Chapter 1

This opening chapter is adapted from this text.

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Li Xiaoting is a boarding student in the second year of Yuqi High School. Today, her school organized an outing, so there were no classes. She doesn't have the habit of sleeping in, so she got up early and went to the playground to run. After a few laps, the sky gradually brightened, and she walked a few more laps before leaving the playground and heading towards the dining hall.

The distance between the playground and the dining hall is quite far, one located in the northeast corner of the school and the other in the southwest corner, almost spanning the entire school. As she walked from the playground to the dining hall, she passed near the school gate.

When she got close, Li Xiaoting couldn't help but glance at the school gate. To her surprise, she saw a school bus parked there, and her classmates were lining up to board the bus, with their homeroom teacher, Ms. Liu, standing at the end of the line.

She frowned and checked her phone; it was just past seven. She clearly remembered that the school's assembly time was 8:30 AM. Why were they gathering so early? When did the assembly time change, and why wasn't she informed?

She didn't have time to think much and immediately changed direction, heading towards the school gate. By the time she reached the gate, her classmates, including Ms. Liu, had already boarded the bus, and the doors were slowly closing.

She was taken aback and felt a bit angry. How could they not wait for her? She quickened her pace, running towards the bus door, and just as it was about to close, she leaped onto the bus.

Standing at the door, she was still catching her breath, holding onto the handle at the front of the bus, and looked around. Indeed, all her classmates were on the bus. Her homeroom teacher, Ms. Liu, was sitting in the front seat, next to the door.

Strangely, she noticed that Ms. Liu and all her classmates were sitting upright, with their hands on their knees, staring straight ahead, just like during the military training when they first entered school.

Their faces were expressionless, and when she entered, they didn't acknowledge her at all, not even a glance. They just stared blankly at the front of the bus.

She felt puzzled, wondering what was so interesting at the front of the bus. She turned to look but saw nothing. She turned back, muttering to herself, finding it quite amusing.

At the same time, she noticed that the bus driver had changed. The driver was a man in his early thirties whom she had never seen before. The original driver was sitting in the seat behind the driver, just like her teacher and classmates, sitting upright with his hands on his knees, staring straight ahead.

Li Xiaoting was surprised again, wondering: Why are there two drivers? Are we going to a very far place for this outing? Did the school worry that one driver would be too tired, so they added another to take turns?

While thinking, she walked to the back of the bus, hoping to find a seat. But she found that all the seats were taken. She stood at the back, turned around, and looked forward, noticing that the only seat left was next to her homeroom teacher.

She glanced at her teacher's back, feeling a bit nervous. Ms. Liu was always strict and hard to approach. So, Li Xiaoting didn't go over. She looked around and saw her two best friends, Fang Rou and Zeng Qian, sitting together in the middle of the bus.

"I'll squeeze in with them, so I don't have to sit next to the teacher," Li Xiaoting thought and walked forward.

She reached Fang Rou and Zeng Qian, poked Fang Rou's arm, and said, "Fang Rou, move over a bit, let's sit together."

Strangely, Fang Rou didn't move, not even turning to look at her. Li Xiaoting, puzzled, poked Zeng Qian and asked, "What's wrong with Fang Rou? Why isn't she talking to me? Zeng Qian, move over a bit."

But Zeng Qian, like Fang Rou, ignored her. Li Xiaoting felt a bit angry and was about to say more when the new driver suddenly stood up, looked at her, and asked loudly, "What's your name, student?"

"Li Xiaoting," Li Xiaoting answered, not caring about Fang Rou and Zeng Qian.

"Li Xiaoting?" The driver repeated, took out a piece of paper, glanced at it, and then looked up at Li Xiaoting. "Your name is not on this list. Please get off the bus."

Li Xiaoting was stunned. "This is the school bus for our class outing. How can my name not be on the list? It must be a mistake."

The driver's face was serious. "I don't know if it's a mistake, but your name is not on the list, so please get off the bus."

Li Xiaoting said, "Why should I get off? All my classmates and Ms. Liu are here, and everyone knows me. Just ask them, and you'll know."

The driver was very stubborn. "Please get off the bus!"

Li Xiaoting had no choice but to walk to her teacher and said, "Ms. Liu, please tell the driver. It must be a mistake on the list. We can't go on the outing without me."

But Ms. Liu, like Fang Rou and Zeng Qian, acted as if she hadn't heard her, still staring straight ahead without turning to look at her.

The driver urged again, "Please get off the bus!"

Li Xiaoting looked at her teacher helplessly, shrugged, and said, "Ms. Liu, you see, it's not that I don't want to go, but my name is missing from the list, and the driver won't let me go. If you write any travel notes, don't include me."

Ms. Liu still ignored her, and Li Xiaoting angrily got off the bus.

As soon as she got off, the bus started and drove away. Li Xiaoting was stunned, looked around, and decided not to go to the dining hall. She bought some food from a nearby store, thinking: All my classmates are on the outing, and I'm left alone. There's nothing to do, and the teacher tacitly approved, so I might as well go to the internet cafe.

With that, she took her food and headed to the internet cafe. The internet cafe was near the school, just a street away. She looked around and, seeing no vehicles, quickly crossed the street and entered the internet cafe.

Once inside, she got a computer, paid the deposit, and immediately went online.

Just as she was surfing the web, her phone rang. She looked at the screen, and it showed "Ms. Liu."

This call was from her homeroom teacher.

Didn't Ms. Liu already leave for the outing? Why is she calling me? Li Xiaoting was puzzled but answered the call.

As soon as she answered, her teacher asked, "Li Xiaoting, where are you? All your classmates are waiting for you. Hurry to the school gate!"

"Ah!" Li Xiaoting was stunned. "Ms. Liu, didn't you already leave?"

