Old Liu's terrified shout of "Run!" instantly dragged me from heaven into hell.
Had the bronze bell not been subdued?
Before I could ask for details, I hoisted Old Liu onto my back and sprinted outside.
Just as we left the ground-floor lobby, the police at the entrance returned. They stared in astonishment as we emerged.
The captain leading them was about to question us, but before he could get a word out-
A deafening boom erupted from the lobby.
The force was enormous. Every pane of glass on the ground floor shattered!
The powerful impact hurled everyone in the courtyard more than a meter away.
A huge cloud of dust and sand billowed up. Under the courtyard's dim yellow lights, everything instantly became a haze!
After a long while, once the dust had settled, I hurriedly nudged Old Liu, who lay off to one side.
"Old Liu, how are you? Where are you hurt?"
Old Liu coughed violently several times and shook his head.
Old Liu had looked unwell ever since returning from the Demon Cave on Tiger Waist Mountain.
Subduing this bronze bell must have exhausted him mentally and physically. He looked so weak now that he barely had the strength to open his eyes.
"Look, everyone! The bronze bell's gone!"
A policeman beside us pointed at the lobby and shouted excitedly.
Wooden strips and broken glass littered the lobby floor. Sure enough, the bronze bell in front of the wall was gone, leaving only a reddish-bronze base.
It had worked!
Old Liu had subdued that evil bell after all!
Delighted, I looked at the weakened Old Liu, then hurriedly carried him on my back to the hospital.
To my relief, Old Liu had merely overexerted himself and needed some rest. It was nothing serious, and the bronze bell affair had finally come to an end.
The seals were removed from the company compound, and the ground floor returned to normal use. Everything was finally peaceful again.
News of Old Liu destroying the evil bell quickly exploded across the city's internet. For a while, all the major news headlines were making up stories about him.
Some headlines went rather too far: "Elder Liu subdues evil bell with Qimen Dunjia; driver watches on, pissing and shitting himself in terror."
Obviously, the driver they meant was me. But I didn't care what people said. Riding Old Liu's popularity onto the trending list hadn't been my intention anyway.
No one else looked after Old Liu during his days in the hospital. I was the one running around attending to his every need, caring for him like family.
Yet Old Liu still spoke to me with the same icy manner all day long.
"Kid, I'm pretty much better. Go get me discharged!"
I was peeling an apple for him and refused for the umpteenth time.
"Old Liu, can't you just settle down and recover? Do you have to keep demanding to leave several times a day?"
Old Liu lost his temper, glared at me, and said:
"Recover from what? There's plenty I haven't done yet. No matter what, I'm not staying here today!"
When I didn't agree, Old Liu spoke again, slowly and deliberately.
"Don't you want to know about that fourth driver from ten years ago?"
That finally caught my interest. I looked up at Old Liu and asked:
"Right, you said you'd take me to find that driver once the bronze bell business was over."
Old Liu nodded and said:
"Not many people know about the crash at the reservoir ten years ago. Even fewer know about that fourth driver!"
I was overjoyed to hear that, then suddenly remembered Old Liu's earlier promise.
"Old Liu, I went down into the Demon Cave with you last time. You still owe me an answer!"
Old Liu nodded casually.
"Ask away!"
"Sixth Uncle kept telling me to find the secret of the little two-story building. I guessed he meant the other two document envelopes, but now those have disappeared too. Tell me, what secrets were in those envelopes?"
Old Liu shook his head at that.
"I don't know!"
I sighed in disappointment.
"All right, then I'll ask something else!"
Old Liu waved a hand.
"I've already answered. If you want to ask more questions, keep doing as you're told!"
Hearing that, I grew agitated and snapped:
"'I don't know' counts as an answer? You're being shameless!"
Old Liu picked up his battered stick and used it to support himself as he got out of bed. He said coldly:
"The web of connections surrounding your last bus is more complicated than you can imagine. Even if I told you everything I know right now, you wouldn't be able to accept it!"
As he walked toward the door, Old Liu continued:
"Besides, there are things I don't understand either. Come with me to the development zone and meet that fourth driver first."
Naturally, I wasn't satisfied with his evasions, but the secrets were inside his head. If he refused to talk, there was nothing I could do.
In the end, I had no choice but to agree that we would leave at noon the next day for the development zone in the west of the city, to find that mysterious survivor-the fourth driver of the Route 13 last bus.
When Bai Fan heard I was going away, she arranged for us to have a meal together. Since she hadn't met Little Six yet, I invited him too.
Little Six and I arrived at the restaurant first. We waited a full half hour before Bai Fan appeared with a female friend.
When Bai Fan saw Little Six, she greeted him warmly.
I stood up to shake her friend's hand too. Only after extending my hand did I get a clear look at the girl.
