The Last Bus: The Road of No Return at Midnight

macabretaless 令人毛骨悚然 Short supernatural stories 399 2026年01月28日

Introduction: Taking the last bus home, the driver suddenly stopped halfway to count the number of passengers.

When he reached me, he exclaimed in shock, "Oh, there's one more than before!"

But there was no one else on the bus except for me.

01

Realizing something was amiss, I hurriedly knocked on the door and asked the driver to let me off.

But as I rose to my feet, an elderly woman suddenly appeared on my left side.

The old lady spoke slowly, muttering to herself, "I'm no longer useful at my old age, can't even get up after falling down."

At that moment, more and more people began to appear out of thin air in the bus.

In front, a disheveled middle-aged man with a beard turned around and spoke to the old lady, saying, "You look like you've been fortunate, haven't suffered any punishment. Unlike me..."

As he spoke, his entire face fell to pieces, but because the stitches were done so well, it wasn't immediately noticeable.

My stomach started churning, and in order to prevent myself from vomiting, I had no choice but to breathe heavily.

But in this bus, it seemed that panting felt strange.

The middle-aged man and the old lady were startled by me, their tone both cautious and terrifying as they asked, "How did you get here?"

I instinctively told the truth, "I was working overtime at the company and it got too late."

They thought for a moment, "Oh, so died from overwork."

02

I tried many ways but still couldn't get off the bus, so I could only let myself go in an unknown direction.

Before long, a vast expanse of yellow sand spread from the southwest corner, and sand fog blocked my view through the bus window.

I wondered if this was the legendary Yellow Springs Road!

As the bus passed through the boundless yellow sand, the entire interior of the bus turned a muddy yellow color.

At that moment, the chair beneath me made a strange rustling sound, and when I looked down, it had turned into paper-mâché.

When I raised my head again, a white flower with two black mourning strips hanging on both sides hung at the front of the bus.

At that moment, a broadcast came from the bus, "Next stop—The Limbo Transit Station."

03

After the broadcast sounded, the passengers who were previously talking and laughing suddenly burst into tears.

A black-haired woman holding a baby cried the most fiercely.

I thought she was carrying a baby, but I found that there was nothing in her arms.

I guessed maybe the woman had difficulty giving birth, the child was born, but couldn't survive.

Almost everyone was crying, except for the old lady sitting to my left.

Amidst the intermittent sobbing, she always had an unflappable expression.

The old lady spoke to me, "How did you get here, after all?"

I was taken aback and froze.

My subconscious told me not to let others know that I was alive.

But it seemed the old lady in front of me had already seen through my secret.

"Dear, I saw you gasping for breath," the old lady said.

Seeing my legs start to tremble, the lady's voice softened a bit, "Don't panic, I won't harm you."

"The old lady has lived a good life and it's time to go."

"But they haven't."

"If they find out you haven't finished your life span, you really won't be able to go back."

My eyes brightened.

She meant I could still go back!

04

"The Limbo Transit Station has arrived. Please disembark in an orderly manner.”

As the announcement played, the sobbing of the passengers gradually stopped.

I followed behind the old lady, keeping my head down, trying not to breathe heavily.

Just as I was about to step off the bus, I felt like there were eyes staring at me from behind.

I turned around and found the eyes were actually the driver's!

At that moment, a white light shone at the platform, guiding us forward slowly.

As we proceeded, I saw many passages in the station labeled with numbers.

The passages went from narrow to wide, and finally, a huge ancient town appeared.

All the passengers and I were assigned to the same house upon entering.

Inside the house, I saw a ghost statue standing in the center.

The old lady warned me to stick close to her and not get lost.

At that moment, the driver bypassed the crowd, patted my shoulder, and said, "Come."

I remembered his expression when he counted the passengers and his frequent glances at me.

So he must have known he had mistakenly taken a living person onto the bus!

I felt ecstatic inside, because if he could bring the bus in, he could definitely take it out!

I broke away from the line where the old lady was and followed the driver.

05

The driver took me aside, wearing a long face.

"If you go any further, you won't be able to go back."

I looked in the direction he pointed, and saw that the old lady who had just made me stick close had disappeared along with the old house.

"Do you think there are good people on this bus?"

The driver's mood was very poor, "If it weren't for me, you would have been taken by the old lady as a substitute ghost already!"

I was stunned.

"If you knew I had taken the wrong bus, why didn't you let me off?"

