Hearing Bai Fan's serious tone over the phone, I sucked in a sharp breath. I had definitely taken a call from her five minutes earlier. There was no way I remembered that wrong.
If it wasn't her, who had called?
After everything I had been through, I was still fairly calm inside. It was just my legs that wouldn't stop shaking.
I had climbed to the seventh floor, an awkward spot with six more floors to run up and six to run down.
Besides, if I ran out, what would happen to Bai Fan? She was still in the apartment. Whoever had called, whether they were trying to lure me upstairs or not, I had to save her!
As things stood, I had to walk into this trap even knowing what it was. After all, I couldn't let anything happen to Bai Fan.
With my mind made up, I forced myself to keep climbing. The eighth floor, the ninth, the tenth...
Earlier, I had reached the seventh floor in no time without feeling tired or winded. Now every floor seemed to take forever, and my feet felt as heavy as lead with every step.
Finally, I arrived. Looking at the hallway sign marked 13, I felt a jumble of emotions. Bai Fan's door stood half open, with a little candlelight spilling out.
I cautiously tilted my head, trying to peek inside.
Before I could see clearly, a hand suddenly shot through the gap and clamped tightly around me. It was almost exactly like what had happened at Liu Qingzhu's home on Huaiyuan Road. I cried out and yanked back hard.
"Bai Fan?"
The person grabbing me was actually Bai Fan. Drenched in sweat, I stared at her in confusion, while she doubled over laughing as though nothing was wrong.
"Not bad! You got such a fright and still didn't run. You actually dared to come up and get me?"
I stood there, stunned and still clueless. Bai Fan laughed again, took hold of my sleeve, and said:
"I was deliberately scaring you on the phone earlier. I knew you were timid, so I wanted to see whether you'd come upstairs and test how responsible you were!"
It suddenly dawned on me. This had all been a joke. Her claim that she hadn't called was something she had said on purpose.
My taut nerves finally relaxed, and I let out a long breath.
Thinking back carefully, I really had been stupid. My phone had a call history.
Besides, both calls had clearly been in Bai Fan's voice. Falling for that really showed how low both my IQ and EQ were.
When I didn't say anything for a while, Bai Fan tilted her head and said softly, "I was just teasing. You're not angry, are you?"
I quickly shook my head.
"It's fine. I was being too sensitive. As long as nothing's wrong!"
Bai Fan kept smiling as she spoke to me. I could tell she was very pleased with how I had done.
I hadn't known her very long, but she really was important to me. If someone asked who I trusted most in my current circle, the only answer would be Bai Fan.
Bai Fan was in a particularly good mood the whole way, never running out of things to say. I felt that after this test, our relationship had taken another step forward.
Over the next few days, I started my route on schedule every night. Strangely, those days were especially quiet.
After that sudden appearance, Old Tang had vanished without a trace again. I hadn't seen Sixth Uncle for days either, and the old woman never appeared again.
But for some reason, I still couldn't settle down. I kept feeling that something wasn't right. I thought the peace of the past few days must have been thanks to the bracelet Master Liu Yunbo had given me.
Strangely enough, the bracelet had been completely black when I first received it, but over these past days, it had gradually turned vermilion.
A treasure really is a treasure, I thought. It can even change.
Before I knew it, it was the fifteenth day of the lunar month. I resolved to see Master Liu Yunbo after work. No matter how much money it cost, I had to beg him to find a way for me to leave this company.
I had truly had enough of this last bus and all these sinister happenings.
But there was something else weighing on my mind: what secret was hidden in the archive room in that little two-story building?
That morning, Old Wu called and said the city thought my night shift was too grueling and worried I might drive fatigued, so they had hired an outside driver to alternate shifts with me. He would report for work in a few days.
I gave a bitter smile. This wasn't good news to me. Having another driver alternate shifts didn't mean I would never have to drive again.
I would rather keep doing it myself. This had nothing to do with being tired. It would simply drag another innocent person into this.
At lunch in the canteen, Fatty came over and sat down. He and I were normally just nodding acquaintances. I really disliked him. To put it plainly, he was a snob hiding behind an honest-looking exterior.
"Brother Li, I'm holding my son's one-month celebration tonight. Come have a drink!"
Just as I expected, his meaning was clear. Everyone at the company knew I drove the night shift, yet he was inviting me to drink. He was angling for a red envelope.
"Fatty, you know I work nights. I can't make it!"
Fatty grinned at that. "I know you work nights. Just ask Old Wu for leave. He's coming too. We can all have some fun."
Those words suddenly perked me up.
"Old Wu's going too?"
The last time I sneaked into the little two-story building, I hadn't expected Old Wu to be guarding it, and I hadn't made it into the archive room. If he was going out drinking tonight, wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity?
At that thought, I took five hundred yuan from my pocket and handed it to Fatty.
"Buddy, I really can't make it. Take this five hundred!"
Fatty froze at the sight of the five hundred yuan, his eyes lighting up. He knew perfectly well that, given our relationship, I would only have been expected to give two hundred. He hadn't expected me to hand over five hundred!
Fatty happily took the money. I leaned toward his ear and whispered, "Buddy, can you do me a favor?"
Fatty stuffed the money into his pocket and nodded vigorously.
"Brother Li, with how close we are, just say the word! Anything I can do!"
"It's my girlfriend's birthday today, and I need to spend time with her. But Old Wu checks up on me every day, and you know taking leave means losing my bonus. Since he's drinking at your place tonight, I just want you to help get a few extra drinks into him. Ideally, get him blackout drunk. Whatever you do, make sure he comes back late!"
