I had always thought of Old Tang as my closest buddy, but seeing him again now, I felt more anger than fear.
I had genuinely treated him as a good brother, only for the old ghost to screw me over.
When Old Tang saw the bus stop, he ran over, panting, and knocked on the window, telling me to open the door. I cursed at him, "Quit screwing with your daddy!"
I slammed down on the accelerator, but strangely, the engine wouldn't respond.
Seeing that I was trying to leave, Old Tang's eyes bulged as if he wanted to tear me apart alive, and he pounded harder on the window. No matter what I tried in the driver's seat, the bus wouldn't budge.
I figured Old Tang must have tampered with something. If he had that kind of ability, why the fuck was he knocking on the window? He could just float right in. Even now, Old Tang was still putting on an act.
I lowered my head in despair, thinking I might lose my life here tonight. Bending down, I pulled the iron wrench out from under the seat, ready to fight this shameless old ghost to the death. As I lowered my head, I spotted a string of black beads beneath the gearshift.
That was right-it was the black bead bracelet Master Liu Yunbo had given me. I was overjoyed. So I hadn't lost it after all. I must have shaken it off when I hurriedly braked and shifted gears earlier.
No wonder Old Tang hadn't floated straight in. With my bracelet nearby, he must not have dared try anything.
At that thought, I watched Old Tang still making a show of knocking on the window and simply opened the door for him. The moment he climbed aboard, he started cursing:
"What the fuck are you doing? Not only wouldn't you open the door, you actually tried to hit the gas and take off when you saw me?"
I put the bracelet back on and finally felt reassured. Old Tang still looked pretty angry. Watching him put so much effort into his performance genuinely made me sick.
"Bro, I was scared out of my wits, wasn't I? Anyway, I haven't seen you for days. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"
Old Tang sat down across from me, arranged his face into an aggrieved expression, and said:
"I don't know when to keep my mouth shut. I told you a little too much a few days ago and brought trouble on myself. Yesterday, during the day, I went to Tang Hollow Village to investigate. Guess what? I happened to find out that in the first crash ten years ago, one of the victims really was that old man you drove that day, the one who liked wrapping a white towel around his head. The villagers all called him Sixth Uncle. I didn't dare stay in the village overnight, so I came running out in the dark."
Hearing that, I really wanted to smash him with the wrench. You fucking died ten years ago, and now you're telling me Sixth Uncle was the one who died back then?
I muttered under my breath, "Keep making shit up. Go on, you fucker!"
Old Tang seemed to hear me, and his eyes bulged again. "What, you don't believe me? You'd better stop driving this last bus while you still can."
I understood what he meant. He was trying to warn me off believing Sixth Uncle. What he hadn't expected was that Old Wu had been the one to tell me he was already dead.
I wasn't in the mood to bullshit with him anymore. I got out and checked the engine compartment. It turned out my sudden braking had damaged the air valve. After replacing the part, I started the bus again.
Old Tang said nothing for the rest of the drive. Only when we were almost at the company did he speak. "Brother, I told you to go find Liu Qingzhu. Did you go?"
The moment I heard the name Liu Qingzhu, my temper flared. Still fucking pretending. I had almost failed to escape and met my end in there, and now he was asking whether I had gone.
"I did. He didn't say much, just told me, 'When there are many people, do not...' I didn't catch the rest. Anyway, he seemed to be in some kind of trouble and even asked me to save him."
I secretly congratulated myself on my cleverness, thinking I could talk out of both sides of my mouth and confuse these two things.
Old Tang nodded. "To tell you the truth, 2386 Huaiyuan Road is notorious for being a sinister place. That residential complex is old and run-down, with hardly any fire safety measures. One night ten years ago, a huge fire killed half a building's worth of people!"
I believed Old Tang about that. I had seen the complex myself. Its walls were blackened, with the plaster peeling off. It really did look as though there had been a fire.
But what I felt even more certain of was that Liu Qingzhu had probably died in that fire. Now these two old ghosts from ten years ago had become partners, teaming up to call other people ghosts. They really were shameless.
Naturally, Old Tang had no idea what I was thinking and continued:
"There was also an old man surnamed Liu in that complex who burned to death in his apartment ten years ago. He was crooked when he was alive and caused even more trouble after he died. Liu Qingzhu stayed there all this time just to keep watch over him. He's been there ten years now."
I lowered my head and looked at the black bracelet around my wrist. Sure enough, I had guessed right about Old Tang. He must have seen me wearing the bracelet and started trying every possible way to smear other people and make himself look good.
I drew out an "Oh" in feigned surprise and played along:
"Hey, Old Tang, hurry up and come back to work. It's pretty dull without you around."
"Brother, I really won't be able to come back to the company anytime soon. Take care of yourself. I'll get in touch if anything comes up."
That was exactly what I had expected him to say. He knew perfectly well that coming back now would pretty much expose him.
I nodded. By then, the bus had finally reached the city. Old Tang hurried off some distance from the company.
Back in the dorm, I lay tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. I hadn't expected Old Tang to suddenly show up after disappearing for days. Stroking my precious bracelet, I thought that no matter what happened, I couldn't lose it.
At some point, I finally drifted into a hazy sleep.
The next morning, my younger cousin, a third-year medical student in the neighboring city, called. He said he had come to our city with his classmates for a visit and, since he had nothing to do that afternoon, would stop by to see me.
Although my cousin and I hadn't been particularly close growing up, we were still blood relatives. Besides, he was Third Aunt's son, and she had recently introduced me to Bai Fan. For that great service, I had to treat him well.
I reserved a table early at a hot pot restaurant near the company. At two in the afternoon, my cousin arrived carrying two bags of fruit.
The kid was handsome, tall, and sturdy, making me thoroughly envious. I thought that in this looks-obsessed society, if I had even a fraction of his good looks, people would probably think more highly of me even if I drove a bus.
My cousin was delighted to see me. After a few pleasantries, he began asking what fun things happened when I spent all day driving and meeting so many people.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There hadn't been anything fun, but there had certainly been plenty worth crying over lately. Still, my cousin was young. It was better not to tell a kid like him about these things.
My cousin was enjoying the meal. As I reached for some food, he noticed the bracelet on my wrist and said with a smile:
"Bro, did your girlfriend give you that bracelet?"
I shook my head. "No, a friend gave it to me."
Curious, my cousin pulled my hand over and carefully felt the bracelet. Looking puzzled, he said, "Bro, this bracelet is made of something really strange. It's not wood, but it doesn't seem like jade or anything like that either!"
I gave a grunt and started pulling my hand back. That bracelet kept me alive. I was even afraid he might ruin it just by examining it.
My cousin seemed even more curious. Still holding on to my wrist, he put down his chopsticks, carefully felt it again, and sniffed it before saying in surprise:
"Bro, I study medicine, and I take part in dissection research all the time. I'm not joking, but why do these black beads look to me like they're made from human eyeballs?"
His words came out of nowhere and sent a chill through my whole body.
I hurriedly pulled my hand back and complained, "We're eating. What the hell are you talking about?"
My cousin immediately gave an embarrassed smile and said:
"Heh, it's just that the material really feels like the eyeballs I've touched in dissection class. Human eyeballs start to rot after only half a month exposed to the air. You've probably been wearing that bracelet for a long time, right? Then it definitely can't be that."
At his words, my mind suddenly churned.
I hadn't dared miss a single word Master Liu Yunbo said. I clearly remembered him telling me, when he handed over the bracelet, to visit him on the fifteenth of this month.
And today was the first day of the lunar month. The fifteenth was exactly half a month away!!