Trembling At A High Altitude

The bus continued on its way, heading towards the second stop.

The street view outside the window became more desolate.

"Why did he do nothing on the bus just now? I thought he would do something," the girl whispered to the female office worker.

"Like... jamming the door so no one could get off?" the female office worker also whispered, continuing the discussion with the girl.

"After getting off, one should try to escape, right? Why sit there waiting for death? Or, after getting off, say that one's seat was left on the bus, and then use that excuse to get back on; shouldn't that be feasible?"

"I think that the ghost can't kill people on the bus, being sealed, it's just like a normal person, you could cripple her, break her limbs, then tie her up somewhere. Except for those with a screw loose, none of us would let her go. Once the first stop passed, he could get off the bus and safely run away, right?"

The female office worker and the girl continued their discussion.

"Yeah, use the high stool to fix the ghost in her seat, so she can't get off the bus."

"It's also possible... that as a lighting technician, something about lights overcoming ghosts. Or maybe after getting off, standing on a stool, not touching the ground doesn't count as getting off, or stepping on a high stool, climbing onto the roof and escaping directly, I don't understand why he didn't use these methods."

"Yeah, after getting on, damaging the bus or threatening the driver and such, making it so the bus couldn't reach the first stop within an hour, then the ghost would be doomed. I don't know why he didn't try that either."

"The ghost's powers are sealed on the bus, I think as long as you kill the ghost on the bus, you win, right? Of course, I'm not sure if it's actually doable." The discussion between the female office worker and the girl became more heated.

"How naive can you be to think like that? You can't attack other actors off-script on the set, and you definitely can't attack the driver or other personnel. How could the director possibly allow him to do something that ruins the plot?" Sunglasses Woman, sitting behind them, couldn't stand it anymore and interjected, interrupting their conversation.

With their intelligence, if it weren't for good luck, they would have turned into wax figures long ago.

But it's not surprising. These people are just ordinary in the real world; being suddenly pulled into a place like this, their intelligence can't possibly boost overnight.

"We're just casually discussing, not that we think it's certainly feasible. It just feels strange that he did nothing, got off and sat at the station waiting to die," the female office worker explained to Sunglasses Woman.

"Because he knew that whatever he did, it would be meaningless, so he did nothing," Sunglasses Woman offered her guess.

"Did he just give up like that? Sigh..." the female office worker let out a sigh.

"No way! He must find a way to successfully counterattack!" Gao Fei interjected.

"Hahahaha..." Pretty Boy burst into laughter, obviously very disdainful of Gao Fei's words, not even caring to argue, so he just mocked him with loud laughter.

"Ideals are plump, but reality is gaunt. He can't escape tonight's ordeal; you know that deep down, so stop deceiving yourself!" Glasses Man mocked Gao Fei for Pretty Boy.

No sooner had Glasses Man finished speaking than the bus suddenly quieted down.

"The ghost has successfully killed the target, filming is over!"

Everyone heard the director's voice in their ears.

"Hahahaha..." Pretty Boy laughed again, his laughter sounding like a spoon scraping across a porcelain bowl, grating to the ears.

"Congratulations, congratulations." Glasses Man offered his congratulations to Pretty Boy.

"Damn!" Gao Fei cursed.

How long had the bus been driving? Five minutes? Li Teng had been killed already?

It looked like he had really given up; otherwise, it couldn't have been so quick.

You shouldn't just wait to be slaughtered like that! Even if you can't escape, you should at least try!

…

Since the filming was over, the bus no longer had any reason to continue to the next stop.

Thus, the driver turned around on the spot and headed back the way they had come.

Five minutes later, as they passed the first stop, which was the stop where Li Teng and Guo's mother had gotten off, everyone went to the window to look at the platform where Li Teng had been after getting off.

The platform was in disarray.

The lightbox advertisements had been smashed, and the broken lightbox was covered in blood.

On the ground, there was also a large, not yet dried, pool of filthy blood.

It seems a fierce struggle took place here.

Or rather... torture and murder.

I can't imagine what Li Teng went through before he died.

It must not have been pleasant.

Guo's mother wouldn't have killed him so easily, probably torturing him for a few minutes before she took action.

It's possible that Guo's mother intended to torment Li Teng even longer before killing him, but his mouth... could infuriate someone to death. Not wanting to be infuriated to death herself, Guo's mother couldn't hold back and quickly finished him off.

"Poor guy, quite the talker he was, could turn black into white, death into life, but alas, this time he couldn't talk his way back to life," Glasses Man clicked his tongue a few times, it was obvious he was in a good mood.

With Li Teng around, life in the actor group couldn't have been easy for Glasses Man. Now that Li Teng was dead, the others were no longer a concern.

"Will we be able to see him again?" asked the young girl, emotions running low.

In less than an hour, they saw both the elderly woman and Li Teng depart; such is the unpredictable and fragile nature of life and its fleeting existence.

"He should come back to say goodbye to us," the female office worker whispered to the girl.

"It's a shame. He must have been a very interesting person in life," Sunglasses Woman gave her few words of appraisal for Li Teng.

"He was a man of clear grievances, a man of wisdom, but unfortunately born in the wrong era," Gao Fei summarised his understanding of Li Teng briefly.

"Grandmother was a very thoughtful person; she had a high opinion of him. I really didn't expect this..." said the female office worker, referencing the elegant elderly lady.

Although the elegant elderly lady had a high opinion of Li Teng, no one expected that shortly after her words, he would follow her in death.

No matter how profound his impression on them was, he was ultimately just a passing figure, soon to fade from their memory.

As the departed leave us, the living must continue their difficult journey.

...

Returning to the starting bus station, passing through that alleyway, everyone found themselves back before the café, seated around the coffee table.

Pretty Boy and Glasses Man pulled the High Stool aside to sit separately, laughing and chatting merrily. Glasses Man flirted with Pretty Boy in various ways, taking the opportunity to ask him several questions, though Pretty Boy mostly answered only half, leaving Glasses Man's curiosity hanging.

It seems Glasses Man was set on allying with Guo's mother and Pretty Boy, who in turn seemed inclined to take on this new lackey.

The others appeared disheartened, remaining silent.

The actor group is unchanging, but the actors themselves come and go.

With each performance, some actors leave while new ones join.

The end of every old story is the beginning of a new one.

Life is not a web novel; it doesn't revolve around a fixed protagonist.

For this actor group, no one is the eternal main character.

At least, the dead certainly aren't.

...

Ten minutes later.

Li Teng appeared at the street corner, walking towards them with a look of dejection.

Seeing Li Teng like this, the women felt an inexplicable pang of sympathy.

Since they knew him, they had never seen him so downcast.

He always maintained an indifferent expression, occasionally practicing his performance art with a bit of cold humor. Then, he would stealthily sip on coffee, stealthily play tricks on those who disliked him, bringing a different kind of joy to everyone.

In short, he should have been a happy person, not so defeated.