Xin Meng was about to walk towards the bus door when he was pulled back by You Yi. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at You Yi.
“Be careful.” You Yi’s words were still brief.
“I will.” Xin Meng smiled, but deep down, he didn’t feel as fearless as he was trying to appear; he was still somewhat anxious and fearful. However, he remembered what You Yi had told him before: avoiding the problem doesn’t solve it.
So he couldn’t back down. Since he had to face it anyway, staying calm was better than succumbing to fear, which would decrease his chances of survival. Therefore, even if he had to force himself, he needed to calm down and remain extremely vigilant and cautious.
You Yi paused for a moment and didn’t immediately let go of his hand. The two of them held this position for a while. Xin Meng found it a bit strange and was about to ask when he heard You Yi unexpectedly sigh, then lean closer to his ear and whisper, “If you can’t avoid it, just close your eyes, empty your mind, and it can help you avoid the pain of death.”
The deep, sensual voice lingered in his ears, making Xin Meng feel a tingling sensation creeping up his spine that he couldn’t shake off even after getting on the bus. When the vehicle started moving, he swayed slightly without holding onto any handrails, and only then did he realize the meaning of You Yi’s earlier words.
Was this advice based on experience? Or was it…
Xin Meng vaguely sensed that You Yi seemed to know a lot of things that players shouldn’t know, but the boundaries were very vague. If it was experience accumulated from multiple game completions, it could barely make sense, so Xin Meng couldn’t make an accurate judgment for a moment.
All his proud judgment and observation skills seemed to fail when it came to this man, You Yi.
However, now was not the time to think about these things. He grabbed the nearest handrail and surveyed the people around him. Those people maintained their original postures, some looking out the window, some playing on their phones, and others sleeping while holding onto the handrails. There was no change in their behavior due to his presence. Was it because he had found the right bus?
If he took this bus, would he reach the destination?
Xin Meng leaned against the door, quietly waiting. Five minutes passed, ten minutes passed, half an hour, two hours…
Xin Meng didn’t wear a watch, so his sense of time was quite vague, but he could sense that a very long time had passed, and the bus still hadn’t reached the destination?
This was clearly wrong!
Rather than saying that a long time had passed, it was more accurate to say that time inside the bus had come to a standstill. This was very similar to the situation when the game had been interrupted before. It seemed that because he hadn’t done something, the game’s progress had stopped. It appeared that simply waiting was not a viable option.
He began to observe the situation inside the bus. The NPCs showed no signs of change, and the sleeping people remained asleep. His gaze passed through layers of people and landed on a seat in the back, where he made eye contact with another version of himself.
That person looked exactly like him, not even a hint of difference in expression. Xin Meng even had a moment of disorientation, thinking that the one sitting there was the real him, while the one standing here was… who?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Xin Meng saw that “self” suddenly reveal a meaningful smile, and then his head spun. The surrounding scenery seemed to stretch suddenly and then quickly shrink back. It felt as if he had been abruptly thrown into a kaleidoscope or mistakenly entered a rift in time and space. He couldn’t control his limbs, and he couldn’t even feel his body; only his consciousness felt hazy, fluctuating, being twisted into a ball and then stretched out.
A roaring noise echoed in his mind, and when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t find focus. There were flashes of light, growing brighter and brighter, until they filled his entire field of vision.
When Xin Meng suddenly woke up, he found himself sitting in a seat, and when he looked up, his pupils constricted!
He had actually taken the position of that “Xin Meng”!
And the other “Xin Meng” was standing next to the handrail he had been leaning against, with the same smile, unchanged.
Their positions had swapped!
The bad premonition grew stronger. Just as he was about to stand up and rush to the front, he noticed that the previously motionless passengers around him suddenly looked at him as if someone had pressed the play button. Then, their flesh rapidly turned black and fell away, transforming into white, bony skeletons that lunged at Xin Meng with clawing hands!
Xin Meng, terrified, tried to retreat, only to find that he was surrounded by skeletons behind him as well. He had been completely encircled by these skeletons, with no hope of escape. In despair, Xin Meng remembered You Yi’s words. He tightly closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind. Soon, he felt his body lighten and then become heavy again, as if he had suddenly fallen from a great height. The sensation of weightlessness made him scream, but he didn’t feel any pain.
He was being held by someone.
Startled, he opened his eyes wide, and what came into view was You Yi’s handsome face.
He had returned to the platform.
“Huff… huff…” Xin Meng was still trembling uncontrollably, gasping for air. Sweat dripped into his eyes, stinging them, but he didn’t dare to blink.
“It’s okay now.” You Yi held him in his arms, gently patting his back, while using one hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
“I actually made a mistake…” Qi Xiaokui clenched her fingers, seeing the bright “3” above Xin Meng’s head, feeling very anxious.
Xin Meng stared at You Yi without blinking, slowly calming down under his reassurance. “Mistake, mistake… this isn’t the right bus… our reasoning was wrong…”
“Fortunately…” Li Yougen muttered, a twisted smile creeping onto his lips.
