Translator: Cinder Translations
--------
"Alright, now everyone should be here," the burly man naturally became the leader of the group. "The next task is about to begin, so everyone, get ready."
As if responding to his words, a light gradually appeared in the distance.
As the light drew closer, two beams of headlights pierced through the darkness.
A brand new luxury bus slowly came to a stop at the platform.
"Speak less, observe more. Before doing anything, ensure your safety first, and try not to act alone," the burly man added a few more instructions just before the bus doors opened.
As soon as he finished speaking, the doors swung open.
A young man jumped down from the bus.
With a buzz cut, he wore a blue sweatshirt on top and faded jeans on the bottom, looking quite handsome, probably in his early twenties.
He was chewing something, as if chewing gum.
"Sorry for the wait, everyone! We were delayed due to the weather," the young man surprised everyone by speaking; it turned out to be a woman.
She introduced herself: "I'm honored to be your tour guide for this journey. My last name is Zheng; you can call me Xiao Zheng or Zheng Dao."
"Zheng Dao," someone responded.
Everyone tacitly avoided calling her Xiao Zheng.
"Alright, everyone, please get on the bus quickly," Zheng Dao politely urged. "The weather is bad, and the roads are not easy to navigate; we need to hurry."
They boarded the bus in order from left to right, starting with the burly man, then a woman with a mole by her lips, the male clerk, a balding middle-aged man, Jiang Cheng, the agile fat man, and finally, the girl who got on last.
Once inside, they noticed there were already other passengers on the bus.
A couple sat in the back left side; the girl was reading a magazine while her boyfriend, wearing an eye mask and headphones, leaned against the window to rest.
A middle-aged woman sat in the first row behind the driver with a big boy.
They seemed to be mother and son, but the boy appeared to be ill, looking unwell with a vacant gaze; Jiang Cheng noticed that his fingers were all wrapped in bandages as he passed by.
Once Zheng Dao got on, she asked everyone to find their seats, and as soon as the doors closed, she took a seat to the right of the driver.
The burly man sat behind the mother and son, while the woman with the mole sat behind Zheng Dao.
Jiang Cheng chose a seat in the second row behind the couple. Just as he sat down, a large figure squeezed in next to him. "Bro, let's sit together!"
Jiang Cheng looked up and saw it was the agile fat man. He said, "Sure, but I'm not used to sitting on the inside."
"Not a problem; I can squeeze in."
Half a minute later, the fat man managed to fit himself in, but he still encroached on some of Jiang Cheng's space, forcing him to shift outward.
The male clerk tried several times to sit next to others but received cold shoulders each time. In the end, it was the girl who let him sit beside her.
The middle-aged man sat alone in the last row; Jiang Cheng glanced back and noticed his face was dark enough to drip water.
"Bro, can you tell me what's going on?" the fat man leaned over and whispered, "I was asleep, and then suddenly we're here."
Jiang Cheng recounted the information he'd gathered from the burly man, embellishing it a bit for the fat man, who nearly burst into tears upon hearing it. "If I die here, my whole family will bleed to death upside down?"
"It's like this."
"Then why do I see that you're not too afraid?"
Jiang Cheng turned his head and said in a very formal tone, "Because I'm an orphan."
The journey was very calm, so calm that the male clerk thought it might continue this way, but suddenly the sound of braking shattered the dream.
"Bang!"
The immense inertia, along with the shattered glass, swept through the entire carriage like a storm.
The bus had crashed into something.
The male clerk shrank in the aisle between the two rows of seats, blocking everyone from getting off the bus, his mouth open as if to scream. In the end, a burly man dragged him out of the carriage and slapped him twice.
"If you don't want to die, shut the hell up!" he threatened fiercely.
The male clerk, disheveled and covered in dirt, crouched on the ground for a while before getting up and hiding at the back of the group.
Indeed.
The bus had crashed into a tree.
The driver got out to check and discovered that the heavy rain had caused a landslide on one side of the road, altering the vehicle's normal trajectory, which resulted in it losing balance and crashing into a roadside tree.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured; most were just scratched by the shards of glass.
But the bus couldn't move anymore. Jiang Cheng looked around and realized they were in a place without any nearby villages or shops, with only a straight road leading to an unknown direction.
The rain had lightened a bit, but it was still falling.
"Travelers, I'm really sorry," Guide Zheng said, rubbing her hands as she walked over. "It seems today's journey is a bust."
They had only met for a few hours, yet she had already apologized twice, though everyone knew she wasn't sincere either time.
According to the burly man, she was just an NPC pushing the plot forward.
"How about this: I know there's a villa in that forest over there where you can take shelter from the rain. I'll take a few people to find the bus, and when we locate it, I'll come back to pick you up," Guide Zheng said, pointing to the nearby woods.
Even a newcomer like Jiang Cheng felt this wasn't a good choice, but the burly man and the others agreed and then turned to walk into the forest.
The real task was here!
The previously relaxed atmosphere suddenly changed.
Walking on the muddy road, if one wasn't careful, they could easily fall. After about half an hour, they finally spotted a three-story villa ahead.
The villa was hidden by dense trees, making it difficult to see unless one got very close.
"Can people live in there?" a girl whispered.
The villa's dilapidation was obvious; it hadn't been maintained for at least five years, and a layer of fallen leaves was piled up in front of the door.
"If you don't want to stay inside, you can stay outside," the burly man said without looking back as he held up an umbrella and walked toward the villa.
Jiang Cheng watched the burly man's back; his mood seemed to be worsening. In truth, everyone could tell that the girl was just complaining.
But Jiang Cheng sensed a hint of fear in their complaints and dissatisfaction.
Once everyone had followed him, the chubby guy sharing an umbrella with Jiang Cheng urged, "What are you looking at, big brother? Hurry up and come over."
"Yeah."
No one answered when they knocked on the door. The burly man tried to push it, and to his surprise, the solid wooden door opened a crack.
The door wasn't locked.
When the door was fully opened, the scene inside came into view.
The spacious living room looked a bit old-fashioned but didn't have much of a dilapidated feel; there was only a thin layer of dust on the floor and the rectangular dining table.
(End of chapter)
---
What happened Next?
Read ahead on Patreon.
Currently up to 65 as of 26Sep24.
Just visit my p atreon: Pa treon.com/CinderTL
If you are content with the free chapters, you can show your appreciation by joining me for as low as $1. You can read this and other series (more coming in the future) on my Pa treon.
AND PLEASE LEAVE SOME REVIEWS, NEED MORE REVIEWS