On the bus.
Although it was an old-fashioned bus, the specific model might date back to the last century, the interior was maintained very well.
The seats were neat and tidy, the windows were very clean, and aside from the dim lighting inside the bus, everything else was completely different from what one would expect.
There wasn't even a hint of the sweat odor and exhaust smell that usually filled ordinary buses.
Du Wei glanced at the passengers inside the bus and then withdrew his gaze. He pulled a coin out of his pocket and dropped it into the fare box on the bus.
After that, he wiped the water stains off his chest.
That spot was hiding an extremely miniature invisible camera.
The investigation begins...
He silently said in his heart, without any intention of communicating with the driver, and emotionlessly walked towards the back seat of the bus.
The space inside the bus wasn't very large, so one had to stay alert and watchful.
And the back seat offered a clear view of the entire bus interior.
His steps were neither hurried nor slow.
Passing the third row, Du Wei took a quick glance at a man sitting by the window using his peripheral vision.
Out of all the passengers he had briefly scanned, only this man left the deepest impression on Du Wei.
The man was dressed in a black suit and wearing a baseball cap, which looked out of place, and the long brim of the hat covered most of his face, obscuring his features. However, the skin that was visible was unsettling to look at.
It was like he was a patient with vitiligo; large patches of startlingly white skin were spread across his body, and the man kept his head against the window as if he were asleep.
He continued walking towards the back of the bus.
Further back sat an African American couple, both without much expression, their hair damp with moisture. They looked up as Du Wei walked by, then remained still.
Without stopping, Du Wei reached the last seat, chose a spot next to the window, pulled up the hood of his jacket, placed his umbrella next to his right hand, and then fell silent.
A man with vitiligo, an African American couple, Du Wei, and the bus driver.
There were only five people on the entire bus.
Of course, there might only be one.
...
The bus doors closed.
It moved forward slowly.
Du Wei took a glance outside the window; the rain was falling harder. It was already night-time when he got on, and the sky had turned even darker, making it nearly impossible to see any distinct structures, only vague silhouettes.
Where this bus was headed, Du Wei wasn't sure, but that was irrelevant to him. He had only two objectives.
Uncover its information.
Limit its actions.
For the first objective, there was no need for Du Wei to do anything; he just needed to calmly wait for the bus to gradually reveal the hidden evil intent, with everything being recorded by the invisible camera on his chest.
In the end, the camera and the stored footage would be handed over to the church by Father Tony.
As for the second objective,
He could only wait for now.
But what struck Du Wei as strange was that ever since he boarded the bus, 'Spirit Vision' had involuntarily disappeared.
Generally, 'Spirit Vision' was a by-product of being eroded by the Evil Spirit. Whenever he encountered anything related to the Evil Spirit, or touched anything connected to it, he would involuntarily enter this state.
He couldn't help but entertain a thought in his mind.
Perhaps it was a 'safe period' right now.
Under the cover of night, the rain grew heavier and heavier.
In the distance, one could only see the bus steadily moving along, crossing streets, and turning onto a more remote route.
...
Linda felt she was quite unlucky to be standing on a rural bus stop platform in such rainy weather, holding an umbrella, waiting for the last bus that might not even come.
As an outdoor livestreamer with over a hundred thousand followers, she was coaxed by her audience into doing a ghost-hunting show and went to the most terrifying deserted mansion in Esselgreen to look for paranormal activities.
But the result was nothing at all, no ghostly figures, no strange sounds; aside from a higher number of mosquitoes, there was nothing else.
Had she known this would be the case, she felt she should have arranged for some people in advance to create some special effects for the show, even if her followers saw through it, it would have been better than a bunch of people saying it was boring in the live chat.
"Damn this weather, when will there finally be a bus, I'm almost frozen to death."
After grumbling, Linda tightened her clothes, her umbrella could only block rain but it couldn't provide her with any warmth.
She glanced at her phone's livestreaming app and saw many messages mocking her.
[What happened to the ghost-hunting? Are we just watching you get bitten by mosquitoes?]
[The guy above is retarded, right? Who these days watches female streamers for the program's content?]
[+1]
[Seriously though, it's really too dangerous for a streamer to be in the suburbs in this weather, I think she needs a man's protection, like me, I'm well-built and strong.]
[What's the use of being strong, I have a gun.]
[Like as if you're the only one.]
Linda saw these comments and thought helplessly: "I was planning to edit this live stream and upload it online, but now it seems I'd better not. It will just make people think I'm an idiot."
At that moment, two dim headlights appeared in the distance, shining on Linda's face as she looked down at her phone.
She instinctively looked up and saw an almost vintage bus slowly driving through the rain, its dim headlights in the darkness, not only reminiscent of the eyes of some feline animals but also subtly unsettling.
However, she didn't think much of it and instead felt excited.
"Hey... over here, here, someone's here."
As she spoke, she lifted her phone and aimed the camera at the bus as it approached, telling her viewers: "Great, the last bus I've been waiting for has finally arrived. I thought there wouldn't be any buses in this kind of weather. Looks like I can make it home and get a good night's sleep."
[Rainy night, last bus, aftermarket, tsk tsk, is this like the death bus routine?]
[Maybe it's like the streetcar desire...]
[???]
[???]
[Genius!]
Linda was somewhat speechless; she remembered this genius viewer was from some small Asian country. Despite being a streamer, she actually wasn't as open-minded as others thought.
So seeing these kinds of comments, she felt somewhat disgusted.
Just as she was about to remind this viewer not to discuss sensitive topics or else they would be banned, the bus slowly stopped in front of her.
The sound of the bus door opening...
For no apparent reason, Linda felt a chill wind blow across her and involuntarily shivered.
She looked inside the bus and could only see dim lighting and the figure of the driver; the rest of the bus was silent, as if, besides her, there were no other passengers.
She didn't mind, considering taking a bus in such dismal weather was luck enough.
Even though the bus seemed a bit old, it was definitely much better than staying in that abandoned mansion, getting blown by the wind, rained on, and bitten by mosquitoes.
So, she stepped onto the bus and peered through to see four passengers, feeling a bit more at ease.
A black couple, a weirdo wearing a cap, and a handsome Asian man sitting at the back wearing a pack.
It seemed she wasn't the only one out of luck in this weather.
She shrugged nonchalantly.
Then, she turned her head toward the driver, who was separated by a partition window, and could only see the slightly hunched figure.
Was it an elderly driver?
She thought for a moment and asked with a smile, "Hello, Mr. Driver, how do I buy a ticket?"
As her words fell, Linda suddenly felt a chill down her spine, her hair stood on end, and she was covered in goosebumps.
And inside the bus, as soon as she uttered those words, everyone simultaneously looked up, staring at her with blank expressionless faces.