Qi Xiaokui shot him a fierce glare. “Don’t celebrate too early. If we can’t solve the puzzle and find the right bus, you’ll still die; it’s just a matter of time.”
Li Yougen lowered his head, hiding his expression.
What was there to be afraid of? You all were just as anxious to survive. With you all going to your deaths, all I need to do is… as long as I see the final result, I can survive!
No one cared about what he was thinking anymore; as long as he didn’t hold them back, the others completely ignored him.
“Having your own bus is wrong; does that mean having someone else’s is right?” Xiong Jiabao scratched the back of his head, trying to figure it out.
“It should be like that, but besides ourselves, we have five other teammates. It’s impossible to determine which teammate is the right one for us, meaning there’s only a one in five chance of being correct,” Dong Xiu said. “In other words, there’s a four in five chance of dying.”
“But we don’t have that many lives to try four times!” Xiong Jiabao said anxiously.
Dong Xiu and Li Yougen’s gazes unconsciously shifted to Xin Meng, You Yi, and Qi Xiaokui, while Xiong Jiabao, feeling a bit guilty, didn’t dare to look again, but he was completely lost, not knowing what to do.
“Let’s observe a bit more,” Xin Meng said, not even looking at them, only speaking to You Yi and Qi Xiaokui. “There must be details we haven’t noticed.”
“Mm.” Qi Xiaokui nodded.
Accompanied by the roar of the engine, another bus pulled into the station, and this time, the person on the bus was Xiong Jiabao.
Xiong Jiabao looked at the expressionless version of himself on the bus and couldn’t help but take a step back, not daring to approach the bus.
“Whose bus is this?” he blurted out without thinking.
If it weren’t for the urgent situation, Xin Meng would have laughed out loud.
He carefully observed the “Xiong Jiabao” on the bus, only to find that his gaze was fixed not on Xiong Jiabao but on… Dong Xiu?
Dong Xiu clearly noticed this too, frowning and saying uncomfortably, “W-why is he looking at me?”
The “Xiong Jiabao” naturally wouldn’t answer, only continuing to stare at him. The others couldn’t help but turn to look at Dong Xiu as well. Dong Xiu’s anger flared, and he said in exasperation, “Why is everyone looking at me! Hurry up and observe him! My face isn’t a strategy guide!”
“No…” Xiong Jiabao murmured, finally having a moment of clarity. “I think… he wants you to get on the bus…”
“Me?” Dong Xiu was taken aback.
“That’s right, he’s been looking at you. This might be a hint,” Qi Xiaokui said. “Although he looks like Xiong Jiabao, this is likely a trap. The real hint is who this NPC is looking at.”
Dong Xiu looked at Qi Xiaokui with extreme distrust. It was her analysis that had said whoever was on the bus was the one who should get on, and as a result, Xin Meng had died once. He didn’t dare to trust Qi Xiaokui this time; her analytical skills were clearly lagging behind… well, okay, Xin Meng was a big step ahead.
Clearly, Qi Xiaokui also realized that reasoning and analysis were her weak points and didn’t dare to make conclusions easily. However, the NPC’s focused gaze on someone was clearly a special hint, and they couldn’t let this clue slip away.
However, Dong Xiu naturally wasn’t willing to risk his last life. The six of them could only watch helplessly as the vehicle drove away again.
“What are we going to do!” Xiong Jiabao said anxiously, pacing in circles. “Someone has to do something! If no one dares to try, when will we find the right bus? We’ll all be trapped here!”
“If you’re so anxious, you go!” Dong Xiu said coolly. “You don’t even dare to get on; what right do you have to ask others? You have one more life than us.”
Xiong Jiabao was instantly left speechless.
The bus pulled in again, and this time, the one sitting on it was Qi Xiaokui, and her gaze was fixed directly on Xiong Jiabao.
Xiong Jiabao: “…”
Dong Xiu, still simmering from earlier, felt a twisted sense of pleasure seeing this scene. Leaning against the bus stop sign, he said with a smirk, “Aren’t you brave? It’s your turn now; show us what you’ve got, or we’ll all be trapped here~”
He deliberately repeated Xiong Jiabao’s words to provoke him: “You wouldn’t dare, would you? Someone has to do this; if everyone is too scared to try, when will we find the right bus~”
Xiong Jiabao clenched his fists tightly, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. He glared at the “2” above his head, gritted his teeth, and said fiercely, “I’ll go! If my head falls off, I’ll just have a big scar; eighteen years later, I’ll still be a good man!”
“Pfft!” Dong Xiu, however, wasn’t buying it and exposed him: “What a hero! Even if you die this time, you still have one life left; you won’t meet the King of Hell.”
Xiong Jiabao was doused with a bucket of cold water, his shoulders slumping. But the words had already been spoken, and he was indeed relying on having two lives to take a gamble. He could only swallow hard and cautiously get on the bus.
The bus door slammed shut behind him.
