The broadcast inside the bus came on: Route 14 is now arriving at the station.
The woman with permed hair, who looked like a vengeful ghost, stumbled to her feet. Biting her lip, she dug her nails into the flesh of her abdomen as she walked toward the door.
"Please exit through the rear door," the driver softly reminded her, but the woman didn't respond. She was near the front door and reached it in just a few steps.
"Hehe..."
As the door opened, the laughter of children playing echoed from outside. I leaned over to look. A few small, shadowy figures tossed a vegetable basket in front of the door and then darted into the nearby maternity hospital, giggling as they went.
"Whose mischievous kids are these? Out so late and still not asleep?"
The permed woman, wearing high heels, clattered down toward the door. Her face full of despair, she didn't bother avoiding the basket and was about to step right into it.
"Wait!"
Just as the sharp heel of her shoe was about to sink into the basket, the tattered container emitted the sound of a baby crying.
The permed woman stopped her foot just in time. The pointed heel hovered mere centimeters from the infant's delicate skin. If the baby in the basket had reached out, it could have grabbed her leg.
Almost stepping on such a fragile life left her shaken. The resentment that had consumed her mind seemed to clear slightly.
"Mama..." The baby's voice mingled with sobs. It sounded like it was trying to say the word "Mama."
Crouched by the front door, the permed woman froze for over a minute. Suddenly, she changed her mind. Instead of getting off the bus, she picked up the basket and returned to her seat.
"What on earth is this crazy woman planning now?" Whether she was human or ghost, as long as she left the bus, she wouldn't pose a threat to me. But to my surprise, not only did she stay, she also brought the baby back on board.
It's not that I lack sympathy, but the baby's appearance at this time and place was simply too bizarre.
In the middle of nowhere, who would abandon a baby at a bus stop in the dead of night?
This was clearly not an abandonment but a deliberate act to ensure the baby wouldn't survive—a murder, in other words!
The permed woman held onto the basket tightly. Despite the baby's wails, she didn't react at all. Instead, she opened her handbag, pulled out a makeup kit, and began meticulously fixing her face.
"She's crazy, right?" I aimed my phone at her, and my livestream viewers erupted in comments.
"Whoa, what kind of horror show is this?"
"This proves that when humans try hard enough, they can be scarier than ghosts!"
"Y'all are missing the point. Haven't you noticed the weirdest thing about her yet?"
"What weird thing?"
"It's tights season, but she's wearing pantyhose!"
"Get lost!"
After fixing her makeup, her tear-streaked face was now caked with foundation. She applied lipstick amidst the baby's crying. "If I hadn't gotten rid of my first child, they'd be about your age now," she murmured.
Her face, thick with makeup, was enough to kill anyone's appetite. For a moment, I even felt sorry for the baby in the basket.
The permed woman took out her phone and cradled the baby. She pinched the baby's tear-streaked face. "So similar. You look just like that heartless man," she said.
Strangely enough, as soon as the baby was in her arms, its cries softened. There seemed to be something deeper behind its chubby little face.
"Since no one wants you, I'll be your mom. Let's say hi to Daddy," she said, dialing a number. As expected, it was rejected. She tried several more numbers, but no one answered.
"Fine, Li Zijian, you've forced me to do this!" the permed woman said, holding the baby so tightly that it winced in pain. She didn't care.
Scrolling through her contacts, she found her target and initiated a video call, raising her phone so both she and the baby were visible on the screen.
To her surprise, the video call was answered. On the other end was a reserved, soft-spoken woman wearing pajamas, visibly pregnant, her eyes red and puffy from crying.
"Who are you? How do you have my WeChat?" The woman's voice was gentle, far kinder than the permed woman's.
"Who am I? Don't you recognize the photos you sent in your emails?"
"You're the one seducing my husband!"
"Seducing? Let me tell you the truth. Your husband's so-called overtime was spent with me. We know every inch of each other!"
"Shut up! You're shameless!"
"And what about you? Do you even deserve to judge me? You stole him from me! I'm his real wife. Look at the baby in my arms—it's his son!"
The permed woman grinned wickedly and pushed the baby's face closer to the camera, even manipulating its tiny hands.
"You! You..." The pregnant woman doubled over in pain. Her anguished cries drew a man from the living room into the bedroom.
"Rou Rou! Yang Rou!"
Blood soaked through the woman's white nightgown. She rolled off the bed, and the man frantically called for an ambulance.
