Chapter 66: Boarding the Hearse Again

My body ached, and the sharp scent of disinfectant drifted past my nose. I forced my eyes open.

A woman's face swam into my gradually clearing vision. Thin sunlight spilled through the curtains and washed over her. I racked my brain until her name finally surfaced.

"Tie Ningxiang?"

"You're finally awake. Don't move, I'll go get the doctor." Dressed in her police uniform, Tie Ningxiang exuded a unique magnetism. Strength and gentleness blended perfectly within her, and I found myself captivated as I watched her.

"Uncle..." Someone grabbed my bandaged hand. I turned my head; Yi Yi was keeping watch on the other side of the bed.

"Are we in a hospital?"

"You were badly hurt. You were covered in blood and completely unconscious."

"Did you call the police?"

"Mhm."

I looked at Yi Yi's red, swollen eyes. "Did you tell the police what happened last night?"

That was my biggest concern. Some things simply couldn't be shared recklessly.

"I didn't say anything. I don't want anyone to disturb Mommy." Yi Yi hooked her finger around mine. "Uncle, let's not tell the police, okay?"

What an innocent child. Her choice suited me perfectly. "Don't worry. This will be our secret."

A short while later, Tie Ningxiang brought the doctor in. After a second examination, the doctor clicked his tongue in wonder. "The wounds are distributed in a regular pattern across the chest and thighs, penetrating the flesh by one to two centimeters. Fortunately, they missed all the vital organs, so the injuries aren't too serious."

"I recommend staying in the hospital for a few days of observation. As long as the wounds don't worsen or become infected, you'll be free to go."

"Alright. Thank you, doctor."

The hospital room door closed, leaving only me, Yi Yi, and Tie Ningxiang inside.

"Since the doctor says it's not serious, stop lying there playing dead." Tie Ningxiang sounded dismissive, but she was already peeling an apple for me. The water in the teacup beside her was still steaming; her care for me was meticulous in every detail.

"So tell me, my great detective. What were you planning to do, taking my niece to a crematorium in the middle of the night?" She finished peeling the apple and stuffed a slice into my mouth. "You'd better think carefully before you answer. Even though you're bedridden right now, every word you say could become evidence in court."

"Niece?" I immediately spat out the apple slice she had just shoved into my mouth. "It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it? Tie Yixiang is your sister?"

"Are you going to keep pretending? With your no profit, no early rise personality, you definitely looked into this beforehand." Tie Ningxiang grabbed a tissue and wiped the apple crumbs off my chest. "Don't try to fool me. Just the charge of abducting a minor in the dead of night with ill intent carries a minimum three-year sentence. If anything worse happened last night, the maximum penalty under our country's laws is death."

"Auntie, you're wronging Uncle. He was protecting me the whole time last night," Yi Yi spoke up in my defense.

"Auntie was just worried he was bullying you, but here you are taking his side. I'm going to get jealous, you know." Tie Ningxiang put on no airs at all in front of Yi Yi. She was practically a different person from the woman in the Municipal Sub-bureau Criminal Investigation Department office.

"What do you have to be jealous of..." I offered a bitter smile, my brain spinning rapidly. Licking the corner of my mouth, I deflected, "Was Yuan Feng caught?"

"He was already dead when we arrived. The state of his corpse was identical to the male tenant at the Anxin Hotel three months ago—an expression of pure terror. Furthermore, we found bite marks on his body. Wound comparisons suggest they weren't from a wild animal; they were likely human." The moment business was brought up, Tie Ningxiang turned serious.

"I took dental impressions from both you and Yi Yi. You weren't the ones who left the bite marks. There must have been someone else present last night."

The police really weren't so easy to fool. The excuse I had hastily prepared was hard to make stand up to scrutiny. "Running into Yi Yi was just an accident. I had tracked down Yuan Feng's whereabouts and, for the sake of the fifty-thousand-yuan bounty, trailed him all the way to Bridge No. 3 Crematorium. Then, both of us were attacked by unidentified individuals. I don't remember anything after that."

"Why would the two of you go to Bridge No. 3 Crematorium in the middle of the night?"

"You'd have to ask Yuan Feng about that. I was just there for the bounty." I stubbornly clung to the claim that it was for the money, brushing off the rest of her questions with amnesia. I had studied all sorts of criminal interrogation techniques, so it was virtually impossible for Tie Ningxiang to extract any valuable information from me.

Half an hour later, Tie Ningxiang was gnashing her teeth. Even though she knew perfectly well that I was deliberately hiding things, there was nothing she could do about it.