The driver frowned.

"I actually wanted to let you off!"

"Can you?"

"Do you think this bus can stop anywhere?"

The driver's chest heaved as he spoke, clearly not dead.

He took out a bottle of water from somewhere, a murky yellow color which was particularly nauseating.

"Drink this, and you can return to the living."

I looked at the turbid liquid in the bottle, hesitantly took it, but still didn't dare to drink.

Seeing me hesitate, the driver urged me impatiently, "Hurry up!"

06

As my nose touched the bottle's mouth, a unique and captivating scent infiltrated my body.

In an instant, I felt myself becoming disoriented, as if my soul had been captivated by this substance.

At that moment, I saw the driver's lips curl into a mysterious smile.

He encouraged me, "It's okay, go ahead and drink it."

But just the intense smell of the yellow liquid was overwhelming. If I actually drank it, wouldn't it be disastrous?

I hesitated.

The driver scolded me, "It's already this time, why are you hesitating?"

He pushed forward, and I dodged backward.

The bottle accidentally dropped to the ground, and the murky yellow liquid flowed out and disappeared in an instant.

The driver glared at me with uncontrollable anger.

"Look at you! You've ruined something precious!"

"Only those dead people who haven't had enough of life would pull you to be a scapegoat."

"I'm not dead! Why would he want to harm you?"

As he spoke, I felt my body becoming heavier and my breathing becoming tighter.

Seeing me like this, the driver intentionally left me behind and walked away.

"I told you not to listen to me!"

"No living person who has crossed the Yellow Spring can turn back!"

I became increasingly uncomfortable, feeling like I was sinking into the depths of the sea and struggling to breathe.

In the end, I could only watch helplessly as he moved further and further away from me.

07

When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a very peculiar house.

It was a two-story small western-style house, with all the furniture appearing antique, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to be made of paper.

Outside the house, there was no sunset to be seen, only an eternal twilight.

"You're awake?"

I followed the voice and found the driver looking at me reproachfully, "This is my house. I brought you out from the platform of the dead."

I looked around as he gestured, and indeed, it seemed like a house where people lived regularly, with some photos hanging on the walls.

The photos mainly featured a beautiful woman holding him, both of them with a sweet expression.

Almost all the photos on the wall were of that woman, and the last one showed her holding a newborn baby.

The driver's gaze, passing through the mother and child, seemed to recall some sorrowful memories.

"Her name was Wanwan. When this photo was taken, our child was just one month old."

I could guess what this man was grieving about, but I didn't know how to console him.

The driver quickly averted his gaze, reverting to an impatient and gruff manner.

"In a few days, it will be the Ghost Festival."

"You can return when the Gates of Hell open."

08

The driver pulled out a map and pointed to a location, saying, "I will meet you here after I finish my duties."

I saw a ghostly face drawn at the location he pointed to, somewhat similar to the one I saw in the house yesterday.

Before leaving, he repeatedly cautioned me, "Remember, don't trust anything you see, just mind your own business and hurry on."

With that, he walked away without turning back.

I had no choice but to follow the map to the location he had indicated.

After an uncertain amount of walking, I arrived at a ghostly street.

There were many vendors selling things that were eerily similar to those in the mortal realm.

At that moment, a woman wearing an apron greeted me.

I saw her sticking out a long tongue, with her neck stretched out, and holding a plate of sticky, gooey substance, asking me, "Fresh, do you want some?"

The substance in the plate looked like a squirming brain, which frightened me and I dare not look at it again.

The long-tongued female ghost, upon seeing me turning away, ran after me persistently.

Panicked, I collided with something while running.

Looking down, I found a green-faced child.

The wicked child grabbed me and drooled as he said, "Fragrant!"

"It is the smell of a living person!"

Just as I was flustered, a cane swung down and struck the wicked child.

The child who had planned to swallow me suddenly stopped, then obediently put me down and looked helplessly towards the owner of the cane.

Only then did I realize that the design of this cane looked familiar!

Wasn't this the cane I had handmade for my grandmother last year?

09

Seeing me, my grandmother's expression was even more surprised than mine.

She patted my head, then my shoulder, and gestured to her chest, "When I passed away, you had just arrived here."

My grandmother looked extremely regretful, "You've grown up so well, why... are you here?"

I followed behind my grandmother, recounting the whole story of how I ended up here.

After hearing me, my grandmother showed a worried expression.

"You must have been deceived by him!"

