The awakened bride

The Nurse's sobs gradually faded from the bus, replaced by the Ghost Bride's piercing cries as she struggled to break free of her restraints.

The Ghost Bride pulled at the invisible chains and shackles. She had already burst out of the bus's back row, but her hands and feet were clearly still tethered. Her limbs thrashed wildly outward, and the sound of shattering metal kept ringing out, as though one more step... just one more step forward would let the Ghost Bride, A Xi, break free!

Yet that single step was precisely the one she could not take, no matter how she tried.

Perhaps it was that very step that had kept the Ghost Bride trapped on this road for decades, even centuries!

"You don't need to worry anymore." Su Bai stood in front of the Ghost Bride and grabbed her right hand. "You don't need to be afraid of them anymore, either."

In the reflection on the bus window, two identical Ghost Brides clasped hands.

Qin Ge seemed to sense something. He actually turned to look at the reflection in the window, then froze, dumbfounded.

The Nurse's sobbing had worked, but it could not last until the end. So, to help the Ghost Bride take the final step toward awakening, Su Bai chose to summon all his strength, awakening A Xi within the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle to resonate with the Ghost Bride before him.

Su Bai knew that his chances of resonating with the Ghost Bride now were already very slim. Or rather, the odds of a human resonating with a supernatural entity were only one in a thousand to begin with, and one in ten thousand for an entity that still harbored humanity deep within.

But if it was the Ghost Bride herself, even if resonance proved impossible, she could still awaken herself in A Xi's own way.

Of course, Su Bai's actions were not entirely without danger. The Ghost Bride, not yet fully awake, might suddenly attack him, and the White Qipao Paper Figure beside him might take advantage of his vulnerability. If he ended up with no way out, Su Bai might have to seek help from the Mist Shop and that child, Xiao Wu.

In the Nightmare World, Su Bai had never been some unnaturally brilliant mastermind. Among the game's players, there were plenty willing to trade their brains for protection from others, so his approach to combat had always been the simplest and most direct of all.

That was why Su Bai had failed to find a way to clear the Route 444 Last Bus in his previous life. Even with ten extra years of experience in this life, this was still the only path he could find. And judging by the Driver's earlier reaction, Su Bai had clearly not taken the wrong step.

Besides, Su Bai did not want to simply leave the Ghost Bride on the bus to her fate.

Even if Xiao Wu said the Ghost Bride before him was different from A Xi in the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle, even if Su Bai was accustomed to treating strangers with indifference and disregard, when it came to A Xi, who had accompanied him for ten years... sometimes a vengeful ghost deserved his help more than a human did.

Su Bai's right hand gripped the Ghost Bride's left. Her supernatural body was cold and stiff, but the strength of her struggles was terrifying. Su Bai could practically foresee his right hand being dislocated.

But it did not matter.

Fully awakening the Ghost Bride was the best way to let everyone clear the game.

To do that, Su Bai needed to take another step toward her!

With that thought, Su Bai closed his eyes and began drawing on every bit of strength in his body, burning through his already limited reserves at an almost frenzied pace to drive the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle at full power.

The puzzle was part of Su Bai's body. From the moment he chose to accept this ability, he had also become one of its pieces, only his piece was much larger than the others.

Thus, whenever Su Bai chose to unleash the full power of a puzzle piece, he would merge closely with it, exchanging some memories through resonance, feeling the pain of its bodily wounds, and even transforming into the vengeful ghost within!

The stronger the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle piece, the more "aftereffects" Su Bai suffered after resonating and merging with it.

But borrowing A Xi's power did not cause him distress. After all, she was his first puzzle piece. Over those ten years, they had long since grown accustomed to each other's company, like an older sister and younger brother.

"A Xi-!"

Su Bai shouted the Ghost Bride's name as his power erupted. At the same time, blood suddenly appeared on his chest as he stood before her, flowing outward as though someone had stabbed straight through it.

Su Bai felt no pain. As the blood stained his old school uniform red, a cloud of blood mist spread around him.

The blood mist vanished in an instant, but Su Bai emerged wearing that familiar, exquisite, elaborate crimson wedding gown. A bridal veil hung with silver bells covered his face, but his build was still different from A Xi's. Though he wore the Ghost Bride's attire, his body remained his own.

Only its temperature had turned as icy as a vengeful ghost's.

Perhaps one reason people had called him a "freak" in his previous life was that his Vengeful Ghost Puzzle contained many powerful women. When he borrowed a piece's full strength, he resonated with its power and even its appearance, so...

Yes, people sometimes did mistake Su Bai for someone who enjoyed cross-dressing.

Well.

The only consolation was that only particularly powerful vengeful ghosts occasionally produced resonance in appearance. And the stronger a ghost was, the longer it had existed in the Nightmare World. Most had relatively conservative personalities from over a century ago, so they would not leave Su Bai utterly mortified.

Having transformed into the Ghost Bride, Su Bai took both hands of the Ghost Bride before him. Once he had firmly grasped her cold, stiff hands, he said softly, "Come with me. Do what you want to do."

Sensing that the time was right, Su Bai quickly stepped backward, pulling the Ghost Bride free almost instantly. The sound of chains and shackles shattering completely rang through the bus like heavenly music.

"Last stop. Ghost Village." The Driver's voice drifted eerily from behind them, and the doors opened as he spoke.

The two Ghost Brides standing at the back of the bus, along with the third Ghost Bride reflected in the window, all turned toward the doors. Outside, they could see Ghost Village's torches and the bonfire lit before the feast. Countless dark figures stood in the firelight, gazing toward the Route 444 Last Bus.