"Just focus on recovering. I have things to do at the station, so I'm leaving. Yi Yi, you'll be living with me from now on. You must always be careful of people acting suspiciously."

"Goodbye, Uncle! Get well soon!"

"Hey, who are you calling suspicious?"

Yi Yi put on her schoolbag and left. Tie Ningxiang stood by the bed, glancing at my heavily bandaged chest. "Your ID and wallet are in the drawer. The forensic team took your old clothes for testing. I bought you some new clothes and left them at the head of the bed."

She turned to leave, but stopped when she reached the door. In a voice so soft it was barely audible, she said, "Yi Yi was my sister's final entrusted wish before she passed away. Gao Jian, thank you."

The hospital door clicked shut. Breathing in the disinfectant-scented air, I stared blankly at the ceiling. "Every Underworld Live Show live broadcast is more dangerous than the last. If I want to survive, I absolutely can't rely on cheap tricks anymore. I need to cultivate the Dao."

Cultivating the Dao was a long and arduous process. It required resting the mind and body, and gaining enlightenment through the mortal world.

What I lacked most right now was time. As for the Daoist classics and supreme secret arts that others could only desperately seek, I could exchange my points directly for them. To me, they were as common as cabbages in a field.

I took out the Underworld Live Show Phone. The screen was pitch black. Suddenly, I realized a problem. 'Crap. The Black Leather Suitcase with the camera and my other broadcasting gear is still on the Route 14 Bus!'

When the Route 14 Bus had arrived at the terminal, I had grabbed Yi Yi's hand and rushed off in a hurry. The situation had been so critical that I had completely forgotten about the suitcase.

"No way. I need to get out of the hospital right now. If I lose the Underworld Live Show's broadcasting gear, how the hell am I supposed to stream anything?"

The slightest movement sent a sharp spike of pain through my chest. Gritting my teeth, I changed into my clothes and stumbled out of the hospital room.

...

Yu Cheng was the general manager of the Jiangcheng Bus Company. Handsome, dashing, and highly successful in his career, he had a virtuous wife and two children—a boy and a girl—waiting at home. In the eyes of outsiders, he was the very definition of a successful man, as well as the object of affection for several female drivers.

That afternoon, Yu Cheng finished his work and was preparing to attend his daughter's parent-teacher conference.

The office door was suddenly pushed open. The man who walked in was the squad leader of the Route 14 bus operations—Wang Wei.

"Why are you here?" Yu Cheng picked up his teacup and blew gently on the expensive tea leaves floating on the surface.

Wang Wei's face looked grim. "It's about the final run for Route 14."

The moment he spoke, Yu Cheng frowned. "Did something happen again?"

Wang Wei stepped aside. "You should ask him for the specifics."

I stepped out from behind Wang Wei and closed the door. Taking in the imposing manager's office, I offered a smile. "Living the good life, aren't you?"

"Who are you..."

I lit a cigarette and sat down across from Yu Cheng. "Never mind who I am. If you don't want to lose everything you have right now, you'd better answer my questions honestly."

I took a drag of the cigarette. Perhaps because it had been a long time since my last smoke, I coughed a few times.

My chest heaved, and blood began to seep through my bandages.

"Who exactly are you?" Yu Cheng looked nervous.

"I hear that during the Shangyuan Festival, the Zhongyuan Festival, and the Ghost Festival, your company always schedules an extra late-night run for Route 14. It runs empty back and forth, and no one is allowed to board. Is that right?"

"That's a company secret. I have no comment."

"It's an old Minsheng bus. It has a manual start lever, and every time it starts up, it slides forward about half a meter on its own."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No one is allowed to board, yet it stops at every single station. Three minutes at the shortest, five minutes at the longest. Is that right?"

"Where... where did you hear that?"

"Furthermore, the driver isn't allowed to leave their seat, and they have to avoid speaking to the passengers at all costs. Is that right?"

"That's right..."

"If no one is allowed to board, then who would the driver be speaking to? Ghosts?" I exhaled a puff of smoke, waiting for Yu Cheng's reply.

"You're being unreasonable. Wang Wei, kick him out."

Anyone could see how unnatural Yu Cheng's reaction was. I stared straight into his eyes. "Last night at 1:00 AM, I rode the Route 14 Bus. I boarded at the Miyun Mansion stop."

"Impossible! It didn't even run last night!"

"I left my things on that bus. If you don't believe me, we can go take a look together."