"That driver is definitely not a good person."

She pointed to the location marked on the map by the driver, "That side is indeed the Gates of Hell, but if he really wanted to save you, he wouldn't need to go to such lengths."

My grandmother looked at me, "You also said he's a hearse driver, right?"

I nodded.

"If he can go up to fetch souls, why doesn't he directly send you back?"

Her words made me alert once again, and with that came an aftertaste of fear, creeping up my spine like a sticky snake.

I shuddered, "But he has no reason to harm me, right?"

"How can you say he has no reason?"

"Entering the Gates of Hell to return to the mortal realm is possible, but who can actually leave in the end is uncertain."

Her subsequent words made the cold sweat on my back layer after layer:

"Have you ever thought that maybe he wants to exchange with you?"

The meaning of exchange...

Beads of sweat appeared on my forehead, "He wants me to be his substitute hearse driver!"

10

All hope was shattered in that moment.

I looked at my grandmother, now perhaps only she could save me.

My grandmother led me to a small mud-bricked courtyard, comforting me as she led me into the house:

"Don't panic."

"Grandma knows a lot; she'll surely find a way to save you."

"But you must not trust that driver at all."

I nodded, feeling a slight sense of relief watching my grandmother strategize to help me.

As I stepped into my grandmother's house, the sight of the old furniture brought back memories of my childhood.

My grandmother looked at me, "Why don't you stay with grandma for a few days?"

I looked out at the eternally twilight and eerie landscape, finding it hard to accept.

But my grandmother's hopeful expression made it difficult for me to refuse.

"Well, consider me agreeing even if I don't say it!"

My grandmother was especially pleased.

She was just like in my childhood memories, rubbing her apron and thinking carefully about what I liked to eat.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Braised pork?"

Do you need me to translate the Chinese name of "Braised pork"?

11

Grandma actually brought out a big pot of steaming braised pork from the kitchen!

But where did this braised pork come from?

She put a piece in my bowl and said, "Eat, eat more."

Since I got on the wrong bus, I have hardly eaten anything, and now I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow.

Looking at the beautifully colored pieces of meat, I couldn't help but drool. In the end, I couldn't resist it.

The succulent sweet juices invaded my mouth, making my dulled taste buds come alive. I couldn't help but eat one piece after another until I finished a big bowl.

Grandma was even happier, "Had enough? If not, there's more!"

After I had a hearty meal, Grandma brought out a lot of food.

"These are all the snacks you used to give me for holidays. See if there's anything you like?"

I glanced into Grandma's pocket and indeed, there were some common snacks and fruits that we used to give her.

Grandma handed them to me sincerely, "Eat, eat more."

I felt warm and touched.

But I really should go back.

Strangely, every time I eat a piece, there is a little more expectation in Grandma's eyes.

At first, I thought it was the look of care from an elder to a child.

But then I remembered that wicked child who wanted to eat me.

At that moment, the look in Grandma's eyes was almost identical to theirs.

12

Looking at the overturned braised pork on the table turning into a sticky pool of blood, a wave of nausea surged from my mouth.

She's not my Grandma!

But when I realized it, it was already too late.

It had already revealed its sharp fangs and was about to eat me.

Regret flooded over me, and I desperately scrabbled over the mud wall and ran for my life.

It pursued me relentlessly until a surging river blocked my path.

I leaped into the water, and the raging river carried me into its unknown current.

I lost consciousness in the unknown current, and when I woke up again, I found myself back in that short mud courtyard.

It felt like it was all a dream.

Now, I was lying in the courtyard, and Grandma came out with a big pot of braised pork.

I looked at the brightly colored braised pork, feeling a huge confusion in my heart.

I remembered eating a lot, but I was still hungry.

"Come on, try it."

Grandma picked a piece and put it in my bowl.

Her actions were exactly the same as before.

It was as if I had gone through the same experience again.

13

One second I saw Grandma giving me the meat.

The next second, I was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, hanging on the stall of the long-tongued ghost.

I heard the noisy sounds of the market, "Boss, how much for this?"

The long-tongued ghost stretched her neck and used her tongue to measure my body, asking the buyer, "Which part would you like? How much?"

I struggled desperately, but the long-tongued ghost impatiently slapped me with her tongue.

"Why is this illusion so ineffective lately?!"

Illusion!

I finally understood.

The Grandma, braised pork, and mud courtyard I saw earlier were all fake!