Fatty narrowed his little eyes into slits and gave me a lewd look, laughing as he said:
"I get it, I get it. A girl's birthday is the perfect time to make your move. Leave it to me. I guarantee I'll get him so drunk he won't know a thing. Just enjoy your long night, but don't wear yourself out!"
Hearing that it was settled, I joked around with him a little more, and we parted, each having gotten what we wanted.
Fatty's banquet was at seven that evening. After lunch, I went back and started preparing early. Old Wu would definitely lock the building when he went drinking. I had seen that big lock: a padlock securing an extra-thick iron chain.
I went to the hardware store and bought an oversized pair of bolt cutters, a crowbar, and a flashlight.
Never mind an ordinary padlock-I could have opened a safe.
Starting at six that evening, I made a dozen or so circuits around the company grounds and watched Old Wu for three hours. He didn't leave until nine.
I hurried around to the little two-story building, forced the front door open in a few moves, and slipped inside.
Since I had been there before and knew where the archive room was, I wasted no time and headed straight for the easternmost room on the second floor.
Just like last time, the closer I got to the archive room, the stronger that foul, bloody stench grew. It made me terribly dizzy. I wondered whether something was wrong with Old Wu's nose. How could he sleep with such a strong smell?
Luckily, I worked fast enough to open the archive room's lock in under ten minutes.
I shone my flashlight around the room. The shabby archive room was covered in dust. Apart from a cabinet holding files and a table with a broken leg, there was nothing inside.
This old building had stood abandoned for ten years without being demolished, and every room inside was empty. I really hadn't expected this archive room to still contain documents.
Old Tang's secret had to be in this filing cabinet. I opened the long-sealed cabinet, and a cloud of dust hit me in the face, making me cough for quite a while.
There wasn't much inside. The most conspicuous items were three folders set off to one side. I picked one up at random and was just about to open it when Fatty called. My heart lurched. Oh no! Something must have gone wrong over there!
"Hey, Brother Li, I need to let you know. Old Wu only had a couple of drinks before saying he'd left something behind and rushing back. I tried everything, but I couldn't keep him here!"
"When did he leave?"
Fatty paused for a moment, then gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Half an hour ago. I figure he's nearly there by now. I wanted to call you earlier, but those bastards kept coming up one after another to toast me. I only just got a moment."
Before he could finish, I hung up. I knew where Fatty lived. It was only half an hour's drive from the company, so Old Wu should be arriving any moment.
"I have to get out of here!" I stuffed the folder into my jacket pocket, quickly shut the cabinet and the door, and ran out like a madman.
I kept my head down as I crossed the yard, walking out as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I ran straight into Old Wu.
"Li Yao, where are you rushing off to?"
Guiltily, I raised my head and met his eyes. In the dim moonlight, I thought his gaze looked just like that of the deranged killer in Saw.
"Nothing, Brother Wu. I have to start my route!"
"Oh, all right. Go on. Stay safe!"
Old Wu patted my shoulder after speaking, then headed behind the office building.
I glanced back. He was heading straight for that abandoned little two-story building.
I had forced the door open. Even if he hadn't caught me red-handed, he could probably work out it was me without a moment's thought.
I checked the time. It was ten fifty. With no time to worry about all that, I hurried off to start my route.
Perhaps because it was the fifteenth, there were unusually many villagers riding today. Normally there were only a dozen or so, but today they filled half the bus.
When we reached the vicinity of the reservoir, one villager urgently needed to pee and pleaded with me for ages to let him get off and relieve himself. Regulations prohibited bus drivers from stopping between stops.
But we were on a rural road, after all, with hardly any traffic. I stopped the bus and let the villager off to relieve himself.
While waiting for him, I remembered the folder I had stolen from the archive room and opened it.
There were three forms inside. They appeared to contain information on the three drivers involved in the Route 13 last-bus accidents ten years earlier.
The first form was for Tang Xiansheng, from Zibo, Shandong, with fifteen years of driving experience. On the Tangwazi route, he had accidentally driven into the reservoir. Thirty people aboard.
The driver on the second form was named Wang Kai, from Qingdao, Shandong, with thirteen years of driving experience. On the Tangwazi route, he had accidentally driven into the reservoir. Twenty-eight people aboard.
The driver on the third form was named Xiong Wei, from Jinan, Shandong, with thirteen years of driving experience. On the Tangwazi route, he had accidentally driven into the reservoir. Twenty-five people aboard.
By the time I finished reading the three forms, the villager had returned. I tossed the forms aside and started the bus.
As I drove, I kept thinking about those forms. Normally, information on three drivers was hardly a secret. Was the secret Sixth Uncle meant in one of the other two folders?
I glanced at the forms beside me and wondered, That's strange. Why were all three drivers carrying so many people on the day of their accidents?
I noticed a small line of writing in the lower right corner of the forms. Written in black ink were the words: "Do not carry large groups!"
Those words felt familiar, as though I had heard them somewhere.
Suddenly, I remembered. I had heard them. That time I mistakenly went to Liu Qingzhu on Huaiyuan Road, he had shouted, "Do not carry large..." as I fled. I hadn't caught the rest.
That was it. What he had wanted to say had to be "Do not carry large groups." Why had he wanted to tell me that?
I looked at the passengers through the rearview mirror. There had to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight people on board. This was the most passengers I had carried since I started driving the last bus.
Curious, I looked at the forms again, and what I saw nearly scared my soul out of me!
The dates of all three drivers' accidents had fallen on the night of the fifteenth!!!
Cold sweat broke out across my forehead. I wanted to stop and calm down, but at that moment, the brakes actually failed. I stamped on the brake pedal, but the bus charged straight toward the reservoir at tremendous speed, like a maddened old ox.