Finale (2)
The people inside the bus tightly gripped the seats or the handrails on the roof, not daring to let go. The moment they did, they would be tossed around like popcorn popping wildly inside a can.
Xiao Li seized an opportunity and directly smashed through into another space to jump.
The bus hovered in midair for a moment, then came crashing down heavily into a graveyard.
The graveyard was overgrown with weeds. Several graves had their soil disturbed, revealing the edges of coffins. From certain angles, it was clear that the opened coffins were completely empty.
Someone in the bus tried to shout out, but before they could make a sound, another person quickly covered their mouth.
“Shh, what if we attract whatever’s inside?”
The next second, a thunderous explosion rocked the area, flipping over a section of the graves along with the turf and soil. When the tombstones fell to the ground, the bright red inscriptions on them looked even more sorrowful and filled with resentment.
The people inside the bus stared at the flames before them, their expressions gradually turning numb.
In an almost synchronized motion, they all turned their heads to look at the culprit who caused such a commotion.
Fu Moyang was tossing a grenade up and down, making a strange “Hmm?” sound.
They quickly averted their gaze again.
When a big shot is doing things, there’s no need to question it.
After being bombarded with firearms, the graveyard with the newly formed crater soon restored itself to its original state.
No one was surprised by this.
Before they set out, the experienced players had emphasized that firearms in the game don’t actually harm ghosts or monsters.
Fu Moyang looked toward the mist behind the graveyard, pleased to see someone startled by the explosion stepping out.
The sharp-eyed veteran immediately spotted them and said: “It’s the Guild Leader and Vice Guild Leader of the Hearts Guild!”
They walked over with complicated expressions, looking at the people on the bus waving at them. The others chatted loudly, pulling them onto the bus.
Chen Li: “Where are the ghosts here?”
As soon as he spoke, everyone on the bus fell silent. From the interaction just now, it was clear to everyone that compared to Fu Moyang, the young man he was protecting was even more dangerous not to mess with.
The Hearts Guild Leader sighed: “They were all killed.”
“By you?” Chen Li asked, surprised.
“No,” the Hearts Guild Leader paused, “It was an NPC—a little girl holding a teddy bear. She suddenly appeared in front of us and the zombies, and helped us kill them.”
“An NPC helped humans?” someone shouted in disbelief. “How is that possible?”
The Hearts Guild Leader: “At first, I didn’t believe it either, but she really just killed the zombies and left.”
An experienced player muttered: “For some reason, that NPC sounds familiar.”
Chen Li: “Wendy… it’s Wendy!”
“Oh, right.” The player’s eyes lit up but then turned troubled again. “She’s the guide NPC who led me through the first instance. That instance was a disaster because of her teddy bear causing trouble. Only two of us survived. How could she help us now?”
Xiao Fang: “Enough. It’s useless to talk more. Let’s go find the others. Our goal is to kill that disgusting thing, isn’t it?”
She raised her hand and pointed up. Everyone made disgusted faces.
This Horror Game entity, which has many eyes and many mouths, has always closely followed them, or rather, it was originally everywhere within this instance.
System 001: [I can feel it weakening. Once all the ghosts are cleared, it should disappear.]
Xiao Li slammed the accelerator hard, breaking into another space. Compared to the previous ones, this space looked much more brutal.
Blood and severed limbs were everywhere. Someone on the bus suddenly shouted: “Shitou!”
That was the nickname of one of their teammates.
Without waiting for the bus to stop completely, he jumped out, rolled forward twice, and threw himself onto a corpse to check for a pulse.
Fu Moyang, who had been sitting calmly inside the bus, suddenly moved. He kicked off with his long legs and got off the bus. He kissed Chen Li on the corner of his mouth, then rubbed his head: “Stay here nicely. I’ll be back soon.”
Before anyone could react, he boldly gave off a show of affection and left.
His eyes immediately turned sharp as he turned away.
After a few minutes of silence, the Hearts Guild Leader cleared her throat and broke the tension: “All the people in this dimension… they can’t all be dead, right?”
She was used to death, but even so, her voice carried a hint of heaviness.
Chen Li finally came back to his senses from the kiss that had been witnessed by everyone, his face still flushed.
He knew Fu Moyang was going to rescue someone and obediently looked out the window, waiting.
The Hearts Guild Leader glanced at him and thought, Such a good kid.
She wondered how someone as ruthless as Fu Moyang could have ended up with such a soft boyfriend.
Before she could finish her thought, she saw the once so “obedient” person suddenly open the window and jump out.
Jump… out…
Her eyes widened in shock: “Wait, you!”
Chen Li ran while apologizing, looking back: “I’ll be back soon!”
He didn’t mean to, but the system told him it detected the presence of a guide NPC nearby.
That pinky promise with Wendy kept lingering in his mind—he had to go meet them.
System 001: [You’re going to get scolded by Father.]
Chen Li pretended not to hear and ran toward the two o’clock direction.
The people in the bus were first shocked that the mascot actually ran off on its own, then quickly snapped back to reality.
“Chase after him!”
“If something happens to him, won’t the big boss drag the whole world down with him…?”
The person who said this didn’t mean it seriously, but everyone else shivered.
It almost felt… like it wasn’t impossible.
