In the back of the bus, Du Wei watched expressionlessly as the white woman posed a question to the driver.
Knowing that there was something wrong with the bus, he never intended to interact with anyone on board, so he hadn't spoken a word.
As for the so-called ticket, he had only tossed in a coin.
The driver neither gave him a ticket nor made any gesture, and the same was true for the other passengers.
Apparently, no one cared, as if there was no such thing as a ticket.
Therefore, Linda's actions made him somewhat anticipate what would happen next.
...
After questioning the driver, Linda had an eerie feeling, as if she had asked a question she shouldn't have.
She glanced at the door, which had slowly closed, making it impossible for her to get off now even if she wanted to.
At that moment, the driver extended his hand to point at the fare box, then retracted it.
"Okay… okay."
Linda sighed with relief, quickly took out her wallet, and threw a ten-dollar bill into it.
She didn't dare ask for change and hurriedly walked to the back of the bus.
During this process, Du Wei noticed that the driver's body had not moved at all, only mechanically extending his hand to point at the fare box.
Normally, when a person or animal moves a limb, it moves the whole body, as stretching out a hand would inevitably cause the shoulder blades to move due to muscle action.
Even a corpse can't ignore the physiological mechanics of its structure.
But this driver hadn't.
It completely defied common scientific knowledge.
Du Wei shifted his gaze away from the back of the driver, it seemed certain that on this bus, the driver was currently showing the most problems.
As for the other passengers...
Du Wei glanced out of the corner of his eye at the white woman walking towards him, and then at the rest of the passengers.
It seemed like everyone was behaving abnormally, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
"Hey... handsome, can I sit here?"
Du Wei's thoughts were interrupted, and he looked up with a cool, calm gaze at the white woman who had spoken.
She felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny, "Uh, hello, my name is Linda."
Linda thought it strange that all the people on this bus seemed so indifferent, as if they were all self-centered, with no desire to interact much with others.
Du Wei remained silent, not saying a word. He didn't want to stand out too much before things were over.
Not knowing the true nature of all the "people" on board, blending in seemed the safest way.
Linda didn't expect this handsome man in front of her to have zero intention of speaking with her, making her feel rather awkward.
Is aloofness the trend among attractive men these days?
So, she sat in the last row, on the window side to the right, far from Du Wei.
After she sat down, the driver started the vehicle and began driving towards the next stop.
Seeing this, Linda breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out her phone to look at the viewers in her live stream.
Many viewers became active after Linda boarded the bus, especially after seeing the aloof Du Wei, as numerous female viewers started to send a barrage of comments.
[Oh, this Asian man is so handsome.]
[While he's not white, his looks really match my taste.]
[Strongly requesting the host to get his contact info, I want to sleep with this cool Eastern hunk.]
Linda was somewhat speechless; within a short while, the live streaming room had been swamped with comments from many female viewers, making her feel a bit uncomfortable—a reaction these women wouldn't normally evoke.
But honestly, this aloof Eastern man really looked handsome and so charismatic!
She felt a stirring in her heart too, but after some thought, she let go of the idea.
Such a cold man seemed difficult to approach, and if she were rejected, it would be too embarrassing.
Normally, that would be okay, but now, she was live streaming. Being humiliated in front of countless viewers—should she even continue streaming?
However, Linda didn't notice one of the comments in the live streaming room.
[Isn't this Du Wei, the doctor from New York's North Brook District? A friend of mine has seen him for psychological counseling before. Why has he suddenly shown up in Esselgreen?]
Esselgreen is a city located more than fifty kilometers away from New York.
It would take an hour by normal vehicular travel.
And even longer by bus.
Next to her, Du Wei took out his phone and checked the time; it was 20:14.
From boarding to the first stop, only 14 minutes had passed.
If the interim stops were subtracted, the first station took around ten minutes.
Due to the heavy rain outside the window, the scenery was not visible, so it was impossible to estimate the speed.
Nevertheless, Du Wei felt that with this weather, the speed was probably around 50.
At that moment, he casually glanced at Linda sitting at the furthest right, her head lowered, looking at her phone, not knowing what she was doing. A faint sound came through, as if she were communicating with someone.
Then, Du Wei no longer paid attention to her, because at that time, the man sitting in the front, wearing a duckbill cap and a suit that seemed out of place, and who suffered from albinism, walked over.
The duckbill cap covered the upper half of his face, leaving only his mouth and nose visible, the expression on which was stiff and utterly devoid of emotion.
His gait was also strange, as if he had difficulty with his legs, always dipping his left shoulder slightly when he walked.
He was limping.
With an equally expressionless look, Du Wei watched him but subtly lifted his chest so that the hidden camera could record the entire process and the man's face.
The man with albinism didn't look at Du Wei; he just walked until he stopped at the back of the bus, staring at Linda on the far right.
Linda instantly looked bewildered, uncertain how to react as she regarded the man.
"Excuse me, is there something you need?"
Noticing that his gaze was firmly locked onto her, she spoke up to inquire.
However, the man with albinism remained silent, continuing to look down at her, creating an eerily strange atmosphere.
From the corner of his eye, Du Wei observed the two while also watching the actions of others on the bus.
Others referred to the African-American couple.
Strangely enough, the couple seemed immersed in their own world, turning a blind eye to the scene unfolding in the back of the bus.
Suddenly…
The man with albinism moved…
He extended his right hand, largely covered in white patches, and pointed at Linda, his mouth curving into a peculiar smile. Then he turned his head and lapsed into silence.
Immediately, Du Wei furrowed his brows. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened on the bus, except for these peculiar passengers.
But he could not theorize what these passengers were up to… What exactly they wanted…
Moreover, Du Wei noticed that the man with albinism was standing near the exit of the bus.
Could it mean that his destination had been reached?