115 - Parting Ways

Translated by rabbitrisu

Su Zimo’s appearance attracted some attention.

But in regards to the two terrible choices to either stay on board or get off, Su Zimo’s appearance didn’t affect the passengers’ judgement too much.

After a while, the little boy, his parents, the three gentle elderly, the young driver, and the odd Tight Man who had himself bundled up extremely snugly all stood on Su Zimo’s side. The others, excepting Fu Mingchen, all stood on Liu Qi’s side.

Fu Mingchen alone stood in a neutral position.

“Nevertheless… the bus is safer, and the protective attributes of the bus are in place.” As the driver of the scenic bus, the man seemed to be able to maintain a sense of security from the bus itself.

“I have to catch a plane, or I’ll miss an important event.” The tall woman in a professional black uniform sitting in the first row briefly explained, showing why she chose Liu Qi. That lady must be unwilling to offend anyone in her daily life.

And Fu Mingchen, who stood in the middle and hadn’t made a decision, looked conflicted. He really wanted to extend his hand out to Qiu Qiu and invite her to stand with him. He wanted to bring his silent waiting and dedication from the past few years to a simple end.

But in the end, Fu Mingchen didn’t say what he wished. His hands clenched into fists as he stood still.

He felt that he should be more realistic. Ever since they escaped the first nightmare world Fu Mingchen watched his cold goddess that he adored turn into an innocent little bird beside Liu Qi.

Qiu Qiu, the woman, would never work out for him.

“I’ll stay in the bus.” Fu Mingchen lowered his head and walked to Su Zimo’s side.

"

"

At that moment, Fu Mingchen thought, even if he was just a spare tire — or maybe he was just calling himself a spare tire — if Qiu Qiu cared even a little bit about the person called ‘Fu Mingchen,’ she would speak up to keep him.

Fu Mingchen really did know that Liu Qi was amazing, and he was actually willing to follow him out of the bus.

So he thought that as long as Qiu Qiu opened her mouth just a little bit to call him, he would walk down the steps and leave the bus with his colleagues.

As long as she spoke up, just a little bit.

……

But no.

Fu Mingchen had also accounted for some of the reasons that made Liu Qi decide to get off the car. None of the colleagues who decided to exit with Liu Qi called out to Fu Mingchen, let alone Qiu Qiu.

The goddess that Fu Mingchen had a crush on, she didn’t even spare him a look.

His clenched fists loosened.

Ai–

“I still hope you won’t exit the compartment.” Su Zimo still had reservations.

After all, If Liu Qi and the others opened the door, they would have to consider the possibility of the wisps entering the bus. But then, the ghost umbrella drifted to Su Zimo’s ear and gifted him with the news that he had a way to temporarily keep the wisps out of the compartment.

The lonely wild ghosts were just like the red high heels, and just like the ghosts who wanted to break into the store earlier. They needed to possess someone or have someone open the door to enter.

So as long as the door was shut immediately after Liu Qi and the others leave, the wisps couldn’t continue to enter the bus.

After that was said, Su Zimo began to speak.

“I’m not a trainer.” Su Zimo told the truth. “But I lied just now. My understanding of the nightmare world is not less than that of a trainer.”

Upon hearing Su Zimo’s words, Liu Qi and the others on the opposite side had funny expressions, as if Su Zimo was telling a joke.

“They’re not fireflies outside. They’re wisps. Each wisp represents a ghost.” Su Zimo looked at the grey spots. “A single ghost isn’t scary. I believe Mr. Liu could handle it. But think about it; do you want to fight against so many ghosts? You can count the number of wisps and then decide whether or not to exit the bus.”

“Are you trying to scare me?” Liu Qi didn’t get angry, he laughed. “Wisps? Ghosts? Kid, did you read too many horror novels, or are you yearning for the nightmare world?”

Some chuckles came from behind Liu Qi.

Even Fu Mingchen looked at Su Zimo oddly. He began to feel that he had made the wrong decision to follow this person and stay in the bus. However, he had also always felt that this person was more mysterious than Liu Qi, who was a veteran.

He didn’t really watch too many horror movies, right?

“Xiao didi, ghosts are things that only exist in the nightmare world.” Qiu Qiu glanced at Su Zimo a few times. “There’s no such thing in the real world.”

“Then can you explain what those things flying outside are? It’s raining so heavily and the wind is blowing so harshly, but they aren’t affected at all. They’re getting closer and closer to our bus.” Su Zimo still expressed his thoughts about what should be done, but he wouldn’t interfere too much. “Do you still think they’re fireflies? I want to remind you that it’s four o’clock in the afternoon, not midnight or early morning. There is no wifi signal, no humans. It’s like we entered a different space.”

“……” Liu Qi was also speechless for a while.

“We don’t know, but that doesn’t mean that this phenomenon can’t be explained, right?” The tall woman over there raised an eyebrow. “We aren’t scientists or meteorologists. We can’t say that something we don’t know about is a supernatural event.”

The tall woman said that, but for the first time, Liu Qi didn’t feel that he was robbed of the spotlight.

He instead looked out of the compartment window with some surprise, and shouted: “Look, there’s a small yellow light out there! Is it the light from somebody else’s house?!”

Su Zimo turned his head to look, and he saw a small yellow spot amongst the grey in the darkness.

[It’s more powerful than the ordinary ghosts.] Ghost Umbrella explained.

Off-white… yellow… red? Su Zimo thought of Ghost Umbrella’s evil red eyes again.

“What I said was true, right? This isn’t a deserted area, there are lights.” Liu Qi smiled confidently. “We just need to walk towards that light and we’ll find someone.”

“……” Su Zimo paused. “That’s not a human being.”

It’s a pity that to the others, what Su Zimo said was just an unreasonable fallacious argument.

It wasn’t that Su Zimo couldn’t understand the situation. Even if Su Zimo said it more clearly, those people who had already covered their eyes and ears with their own ideas may not agree with Su Zimo’s words.

Ai–

“Let’s get out of the bus!” Liu Qi said, walking ahead of everyone and holding the door with one hand. He turned around to look at Su Zimo again. “Are you sure you won’t follow me?”

Some of the people around Su Zimo were indeed hesitation, but after seeing the yellow ‘light’ was rather far from the bus, they still failed to keep up with Liu Qi’s pace.

Zhi–ga–

The moment the door to the bus was forced open, the wisps outside readied themselves to move.

It was then that Ghost Umbrella, who was invisible to others, blocked the door to the car, opening the long black umbrella held in his hand.

The umbrella in Ghost Umbrella’s hand, like the umbrella in Su Zimo’s hand, was a mysterious ghost tool that had always been able to block anything.