That closer look scared me senseless!
She was actually the girl in the red dress I had saved from suicide beside the reservoir, the one who had knelt dead before the bronze bell the following day!!!
There was no mistake. Although she wasn't wearing a red dress today, I had long since committed those large eyes and delicate features to memory. Seeing her behind Bai Fan now shook me to my core!
Seeing me freeze, Bai Fan smiled and smoothed things over.
"Li Yao, has seeing a pretty girl left you dumbstruck? This is my best friend, Tang Yao!"
I pulled myself together and nodded at her, forcing myself to appear calm.
The girl called Tang Yao smiled and held out her hand too. I hurriedly pulled mine back. I didn't want any contact with a dead person.
Little Six, on the other hand, was delighted to see her. He kept greeting her and asking her all sorts of questions, as though they were old friends.
The four of us sat around the table.
Bai Fan seemed very close to her. Throughout the meal, they kept leaning down to whisper to each other and frequently burst into laughter.
I couldn't eat a bite. The other two simply didn't know the situation, but I had talked to her before. The tragic love story she had told me that night was exactly the dead woman's story in the police report!
There was no way to explain this. Tang Yao, who had earned such deep trust from Bai Fan and Little Six, was undoubtedly a ghost!
When we parted after the meal, I even saw the beautiful Tang Yao give me an eerie smile.
At noon the next day, Old Liu and I boarded the bus to the development zone on time.
Throughout the journey, I kept thinking uneasily about that girl. It might be true that she and Bai Fan were best friends.
But she had died during the week Bai Fan was away on business. Bai Fan very likely didn't know what had happened yet.
At that thought, I composed a message to Bai Fan:
"There's something wrong with Tang Yao. I'll tell you when I get back. Don't have any more contact with her!"
Bai Fan's reply left me unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"I'll see her if I want!"
Seeing my gloomy expression throughout the trip, Old Liu asked whether I was sick.
After I told him the whole story, Old Liu merely gave a calm, cold chuckle.
"Why does everyone look like a ghost to you? First you said I was a ghost, and now you're getting suspicious of that young girl."
I had expected Old Liu's expression to change drastically after hearing my story, and for him to insist we turn back to save her.
Instead, he merely complained that there was something wrong with my nerves!!
Disappointed, I worried for Bai Fan. I could only hope nothing happened to her before I returned.
It was already eight in the evening when we reached the development zone. To save money, Old Liu and I checked into a small, out-of-the-way roadside inn.
As soon as we entered, a short, scrawny middle-aged man came over with a broad grin.
"A room for you two?"
I nodded and said, "Two rooms with double beds."
The owner glanced at the computer behind the counter and said:
"Sorry, there's only one twin room left, right at the far end of the second floor!"
Anyone who traveled frequently for work knew there was a taboo when staying in hotels or inns: it was best to avoid rooms beside stairways or at the ends of corridors, because the yin energy was strong there.
I turned to look at Old Liu, and he nodded indifferently.
The owner led us upstairs. The little inn had only two floors and barely any interior decoration. Looking up, we could even see water pipes running overhead.
The twin room wasn't large either. Aside from the two beds, there was barely any room for anything else.
The owner handed me the key, then turned and left.
After a quick wash, Old Liu and I lay down to sleep. Old Liu was getting on in years, after all; his head had barely touched the pillow before he started snoring.
The room was poorly soundproofed. Old Liu snored beside me, and someone next door was snoring too. The snores rose and fell on either side, so loud that I simply couldn't sleep.
I put a cigarette between my lips, intending to go outside for some air.
There was a thunderstorm that night, and the rain was pouring down outside. I stood in the corridor, admiring the rainy view through the window.
As I stared, lost in thought, someone suddenly patted me on the back.
I broke into a cold sweat and whipped around.
The inn's owner was standing there in his pajamas, grinning at me.
"Young man, rainy nights are chilly. Don't stay out here too long!"
Still shaken, I nodded, and the owner turned and went downstairs.
I let out a long breath. I no longer felt like smoking, so I stubbed out the cigarette and was about to turn back to my room.
Then I noticed the wind had blown the door next door open a crack with a creak.
I vividly remembered how the snoring in that room rivaled Old Liu's. With the guest sleeping so soundly, I thought the open door might leave them exposed to a draft and make them catch a chill.
Unable to leave well enough alone, I decided to close it.
I had just taken hold of the handle to pull the door shut when I suddenly saw through the gap that the room was empty!!!
Two beds stood side by side, their quilts neatly folded. No one was staying there at all.
While I was puzzling over this, someone suddenly shoved me from behind.
I stumbled headlong into the room.
When I raised my head in panic, I nearly had my soul scared out of me.
A pair of bloodshot eyes stared straight into mine from just one centimeter away!!