Horror revival: I Own a Ghost Bus

"Did you just say Zhang Tiantian is a ghost?" The black-hatted man stared in shock at the portrait before him, feeling a strange sense of disbelief. Right now, he wasn't ready to take the portrait's words at face value.

From his interactions with her, Zhang Tiantian seemed every bit human—capable of independent thought, emotional responses, and all the characteristics of a living, breathing person. So why would he believe a haunted portrait over someone he had observed himself?

Ghosts are known for deceit, but the man chose to give the portrait a chance. This could be valuable information, after all.

"You'd better explain yourself thoroughly," he warned, raising the cigarette, ready to exhale its smoke at a moment's notice.

The man in the portrait looked more anxious, his voice growing strained as he spoke quickly. "That girl is actually a disguise ghost. It can devour a human's memories. The real Zhang Tiantian is already dead. Its kill condition is discovery. Once it realizes you know the truth, it will kill you and take your place."

"A disguise ghost?" The man was taken aback; he hadn't heard of such a ghost before. Still, the urgency in the portrait's voice gave him pause. But he pressed on. "Why should I believe you? And why are you even telling me this?"

But as soon as he asked, the man in the portrait grew visibly stiffer, his colors rapidly fading as he spoke his last words in a faint whisper: "I don't have much time left. I'm helping you in the hope that you'll escape this village and find someone named Gu Feng. Tell him… 'It's dead.'"

As soon as he finished, the portrait faded entirely, dropping to the floor with a thud. Its supernatural presence had completely dissipated.

Looking down at it, the man felt a chill run down his spine.

It seemed the person in the portrait was the remaining consciousness of a fellow ghost-tamer who had found a way to survive within it. Perhaps he had waited here for ages, hoping to pass on this information to someone who might escape.

He didn't know who Gu Feng was, but he wasn't concerned about that just now. What mattered was that the portrait had claimed that Zhang Tiantian was a ghost.

At this moment, Jiang Yan was still in the other room, alone with her, entirely unaware of the danger he could be in.

"Damn it!" He cursed under his breath, racing toward the bedroom door and trying to turn the knob.

But no matter how hard he twisted it, the door wouldn't budge—it was locked from the inside.

"Locked? Did those two decide to…? Seriously?" Frustration bubbled up within him.

What would Jiang Yan do when he discovered his supposedly sweet girlfriend was a ghost? But there was no time to lose—Jiang Yan was a valuable ghost-tamer. If he died, the man's own chances of escaping the village would plummet.

He banged on the door and shouted, "Hey, kid! Get out here—I need to talk to you!"

He didn't dare say outright that Zhang Tiantian was a ghost. The portrait had warned him that her kill condition was being discovered, and he had no intention of triggering it.

Despite pounding on the door several times, he received no response. Silence hung over the entire house.

"Could it be…?" He felt an ominous chill.

At that moment, his ghost cigarette unexpectedly burned out, plunging the room into total darkness.

He froze. The cigarette had burned much faster than usual, barely lasting half the time it should have. His instincts screamed at him—this room was occupied by something else.

"Is there… something here with me?" Aware of the presence of something supernatural, he stayed perfectly still, listening intently.

He felt around in his pockets for his phone, turning on its flashlight. Yet, strangely, the room stayed pitch black, as though even his phone's screen refused to light up.

"This darkness… it feels just like the darkness on the ghost bus. Did that kid already succumb to ghostly possession? Should I stay, or should I try leaving?"

He weighed his options carefully. While the room was unnaturally dark and the cigarette had burned too fast, he hadn't actually been attacked. For now, it seemed staying put was safest. If he left, he would face whatever unknown dangers lurked outside.

Ultimately, he chose to stay. He wouldn't let his guard down, though—he'd remain vigilant all night.

________________________________________

Meanwhile, inside the bedroom, Jiang Yan lay on the bed, feigning sleep. But rest did not come easily.

Ever since he had bound the ghost bus, a strange wakefulness clung to him. Each time he closed his eyes, he saw the ghost bus, with those eerie passengers staring blankly at him.

Even now, lying still, he could feel the presence of those corpses somewhere deep inside himself—a deeply unsettling sensation.

What made him even more uneasy, though, was his bedmate.

Since the events on the ghost bus, he had grown increasingly suspicious of Zhang Tiantian.

Their relationship had progressed too quickly. They'd barely known each other a month before things became serious. Even though she seemed like any other girl, there was one oddity: her skin was always unusually cold.

At first, he'd chalked it up to her physiology, but now he was no longer so sure. Her coldness reminded him far too much of the chilling aura of the ghost bus.

And then there was her uncanny survival during each deadly stop on the bus. He himself had only survived with the help of a protective talisman, and the black-hatted man had his own paranormal defenses. But Zhang Tiantian had come through unscathed each time, which was simply too odd to ignore.

All these factors combined left him almost certain that Zhang Tiantian was indeed not human.

Which meant he was lying next to a ghost.

Still, he dared not act rashly. He knew nothing about her potential kill condition, so maintaining the status quo seemed safest for now.

Then, he felt a chill down his right arm.

"Is she… moving closer?" His whole body tensed. The room was dark, and he could see nothing.

Slowly, he reached for his phone, planning to use the screen's light to check on her. But when he unlocked it, the screen remained black.

"Is my phone broken?"

Confusion settled in, but before he could think further, the chill intensified. Then, an icy hand gripped his arm tightly.

𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼:

• Jonathan Bailey

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 50+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!

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