Chapter 12: Human or Ghost?
Looking at this face, Qiu Leling’s mind was as if it had suffered an unimaginable shock.
A chill rose from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
The fatigue from last night vanished in an instant, and cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
The image of the murderer wearing a gas mask, holding a blood-stained fire axe, and his ice-cold, terrifying gaze, flashed in her mind. It made her want to slam the door shut.
However, her body wouldn’t obey. Her legs were weak.
“Hello, your delivery.”
Liu Haoyu’s voice rang out again, exactly as Qiu Leling remembered it.
She wanted to run, but she knew there was nowhere to escape.
Even when she slept last night, her dreams were filled with the terrifying murderer and his eerie, horrifying laughter.
This person was definitely not normal!
Qiu Leling’s teeth chattered, and she looked at Liu Haoyu’s face with eyes full of fear.
Finally, she spoke.
“Big brother… We should talk openly. I didn’t provoke you, nor did I touch you. If you are human, please tell me what I did wrong, and I’ll change it immediately.”
“If you are a ghost, tell me your grievances, and I can help you report it to the police, right?”
“There’s no need to bother me!”
By the end of her plea, Qiu Leling was on the verge of tears.
Liu Haoyu couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth upon hearing this.
So, she remembered what happened last night?
But was she misunderstanding something?
Liu Haoyu asked tentatively.
“Do you remember the bank robbery last night?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know!”
Liu Haoyu’s words made Qiu Leling’s gaze even more fearful.
“Even if I saw you rob the bank, I wouldn’t tell anyone. And I didn’t see anything, really didn’t see it!”
“…”
Liu Haoyu couldn’t help but break out in a sweat.
How could he, a model citizen, be robbing a bank?
“What I meant was, two foreigners robbed the bank last night, and then I saved you from the bus. Do you remember that?”
Even though Liu Haoyu had explained so clearly, the terrified rich woman shook her head repeatedly.
Liu Haoyu realized then that Qiu Leling thought he was a ghost.
Thinking this, Liu Haoyu sighed and said.
“Look at my shadow, look at my face.”
“Do I look like a ghost?”
“Do I look like a bad person?”
“I’m a great person.”
Qiu Leling, who had been terrified, was momentarily stunned by his words.
When people calm down, they try to understand the situation. Qiu Leling was no exception.
She first looked at Liu Haoyu’s shadow in the bright sunlight, then at his face, and finally couldn’t help but reach out and pinch the muscles in Liu Haoyu’s forearm with some suspicion.
Feeling the warmth, just like that of a living person, she murmured.
“Are you really human?”
“Genuine, a newly hired delivery guy. I have my ID here.”
“You’re really not some Texas Chainsaw Massacre killer?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve only heard of Texas Hold’em.”
“It seems… he does have body heat.”
Liu Haoyu let the young girl touch his arm.
But this strange behavior naturally attracted the attention of passersby, and people around them kept pointing at the two of them.
Especially a boy drinking milk tea, who couldn’t help but say,
“Sis, are you planning to keep this guy?”
Qiu Leling, still captivated by Liu Haoyu’s strong physique, blushed furiously upon hearing her brother’s words and retorted,
“No way!”
However, her brother, who knew her best, could see her dazed expression.
“An explanation is just a cover-up.”
“I just ordered delivery! It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Why are you slandering me? I really didn’t…”
Before Qiu Leling could finish, her brother interrupted.
“Sis, stop pretending. That BL manga you hid under the computer desk, the protagonist looks a lot like this guy… Ugh!”
The boy, halfway through exposing her, had his mouth covered by Qiu Leling.
Looking at her brother, who was only in junior high, Qiu Leling’s eyes were filled with a friendly murderous intent.
“What did you just say, Xiao Zhi?”
Seeing Qiu Leling like a tigress, the boy named Xiao Zhi could only mumble incoherently.
“Nothing, nothing. That manga is mine. I hid it under the computer desk. Sister doesn’t like that stuff.”
“That’s my good brother.”
Satisfied, Qiu Leling released her hand from Xiao Zhi’s neck and apologized to Liu Haoyu.
“Sorry, I misunderstood you.”
“It’s okay.”
Liu Haoyu got on his motorcycle and left Qiu Leling’s villa.
Xiao Zhi looked at the motorcycle under Liu Haoyu, and said.
“Sis, I want a motorcycle like that too.”