Relying on the system’s guidance, Chen Li surprisingly pulled ahead of them by quite a bit. Gasping for breath, he spotted a tall figure.
“Stop, stop!”
The tall figure ahead actually did stop, turning their back to him.
Chen Li hurried over, his expression gradually brightening: “So it really is you, Joker.”
Joker’s face was heavily painted with watercolor makeup, making his expression hard to see: “You shouldn’t be here. It’s dangerous.”
“But I promised you all!” Chen Li tilted his head and extended his pinky. “I promised I’d come find you.”
Joker hadn’t expected that answer. His gray-blue eyes shifted and rested on Chen Li’s face. After a long moment, he said: “Thank you.”
Thank you for existing. Thank you for showing up.
Looking at his “former colleague,” Chen Li’s initial fear had disappeared: “Did you kill the ghosts in this space?”
There were many ghost corpses lying around, clearly the work of the same person.
“Yes.”
“Are you helping us?” Chen Li’s eyes curved into a smile. “I should be the one thanking you.”
System 001: [This guy’s crazy. No wonder the main body is weakening so fast.]
Chen Li: “What about Wendy and the others?”
Joker’s gaze softened: “They’re waiting for you too, but first, we need to clear out the obstacles, make everything clean to meet you—and so do I.”
Clean?
Chen Li’s eyes showed some confusion, but before he could ask, chaotic footsteps sounded behind him, accompanied by voices calling his name.
Joker raised an eyebrow and said regretfully: “Looks like our date time is up.”
He pulled a freshly bloomed rose from his chest pocket and handed it to Chen Li, bowing very politely: “Let me show you a little magic trick.”
Chen Li pinched the flower, and in the blink of an eye, a pink smoke burst out. When the wind blew it away, both the smoke and Joker were gone.
“Mascot… oh no, Mr. Chen!”
Others chased after him from behind. They didn’t see Joker—only a finely featured young man. Upon hearing their calls, he turned his head, holding a single rose.
His striking looks and the stark red that clashed with the gray ruins around him became the only splash of color in the desolate landscape.
A look of awe appeared in everyone’s eyes.
Maybe in twenty, fifty years… memories of this place would fade, but this scene would never lose its vividness.
“Mr. Chen, did you do all this?” Xiao Fang’s face showed utter shock.
Chen Li looked down at the ground littered with ghost corpses. He was about to deny it but was immediately interrupted by the system.
[You can’t let them know Joker exists, it would be too hard to explain!]
The words stuck in Chen Li’s throat, and his face flushed slightly.
To the others, it looked like a classic case of “playing dumb to hide your strength.”
Their eyes toward Chen Li shifted. If before they saw him as just a mascot, now they regarded him as a hidden master.
Xiao Li’s gaze grew respectful: “Mr. Chen, come back with us first.”
Chen Li instantly knew they had misunderstood but found no way to explain why he suddenly ran off and why a pile of ghost corpses had appeared.
He had no choice but to rely on his usual NPC act, putting on a serious expression and following quietly behind them.
When they saw the terrifying Ghost Bus, their eyes reflected a strange mix of relief and joy, especially at the tall figure leaning against it—a comforting sight.
Even the Ghost Bus itself hadn’t expected to become like a safe haven for ordinary humans.
Only Chen Li felt uneasy. Head lowered, he hung back at the end of the group, like a child who’d done something wrong and dared not meet his parents’ eyes.
Fu Moyang’s voice came from above, emotionless and unreadable: “Where did you go?”
As he spoke, the temperature around them dropped sharply.
The oppressive aura made everyone struggle to breathe—except Chen Li. He understood this man needed to be handled gently, so he blinked innocently and said: “Sorry.”
Miraculously, just those three words brought warmth back to the air.
Everyone glanced at Chen Li and then at Fu Moyang, wordlessly agreeing to board the bus, leaving space for the two of them.
Even the Ghost Bus seemed to understand the situation, shielding its windows and doors.
Chen Li reached out to grab him and smelled a mix of gunpowder and blood on his breath.
Fu Moyang: “Did you find an NPC you know?”
He had already guessed what happened but nearly lost control when he saw no one upon returning.
The world seemed unreal to him, only the person in front of him felt real and tangible.
Why did he leave? Did he have to be locked up with chains…
Fu Moyang’s obsession deepened. His pupils narrowed to silver-grey slits, and dark ghostly energy churned uncontrollably beneath his feet. He reached out, trying to grab the man in front of him.
Suddenly, Chen Li moved—not away in fear, but forward, arms opening to embrace him.
Fu Moyang’s hand froze mid-air.
Chen Li lifted his head and said softly: “I’m sorry.”
He gently leaned his head against the man’s left chest, like a trusting little animal rubbing against him.
A simple act of comfort.
Any onlooker would have thought this frail, pitiful-looking young man would be torn apart by the beast before him—but miraculously, the furious predator calmed down because of this clumsy yet tender gesture.
Though a storm still brewed in his eyes, the surrounding dark ghostly energy settled in tune with its owner’s heart, as if tamed.
Chen Li reached out and petted the ghost’s head like stroking a pet: “I just wanted to see them once. It seems they’re resisting this game… for me.”