Li Yougen and Dong Xiu, who had only one life left, closed their eyes even tighter, curling up in their seats, leaving only their ears to listen to the sounds around them. Xiong Jiabao also tightly covered his eyes, mumbling prayers to Buddha, the Almighty, and Jesus.
“It turns out that all the sounds we’ve heard since we got on the bus are coming from these dolls!” Xin Meng’s back was covered in sweat; these dolls were too strange. Their skin looked almost identical to that of real people, but their glassy eyes were nearly half the size of their faces, exuding an eerie sheen that made them look particularly terrifying in the dimly lit bus. Their expressions were as stiff as corpses, and they emitted voices that sounded like human speech, some even moved!
“No, it’s not these,” You Yi said calmly, “it’s the same one.”
Xin Meng was taken aback. He listened carefully to the sounds again, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat!
What was going on?
Why… why did these voices sound so similar?
That strange sense of incongruity suggested that rather than many dolls having similar voices, it was more like the same voice playing different roles!
He realized that there were no two voices sounding simultaneously; it was as if one person was dubbing different characters in the scene. It wasn’t a chaotic overlap but rather a sequential flow. Although there was deliberate disguise, upon careful discernment, one could find significant similarities among them.
He finally understood why the so-called “teacher’s” voice sounded familiar; it was because it was very similar to Heizi’s voice!
If he thought a little deeper, since they got on the bus, all the people inside, including the driver and the teacher, were women. The children, being young, were hard to distinguish between male and female, and it was very likely that they were all girls. This made it even more plausible that it was the deliberate disguise of the same woman.
It seemed to echo his discovery; the tones of those voices gradually flattened and became consistent, eliminating all differences. It was indeed the same woman!
What was even more terrifying was that the originally singular voice gradually gained some echoes, quickly turning into a polyphonic effect, but in reality, it was still one person speaking.
“What do we do now!” Even if they opened their eyes, the bus door wouldn’t open, and they would have to face this terrifying scene!
“Find,” You Yi said with just one word.
“Find? What to find?” Xin Meng nervously asked, his eyes not daring to blink as he watched the dolls that had started to bounce around, their voices now forming a straight line! “They… they are coming!”
The dolls wore eerie smiles on their faces, bouncing and jumping, slowly splitting into several groups, encircling the three who had their eyes open. Their eyeless eyes looked at them in a strange and evil manner, as if they were a group of delicious lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Xin Meng grabbed You Yi’s arm, his fingers trembling slightly.
You Yi placed his hand over Xin Meng’s hand, “Calm down, look for the point of difference. You can do it, don’t be afraid.”
It was as if a light bulb went off in Xin Meng’s mind. Yes, just like in Xiuse Village, there must be a “switch” around that would allow the players to pass through smoothly. As long as they found that unusual existence, they could open the bus door!
Although You Yi spoke little, he always inspired and enlightened Xin Meng. He couldn’t help but trust this man more and more, leaning closer to him, focusing his attention, his gaze scanning every doll in the bus. Soon, he noticed a doll in the corner at the back of the bus that had not moved at all. The doll had its head slightly bowed, and its gray-brown hair curled and twisted atop its head…
No! That wasn’t hair!
Upon closer inspection, those thick strands were slowly moving. Xin Meng watched for a while and was shocked to see one strand flicking out a tongue!
Those were snakes!
Medusa!
As if sensing Xin Meng’s incredulous gaze, Medusa slowly raised her head, revealing a pair of stone eyes that almost occupied her entire face!
Xin Meng couldn’t tear his gaze away, and just as he was about to make eye contact with Medusa’s stone eyes, everything went dark. It was You Yi covering his eyes with his hand. However, Xin Meng felt that the warm palm had just touched him when there was a moment of blurriness, quickly solidifying again. He yanked You Yi’s wrist, pulling his hand down, and was alarmed to find a “4” appearing above his head!
You Yi died once?!
