Free Web NovelChapter 53: Chapter 53: Arrival at Pagoda Primary School
Gao Tian didn’t know the name of this filthy thing. He had temporarily dubbed her the "Ghost Mother."
The Ghost Mother was waiting at the station. If he let her on the bus, the total number of passengers would instantly spiral out of control. The number of Ghost Infants she had with her was simply too great—at least thirty, if not more.
’If I get off the bus to avoid the Ghost Mother...’
’I’d have to step into the pool of blood outside. This whole stop, the Blood-colored Nursery Hall, just screams evil.’
’Besides, with so many Ghost Infants, it’s impossible for all of them to stay on the bus. The bus’s rules would definitely force a dozen or so of them off.’
’The result would be me, all alone, stuck at a ghost station covered in blood with a dozen Ghost Infants.’
’That’s still a death sentence.’
’If only Shen Nian were here. He’s been in the Inner World for so long; he might know something about the Ghost Mother.’
Gao Tian nervously weighed his options.
’There is one more radical option. Once the Ghost Mother gets on and I lose my passenger status, should I just fight her head-on?’
’Setting aside all moral considerations...’
’Su Jiu is in the carriage, a liability with no combat ability whatsoever.’
’The most cold-blooded approach would be to sacrifice Su Jiu with the Terror Blade. The instant I slash at the Ghost Mother, the black tie would also activate, boosting my luck.’
’But even setting morals aside, this isn’t a wise choice.’
’The Terror Blade can only be swung once. It’s impossible to kill the thirty-plus Ghost Infants she’d bring aboard in a single strike.’
’That one slash would only infuriate her, provoking an even bloodier retaliation.’
’Faced with such an absolute disparity in power, the small luck boost from the black tie would be a drop in the ocean. It couldn’t possibly turn the tables.’
’No matter how I look at it, this stop means death.’
’There’s only one path left.’
’Get off the bus and use the black card to teleport from the Inner World back to the living’s apartment.’
’Doing so would mean the third green-text mission is a complete failure. I wouldn’t get the reward, I’d have to do another mission next time, and this priceless black card in my hand would be wasted on something so trivial.’
’It’s a loss I can’t afford.’ frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
As the bus came to a stop, Su Jiu had already closed her eyes. Trembling all over, she had given up and was just waiting for death.
Gao Tian chose to stand by the rear door, ready to act on a moment’s notice.
The instant the bus pulled into the station, Gao Tian got a clear look at the Ghost Mother. She was a woman with a face like a horse, so long it seemed it might stretch from her forehead down to the ground. An equally long, thin nose bisected her face. Her lips were paper-thin, her eyes long and narrow.
All in all, it was a very strange face. It wasn’t quite deformed, but seeing it on the street late at night would give any passerby a fright.
Gao Tian suddenly changed his mind. ’I can’t wait any longer. I have to go all in.’
’Let’s hope my luck is a little better today.’
’A man can’t be unlucky forever.’
The bus carriage shook, but the doors had not yet opened. He brazenly activated the Terror Blade’s ability: sacrifice one person, unleash one slash.
The sacrifice Gao Tian chose this time was himself.
The Terror Blade rumbled as he swung it toward an empty, unoccupied seat in the back.
A slash at thin air.
At the same time, the instant he swung the blade, Gao Tian’s entire body exploded into a shower of bloody flowers. The long blade in his hand and the tie on his neck were scattered by the blast.
Amidst Su Jiu’s screams, Gao Tian died, and then Gao Tian was alive again.
...
...
You have died.
Per the effect of the Ghost Card, you are about to be resurrected.
The card you have drawn is—
The Ace of Hearts.
No point value conflict detected. Resurrection successful.
...
Having died and come back to life, Gao Tian quickly stood up. The scattered fragments of his clothes and flesh flew back onto his body as if time were rewinding.
Swinging the Terror Blade wasn’t his goal. His true purpose was to sacrifice himself to trigger the effect of the black tie.
Gao Tian had chosen suicide, using his own death to forcibly trigger the black tie’s effect. If he could pull off this "bug exploit," he would have increased luck upon his resurrection.
He had realized something—luck only had its greatest effect when it was applied at the right moment.
Given the power gap between him and the Ghost Mother, even if one or two people in the carriage died to boost his luck, it wouldn’t be enough to let him defeat her. They simply weren’t in the same league.
But what if a small accident happened as the bus pulled into the station? What if the doors failed to open, and the bus simply skipped this stop?
Luck, applied at a critical moment like that, could have a massive impact.
It could even rewrite the fates of the two of them on the bus.
If Gao Tian were a bit more ruthless right now, he could sacrifice Su Jiu with a second slash, further enhancing the black tie’s ghostly luck.
But the bus’s rules were still a restraining factor.
This was enough.
’The rest is up to fate.’
CREAK, CREAK.
The bus’s front door stopped opposite the Ghost Mother, who was sitting in the waiting area. The door let out a pained groan.
But for some reason, it was as if a screw was stuck. The door opened a crack, then just rocked back and forth, trembling, unable to open any further.
Every creak hammered against Gao Tian’s and Su Jiu’s chests like a death-hastening talisman.
If that door opened just a fraction more, the two of them would be no different from corpses.
But for now, that nameless, rusted screw was still stubbornly jamming the mechanism.
For an old bus like No. 444, which had been in operation for decades, it was perfectly logical and understandable for a part to occasionally malfunction and prevent the door from opening, right?