The video call captured everything in gruesome detail. Meanwhile, the baby in the basket continued crying, but the permed woman only laughed harder.
"Serves her right!" She chuckled, setting the baby back into the basket as if it were a used tool. She tossed it to the floor and ignored its cries.
Yi Yi, sitting nearby, was naturally kindhearted. Seeing the baby cry so pitifully, she instinctively wanted to pick it up.
As she stood, I pressed her shoulder back down. "Stay out of it. This isn't something you should meddle in."
The bus broadcast chimed, and the vehicle started moving again. Over the next three stops, spanning about forty minutes, nothing else happened.
"Not many stops left till the terminal," I murmured, tapping my foot nervously. A growing unease gnawed at me.
Despite the strangeness so far, no real danger had emerged. Compared to Xinhu High School, this felt almost too calm.
"Ding dong! Qingtu Temple station. Please gather your belongings and exit through the rear door. Thank you."
Both front and rear doors opened. After about two minutes, a rhythmic jingling sound came from outside—a peculiar noise, reminiscent of the cowbells I used to hear in my hometown as a child.
"What's getting on this time?"
The jingling grew louder. The baby in the basket stopped crying, and a few passengers looked around, puzzled.
Just then, the five mourners dressed in funeral garb at the back of the bus stood up in unison. Their faces were ashen, and their movements remained stiff as before.
They queued to exit through the rear door. As they turned, I noticed yellow talismans with red inscriptions pasted on the back of their heads.
"Talismans on the back of their heads?" I got up to record the symbols on my phone, but my eyes caught sight of an elderly Taoist priest in a blue robe standing outside the bus.
In one hand, he shook a bronze bell. In the other, he waved a willow branch, chanting under his breath.
"Could this be the legendary art of corpse herding?" I muttered, raising my phone as I walked to the rear door.
The Taoist priest froze mid-chant, turning to look at me with disbelief.
"You're..." I began, but he gestured for silence, placing a finger to his lips.
He tucked the willow branch into his belt, scribbled a few characters on a yellow paper charm, folded it, and pressed it into my hand before stepping off the bus with his eyes closed.
Not a word was spoken, and he didn't glance at anyone inside.
I didn't open the charm right away. Instead, I watched as the Taoist priest and the mourners disappeared into the distance.
"Please hold on. The bus is departing. Thank you for riding Route 14. Prepare your fare. Next stop: Huayuan Residential Complex."
As the broadcast resumed, the permed woman's phone rang again. She glanced at the caller ID, and an eerie smile crept onto her face.
"Hello? Li Zijian, how's your precious wife doing?"
"Rong Rong, what are you talking about? You're my only darling. That yellow-faced woman can't come between us anymore."
The voice on the other end was clear and unmistakable, identical to the man's earlier calls—but his tone and words were completely different.
"You... who are you?"
"I'm Zijian, of course. I called to share good news. We can finally be together openly!"
"You got divorced?"
"No, something better. That woman and her bastard died in a car accident! I don't even have to split my assets. Plus, I'll get a huge insurance payout. It's fate—it was meant to be!"
The man's voice brimming with excitement sounded like a kid eager to show off a good deed.
"Stop pretending! Do you think I'll believe you anymore?" The permed woman sneered. "Calling me in the middle of the night to tell me to abort the baby—you heartless scum!"
"Abort the baby? Rong Rong, are you dreaming? I never made any such call! That's my child. How could I bear to lose him?"
"Check the news if you don't believe me," the man said, sounding confused.
I'd been paying close attention and quickly took out my phone to search online.
"This afternoon at 5 p.m., a severe traffic accident occurred at the entrance of Jiangcheng Huayuan Residential Complex. A private car collided with a Route 14 bus, resulting in two fatalities and one injury. Among the deceased was a high-risk pregnant woman, identified as Yang Rou..."
The article included several images, one showing a woman in a red maternity dress, her face blurred for privacy.
The permed woman must have seen the article too. Her hand, holding the phone, trembled uncontrollably.
"See, Rong Rong? I wasn't lying," the man's voice said.
"Zijian." The permed woman seemed to choke on her words. "I'm sorry. I lied to you. Your wife never cheated on you. The baby she was carrying was yours..."
Her head was forcefully turned. Staring back at her was the baby, now somehow crawling out of the basket. Fixating on its face, she muttered, "See? He looks just like you..."