"What do you mean 'already left'? Hurry up and come over," her teacher scolded, urging her in a commanding tone.

Li Xiaoting was extremely puzzled but couldn't figure out why. She paid at the counter and left the internet cafe.

As soon as she stepped out onto the street, she saw the two school buses that had left earlier parked at the school gate. Through the bus windows, she could clearly see her classmates inside.

But this time, their behavior was very different from what she had seen earlier. They were all excited, moving around, and some of the students by the windows even opened the windows and waved at her.

They had already left, so how did they come back? Could it be that everyone, including the teacher, was playing a prank on her?

She couldn't think of any other explanation and quickly approached the bus. The door was open, and she got on without hesitation. She saw Ms. Liu sitting in the front seat by the door.

"Ms. Liu!" She greeted her teacher.

Ms. Liu hummed softly, displeased. "Before we left, you were surfing the internet. Write a reflection after we return. Now, find a seat."

Li Xiaoting nodded, feeling her voice low, and her confusion reached its peak. From the teacher's expression, it didn't seem like she was joking. The teacher's strictness made her hesitant to question.

She glanced at the driver, who was the original driver, now in the driver's seat. The new driver was nowhere to be seen.

What's going on?

Li Xiaoting, still confused, walked to the back of the bus. The situation was the same as before; all the seats were taken. She looked forward and saw her two best friends, Fang Rou and Zeng Qian, sitting in the same seats as before.

She walked over to them and poked Fang Rou's arm, "Fang Rou, move over a bit, let's sit together."

Fang Rou immediately moved over, giving her some space. The three girls squeezed into the two seats. Zeng Qian asked, "Li Xiaoting, why are you so late? You don't usually go online. What happened this time?"

Li Xiaoting felt a deep sense of injustice but didn't know where to start. She looked at Zeng Qian, "You... you don't know? Why are you asking me? By the way, when I was on the bus earlier, I talked to you, but you didn't respond."

"We didn't respond?" Zeng Qian looked at her, puzzled. "When did this happen?"

Li Xiaoting looked at her, seeing her serious expression, not like she was joking. She explained, "Around seven, you and everyone else, including the teacher, were on the bus, acting very strangely. I talked to you, but no one responded."

"How could that be?" Fang Rou suddenly exclaimed, her voice sharp. "At seven, Zeng Qian and I had just woken up. How could we be on the bus? You must be mistaken."

Li Xiaoting shook her head. "That's impossible. I clearly saw everyone on the bus. The old driver was in the back seat, and the new driver said my name wasn't on the list and made me get off. That's why I went to the internet cafe."

Fang Rou and Zeng Qian looked at her as if she were a monster. After a moment, they exchanged glances, and Fang Rou touched Li Xiaoting's forehead. "What old driver and new driver? There's only one driver. I think you're sick, and it's serious. How could you say such nonsense?"

Li Xiaoting insisted, "I'm not making it up. It's all true."

But Fang Rou and Zeng Qian wouldn't believe her and argued back. Their voices were loud, and somehow, their teacher heard.

Ms. Liu turned around, looked at the three of them, and immediately called, "Li Xiaoting, come sit here."

Li Xiaoting was talking with the two girls and, upon hearing this, felt like she had been sentenced to death. She walked to the front, trembling, and sat down next to her teacher.

Sure enough, as soon as she sat down, Ms. Liu scolded her, lecturing her about going to the internet cafe.

Li Xiaoting listened, trembling, until the teacher was tired and stopped. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

The bus finally started and moved forward.

Li Xiaoting sat in her seat, feeling a sense of unease. She looked at her classmates and then at Ms. Liu, finding the situation increasingly strange. What happened at seven was definitely not a dream. It couldn't be her imagination, but why did her classmates act as if they didn't know?

If her classmates were lying, why did the teacher say the same thing? From her teacher's old-fashioned attitude, she wouldn't joke around.

If neither side was lying, why did such a strange thing happen? Could it be that she saw a ghost?

"Ghost!"

Her eyelids twitched. "Could it be a sign? This outing will end in a car accident. The new driver, no, he's not a driver but a ghost, and the list he showed was a death list. The teacher, classmates, and driver, all of them will die, so their names are on the list. That's why, when I got on the bus the first time, they were in that posture, because they were all about to die, and their souls were taken away. That's why they didn't respond to me."

Thinking about this, she felt a deep chill. "I knew about it in advance, so I avoided it. Because I avoided it, I didn't die. Because I didn't die, my name wasn't on the list."

"Should I tell my teacher and classmates? No, it won't help. Their names are on the death list, and I can't save them. Unless... unless I can erase their names from the list, but that's impossible. When will the accident happen?"

She looked forward, and the bus had entered the mountains. It was about to take a turn and start the winding road. "Oh no! Could the bus roll off a cliff while on the winding road?"

At that moment, a person appeared on the road, waving and signaling the bus to stop.

Li Xiaoting looked at the person, her face turning pale. She recognized him immediately. "It's him, the new driver, no, the ghost. It's him, no doubt. Oh no! He's here, so the accident must be about to happen."

The person walked to the bus door, and it opened. He said, "There's a mudslide on the mountain. Don't go forward."

"It's a mudslide! Oh no, it's not a car accident but a mudslide. They will all die in the mudslide." Li Xiaoting, without hesitation, stood up and rushed off the bus.

Almost at the same time, she heard screams from her teacher and classmates. She turned around, and a car suddenly loomed in front of her. She felt herself flying through the air.

Before she died, she realized that the list was not a death list but a list of survivors. The "ghost" saved everyone else from the mudslide but didn't save her, who was about to die in a car accident.

The people on the bus ignored her because she was the one who was going to die. It was indeed a sign, but it was a sign of her own death.