What was going on? What happened?!
“Don’t look into her eyes,” You Yi said, his expression unchanged, gripping Xin Meng’s chin to prevent him from turning to look at Medusa, forcing him to look at himself. “When the bus arrives, her power is weakened, and she can’t petrify people from a distance, but if you make direct eye contact with her, you still can’t escape.”
Xin Meng looked into You Yi’s eyes, which occasionally flashed with an inorganic sheen. To some extent, they resembled those dolls, which was also a reason why others always felt fear towards You Yi. However, it brought Xin Meng a completely different feeling.
He calmed down, “If looking into her eyes means death, then our troubles aren’t over. Even if we don’t actively look at her, she will find a way to make us see her.”
This statement wasn’t unfounded, as from the corner of his eye, he could see that the doll had already begun to move. It stood up from its seat, swaying as it walked towards them, its snake hair curling and stretching, hissing as it flicked its tongue, its evil eyes targeting them—specifically the three of them!
“What do we do now!” Qi Xiaokui’s face turned pale, cold sweat covering her forehead. She shoved away the doll impersonating her sister in a black dress and kicked it hard, “Do we just wait to die, or are we becoming bait for those three cowards to escape?!”
The dolls only focused on the three with their eyes open, completely ignoring the other three who were trembling with their eyes closed. It was no wonder she thought that way, but Xin Meng quickly replied, “It shouldn’t be. Opening our eyes is a necessary condition to advance the game. If they don’t open their eyes, they will never get off the bus!”
The other three, who were listening with their ears perked up, shuddered simultaneously, but still, no one opened their eyes.
Xin Meng didn’t expect them to help at all. His mind raced, thinking of ways to escape. “The key point lies with this Medusa. The conditions for passing through must be related to her. Her hair is snakes, her eyes are stone, and looking into her eyes will…”
“Wait!” Xin Meng suddenly thought, “All the danger is related to her eyes. What if we destroy her eyes? Or cover them?”
His words provided a new line of thought. Qi Xiaokui shook off the two dolls that had pounced on her again, covering her arm that was bleeding from being scratched, and shouted, “That makes sense, but how do we do that?!”
The dolls had almost surrounded them. Trying to break through the encirclement while avoiding Medusa’s attack and not looking into her eyes was a task that was impossible for Xin Meng and Medusa. To accomplish it, only You Yi…
“I’ll go.” You Yi didn’t hesitate. He pushed Xin Meng behind him and instructed, “Keep your eyes closed until I say you can open them.”
“You Yi…” Xin Meng tightened his grip on You Yi’s arm. If he could, he would rather face the danger in place of You Yi. This feeling came from nowhere, but he was willing to do so. Perhaps it was because You Yi had been protecting him all along, so even though Xin Meng was also afraid of dying, he was still willing to repay this favor.
He was different from Li Yougen, Dong Xiu, and Xiong Jiabao. Whoever treated him well, he would find a way to repay them.
But with You Yi, his thoughts of repaying kindness seemed a bit different from Qi Xiaokui’s simple desire not to owe anyone.
Before he could figure it out, You Yi had already removed his hand, tied the blindfold on him, and said gently, “Take care of yourself. I’ll be back soon.”
Xin Meng reached out to grab him but grasped at nothing. He felt an emptiness in his heart, but soon he couldn’t think about anything else. The dolls were already closing in, their sharp claws reaching for him. He quickly dodged, pulled off the blindfold, and used his hands and feet to knock away the approaching dolls, but his peripheral vision remained fixed on You Yi.
You Yi moved extremely quickly. Even if he stared wide-eyed, he might not see every one of his movements, let alone just with his peripheral vision. So after You Yi had been entangled with Medusa for several minutes, Xin Meng finally noticed that You Yi had also put on a blindfold. This meant that all his actions were taking place under the premise of not being able to see, yet it seemed he was not affected at all. This left Xin Meng and Qi Xiaokui in awe, and Xin Meng felt a bit relieved; at least he wouldn’t die as long as he didn’t make eye contact.