"The whole thing, I want it all," the buyer said.

The long-tongued ghost was a little surprised, "You want too much, don't you?"

The man, with his head covered in a hat, threw a bag of stuff over.

The long-tongued ghost weighed it and immediately beamed with joy, "So many ingots! That's enough, you can take it away!"

I was released from the stall by the long-tongued ghost and was about to run, then the man said to me, "It's me, the driver!"

He took me far away, and finally I managed to escape from that ghost town.

But as soon as we left the town, the driver started scolding me again:

"Don't you know how to read a map?"

"You almost got eaten by the ghosts!"

He scolded me, but still, he led me toward the location on the map.

14

He looked at the unchanging, hazy sky and suddenly stopped.

"It's too late."

"You've been trapped in the town for too long."

"The Ghost Festival has passed, you can't wait for the next time the ghost gate opens."

I felt a chill in my heart, but still held onto a glimmer of hope, "What about after the Ghost Festival? The ghost gate must open again, right?"

The driver pointed at me, "Look at you, you're even missing half a leg."

I gazed down, and only then did I notice that my right calf was gradually becoming transparent.

Then even my hand gradually lost control.

I felt devastated, pulling the driver's arm and pleading desperately, "Please! Take me back!"

"I haven't even had the chance to say goodbye to my family!"

After holding back for a long time, my emotions erupted in an instant, and I cried uncontrollably.

As I cried, the driver disappeared.

When I turned my head again, I saw the familiar bus slowly approaching me.

The door opened, and the driver beckoned me, "Come on, tonight is their seventh day."

15

After getting on the bus, I sat in my old seat.

The driver looked at me through the rearview mirror, with an expression that seemed to say, "The bus is going to the realm of the living, but whether you have the fate to return depends on your luck.

I nodded and thanked him profusely, but deep down, I held onto a sense of caution.

Since he knew early on that he could take me back, why did he go to such lengths to wait for the ghost gate to open?

I remembered the photos he had on the wall.

Although those photos were old and yellowed, he still looked exactly the same as the people in the pictures, unchanged!

Anyone in his position, endlessly driving the hearse day after day, would surely go mad.

I lifted my head and happened to see the driver glaring at me through the rearview mirror, his eyes filled with extreme annoyance.

"Why the hell are you staring at me like that?"

"If you have time to doubt me, you might as well think about your last words."

As he spoke, the bus stopped, and the familiar station announced:

"All departed souls, please board the bus in an orderly manner, next stop — the realm of the living."

As soon as the words 'realm of the living' entered my ears, I unexpectedly felt a long-lost excitement in my heart.

Soon, from the consecutive boarding of departed souls, I saw several familiar faces:

The shattered-faced old man who used to sit in front of me; the long-haired woman holding an empty cradle; and the serene old woman.

The old woman saw me as soon as she got on.

She quickly approached me, sat in her old seat, and reproached me, "Girl, why didn't you follow Grandma earlier?"

The old woman sighed, and suddenly noticed my gradually transparent body.

"Look at you! You'd have been spared from this suffering if you had followed me earlier."

I turned my head away, deliberately avoiding her.

Since the incident where the long-tongued ghost tried to sell me as mutton, I dared not trust anyone again.

16

The car moved forward inch by inch.

The pervasive yellow sand outside the window gradually faded, and the makeshift paper seats beneath me turned back into plastic ones.

At this moment, the long-lost urban street scenes were slowly returning.

The dim, yellowish sky transformed into a night sky filled with twinkling stars.

I couldn't help but glance inside the carriage, only to realize that the spirits were eagerly waiting, just like me, for the door to open.

Before long, the bus twisted and turned, heading towards an isolated mountainous area outside the town.

My heart clenched.

Why wasn't it going back to the station where I had boarded?

Creak—

The bus slowly stopped in front of an old-fashioned courtyard.

I noticed that the front of the courtyard was a narrow alley, yet the bulky bus seamlessly fit into the space.

It seemed to exist in another dimension.

At that moment, the long-haired woman carrying an empty cradle got up from her seat and walked towards the open door.

Without hesitation, I stood up and followed her off the bus.

The driver clearly noticed my unauthorized departure.

He glared at me, signaling for me to hurry back.

But after being away from the human world for so long, I couldn't resist the urge to leave!

I didn't care anymore; I just wanted to get off the bus and put an end to this dreadful experience as soon as possible.

