At this stop, with half the bus full of vengeful ghosts, not a single passenger chose to get off.

Gao Tian was the first to step off the bus.

Su Jiu’s legs had turned to jelly. When she tried to stand, she collapsed to her knees in the aisle with a THUD, as if paying respects during the New Year.

By the time she scrambled back to her feet, Gao Tian had already exited the bus. Su Jiu was the second to get off.

Outside the bus stop was a bluestone sidewalk lined with two rows of trees. Not far off stood a brand-new school campus. The words "Pagoda Primary School" on the new, gleaming sign hung above the entrance. Deep within the campus, on the sports field, countless students chased a soccer ball, and teachers occasionally strolled in pairs along the small paths.

Overall, the school looked recently built, and there was nothing abnormal about the scene inside.

If he hadn’t been through so much, Gao Tian would have passed Pagoda Primary School on a normal day without ever noticing anything was wrong with the "school" itself.

Not long after the two living people got off, the doors of Bus 444 behind them creaked shut. It swayed and wobbled as it set off for the next stop.

Once Gao Tian and the others "clocked in," they just had to return to the station, hold on to their gray ticket stubs, and wait for the next Supernatural Bus to take them back to reality.

The interval between buses was less than ten minutes.

’According to the green-text mission requirements, I just need to clock in at the school gate, right?’

’Hopefully, there won’t be any more accidents. Just clock in and leave. It can’t possibly cause any trouble.’

Gao Tian walked in front with Su Jiu following behind. The two of them proceeded along the sidewalk toward Pagoda Primary School at the end of the path.

As they drew closer, the crisp, innocent laughter of children grew clearer and clearer:

"Big brother, come play with us!"

"An adult. Another adult has come."

"Great, we have a new teacher!"

"Big brother, what do you teach? Gym?"

"Be careful, big sister! This area is very dangerous, full of strange things. Hurry and hide inside Pagoda Primary School. Not only is it safe here, but we also don’t have to go to school every day. We live happy lives."

...

Countless children’s voices poured out of the building like a tide, each one trying to persuade Gao Tian and Su Jiu to enter Pagoda Primary School.

Gao Tian stopped a good distance away from the Pagoda Primary School gate.

’This distance should be about right. It meets the clock-in requirement for the green-text mission.’

The iron gates were wide open. Through the main entrance, he could see the figures of students on the sports field, the basketball court, and by the flagpole. Although he could only make out their general silhouettes, their actions seemed quite normal. Some were fighting for a ball, others were strolling on the track.

In the school building, nearly every classroom was filled with heads. The figures of children sat motionless in their seats, staring intently at the blackboards. They were so focused that a fly landing on their heads wouldn’t have broken their concentration.

Behind him, Su Jiu’s breathing grew heavy with nervousness.

If she weren’t cowering behind Gao Tian like a little chick, she wouldn’t have dared to approach this bizarre school, not even if it killed her, not even for a single glance.

Ten meters from the gate, Gao Tian took Jiang Yang’s wedding ring from his pocket and placed it on the ground. Facing the school gate, he bowed respectfully.

’I wonder if Jiang Yang’s girlfriend, still in Pagoda Primary School, can reach it from this distance.’

’I’ve done my best.’

’I really don’t dare take another step forward.’

’Half a step more, and I might enter some kind of ominous perimeter around Pagoda Primary School.’

’I’ve come to Pagoda Primary School, and I’ve delivered the ring. The mission should be considered a success.’

’Now all I need to do is go back to the station and wait for the next Bus 444 to arrive.’

He turned and gestured for Su Jiu to leave with him, heading back toward the bus station.

Neither of them broke into a run, afraid that any exaggerated movements might provoke the things inside Pagoda Primary School. They simply walked in silence, taking long, swift strides, trying to be as fast and steady as possible.

Behind them, the disembodied, innocent voices of the children grew anxious, their invitations to stay becoming more fervent:

"Hey, big brother, where are you going?"

"It’s really dangerous outside, you can’t just run around."

"Are you abandoning us?"

"We’re so happy and joyful in school every day, yet you won’t come in and play with us."

...

As the two walked farther and farther from Pagoda Primary School, the children’s voices behind them began to fade.

Gao Tian figured it out. The range of these "children’s voices" was limited to the school grounds. They couldn’t leave the gate, or they would have lunged out long ago and dragged him inside while he was clocking in.

’These "children" are really strange.’ Gao Tian had seen many ghosts, but never one that was so enthusiastic.

’Why are they so desperate for more living people to enter Pagoda Primary School? What for? To fill the school with more ghosts and make it livelier?’

He recalled what Shen Nian had said: Pagoda Primary School might be expanding.

’But as long as I don’t go back to the school on my own, those things can’t do anything to me.’

’They’re just throwing a powerless tantrum from the other side of the gate.’

With these thoughts, he and Su Jiu had already walked over a hundred meters, putting a significant distance between themselves and Pagoda Primary School. Even Gao Tian himself felt that they were probably out of danger.

Just then, a soft, ethereal female voice seemed to drift over from a great distance:

"Are you Jiang Yang’s roommate? Is Jiang Yang... doing okay?"

