Chapter 23: 023, push her down
When Linda uttered Du Wei's name and occupation, his expression carried a hint of surprise.
Clearly, Linda understood his meaning and whispered, "I'm a broadcaster; it was the viewers who messaged me privately."
Concise and clear.
Du Wei glanced ahead, saw that no one was paying attention, and nodded imperceptibly.
"Do you know where this bus is heading? I'm really scared, that monster from just now, you must have seen it too."
As she spoke, Linda's face still showed lingering fear, and her throat moved with difficulty.
Then she added, "My viewers told me that an hour ago on the North Brook news segment, the police announced a car accident, the victim was that man we saw just now."
Du Wei narrowed his eyes and gestured for her to be quiet with a shushing motion.
Afterward, he typed something on his phone and then tilted the screen toward Linda.
[Where did you board this bus?]
Seeing this, Linda sighed with relief, thinking that communication was possible and this Asian man must be sane.
Therefore, she also took out her phone, shut down the live broadcast app, opened the notes app, and began typing.
[It was the outskirts of Esselgreen. Dr. Du Wei, can you help me? I'm really scared.]
[I'm sorry, I can only remind you to remain calm and not make any deliberate actions. Now, please return to your seat and wait quietly.]
After putting his phone back in his pocket, Du Wei no longer paid attention to Linda.
The current situation was quite eerie; had it not been for his desire to get information from Linda, he probably wouldn't have bothered to advise her on what to do, given his personality.
Of course, Du Wei knew that the advice he offered Linda was just his conjecture; whether it would help was still unclear.
After all, up until now, the bus had exhibited no abnormalities, making it impossible to discern what it intended to do.
Even its destination and the next stop were unknown.
The only certainty was that those who encountered this bus, be they human or not, might be in any city, at any location.
It could only be said that this bizarre bus defied all logic.
Linda opened her mouth but seeing that Du Wei was no longer engaging with her, she immediately felt anchorless.
Just an ordinary woman, she was already calm enough not to scream in madness from such an ordeal, yet the only person she could be sure was sane and seemed very reliable was unwilling to pay her any heed, leaving her somewhat at a loss.
What should she do?
With no choice, Linda cautiously made her way back to her seat while watching Du Wei.
She felt that this psychologist must know something.
Because his gaze was so tranquil, it was easy to be influenced by it during eye contact.
While Linda got lost in her thoughts...
With a hiss—the bus came to a stop.
Not much time had passed since it last halted.
Du Wei frowned, noticing that the Black couple inside the bus had no intention of leaving, yet there was no sign that the front door was opening.
"What's happened?"
He asked himself, suddenly recalling something he had ignored.
In an instant, Du Wei gasped, immediately turning his gaze toward the rear bus door.
As expected...
The next second, the back door opened...
Outside, the heavy rain continued unabated, forming puddles on the ground. A man in a suit with a duckbill cap, dressed ludicrously, stood in the rain. His eyes were replaced with straw balls, and his body soaked by the rain, he stood in the mud, looking up into the bus.
Du Wei met his gaze, knowing that the figure wasn't actually looking at him but at Linda because, just before, it had tried to persuade Linda to get off with it.
It was clear that its target was Linda.
And Linda herself was also very frightened and afraid; her whole body was nearly curled up into a ball, staring out the window in horror.
What was happening?
Why had the bus returned to the original point?
Could it be that this eerie man had set his sights on her?
Linda didn't possess the ability of Spirit Vision like Du Wei, so to her eyes, the man was nothing more than a corpse with its eyes replaced by straw, unaware of why it appeared on this bus.
She couldn't see behind the man, where a Scarecrow presence lurked.
At this moment, Du Wei was also puzzled—if on this bus, Evil Spirits or other unknown entities were subject to some form of restraint, then they were undoubtedly wary of the ghostly bus.
But now, for what reason had the bus returned to the last stop? Du Wei didn't think it was due to the influence of a Scarecrow.
Because if it had that kind of power, it wouldn't have decisively left the bus after the driver pressed the bell.
Could it be...
Did the bus want Linda to get off?
As Du Wei pondered, the black couple suddenly stood up and directly approached Linda. The black woman, with a blank expression, said, "You shouldn't stay on this bus, it will only lead to our death."
Linda's mind went blank, and she asked subconsciously, "What do you mean?"
The black woman pointed at the man outside the bus and said, "He just wanted you to get off, didn't he?"
Linda immediately shook her head, "No, that's absolutely not okay, I can't get off."
The black man said impatiently, "Hey... Listen, we don't want to throw you off, because that would mean murder, but you have to understand, at every stop, Evil Spirits or people get on the bus and some get off. And this damn ghost thing has obviously targeted you; if you don't get off now, something terrible might happen, and then we all might die."
When he said this, the black man pointed at the corpse standing outside the bus door, his face wearing an ugly expression, clearly recalling some unpleasant memory.
Seeing this, Du Wei thought to himself, "This black couple seems to have spent a long time on the bus, knowing some hidden things."
And the terrible things he mentioned seemed to cause them great fear and resistance.
Then Du Wei glanced at the man outside the bus who was drenched, his suit now crumpled, with his trouser legs covered in mud. Unknowingly, he had entered the state of Spirit Vision.
He saw the eerie Scarecrow tilting its head and beckoning to him with a smile drawn by a graffiti pen, emanating an insidious eeriness.
It was targeting him.
This thought flashed through Du Wei's mind.
At this point, the black couple seemed impatient, stretching out their hands to grab Linda's clothes, trying to push her outside of the bus.
"No, you can't do this, this is murder."
Linda resisted frantically, but could not withstand the strength of two people; her heart filled with despair, she hugged the seat, refusing to let go.
God knows what would happen once she left the bus.
Seeing this, Du Wei frowned, noticing that the driver had not made any move regarding the events happening inside the bus.
As if he simply didn't care at all.
In his ears, a sharp buzzing sound was somewhat weakened, but the vague pain in his heart grew more noticeable—a change caused by the eerie Scarecrow.
It seemed that compared to Linda, he had also become one of its targets.
He had to do something.
Thinking this, Du Wei stood up, one hand reaching into his pocket, while the others immediately turned to look at him.
The black couple gave him a warning look, signaling him not to meddle.
Linda, as if grasping at hope, was too excited to speak.
With an expressionless face, Du Wei looked at the black couple, pulled out a handgun from his pocket—these two weren't Evil Spirits, so bullets were much more useful than anything else.
"I think, it would be best for you to return to your seats."