Night shrouded the city.
A sultry breeze drifted through the old, silent streets.
An abandoned bus stop sign stood quietly in the darkness, its lettering faded and indistinct, with only the numbers 44 faintly visible.
Under the sign, two people stared at each other wide-eyed.
"Is that bus still coming?"
"I'll definitely come today, I promise!"
"You said the same thing yesterday!"
"Today's different."
This was the starting point of Bus No. 44. They had been squatting here for two days, from dusk till dawn, without even catching a glimpse of that last bus.
"How's it different? Listen, I'll wait with you one last night. If it doesn't come, I need to handle my own business. Believe it or not, I'm busy too!" Jing Jian glared at Lu Fei in exasperation.
Waiting for a discontinued bus at an abandoned station in the dead of night made him feel like a total idiot.
"Relax, it'll definitely come today! I checked the weather forecast."
Lu Fei brimmed with confidence.
"What does the weather have to do with anything?"
"Heaven's secrets must not be revealed!" Lu Fei smiled mysteriously.
"You're full of it!" Jing Jian rolled his eyes, resigning himself to wait patiently.
Time passed slowly.
The air grew increasingly stifling, until—
Drip, drip.
Tiny droplets began falling from the sky, blossoming into watery splashes on the parched ground.
"It's raining..." Jing Jian stretched out his palm.
Almost immediately, he heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.
"A bus?!"
He whirled around and froze.
Two dim yellow headlights had materialized in the darkness.
An antiquated public bus gradually emerged through the rain curtain, creeping toward the abandoned stop.
The faintly visible numbers 44 glowed on its front.
"See, Brother Jing? I told you it would come tonight!" Lu Fei exhaled in relief.
The delayed appearance of this ghost bus had gnawed at him—he'd spent days scouring every scrap of information about Route 44 before discovering its pattern.
This vehicle only appeared on rainy nights.
"So it's the water!"
Jing Jian suddenly understood.
Last time at Fuxian Lake, the fish demon could come ashore precisely because of the rain.
Rainwater seemed to create a bridge between aquatic and terrestrial realms.
The bus's sickly yellow headlights illuminated the derelict station.
The bus creaked to a halt.
The door slowly opened.
A damp, watery breath exhaled from within.
The interior was pitch-black and eerily silent, as if devoid of passengers. The bus's surface was covered in patches of moss and aquatic weeds.
"Stop dawdling and get on!"
Lu Fei tugged Jing Jian's sleeve, produced two damp tickets, and boarded the frigid, pitch-black late-night bus.
Snap—
The door closed. The bus gradually began moving through the stormy darkness, like a colossal monstrous fish gliding forward through ink-black waters.
The cabin felt clammy.
Droplets clung to every seat and wall surface, as though the vehicle had just been dredged from a riverbed—utterly unfit for sitting.
Both men gripped the cold, moist handrails as they peered toward the front.
A driver sat rigidly in the cab, hands frozen on the steering wheel. Even his silhouette seemed unnerving.
"Can this bus really drive into the river?" Jing Jian swallowed hard, his voice uneasy. "What if we drown before even meeting that River Lord?"
"Nonsense! The Dragon Scale isn't just for show! Don't jinx it!"
Lu Fei shot him an exasperated glare.
"Let's just hope we make it back alive." Jing Jian sighed, wiping off a seat before sitting down.
There was no turning back now that they'd boarded.
"Of course we'll return—not just alive, but triumphant with the River Lord's demon core!" Lu Fei declared with forced optimism, thrusting a medicinal vial into Jing Jian's hand. "Keep this. Don't blame me if you get hurt again!"
"Whoa! Where'd you get such high-grade elixirs?" Jing Jian's eyes widened.
"Recently subdued a peculiar evil entity. Remarkable thing—feed coins into its mouth, and it vomits out these pills."
"Really?"
"If you don't believe me, give me a few hundred to test."
"Don't give me that!"
They exchanged a few more jabs, and the fear began to dissipate.
The bus creaked forward as rain rattled against the windows, the world outside swallowed by darkness.
Buildings on either side undulated through the curtain of rain, transforming the familiar city into an alien landscape.
The vehicle kept moving without any sign of stopping.
"Lu Fei, something feels off. We've been driving forever—why hasn't this bus left the city proper?" Jing Jian fidgeted in his seat.
"It's like it's circling the city on purpose. What's it waiting for?" Lu Fei peered through the window, unease prickling his skin, though the reason eluded him.
Anxiety coiled tight in both of them.
Suddenly, the bus screeched to a halt.
The door opened.
"Are we here?"
Lu Fei and Jing Jian exchanged a glance, then stood up nervously.
However.
The next moment, a drenched man grabbed the handrail and boarded the bus.
"Damn weather. Lucky I caught the last bus,"
He patted the rainwater off his clothes, dropped coins into the fare box, tore off a soggy ticket, and staggered down the aisle before plopping into an empty seat.
The door closed, and the bus moved forward again.
"How dare anyone board this bus? Human or ghost?"
Lu Fei and Jing Jian looked at the man warily, their expressions a mix of alarm and bewilderment.
The man appeared ordinary, reeking of alcohol. He had started dozing off immediately after boarding, completely oblivious to the vehicle's abnormality.
"He looks completely ordinary."
"Must've been drunk when he stumbled onto this bus."
"This guy's luck is downright supernatural!" Jing Jian shook his head. "Lu Fei, we need to get him off!"
Ordinary people who board this vehicle never return.
After a moment's consideration, Lu Fei countered, "Wait a bit longer."
"Why?"
"The bus hasn't left the city yet—probably because it hasn't gathered enough passengers."
Jing Jian paled. "It actively seeks passengers?! Then if it can't fill the seats... does that mean it'll keep circling the city forever? That we'll never reach the river?
"Not necessarily. Let's wait a bit longer."
The two waited patiently; under these circumstances, there was nothing else they could do but wait.
The rain continued to fall.
The entire city was silent.
Dim yellow headlights swept across the streets as the buses, like silent water monsters, prowled through the alleys and avenues, searching everywhere for their prey.
A long time passed.
The bus stopped again.
A heavily made-up woman boarded the bus in a disheveled state.
"What rotten luck... couldn't get a taxi all this time... Who'd have thought there'd still be buses running at this hour..."
Muttering, the woman dropped her fare into the box, tore off a damp ticket, wiped a seat with visible distaste, and reluctantly sat down.
"This bus is so rundown, not even a light inside... I'll get off once we reach a better area to hail a cab..."
Judging by her attire, she should be a service industry worker who finished late shifts.
Currently, there are four passengers in the compartment.
The damp, chilly bus finally drove out of the city proper.