However, just as he relaxed, he saw You Yi suddenly tear off the blindfold, his brown eyes opening wide, directly looking at Medusa. Xin Meng’s body stiffened, fearing for his safety, but You Yi was calm and collected, shaking the blindfold in his hand and directly slapping it onto Medusa’s face!
Medusa’s eyes were covered, and her body seemed to hit the pause button, like a robot that had its power cut off, frozen in a fighting pose.
The other dolls also seemed to suddenly lose the souls that possessed them, turning back into the most ordinary dolls, falling to the ground with a clatter.
It worked!
You Yi twisted his wrist, quickly tying the cloth behind Medusa’s head and tying a tight knot, then swiftly backing away a few steps. Medusa showed no reaction.
“Bang!” A familiar sound rang out.
The three looked over and indeed saw the bus door had opened!
Xin Meng felt a wave of relief wash over him. He called out to Qi Xiaokui, who was not far from him, and walked over to You Yi, wanting him to go first, but he saw Dong Xiu and Li Yougen, who had been hiding and trying to remain inconspicuous, stumble forward, rushing towards the bus door. Perhaps they had heard Xin Meng’s earlier words; they had only barely opened their eyes before getting off the bus, tumbling down the steps.
Xin Meng frowned but didn’t pay them any mind. He grabbed You Yi’s hand and quickly got off the bus, with Qi Xiaokui closely following behind. Xiong Jiabao, who was slow to react, also followed them out.
It wasn’t until they stood on the platform that all six of them felt their hearts settle. They opened their eyes just in time to see the bus speeding away. Xin Meng glanced at the rear window and suddenly realized that Medusa had somehow removed her blindfold, her entire face pressed against the window, her nose and mouth contorted into a strange shape, her enormous stone eyes staring at them, revealing an eerie smile.
“Ah! No! I’m going to die! I’m going to die!” Li Yougen was so scared that he immediately closed his eyes, crying out in despair, thinking he had finally failed to escape and would be killed!
However, nothing happened. They had already gotten off the bus, and even if they made eye contact with Medusa, none of them lost their lives.
“Hmph, cowards!” Qi Xiaokui scoffed, though her heart was racing just as much.
In any case, they had passed this level. If they could survive the last bus, they would clear the game!
Xin Meng picked up the card:
[Third Route Bus: Find the correct bus that belongs only to you to reach the destination directly.]
“The correct bus? What does that mean?” Xin Meng was pondering when he heard the sound of a bus approaching. He looked up to see a bus full of passengers stopping at the bus stop, its doors quickly opening.
So soon?
Xin Meng exchanged glances with You Yi, contemplating whether to board, when suddenly there was a loud “bang,” and the bus doors swiftly closed again, the vehicle speeding away like an arrow, catching everyone off guard.
“What is going on?” Xiong Jiabao shouted anxiously, “We missed the bus! Are we going to die?!”
“No…” After a moment of shock, Xin Meng calmed down. “The fact that we’re still standing here means we haven’t failed, and that bus closed its doors too quickly for all six of us to get on. It probably only allowed one person on at a time.”
“What do you mean?” Xiong Jiabao was so anxious he nearly grabbed Xin Meng and shook him. “Are you saying only one person can survive?!”
Xin Meng pushed his hand away and stepped behind You Yi. You Yi pushed Xiong Jiabao out, and Xin Meng leaned out to say, “I didn’t say that. What the card means is that you have to find the ‘correct bus that belongs to you.’ This means each bus can only take one person, and you have to find the right one. Otherwise, getting on the wrong bus will also lead to death…”
As he spoke, another bus pulled into the station, similarly leaving in a very short time.
Now the others began to understand what Xin Meng, or rather the card, was hinting at.
The third level would have many buses coming through, and each person could only board the correct one to successfully reach the destination.
