Chapter 6

"What's wrong with that bus? I've taken this route many times. The driver doesn't recognize me, but I remember him. What's the problem?"

Although strange things had been happening all day, with a bus full of people and the same old driver, Jiang Yue naturally didn't think there was any problem.

"The bus is fine, and the people are fine, but..."

San Gou hesitated, as if considering how to phrase his words so as not to anger his brother, while still making him believe.

"But what?" Jiang Yue couldn't help but ask.

"Second Brother, you trust me about the broth, right?" San Gou didn't answer but asked instead.

Jiang Yue stared at San Gou, thought for a moment, didn't say anything, and finally nodded.

"Then whatever I say, you'll believe me, right?" San Gou asked again.

"I believe you." Jiang Yue patted San Gou's head.

"Second Brother, the bus is fine, and the people are fine! But... but there were things on the roof, scary things, did you see them?"

Things on the roof?

Jiang Yue recalled the bus from far to near, stopping, and driving away.

The entire scene replayed in his mind several times. In his memory, the bus was a normal bus, the engine sounded normal, the tire tracks were normal, and even the sound of the tires rubbing against the ground when braking was normal. He didn't see anything on the roof.

"Second Brother, you really didn't see them?" San Gou's voice trembled a bit.

"What did you see? Don't be afraid, tell me in detail."

"Those things, not quite human, not quite ghost, seemed transparent, changing shape, more agile than monkeys. Some were coiled on the roof, some hanging on the rearview mirror, some stuck to the glass, and some lying on the tires. I just wondered, with such a big commotion, how could everyone on the bus not see them?"

On the desolate mountain road, in the uninhabited wilderness, under the gloomy sky, with the drizzling rain, and surrounded by dark mountains, the world seemed to add a few more layers of desolation and terror.

Especially with what San Gou was saying...

In the deep mountains and wilderness, with no sign of human life...

The mountain wind howled fiercely, and the mist in the mountains surged and changed, as if countless unseen terrors were pressing in from all sides.

"Second Brother..."

"San Gou, don't talk anymore, come with me." Jiang Yue was inwardly distressed; how could things keep getting stranger and stranger?

Panshi Ridge could not be returned to. Jiang Yue made a brave decision to go to the town.

The journey to the town was thirty miles of mountain road, which would take at least two hours even if they walked quickly, but at least it was still early.

When San Gou heard they were going to the town, he was afraid of being like a lamb to the slaughter. If they went to the town, his aunt wouldn't let him wander around. He was a bit reluctant, but he couldn't argue with Jiang Yue's insistence.

Missing the bus, the journey to the city was over a hundred miles, and walking back to Xingcheng was unrealistic. Going to the town, they might be able to hire a car back to the city, which would just cost a bit more money.

The mountain road was muddy and slippery, making it even more difficult to walk.

On the way, San Gou kept complaining: "Second Brother, why do you keep making me drink water? I'm so full, I can't walk fast."

"Drink, drink more! Didn't you see Second Brother drinking too? Drinking more water means more urine."

"What do I need so much urine for?" San Gou was annoyed by the frequent need to urinate.

"Hehe, listen to Second Brother, it's for the best." Jiang Yue prayed inwardly, hoping that the child's urine would ward off evil and have some effect on the journey.

Perhaps the child's urine did have some effect. Just after 5:30, the two of them, covered in mud, arrived in the town, and they really didn't encounter any major issues on the way.

Auntie almost didn't recognize them.

"You two little calves, what's going on? Are you trying to scare your aunt on Qingming Festival?"

Auntie had a sharp tongue but a good heart. Seeing her two nephews in such a sorry state, she was naturally very concerned.

After a thorough cleaning, they finally looked somewhat human again. When Jiang Yue mentioned hiring a car back to the city, Auntie's expression changed several times.

"What's wrong?" Reading people's expressions was Jiang Yue's specialty, and Auntie's expression clearly indicated something was up.

"Yue, you don't know, the people in town are almost crazy. Who has the mind to hire a car for you? Besides..."

"What happened in the town?"

"Didn't you hear on the way? A few miles west of Dajin Mountain, a large part of the mountain collapsed, and the bus from the town to Xingcheng was buried. There were dozens of people on the bus! Either they were from the town or related to people in the town. Even if not, they were acquaintances. Do you think anyone has the mind to drive a car now? Besides, the road is washed out, it's impassable."