"The bride..."

"Begin the feast..."

Perhaps eager for the ghost wedding, Ghost Village was visibly as impatient as the White Qipao Paper Figure as it welcomed the bus's second arrival. Outside the doors, voices clamored with hunger for the bride and food.

Su Bai stepped aside inside the bus and released her hands, watching the Ghost Bride walk past him, bleeding.

"Thank you."

The dark figures outside the bus doors made to board, but as the Ghost Bride walked toward the front door, some power suppressed them, forcing them backward step by step.

Before awakening, the Ghost Bride had been nothing but a beast without memories or reason. Bound by instinctive fear and her past, she had stripped herself of freedom. Despite her immense power, she had been worse off than even the most ordinary beast, unable to do anything.

But now, she was a vengeful ghost returned from hell.

A Xi was slender and moved with poise, descending the steps at the bus door one by one as though gracefully stepping out of a wedding car. But the very next second after the Ghost Bride left the bus, flames roared to life outside.

Dark figures were hurled into the flames one after another. Silver bells rang endlessly like a song-the Ghost Bride's song of revenge.

The power in Su Bai's body was still draining away as he used the puzzle. He wanted to get off and help the Ghost Bride, but there was something else he had to do first-

"Don't move!"

Su Bai reached out and seized the White Qipao Paper Figure's paper neck. Though the figure was made of paper, the paper in his hand felt as hard as metal.

"Hmph." Su Bai was not surprised. A moment later, the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle's power turned his hands deathly pale, and his sharp nails pierced the paper figure's neck without resistance.

The paper figure's body began to tremble.

Evil ghosts did not fear humans. Even if they were utterly annihilated, humans would not make them afraid.

But faced with a stronger, more terrifying ghost, even an evil ghost could feel fear.

Su Bai could not possibly know what was going through the White Qipao Paper Figure's hollow head. Perhaps the figure regretted not attacking Qin Ge sooner, or regretted revealing its malice so early.

Su Bai simply watched as the White Qipao Paper Figure, its neck pierced by his nails, instantly turned back into a thin sheet of paper and darted toward the gap behind Qin Ge with a whoosh. Unwilling to let the figure escape, Su Bai swung his hand at it, his sharp nails gleaming like metal blades beneath the bus lights.

Almost the instant Su Bai raised his hand, Qin Ge, who had been forced to remain seated all this time, swiftly stood and stepped aside. His fluid movement exposed the paper figure trying to hide behind him, placing it within range of Su Bai's attack.

A metallic gleam flashed, and Su Bai's ghostly hand sliced straight through the figure's white qipao and the lower half of its body.

Unfortunately, judging by the way the paper figure abandoned Qin Ge and tried to flee through the window, losing its lower half meant nothing to it.

Perhaps blinded by the oppressive aura coming from the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle, the paper figure failed to see that Su Bai's strength was actually insufficient and almost exhausted. Completely convinced it could not fight him, the figure dared not face him head-on. It discarded its useless lower half and fled straight toward the gap in the window.

Su Bai vaguely remembered the Driver saying earlier that the paper figure was a special passenger that had flown in through the window.

But before the paper figure could escape, a hand caught its thin paper arm. The White Qipao Paper Figure instinctively tried to sever the arm and escape again, only to discover, strangely, that it... could not move.

Its thin head turned toward Su Bai's hand gripping its arm.

It was Su Bai's left hand, the one bearing the Mist Shop's brand. The Blood-Red Bead Bracelet encircled his wrist, and one of its beads was shining with a light that seemed rather dazzling to the paper figure.

"Don't worry. I'll prepare an excellent vessel for you." Su Bai's composed voice came from beneath the Wedding Veil. "Goodbye!"

In the blink of an eye, the White Qipao Paper Figure turned into blood mist before everyone's eyes, then scattered and vanished.

Only Su Bai knew that the paper ghost had not disappeared. Instead, the brand on his left palm and the Blood-Red Bead Bracelet on his left wrist had collected it. Only he noticed one of the blood-red beads gradually turning a peculiar shade of black tinged with red.

Whew-

Beneath the Wedding Veil, Su Bai let out a deep breath of relief. He was even a little unsteady as he braced himself against a nearby seat back.

Though he had acted decisively just now, Su Bai knew his body had been all but drained. If there was another special passenger on the bus who wanted to attack, he would have no choice but to take the trio and flee into Ghost Village.

The weakness from exhausting his strength washed over him in waves. Su Bai resisted the urge to sit in a nearby seat, straightened up, and walked toward the bus's rear door.

With each step, a little more of his wedding gown faded away.

By the time Su Bai stood at the rear door, he had returned to his previous appearance. Even the wound on his chest and the blood that had seeped out earlier had vanished without a trace. The only difference was perhaps that his school uniform had dried completely, leaving him less bedraggled than before.

Su Bai looked outside. He had only captured a single evil ghost, yet Ghost Village beyond the bus had already been almost swallowed by a sea of fire. Both the voiceless dark figures representing its villagers and the village's dilapidated buildings were burning fiercely.

For the human players on the bus, this game might already have reached its happy ending.

Only in the middle of Ghost Village did a path stretch from the entrance into its depths. No flames burned along it, and by the firelight, they could even see a figure in a wedding gown strolling leisurely down that path.

At this moment, Ghost Village had become hell, but only for its villagers.

"Who exactly are you?"

Just as Su Bai was about to get off the bus to meet the Ghost Bride, Qin Ge's voice sounded behind him-

"Don't tell me everything that just happened was also some ability your brother taught you in a dream?"