Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 317 Passengers
squeak-

With a creaking sound, the minibus door closed.

Even though there was no ticket seller sitting by the door and no one touched the door, the door closed automatically.

At the same time, the minibus started moving.

The car body beneath my feet began to tremble. The roar of the minibus's diesel engine, accompanied by a familiar smell of oil, signaled the start of the minibus in the darkness.

Ran Qing and the others saw the minibus with its lights off heading towards the bend ahead.

The dimly lit car was empty, with no passengers in sight.

Only a figure could be vaguely seen sitting in the driver's seat.

But a strange intuition prevented the three of them from approaching the driver.

They stood by the door, watching with a mixture of surprise and disbelief as the minibus drove away from the intersection.

Long Zongshu suddenly said, "Ran Qing!"

He called out softly and tugged at Ran Qing in the darkness.

Ran Qing looked in the direction Zong Shu pointed. At that moment, the minibus had just passed the end of the bend and gone past the tent by the roadside.

Inside the tent, where a kerosene lamp hung, the little girl lay quietly asleep.

However, her mother, the middle-aged woman, appeared a dozen meters away next to the pine forest.

A strange minibus drove past the roadside, but the middle-aged woman seemed oblivious to it.

She stared blankly at the dark pine forest, dragging her stiff, slow steps as she walked into it.

They had shockingly abandoned their young daughter alone by the roadside in this desolate wilderness...

Ran Qing's heart skipped a beat when she saw this.

Mo Li asked anxiously, "What has bewitched Aunt Luo?"

Long Zongshu was the most anxious. He rushed to the window, opened the minibus window, and shouted outside.

"Aunt Luo! Come back quickly!"

The anxious shouts of the young Long Zongshu echoed in the darkness. As he shouted, three flames suddenly rose from Long Zongshu's shoulders.

But after his shout echoed in the darkness, the woman in the pine forest merely turned her head coldly and glanced at the three people on the minibus.

The next second, she disappeared into the pine forest without looking back.

Long Zongshu's shouts and attempts to stop her did not bring her back.

Mo Li was somewhat taken aback: "Zong Shu, you..."

At this moment, three balls of flame were burning fiercely on Long Zongshu's shoulder.

Although the flame dimmed and went out the next second.

But when they called for help, a fire suddenly broke out...

Mo Li was somewhat surprised.

Long Zongshu explained, "I used my family's secret mountain-calling technique, which can awaken those who are bewitched by evil spirits in the mountains. But Aunt Luo didn't respond..."

Long Zongshu said, somewhat puzzled, "Could it be that she wasn't bewitched by evil spirits? Then why would she go to the pine forest for no reason?"

Ran Qing looked at the windshield ahead and suddenly said, "...Never mind her for now, take a look at this road, where does it lead?"

Ahead of the dark minibus, the bus, without its lights on, was driving on a dark mountain road.

But a thick fog had appeared on the road ahead without anyone noticing.

Visibility was extremely low in the fog, but strangely enough, they could vaguely see shadowy figures on the roadside through the fog.

The lively scene resembled a rural market day...

But it's midnight now, who would be going to a market in the middle of nowhere?

The thick fog obscured her vision, and coupled with the pitch-black night, Ran Qing could not discern where the road ahead led.

Upon hearing Ran Qing's reminder, Long Zongshu and Mo Li also noticed the anomaly ahead.

Mo Li said in surprise, "This fog is so strange... I feel like I've seen a similar fog somewhere before?"

Long Zongshu leaned against the window, peering out. But the fog and the darkness of the night made it impossible for him to discern the path.

"...However, the itinerary posted on the front of the vehicle indicates that it is going to the Laro mine."

Long Zongshu said, "I remember Zheng Hong's family lived in Laro Mine, which is a mining area next to Moonshine City, about a forty-minute drive away..."

Zheng Hong is a classmate of Ran Qing.

Upon hearing Long Zongshu's words, Ran Qing also remembered.

Although he and Zheng Hong weren't particularly close, they were both from the countryside and belonged to the same small circle. They often interacted and would talk together during PE class.

Mo Li asked in a low voice, "Are there any ghost stories or legends about this Laro mine?"

This strange minibus was heading towards the Raro mine...

Ran Qing and Long Zongshu exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously.

"Have not heard……"

“I’ve been to the Laro mine once. It’s a very ordinary mining area. It used to be quite wealthy, but now it’s basically abandoned. The mine has probably been almost completely mined out.”

Both men knew something about the Laro mine, but not much.

However, this place is not the origin of any horror stories.

On the contrary, it is a small village where people live in large numbers.

The three whispered amongst themselves, cautiously observing the situation inside the car.

But at that moment, the minibus suddenly stopped, and the old, dilapidated door opened with a creak.

Two figures boarded the minibus from the thick fog below.

They were silent, wearing miners' helmets, their faces obscured in the darkness, but they reeked of sweat and oil.

Two dark figures carrying large and small bags glanced at Ran Qing and the others before finding seats and sitting down on their own.

The minibus started moving again.

A sense of unease and threat arose in Ran Qing's heart.

He squinted, staring intently at the two dark figures dressed as miners. Their faces were obscured in the darkness, but these two miners did not appear to be living people.

Even... not quite human!
Inside the minibus, an eerie silence descended.

With the arrival of the unfamiliar passenger, Ran Qing and the other two stopped talking, as did the two strange passengers.

Compared to the three people who were standing still, these two passengers seemed much more familiar with the route and were not taking the minibus for the first time.

The minibus continued its journey along the fog-shrouded mountain road.

However, Ran Qing did not feel any bumps along the way, as if they were always traveling on a smooth, paved road without potholes.

But... there isn't such a long, flat, paved road in Moonlit City!

As the minibus continued to stop and start, the number of passengers on board increased.

Gradually, the minibus became almost completely full.

—Although these minibuses don't have a large passenger capacity even when fully loaded.

But as more and more passengers boarded the train, the unsettling and startling sense of dread grew stronger and stronger.

Ran Qing and the other two remained standing, without making a sound.

But they could all clearly feel that the passengers on the bus were staring at them with a strange, cold gaze.

That gaze... was very strange.

There was no malice involved, and I didn't even feel threatened.

It doesn't seem like an evil spirit targeting a living person.

But... I didn't feel much kindness either.

The only thing that's certain is that those strange passengers on the bus didn't see them as one of their own!

(End of this chapter)