Outside the station, the Ghost Mother watched impassively, her cold gaze fixed on the ancient bus that couldn’t even open its door properly.
Her face was a blank, noncommittal mask, showing no signs of impatience. She simply remained seated in the waiting area, quietly waiting for the door to open on its own. The countless Ghost Infants tethered to her grew increasingly frantic and restless, letting out shrill, bizarre squeals. It was a chaotic dance of demons.
Bus No. 444 remained at the stop for a full minute, as if engaged in a fierce struggle with its own decrepit components.
A moment later, the mechanical female voice—sounding as beautiful as the music of the heavens—rang out once more:
"The bus is now departing. Please hold on to the handrails to avoid slipping."
The moment he heard that voice, Gao Tian felt as if he’d ascended from Hell to heaven.
His tense muscles relaxed, his heart still thumping wildly. He knew he’d won his gamble. The tiny bit of luck he’d gained by triggering the black tie through suicide had actually caused the bus door to jam, preventing the Ghost Mother from boarding. To make it to the next stop on time, Bus No. 444 had decided not to wait any longer and was moving on.
He had successfully exploited the bug.
Su Jiu also collapsed limply in her seat. It wasn’t until the bus inexplicably started moving, skipping the stop entirely and leaving the Blood-colored Nursery Hall and the Ghost Mother far behind, that she seemed to snap out of her daze. She looked like someone who had just woken from a nightmare—utterly bewildered, yet immensely relieved to have survived.
"Brother Gao, was that you? Did you activate the ability of some Supernatural Artifact..."
Su Jiu’s thoughts were easy enough to guess.
Gao Tian didn’t reply, remaining silent as he waited for the bus to reach the next stop.
’Two more stops. I hope my luck holds out.’
’If another passenger on the level of the Ghost Mother or a multi-headed ghost shows up... bad things come in threes, and I doubt I can escape a third disaster today.’
...
"Now approaching: Corpse Sewing Alley. Passengers wishing to disembark, please prepare."
...
"Now approaching: Moonlight Asylum. Passengers wishing to disembark, please prepare."
...
Each time the bus slowed, the mechanical female voice would ring out right on schedule.
After leaving the dreadful Blood-colored Nursery Hall, the next few stops passed without major incident. For some reason, the door also stopped getting stuck.
A few more passengers boarded. Though deformed in appearance, none of them displayed an overwhelming desire to kill.
One was a "person" in a casual knit sweater. It was impossible to tell if it was male or female because it had no head. Blood gushed continuously from the clean cross-section of its neck.
After boarding, it sat down opposite Su Jiu.
A tall "gentleman." This ghost took up two seats after boarding. It wore a black bowler hat, its portly frame wrapped tightly in an overcoat. It slowly turned its head, revealing that it had four faces—one on the front, one on the back, and one on each side. Two of the faces were laughing heartily.
The passenger from the next stop was a young, athletic woman with a killer figure, her head down as she listened intently to music. She looked relatively normal; there was no obvious inhuman part about her.
Covered in a light sweat, she jogged onto the bus and completely ignored the carriage full of corpses and monstrosities. She walked down the aisle to the last row and found an empty corner to listen to her music.
She looked like a normal person. But anyone who dared to act normal in the Inner World was, by definition, the most abnormal thing of all.
"Hey. You, the human in the back with the big knife. I’m a ghost merchant."
The four-faced gentleman’s back-of-the-head face opened its yellowed eyes. Its gaze fell upon Gao Tian as it actually tried to start a conversation.
Gao Tian didn’t answer. He was afraid that talking to a ghost was, in itself, part of its killing method.
Seeing that Gao Tian was ignoring it, the ghost merchant didn’t fly into a rage. The fourth face on the back of its head continued to mutter to itself:
"To be honest, it’s not often we see living folks like you in the Inner World. I only run into one every ten days or half a month. The boredom is killing me.
"How about buying some of the Inner World’s specialties from me to take back? It’s all top-quality stuff. Fair prices, no tricks. Not a single living person who’s made a deal with me has walked away unsatisfied.
"Payment is also very convenient. Besides your own organs and lifespan, you can also sacrifice your most important relatives. All of these can be used as currency.
"How about this? Talk is cheap. Let me show you my wares, and I guarantee you’ll be satisfied."
As it spoke, the ghost merchant’s massive frontal body slowly turned, the seat groaning in protest. Without waiting for Gao Tian’s consent, its fat, stubby hand lifted the side of its overcoat, revealing an abyss beneath.
Gao Tian immediately shut his eyes, refusing to look at the "wares" under the coat.
’Are you kidding me?’ he thought. ’In the Inner World, can you just look at whatever a ghost shows you? It’s probably another one of its killing methods—the kind where one look means instant death.’
Seeing Gao Tian’s lack of interest, the ghost merchant seemed disappointed. It muttered a few words, then turned to accost Su Jiu in the front row.
Su Jiu held her breath. She might be a rookie, but she wasn’t an idiot. Following Gao Tian’s lead, she closed her eyes and pretended she couldn’t see or hear a thing.
Seeing that both living people on the bus were ignoring it, the ghost merchant was rebuffed. It didn’t say anything, however. Three of its four faces closed their eyes.
It remained silent for the rest of the journey.
...
"Now approaching: Pagoda Primary School.
"Passengers wishing to disembark, please gather your personal belongings and exit through the rear door."