Gao Tian didn’t stop walking, but his heart skipped a beat.

’That voice is...’

’There are no other humans around besides Su Jiu, so where did that voice come from?’

’From Pagoda Primary School?’

’No, that’s not right. Su Jiu didn’t react at all, which means only I can hear this voice. She can’t.’

’Knowing Su Jiu’s personality, if a ghostly female voice had suddenly whispered in her ear, she wouldn’t have been able to hide her terror.’

’Is it because I did something Su Jiu didn’t? Right, I left the engagement ring at the school gate. That might have created some kind of connection with Jiang Yang’s girlfriend.’

The female voice lingered, continuing as if talking to herself:

"This wedding ring... I love it. Jiang Yang and I saw it at a mall right after we graduated. We just didn’t have the money to buy it back then."

"I never thought that after all these years, Jiang Yang would still remember. That he would still buy it for me."

’It really does seem to be Jiang Yang’s fiancée.’

Gao Tian pretended not to hear and kept walking briskly toward the station. Jiang Yang’s fiancée had been in Pagoda Primary School for so long; she was as dead as dead could be. Her voice was the voice of a vengeful ghost. Answering it would lead to nothing good.

’Just keep playing dumb and pretend I didn’t hear anything.’

The station was just ahead. As long as he could wait for the next bus, all the messy affairs of the Inner World would have nothing to do with him.

Seeing that Gao Tian was unwilling to answer, the female voice didn’t get angry. Instead, she praised him gently:

"You’re very cautious and calm. That’s a good quality, one that people who live long should have."

"It’s been a long time since anyone from the apartment came. I just didn’t expect that Jiang Yang still hasn’t forgotten me."

"I’m very moved, but it really wasn’t necessary. When you go back, please pass a message to him for me."

"Tell him to forget me and live his life well."

"Otherwise, if I saved Jiang Yang with my life only for him to spend the rest of it unhappy, that wasn’t my intention."

Gao Tian couldn’t be bothered to care what this woman was trying to say.

He was far more concerned with whether he could survive this third mission than with her and Jiang Yang’s love story.

Just as he was about to reach the station ahead, the ethereal female voice spoke again. This time, however, her tone, which had been as placid as water, changed for the first time, tinged with a hint of regret:

"Did you bring a black card? New resident of the living-person apartment."

At first, Gao Tian didn’t understand what she meant.

The female voice urged him on:

"If you have one, use it quickly. Otherwise, it’ll be too late."

"Never mind. It’s already too late..." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

After saying this, the lingering, ghostly voice abruptly vanished from Gao Tian’s ear. It was as if she had decided he was hopeless and couldn’t be bothered to speak another word to him.

Gao Tian’s instincts screamed that something was wrong.

’Strange, that woman was quite the chatterbox.’

’Why did she suddenly stop pestering me with her nonsense?’

When things get weird, trouble is usually brewing. He subconsciously glanced back at Su Jiu, who was following him.

Seeing Gao Tian, who had been walking perfectly fine, suddenly turn to look at her, Su Jiu was a little bewildered.

"Brother Tian, what’s wrong?"

Gao Tian’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.

He saw, coming from the direction of Pagoda Primary School’s gate, countless child-sized gray footprints, scrambling over each other as they spread toward them.

There were dozens of them. They had no physical bodies, just pairs of footprints rapidly approaching.

It was like children running barefoot on the road, sprinting wildly.

’Shit, the things from inside Pagoda Primary School are chasing us!’

’Fuck. Who said clocking in at the school gate was safe?’

’The things in Pagoda Primary School can break the campus boundary and leave the school!’

"Run!"

There was no time to explain. Gao Tian grabbed Su Jiu’s arm and sprinted toward the station.

No more pretending to be calm. He’d just run as far as he could.

The station was just a few steps away. Gao Tian could only hope that the things from Pagoda Primary School had a limited range outside the campus.

Su Jiu was very docile. She didn’t ask Gao Tian what was happening. When he told her to run, she started sprinting without a single question. Her body was very light; as Gao Tian pulled her along, he felt almost no resistance.

He finally managed to burst into the waiting room. Gao Tian took a moment to catch his breath. It had to be a little safer in here.

Only then did he have a moment to turn his head and look at the Su Jiu he had been pulling.

What he saw was a single, pale, severed arm.

It had been leaving a trail of blood the whole way.

The real Su Jiu had been grabbed by those filthy things long ago and dragged into Pagoda Primary School. In his panic, Gao Tian had grabbed her severed arm and sprinted, his mind so focused on escaping that he never even realized what he was holding.

Gao Tian looked out. Along the path from Pagoda Primary School, the gray footprints were steadily approaching the waiting room. They were in hot pursuit, showing no intention of returning to the school.

In the blink of an eye, the waiting room would be overrun too.

"Just what are these things..."

They were like invisible children, leaving little gray footprints wherever they went.

At this moment, because of Su Jiu’s death, Gao Tian’s black tie activated again. His luck was on the rise.

In the gray fog in the distance, two pale yellow lights lit up, growing larger and larger.

Bus 444, which was supposed to arrive every seven minutes, showed up in less than five this time.

It was very early.