17

As the door closed, the woman stopped in her tracks and glanced at me.

Ignoring her, I dashed outside as soon as I got off the bus.

But as I climbed over the fence and was about to pass in front of the bus, a force pushed me back.

I was slammed against the front windshield, like an octopus slowly falling.

The driver sat inside with his arms crossed, looking at me with a smirk, as if mocking me: "I told you not to disobey!"

It was only then that I realized that perhaps, to prevent the spirits from escaping during their seventh-day visit, this house was enclosed by an inexplicable force.

I could only bang on the door, asking the driver to let me in.

But the driver pointed to the door that remained closed, as if to say, "I can't open it; we need to wait for that woman to come back."

18

I had no choice but to follow the woman into the courtyard.

But there were no offerings to commemorate her here

There were no tablets or offerings in the main room either.

I was puzzled. Could the customs of this household be different from ours?

As I followed the woman into the house, I saw a man. The woman was staring at him with a distressed look in her eyes.

Meanwhile, the baby that should have been in her embrace was crying in the corner of the bed because no one was feeding it.

My heart ached at the sight.

The man, however, impatiently slapped the crying baby: "Stop crying! You're making so much noise!"

Both the woman and I were stunned by his actions.

It wasn't until I heard a creak from outside that an elderly woman hurried in.

She picked up the crying child and looked at it lovingly, saying, "Oh, my dear grandson! Let grandma see what's the matter."

I thought that at least the grandmother was alright.

However, what she said next was quite shocking:

"Don't let your mother-in-law know that her daughter has died!"

"After we've received her share of the relocation compensation, it won't be too late to tell her."

"Also, there should be no funeral for her in the house."

"My grandson is not even a month old; we don't want him to be scared by any dirty things."

I suddenly understood.

No wonder there were no wreaths or candles when I entered the house; they were planning to hide the death of their daughter from a difficult birth and deceive them to get the compensation for relocation!

A chill ran down my spine.

As I turned around, I felt a chilling aura coming from the woman.

Her eyes gradually turned cold, and when her anger peaked, she rushed forward and fiercely grabbed the old woman by the neck.

The old woman struggled to breathe as the woman choked her, her eyes rolling back!

The man panicked, alternating between pressing the woman's pressure points and checking her heart, thinking she might have suddenly fallen ill.

I quickly intervened to stop the woman.

To my surprise, she was uncontrollable, turning to attack the man.

I watched as her malevolent energy grew stronger, transforming her into a terrifying ghost in the blink of an eye!

To protect myself, I dashed out of the room and ran to the bus as fast as I could.

19

The driver seemed to have been waiting there all along, watching me babble and gesticulate with a blank, unaffected expression.

At that moment, a chilling hostility swept over me, causing my back to tense suddenly.

I turned around, and in an instant, the terrifying woman had grabbed my neck.

In the next moment, a mysterious force instantly pulled us back into the bus.

But the woman still held onto my neck, grumbling at me with resentment:

"I could have killed them!"

"Why did you stop me?"

My throat was clenched, and I couldn't even scream for help.

Desperate, I snatched the empty cradle from her arms and threw it aside.

The woman immediately let go of me, stumbling to protect the empty cradle.

She held the empty cradle, crying hysterically, tearing at my heart.

I didn't know whether to pity her or be afraid.

20

It turned out that the passage of time inside the car was different from the outside world.

When I sat on the bus, waiting for the next spirit to return from their visit, it had only felt like a moment of distraction.

But it was clear that the spirits went through a lot when they got off the bus.

When they were forcibly pulled back onto the bus, some were out of breath from crying, some were emotionally agitated, and some vented their frustration through violence.

Some spirits, after returning, even fiercely banged on the bus door to demand to get off.

As each spirit finished their seventh-day visit, the atmosphere inside the bus became increasingly oppressive.

I could only sit quietly in my seat, praying for it to end soon.

Sure, let's translate the text into English:

21

To my regret, the prayers were ineffective, and the first to meet with an accident was the man with the shattered face.

I had always thought of him as a gentle and silent spirit.

Little did I know, he was the most ferocious one of all.

I wonder what he heard and saw when he returned, but the first thing he did was to smash the car and demand the driver to open the door.

It was obvious that the driver could not possibly comply.

As I watched the car being started, the man with the shattered face ripped off the handrail from the car and viciously smashed it down on the driver's head.

A loud thud!

