The Haunted Cinema

"We can't find him!"

"Where did he go?"

At this moment, the dialogue flowed seamlessly from when Dustin had disappeared earlier. Miss Mu immediately said, "Everyone… let's split up and search! This is no joke!"

The lines were identical!

Allen was at a loss for words. On the surface, it seemed like they were simply dividing to search, but he couldn't help but suspect that they were trying to draw the attention of the spirits to other groups by scattering.

But that thought gave rise to a deep, gnawing doubt.

If that's the case… why hadn't anyone gone looking for Han Ruoyue when she disappeared? And what of the other disappearances, like the Sichuan man and the others—no one ever mentioned them again. Yet the story had continued without skipping a beat. What was the true reason behind this?

Dan quickly intervened, "No... let's stay together and search. It's better that way, right?"

But the burly man who had spoken earlier shook his head, "What are you talking about? Splitting up will be more efficient! The killer could be lurking nearby!"

At that, others began to pair off and spread out, calling Liu An's name aloud. Dan scratched his scalp, visibly helpless.

Now, only the person who had disappeared had changed, yet the plot followed its original course without deviation. According to the script, after Dustin disappeared, the remaining five had also split up to search for him. Among them, three others joined the search, including Miss Mu, the tour guide, and a young couple.

According to the timeline, about fifteen minutes from now, Dean would disappear as well. His disappearance, too, would be as bewildering. Because he had been slow, lagging behind, when the group turned back, they discovered he was gone.

Could this situation repeat itself?

Absolutely not!

Allen felt a rush of anxiety. He knew that he had to stay close to the others—he could not afford to disappear without explanation like the others in the script.

Fifteen minutes…

Around 00:35…

In another fifteen minutes, would he vanish too?

Cathy, holding Allen's hand, said, "Let's go over there and look. Dan, you stay here."

After speaking, she tugged him along, pulling him toward another direction.

At that moment, Allen felt an overwhelming surge of gratitude for Cathy. His survival had no real bearing on her, yet she was going to such lengths to help him. Of course, he couldn't dismiss the possibility that she hoped to earn more redemptions, but the sentiment was genuine, and Allen fully accepted it in his heart. He silently vowed to repay her, no matter what.

Dan watched Cathy and Allen move away before hesitating for a moment. Eventually, he turned back and rejoined the search party.

Allen and Cathy decided to join a group of seven to continue the search.

In that instant, Allen's redemptions took a severe blow, dropping sharply to 118!

The others began calling Liu An's name in all directions. Liu An appeared to be traveling alone, as no actor portraying a family member had appeared.

"Liu An—"

"Liu An, where are you?"

Just as Allen and Cathy were about to join the search team, Cathy suddenly slipped, and in trying to hold onto her hand, Allen was pulled down as well!

Cathy had lost her footing and tumbled into a nearby slope!

They both slid down the steep slope, tumbling relentlessly until they reached the bottom!

By the time they landed, the voices of the search party calling Liu An were already distant.

Thanks to the relatively soft soil at the bottom, though Allen had multiple scrapes and bruises, there were no serious injuries. He immediately helped Cathy up and asked, "Cathy? Cathy? Are you alright?"

Cathy braced herself against the ground and stood up, glancing upward. The search party was clearly far away now.

Now... it was just the two of them.

It couldn't be a coincidence!

Allen was certain that his slip down the slope was no accident!

How could it be so coincidental?

He was sure that in fifteen minutes, he would face certain doom!

So... what should he do now? The slope's surface was too smooth to climb back up, and with the others so far away and no signal on their phones...

Could he really just wait here for death?

Earlier, even with the search party, Dean had disappeared. Now, with only Cathy by his side, and she was not even the lead character, it was looking increasingly dangerous.

In less than two hours, Allen had gone from being an ordinary accountant to an "actor" trapped in a real-life horror movie, facing imminent death! The thought of the driver's gruesome death terrified him to no end.

"Cathy," Allen took a deep breath and asked, "Can you see… anything… unnatural?"

"Unnatural things" was an old term used to refer to "ghosts."

"Earlier on the bus, when the driver was dying, you seemed to see something, right? What did you see? That old beggar said the bus had bad energy—could that be true?"

Saying these words caused Allen's redemptions to drop again—this time, by a hefty 10. Only 108 redemptions remained!