“Dream on.”
“Then I’ll tell Mom you brought a man home.”
“Are you kidding me?”
——————
Ignoring the harmonious family interaction behind him, Liu Haoyu arrived at an alley and took off his helmet.
“That’s strange, she doesn’t carry any grudges, and it seems she doesn’t know what happened last night.”
“Could it be that the ghost bus has let her go?”
A girl’s voice sounded in his ear, accompanied by “crunch, crunch” chewing sounds.
Qin Liu was eating potato chips.
“My lantern didn’t react to her at all, which is completely different from Bai Anting’s situation.”
“Tsk…” Liu Haoyu felt that things were not as simple as he thought. “It’s also possible that the time for her existence to be erased hasn’t come yet…”
“The Black Book might know something, why don’t we ask it?”
Hearing Qin Liu’s words, Liu Haoyu’s gaze fell on the Black Book in his hand.
After opening the book, the blood writing inside had not disappeared, and there was no place to write to ask the other party.
It seemed he couldn’t count on the Black Book.
Liu Haoyu closed the Black Book and took out a talisman.
He planned to check the situation at Cangjiang Bridge.
The afternoon sun was no longer scorching, but it was still dazzling.
Riding his motorcycle along Provincial Highway 845, Liu Haoyu returned to the Yangtze River Bridge.
Upon reaching the place where he had stopped last night, Liu Haoyu saw this scene.
The two foreigners from before were standing on the bridge.
They were facing the sun, with the sunlight illuminating their faces.
Their faces were filled with terror, and they flailed their limbs as if drowning, as if resisting, as if struggling.
But it was all useless.
After just a few seconds, both of them plunged into the river.
Jumping into the water from this height was almost like falling onto cement.
With two “splat” sounds, Liu Haoyu saw their bodies burst, their limbs contorting strangely. Hot blood left a stain on the river water, and then, as if pulled by something, they were dragged to the bottom.
The vehicles passing by on Cangjiang Bridge had not noticed the presence of the two people from the beginning.
Even when they fell into the water, no one called the police.
Liu Haoyu approached the bridge and looked down. On the clear river water, only a small amount of blood remained, and it soon disappeared.
The two of them seemed to have never existed in this world.
Furthermore, judging by their expressions, it was clear that these two did not jump voluntarily, but rather seemed to be controlled by something.
Liu Haoyu took out a talisman. As the talisman burned, his brow furrowed slightly.
There were no souls of these two at the bottom of the water.
The two had just died, and their souls couldn’t have disappeared so quickly.
Or rather, something had eaten their souls…
“It seems we’ll be busy again soon.”
“Keep it up.”
Qin Liu was still munching on potato chips.
Liu Haoyu only needed to catch ghosts, while she was the cheerleader. She had to consider many things.
For example, when to take out the lantern, when to hide in Hong Yu, when to sleep, etc.
These all required her own limited brain cells.
Well, in reality, she really didn’t dare to use her guide ability.
Last night, Qin Liu dreamed that she was straddling Liu Haoyu, looking unsatisfied. The dream was so real, as if she were experiencing it herself. Just recalling it made her feel frightened, and she even felt a phantom pain in her lower body.
“Let’s do as before, Qin Liu, you hide in Hong Yu. That ghost bus is very cunning.”
Liu Haoyu wished Qin Liu could help, but the ghost bus seemed to have its own consciousness. As long as Qin Liu was nearby, it would never appear.
What was even more troublesome was that there was more than one ghost bus…
Headache.
It was still early, and before going ghost hunting again, Liu Haoyu needed to prepare some things.
“Vroom vroom…”
Just as Liu Haoyu was about to start his motorcycle, his backpack began to vibrate strangely.
He opened the bag and saw that the Black Book was vibrating violently.
When Liu Haoyu opened the book, the blood writing that was there before had all disappeared.
Only a few new lines of blood writing remained.
“The deceased whose lives were taken by Bus 514 are not limited to one.”
“Several innocent people have already boarded this bus before.”
“They have now become unknown vengeful spirits.”
“They roam the world, trying to find new scapegoats so that they can reincarnate.”
“If you want to uncover the secrets of Bus 514, start with these pitiful fierce ghosts.”
“One of the people who entered the bus was named Li Yunsong.”
“Go to Tengda Supermarket. this pitiful vengeful spirit is currently looking for a new scapegoat.”