By the time I came to my senses, the driver was already sprawled on the ground, his head a bloody mess.

It was hard to believe that the confident and composed driver, who was never easily shaken, was killed by the man with the shattered face!

22

The driver lay in a pool of blood.

The fresh blood oozed out incessantly.

All the spirits in the car fell silent for a moment, then erupted into excited howls.

I rushed forward and did everything I could to stop the bleeding, praying that he would wake up.

But with the driver no longer in charge of the car, the chaotic and noisy ghostly clamor filled the entire compartment:

"I don't want to die!"

"I want to get off the car!"

"They are still waiting for me!"

"Aaargh!"

Then, someone shouted, "That woman is alive!"

"Eating her can bring us back to life!"

Trembling, I curled up on the ground, but the spirits' expressions as they rushed towards me were more terrifying one after another.

23

In their eyes, I was no longer one of them, but a healing potion that could bring the dead back to life.

I dodged left and right, desperately avoiding the pursuit of the spirits.

Soon, something clutched my other foot that had not yet turned transparent.

Then, an overwhelming pain gripped my leg.

I looked down and saw that a spirit had bitten into my leg, but before he could sink his teeth in, he was dragged away by another spirit that pounced from behind.

Taking advantage of the situation, I escaped, only to be pushed into the corner of the car seat.

An old lady wedged me into the corner, shielding me from the spirits and said, "Girl, as long as you promise to do one thing for Grandma, I'll help you."

"Okay! What do you want me to do, just tell me!"

Grandma handed me a piece of paper: "Open it after you get off the car."

24

Apparently Grandma's idea of helping me was to shield me with her body.

As I witnessed Grandma being hurt, she joked, "Don't worry, Grandma is already dead, nothing will happen to me."

At that moment, a stick appeared from nowhere, sweeping through the spirits, scattering them to the ground.

I looked up in shock, seeing the driver, with half of his bloody head dangling, putting away the stick and heading for the driver's cabin.

Under his control, the car finally began to move...

25

After all the spirits finished their home visits.

I saw the car rushing towards the center of the town at an unprecedented speed.

Glancing out the window, Grandma said with a meaningful look, "Everything in this world comes with a price..."

After she finished, I was surprised to see something not far away - it was the bus stop near my home!

I stood up from my seat and ran towards the driver, bowing to thank him.

"I misunderstood you before! You're a good person!"

I looked down at my toes, feeling embarrassed for the first time because of thanking someone.

But after waiting for a long time, I still didn't hear the familiar curses.

I raised my head in puzzlement, only to be startled by what I saw! The driver had turned into a skeleton!

What's going on? I thought he was indestructible while wielding a stick with his bloody head.

"Why are you lingering?"

"Hurry up and get lost."

I didn't expect the driver to become a skeleton, still speaking so harshly.

However, after being scolded by him, I came to my senses and realized that the car had already stopped at the bus station near my home.

As I tried to thank him again, the driver didn't even want to pay any further attention to me.

Before I could fully step away from the door, the car quickly drove away, leaving me behind.

I stretched my neck in the direction the car was going, but I couldn't see anything at all.

This driver really has no human feelings...

I sat paralyzed like a survivor at the bus stop, feeling the cool summer breeze of the human world.

It was a bit chilly, even though July had just passed.

Suddenly, someone waiting for the bus walked towards me, sounding puzzled:

"Miss, what kind of bus did you just get off? I've never seen it before!"

What!

I felt a surge of shock and doubt: Could it be that the ghost car isn't just visible to me?

26 Driver's Perspective

While the spirit car frequently shuttles through the human world, it must never be seen by people unrelated to it.

So when I counted the spirits and discovered an additional woman, I realized that she was the next spirit car driver.

Therefore, after finishing the current trip, I immediately went to find her.

But, to my surprise, an old lady suddenly appeared along the way!

It doesn't matter how she knew that guiding this woman to the underworld would let her return to the human world.

I was certain that I couldn't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

So, I pulled her out from the crowd and pointed at the house, which seemed to disappear in the yellow sand, to scare her.

The old lady wanted to take her as a substitute!

Then, I took out the forgetful yellow spring water and tried to give it to her.

However, she seemed smarter than she looked and threw it away!

Maybe because she had just arrived and her body wasn't accustomed, she suddenly couldn't catch her breath.

I taunted her, saying it was because of her disbelief in me that she was in such a state.

27

The foolish woman really believed it.

