally let out a breath of relief.

After hanging up, Jiang Ying opened the news and skimmed through it.

All the major media outlets had reported on the bus, but only in brief bulletins.

The shorter the news, the bigger the story.

The comment sections were still open, and most of the messages expressed concern, anxiety, and prayers.

A few twisted people had taken pleasure in the disaster and used it to make veiled jabs, but the rest of the commenters quickly drowned them out with criticism.