"I saw something… but you'd better not know," Cathy replied.

"Did you... really see something?"

Allen had never witnessed a ghost firsthand, and now, his heart was growing cold.

What should they do now?

Fifteen minutes... When would be the right time to seek refuge?

What did it mean to remove the "filth"...?

Where was this "filth"?

Allen's anxiety deepened as he struggled with these questions.

Originally, he had feared staying on the bus with the remaining few would lead to danger, but he hadn't imagined that leaving would bring him face to face with the same fate. Was this really how they planned to kill him off? What about Dustin? Had he escaped by staying behind on the bus?

Right now… the information was too scarce to piece together the cause and effect of it all.

Why do the ghosts want to kill? What is the connection between the ghosts and the bus? What exactly is the "filth," and who is the old beggar? All these questions remain a mystery. As of now, it seems to be a typical indiscriminate curse. The passengers on the tour bus came from all corners of the world, strangers to one another, making it clear that this cannot be a targeted curse meant to claim specific lives. Could it be that they were cursed simply for boarding the bus?

The only explanation Allen could think of was that the bus might have previously caused someone's death in an accident, leading to the restless spirit's wrath. Perhaps that spirit had been killing the passengers in revenge. Yet, even after leaving the bus, the curse would not relent—after all, the earliest missing person, Han Ruoyue, along with Dustin and Dean, who both died outside the bus, stood as proof.

So, the only remaining hope lay in the so-called "filth." However, Allen had previously searched the bus and found no trace of any stains or marks. Perhaps it was too dark at the time, or maybe he had missed something, but Dan and the others had also examined the bus and found nothing. No one had noticed any filth.

At present, according to the plot, the only person capable of seeing the ghosts was Cathy, making her the last glimmer of hope.

"Listen carefully, Cathy…" Allen cleared his throat and said, "Keep an eye on everything around us—front, back, left, right—and don't miss anything above us either. If you see anything terrifying, you must, without fail, tell me! I… I have this feeling that something is very wrong. Maybe the old beggar was right; there really is some kind of negative energy here!"

Even though Allen knew full well that ghosts were real, he had to speak according to the script as "Dean." Any deviation from the scripted lines would be a fatal flaw, resulting in an immediate NG (no good).

"Alright," Cathy nodded. "If I see anything, I will tell you."

"Good... then let's go."

Go… to where?

They were completely lost now. Allen realized that whether they returned to the bus or descended the mountain, both paths were fraught with danger. Their only hope was to catch up with one of the other search teams. Perhaps, with more people around, the ghosts would hesitate to strike in full view.

He grasped Cathy's hand and headed into the darkness. At that moment, Allen had no choice but to place all his hopes in Cathy.

The filth...

What exactly was it that had been tainted by the filth...?

The more Allen thought about it, the more confused he became.

They had been running through the darkness for what felt like an eternity, and the time when Allen was supposed to disappear according to the script was drawing near. Despite running for so long, Allen felt no sense of relief. He grew more and more convinced that there was no hope for him.

Time… was steadily closing in.

Just when he was about to collapse from exhaustion, he glanced at his watch. It was already 00:35.

All around him was an eerie, foreboding forest. He hadn't planned on entering the woods, but somehow, the trees had become unexpectedly dense.

Would he die?

Would he die here?

Would this be the end?

Amid the trees, the profound darkness seemed to conceal something terrifying, slowly emerging from the shadows.

He tried to convince himself it was merely a trick of his mind, yet the illusion felt so vivid, so real.

Cathy, too, wore a look of vigilance, tightening her grip on his hand.

"Cathy," Allen said, after struggling with his thoughts for a long moment. "I… I just want to say, no matter what happens, thank you. Well, with you here by my side, I… feel a lot better. Really, thank you."

Allen had begun to prepare for the worst.

Cathy glanced at him, then responded in a calm tone, "It's nothing. Why are you thanking me?"

"Yes… yes, you're right…"

Allen checked his watch again.

He stared at the watch, watching the time tick by. The minutes had passed, and Allen finally let out a long, relieved sigh.

However… the next moment, his expression suddenly turned grim.

In the instant he had narrowly escaped death, he looked at his redemption tickets—there were only 57 left.

Once the redemption tickets became negative after the movie ended, what awaited him… was still death!