The sky was overcast, as if brewing a torrential storm.
A Xiaoshan Village was hidden deep within the haze.
In front of a newly constructed self-built house that had not yet been renovated, a dilapidated bus slowly came to a halt.
There had originally been seven people on the bus, but now only six remained—two women and four men.
They sat inside, gazing through the windows at the slightly dilapidated and desolate Xiaoshan Village, terror and paleness still lingering on every face.
It seemed they had encountered something horrifying along the way.
At that moment, the bus door swung open, as if warning them that they should get off immediately.
"The driver is gone!"
Someone gasped, pointing toward the driver's seat.
That seat was completely empty. Had the driver vanished into thin air?
"What do we do? Are we really going to accept this Mission?"
"Are we really going over there?"
Appalled, a burly man sat silent for a long moment before pointing in terror out the bus window at the self-built house and asking the question.
Yet his backside remained firmly glued to the seat, showing no intention of leaving.
"If you want to die, you can stay on the bus."
Liang Fei's low voice came from deep within his throat, his own face equally blanketed in fear.
He scanned the interior of the bus and slowly stood up.
That morning, before he had fully shaken off the remnants of sleep, he had boarded this bus.
The bus, which had originally looked brand-new, had completely transformed after passing through a tunnel.
The seats inside were covered in thick dust, and the grime on the windows looked as though the vehicle had been abandoned in a junkyard for ages.
Had this bus not still been moving at high speed, he would have sworn it should have been scrapped long ago.
"But... this is a crime scene inside. What if..."
A woman crossed her arms, her body trembling incessantly. Her voice was thick with impending tears.
"What if the murderer is still hiding inside?"
Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked helplessly at the others on the bus.
The rest remained silent.
They did not know one another; they had merely boarded the same bus.
At first, they had thought this was all just a prank, or perhaps some sort of reality television show.
Yet... memories flickered back to half an hour earlier.
On the bus, a young, fashionably dressed woman had been the first to voice her doubts.
"Driver... stop the bus. I don't want to take part in this damn Mission."
"Hey, I'm talking to you!"
Seeing that the driver gave no response and continued driving with mechanical precision, the woman instantly grew furious.
"Stop the bus."
"Did you hear me? I told you to stop the bus. I'm getting off."
Frost covered the woman's face.
At that moment, the driver turned his head to look at her.
His expression was calm, but the corners of his mouth held a faint, subtle smile that looked utterly Anomaly.
"Are you sure you want to get off?"
Impatient, the woman snapped again:
"I'm sure. I'm getting off."
Without a word, the driver slowly brought the bus to a halt and opened the door.
The woman cast a cold glare at the driver and strode off the bus.
As she stepped out through the doorway, she didn't forget to remind the others:
"Aren't you getting off? Are you really going to take part in this stupid Mission?"
Seeing the others hesitate, the woman cursed angrily:
"A bunch of fools."
Yet at that exact moment, a horrifying thing occurred.
Right behind the woman, on the previously empty roadway, a terrifying-looking man suddenly appeared.
The man was unkempt and ghastly pale.
His eyes were pitch black, devoid of any whites.
In his hand, he clutched a claw hammer. While the woman was completely defenseless, he brought it down hard against her forehead.
Splat...
Crimson blood splattered across the air. Before the woman could even emit a scream, her skull had been smashed to pieces by the man.
...
"Have you forgotten how the woman who got off early died?"
Liang Fei took a deep breath. He had been sitting right by the door and had seen every detail of the woman's death with agonizing clarity.
At the mention of the woman, terror instantly resurfaced in everyone's eyes.
The two surviving women had legs so weak they could barely stand.
"Could this just be special effects for a show?"
The burly man still refused to believe it.
"Special effects?"
Liang Fei sneered.
"I was sitting right there, and I saw it clearly."
He pointed out the window.
"Her head was smashed to a pulp. The blood was real, and then... that man even bit off a piece of flesh from her body and ate it."
"I suspect he isn't human at all."
These words struck the passengers like a physical blow, terrifying them out of their wits.
Their complexions turned ghastly, and some even began to retch.
Clearly, Liang Fei was not the only one who had witnessed that scene.
"Since none of us want to die, we have no choice but to accept this Mission."
Taking a deep breath, Liang Fei was the first to step off the bus.
Ever since the woman was murdered, he had been observing everything with extreme trepidation.
Before the bus passed through the tunnel, the daylight had been bright and clear.
Yet after emerging from the tunnel, the light outside had grown dreadfully gloomy.
Moreover, the surroundings were deathly still.
A stillness that made his skin crawl.
He instinctively reached into his pocket. Ever since boarding the bus, a piece of stationery had inexplicably appeared on his person.
Following Liang Fei's lead, the others trailed closely behind him.
Thud, thud, thud...
As Liang Fei knocked on the door of the self-built house, brisk footsteps quickly sounded from within.
Screech!
The door opened to reveal a little boy of about twelve or thirteen years old.
He poked his head out through the crack, looking at the group in bewilderment.
"Who are you?"
His voice was chillingly detached. With white gauze wrapped around his head, his gaze swept up and down over the group.
Liang Fei's taut nerves relaxed slightly. He cleared his throat and, recalling the clues provided by the Mission regarding a murder that had taken place here, spoke up.
"Hello, we heard that a murder happened here, and we—"
Before Liang Fei could finish, the little boy interrupted him.
"Are you here to investigate?"
As expected...
The last shred of wishful thinking the group held was instantly shattered. They exchanged glances, unsure of how to respond.
Liang Fei nodded.
"Yes."
"That's great. Come on in quickly. I've been waiting for you ever since I was discharged from the hospital."
While the group stood at a loss, the little boy pulled the door wide open, gesturing for them to enter.
"Didn't it say there were seven people? Why are there only six of you?"
At the mention of their number, the group shivered violently.
"He... he had something come up and couldn't make it."
Liang Fei gave a vague reply, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.
He saw that not only was the interior completely devoid of any hard or soft furnishings, but even basic furniture was lacking.
It could truly be described as having bare walls.
Yet if he remembered the Mission correctly, their objective was to find the murderer responsible for this home invasion and robbery.
"Are you kidding me? With this kind of financial standing, what is a robber even going to take?"
"Are they going to make off with two bricks?"
The burly man glared in confusion, looking around at the others.
At that moment, the roar of a bus engine sounded outside.
Eerily, the driverless bus simply drove away!
The group rushed out the door and stared at the sight, their scalps tingling in terror.