Who was the extra person?
Ning Wei usually paid little attention to the passengers, so she couldn't recall who they were.
The attendant took her ticket. "That's enough. Don't think about it. Thanks to you, this zoo is probably closed for good. Hurry up and get on the bus and take a seat. We're about to depart."
Ning Wei stood at the bus door and watched it close.
The bus resumed its journey. As they passed the zoo, she saw Chen Qi releasing all the animals. Two wolves were ripped apart, bloody and mangled—they were his father and uncle.
"Everyone got what they deserved. Are you relieved now? Can you go back to your seat?" the attendant said, accompanying Ning Wei after she had watched.
"What will happen to Chen Qi?"
The attendant patiently continued, "Both the front and back gates of the zoo are sealed. The animals inside will eat each other, devouring until nothing is left. Naturally, nothing will remain."
Ning Wei gave the attendant a deep look, then turned and returned to her seat in the back row.
This time, there was an extra person in the back row. It was Fu Chengwei, who had disappeared first.
Ning Wei knew who the extra person was. She walked past with a blank expression, sitting in the back row with Fu Chengwei, each on one side of the window.
This Fu Chengwei was not right. In the past, he would have greeted Ning Wei and joked around. Most importantly, he would never have sat in the back row!
Unfortunately, there was no way to discuss this with others here. She was the last to board and had no idea what excuse this fake Fu Chengwei had used to convince everyone to believe him.
Ning Wei leaned by the window and saw the "Fu Chengwei" sitting on the other side through the light.
*Who are you, really?* Ning Wei thought.
The bus initially drove on a wide highway. Although the surroundings were unclear, judging by the driver's skill and the bus's bumps, one could make a general guess.
Everyone, as usual, felt drowsy after getting on the bus. However, the car was intermittently illuminated, causing many to peer dizzily out the window.
"We're home! We're home!" someone suddenly shouted from inside the bus.
Everyone was startled awake by the voice and looked out the window in unison.
It turned out that the bus had returned to the normal world. Outside, there was bustling traffic, flashing lights along the roadside, and even people waiting at bus stops could be seen clearly.
"We're really back?"
"We're finally back?"
Ning Wei lowered her gaze, remaining silent. All she could hear were the excited voices of everyone else.
Sharing her silence was the "Fu Chengwei."
The bus soon stopped at an deserted bus stop, and the doors slowly opened.
The attendant stood at the entrance. "We're back. Aren't you getting off?"
Someone hesitated. "Are we really back?"
Someone replied, "Looking at the scenery outside, it doesn't seem fake."
"Are you getting off?"
Everyone looked at each other, no one daring to move first.
The attendant pretended to glance at her non-existent wristwatch. "There's one minute left. If we miss this chance, we'll have to set off again."
Some people couldn't wait any longer. In the last thirty seconds, six people stepped off one after another.
Those on the bus were still observing. After the six got off, they stood inside the bus stop without moving. However, vehicles kept passing by, and it didn't seem fake.
In the last ten seconds, two more people got off.
"Time's up." As the attendant's voice fell, the doors closed again.
The scenery outside instantly changed. All the passing cars were swallowed by darkness.
The bus stop had also become a dilapidated, abandoned platform, lacking even a name.
As for the eight people who had gotten off, they were now frantically banging on the bus doors.
"Let us in!"
"Let us back on!"
The attendant stood by the door, watching as if it were entertainment, as these eight people scrambled towards the bus doors.
In the darkness, ghostly hands had already broken free from their restraints, struggling desperately to emerge.
The first person was dragged away, his screams reaching the bus carriage.
Then the second person was dragged away, the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.
The banging on the doors stopped, replaced by screams of all kinds.
The outside of the bus doors was covered in red bloody palms and scratch marks. The attendant watched the spectacle, leaning by the door.
No one inside the carriage dared to make a sound, only closing their eyes tightly, telling themselves that if they couldn't see it, they couldn't hear it.
Only after the screams ended did the attendant slowly walk through the carriage.
One of her legs dragged on the ground, flesh and bone grinding against the floor with a grating "hiss."
"One, two, three..."
She was counting the passengers.
"Oh~ There are still fourteen passengers."
She suddenly lifted the leg that was dragging on the ground, reattaching it to her body as if playing with a toy, making a "crackling" sound.
"Alright, this stop is over. Driver, you can continue driving forward."
The gruesome deaths of the previous eight passengers made all the remaining passengers too terrified to utter a word.
Everything returned to how it was at the beginning, just like when they first boarded.
No one dared to ask what had just happened, only secretly feeling fortunate that they had hesitated a little longer. Otherwise, there would be one more corpse outside now.
Ning Wei and "Fu Chengwei" sat in the back row, as if the events that had just transpired had nothing to do with them.
The bus drove again in the darkness. The attendant sat at the front, no longer chattering.
Everyone was afraid to sleep. Only the last two people had their eyes closed, as if resting.
The bus went from smooth sailing to bumpy, as if it were on a mountain road again.
Until a "squeal" sounded, and the bus stopped once more.
The attendant stood up. "Qiuyin Village has arrived. All passengers, please disembark in an orderly manner."
After the tragedy that had just occurred, who would dare to move rashly now?
Seeing that no one was moving, the attendant grew somewhat angry. "What are you doing?! Do you want to stay here?"
Mei Nan looked back at Ning Wei. Ning Wei nodded. He, as passenger number one, was the first to stand and get off, though only he knew how tense he was.
After Mei Nan got off, passenger number two, Song Zhi, also followed.
With these two leading the way, the remaining passengers got off one by one.
At the very end, only "Fu Chengwei" and Ning Wei remained.
The attendant did not urge them, standing quietly to the side and waiting.
"Aren't you getting off?" Ning Wei stared at this imposter of unknown origin.
"Fu Chengwei" also stared intently at Ning Wei. "You go first."
His words were firm, completely unlike his previous flippant demeanor.
As soon as he spoke, Ning Wei was completely convinced of her suspicion.
Ning Wei glanced at him, then got off the bus herself.
After she got off, the fake also followed.