When she woke up and saw the pictures on my house wall, she seemed to guess why I had left my wife and child without a word for many years.

Even though she showed sympathy and grief towards me, I still did not waver in my determination to make her my replacement.

So, I gave her a map and asked her to make her way to the underworld on her own, lying that I had to go ahead and pick someone up.

But in reality, I didn't need to go through all that trouble to reach the underworld.

She had been chosen to be the driver of the spirit car.

Once chosen, she had no chance of returning to the human world!

She unknowingly embraced her tragic fate and saw me as her only savior.

Seeing her tearfully pleading with me, asking me to find a way to save her, I couldn't help but inwardly laugh at her, feeling far weaker than my old self!

28

After I told her that the spirits' mourning period had passed and we could take the spirits back while also taking her back to the human world, she was overjoyed.

After boarding the car, I glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

The foolish woman was indeed full of joy, looking at me eagerly like a traveler yearning to return home.

Unfortunately, she would never be able to get off the car!

I knew that if she tried to get off the car in an attempt to escape, she would be forcefully bounced back as if by a spring.

From that moment on, I knew.

Even if I opened the car door and let her go, she would never be able to return to the human world.

29

I had my head smashed open by a spirit.

This was the 78th time.

It seemed that most spirits would have such a reactive response when they came back on their mourning period in the first seven days.

The foolish woman was terrified by me and desperately tried to stop my bleeding and massage my heart.

But soon, she was dragged away by spirits with overwhelming attachment.

I couldn't let her die.

If she died, there would be no one to drive for me.

30

I got up with my throbbing head, took out the stick reserved in the driver's seat, and dispersed the spirits.

The woman, still surrounded and kidnapped by the spirits, watched me standing up, her eyes full of gratitude and admiration for me.

Little did she know that, under normal circumstances, the spirit car could not appear in the human world.

Unless I forcefully broke through the resistance between the two realms.

But as I accelerated the spirit car, I turned into a skeleton as an act of defiance against the resistance.

Fortunately, the spirit car eventually stopped in the human world.

Before getting off the car, the foolish woman thanked me in tears.

There was nothing to be thankful for—I am not a good person.

I simply saw her as too stupid, weak, and unfit to drive the spirit car.

End of the Driver's Perspective.

Extra Story

The old grandma gave me a piece of paper, on which she specially instructed:

"I also have a paralyzed old man at home. As long as you don't let him rot in the house unnoticed after he dies, it's fine."

After reading the note left by her, I followed the address and went to visit the old man.

Oddly, during the time I spent taking care of the old man, he had clearly told me that he had no children.

But today, when I went to visit the old man, a tall and handsome young man opened the door with a key.

As soon as the young man saw me entering the old man's house, he was stunned.

Without giving me a chance to explain, he mistook me for a thief and scolded me harshly.

Feeling wronged, I told him about meeting the old grandma.

After listening to me, the young man stood there in shock, then hurriedly pulled me into his room.

He pushed me into the bedroom, even subconsciously locking the door.

"What are you doing?"

I was trembling with fear and kept explaining to him:

"You are the son of that old grandma, right?"

"I am taking care of that old man as instructed by your mother!"

Just then, I happened to have the note from the old grandma in my pocket, so I quickly took it out and showed it to the young man.

But to my surprise, as soon as I took it out, I was startled.

It wasn't a note with any writing on it, just a piece of yellow paper inscribed with runes!

I panicked: "Oh, please listen to me explain!"

Afraid that the young man might think I was a thief, lock me up, and then call the police to arrest me.

But much to my surprise, instead of scolding me, the young man took out several photos from the cabinet.

I immediately recognized the old grandma in one of the photos.

"Yes! I've seen this old grandma. She is your mother, right?"

Then, I saw another familiar young woman in the photos.

This woman looked exactly like the driver in the pictures hanging on the wall!

I was shocked and pointed at the woman, looking at the young man: "Is she also... your mother?"

The young man frowned, looking at me with disdain, "What's wrong with you! The old grandma you've been talking about, she's not my mother, she's my grandmother!"

Heavens! I was stunned.

No wonder his facial features and even speaking mannerisms were so much like those of the driver!

It was really a case of traits being passed down through generations.

But I still couldn't understand, since the old grandma and the driver had missed each other for half a lifetime,

why didn't the old grandma directly recognize the driver after getting into the car?

Originally posted 2024-04-01 16:18:19.

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