"Oh, when Auntie heard this, her heart has been pounding ever since, afraid that you two little beasts might have gone to the city and gotten on that bus... How could Auntie live if that happened!"

As Auntie spoke, she held one of them in each hand and burst into tears.

Jiang Yue and San Gou exchanged a glance, their eyes full of shock. This meant... they had escaped a disaster by not getting on that bus?

Auntie's crying completely dashed their hopes of returning to the city that night.

Once a woman's maternal instincts kick in, there needs to be a process to resolve it.

The resolution can be a meal, a chat, or listening to her nag.

Because of the unexpected arrival of her eldest nephew, Auntie made an especially lavish dinner.

Auntie's family was considered well-off in the town.

Her husband was hardworking and honest, not talkative but kind and good-natured. He never said a bad word about his wife's nephew, San Gou.

"Yue, eat more, this is Auntie's best black pepper beef ribs."

"Try this, braised pork knuckle, see if Auntie's skills have improved."

"And these shrimp, spicy and fragrant, you loved them when you were a child."

At the dinner table, Auntie sat to Jiang Yue's right, constantly serving him food, pushing it into his bowl with an irresistible force.

Auntie's sharp eyes indicated that not eating would be a big deal. Jiang Yue had no choice but to eat.

Fortunately, he was young and growing, so he didn't mind the rich dishes.

This made San Gou a bit jealous.

Both are nephews, am I no longer Auntie's most beloved little beast?

Seeing San Gou's disappointment, Uncle smiled and gave him a piece of beef rib and a piece of pork knuckle: "Come, let's make San Gou stronger."

San Gou almost cried. How had he never noticed how kind and lovable Uncle was before?

Fortunately, Auntie's young child was still too young to understand jealousy, or the dinner table might have turned into a scene of sibling rivalry.

The conversation inevitably turned to the bus, and the atmosphere became extremely heavy. For a while, the town would be shrouded in sorrow and mourning.

San Gou was unusually calm, not boasting like children his age often do. He didn't mention the bus or the strange experiences of the day at all.

Jiang Yue certainly wouldn't add to the tension at such a critical moment. Some things were better left unsaid, to be buried in the heart.

If they were spread, one person would tell ten, and ten would tell a hundred, and who knows what it would turn into.

If it caused social panic and had a bad impact, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, the heavy topic didn't continue. Auntie changed the subject and asked about the tomb-sweeping.

"Yue, no matter how successful you and your brother become, no matter where you go, remember, Panshi Ridge is your root. Don't be like your father, sigh..."

Talking about her brothers, Auntie sighed deeply.

Her eldest brother died unexpectedly in his twenties before he could get married.

Her second brother, Jiang Yue's father, suddenly left a letter and disappeared a few years ago.

Her third brother, San Gou's father, didn't disappear, but he was healthy. The couple worked in a developed city, but they didn't earn much money and neglected their home. Their only child, San Gou, became a left-behind child.

Sometimes Auntie couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with the Jiang family's ancestral grave. Why was the family's fortune getting worse year by year?

"Little Auntie, what exactly is work? Why do my parents always work outside? They've been working for so many years, haven't they achieved anything?"

San Gou, feeling a bit nostalgic for his parents after Auntie's nagging, held a piece of pork knuckle, his oily mouth still sticky with rice, and asked absentmindedly.

"You don't need to know what it is! Just be more successful in the future! Don't be like your father, always busy with no idea what, and neglecting your child."

Uncle quickly intervened: "Ah, why do you keep nagging the child?"

After dinner, after a thorough wash, Jiang Yue received an anxious call from his sister, Jiang Ying. Clearly, she had just seen the news. Upon learning that her brother wasn't on the bus, Jiang Ying immediately relaxed.

After hanging up, Jiang Ying opened the news and skimmed through it.

The news about the bus was reported by major media outlets, but it was just a short bulletin.

The shorter the news, the bigger the event.

The comment section was not closed, but most of the comments were concerned, worried, and praying.

There were a few perverts gloating and using the disaster to make a spectacle, but they were quickly drowned out by the criticism in the comments.