Journey

"All right, that should be everyone," the burly man said, naturally taking the lead. "The mission is about to begin. Everyone, get ready."

As if in response to his words, a light gradually appeared in the distance.

As it drew closer, two beams of light pierced the darkness.

A brand-new luxury coach slowly pulled up beside the platform.

"Talk less, observe more. Make sure it's safe before you do anything, and try not to go off on your own." Before the coach doors opened, the burly man hurriedly added a few more words of advice.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the doors opened.

A young person jumped down from the bus.

They had a buzz cut, wore a blue hoodie and faded white jeans, and had delicate features. They looked to be in their early twenties.

Their mouth moved as if they were chewing gum.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone. The weather delayed us. I'm sorry about that." The moment the young person spoke, they surprised everyone: they were a woman.

The woman introduced herself. "I'm honored to be your tour guide for this trip. My surname is Zheng. You can call me Xiao Zheng or Guide Zheng."

"Guide Zheng," someone replied.

Everyone tacitly avoided calling her Xiao Zheng.

"All right, everyone, hurry aboard," Guide Zheng said politely. "The weather's bad and the road is rough, so let's get moving."

They boarded from left to right: first the burly man, then the woman with a mole on her lip, the male clerk, the Bald middle-aged man, Jiang Cheng, the Agile Fatty, and finally the girl.

Only after getting on did they realize there were already other passengers aboard.

A couple sat toward the back on the left. The girl was reading a magazine, while her boyfriend wore an eye mask and headphones and rested against the window.

A Middle-aged woman sat with a Big boy in the first row behind the driver.

They were probably mother and son, though the boy might have been sick. He seemed down and his eyes wandered. As Jiang Cheng passed them, he noticed bandages wrapped around the fingers of both the boy's hands.

After boarding, Guide Zheng told everyone to find a seat. Then the doors closed, and she sat to the driver's right.

The burly man sat behind the mother and son, while the woman with a mole on her lip sat behind Guide Zheng.

Jiang Cheng chose the second row behind the couple. He had just sat down when a huge figure leaned over. "Hey, bro, let's sit together!"

Jiang Cheng looked up. Sure enough, it was the Agile Fatty. "Sure, but I don't like sitting by the window."

"No problem. I can squeeze in."

Half a minute later, the fat man had squeezed in as he'd hoped, but he still took up some of Jiang Cheng's space, forcing him to shift toward the aisle.

The male clerk tried several times to share a seat with someone else, but they all gave him the cold shoulder. In the end, the girl let him sit beside her.

The Middle-aged man sat alone in the last row. Jiang Cheng glanced back at him and saw that his face was so gloomy it looked like rain might pour from it.

"Bro, tell me what's going on here," the fat man asked in a low voice, leaning closer. "I fell asleep, and then I ended up here."

Jiang Cheng embellished the information he'd gotten from the burly man as he relayed it to the fat man. The latter nearly burst into tears. "If you die here, your whole family will hang upside down, bleed, and die?"

"That's right."

"Then how come you don't look too scared?"

Jiang Cheng turned his head and replied in a very formal tone, "Because I'm an orphan."

The journey was peaceful—so peaceful that the male clerk thought it might stay that way. But then the sudden screech of the brakes shattered that pleasant dream.

"Bang!"

The tremendous inertia sent shards of broken glass sweeping through the entire cabin like a storm.

The bus had hit something.

The male clerk crouched in the aisle between two rows of seats, blocking everyone's way out. He stared with his mouth open, as if about to scream. In the end, the burly man dragged him out of the bus and slapped him twice.

"If you don't want to die, shut your damn mouth!" he threatened viciously.

The male clerk crouched on the ground, covered in dust. After a while, he finally got up and hid at the back of the group.

It was true.

The bus had hit a tree.

The driver got out to check and found that heavy rain had caused the side of the road to collapse, sending the vehicle off course. It had lost its balance and crashed into a tree by the roadside.

Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. Most had only been cut by broken glass.

But the bus couldn't be driven anymore. Here—

Jiang Cheng looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere, with only a straight road leading off into the unknown.

The rain had eased, but it was still falling.

"Passengers, I'm really sorry," Guide Zheng said, rubbing her hands as she came over. "It looks like today's trip is ruined."

They had known her for only a few hours, and she had already apologized twice. But everyone knew she hadn't meant it either time.

According to the burly man, she was just an NPC who moved the plot along.

"How about this? I know there's a villa in those woods over there. You can go there to take shelter while I take a few people to look for another vehicle. Once we find one, we'll come back for you." Guide Zheng pointed toward the nearby woods.

Even Jiang Cheng, a newcomer, could tell this wasn't a good choice, but the burly man and the others agreed. Then they turned and headed toward the woods.

The real mission had begun!

The relatively relaxed atmosphere changed at once.

The muddy road was treacherous; one careless step could send them sprawling. They walked for about half an hour before a three-story villa finally appeared ahead.

The villa was concealed by dense woods and would have been hard to spot unless they were very close.

"Can anyone even live in there?" the girl asked quietly.

The villa's dilapidated state was obvious. It hadn't been maintained in at least five years, and layer upon layer of fallen leaves had piled up in front of the door.

"If you don't want to stay there, you can wait outside." Without looking back, the burly man opened his umbrella and headed toward the villa.

Jiang Cheng watched the burly man's back. He seemed to be getting more and more irritable. Everyone could tell the girl was only complaining.

But Jiang Cheng sensed fear beneath their complaints and discontent.

Once everyone else had followed, the fat man, who was sharing an umbrella with Jiang Cheng, urged him on. "What are you staring at, bro? Come on."

"Yeah."

No one answered when they knocked. The burly man tried pushing the door, and to his surprise, the thick wooden door swung open a crack.

It wasn't locked.

When the door was fully open, the scene inside came into view.

The spacious living room looked a little old, but not especially run-down. A thin layer of dust covered the floor and the rectangular dining table.