Chapter 184: Three Passengers
Lin Ye glanced at the passenger by the roadside, then looked more carefully to confirm he wasn't seeing things before pulling the bus over and opening the door to let the passenger board.
This passenger was a young man wearing a disheveled silver jacket who carefully straightened his clothes before stepping onto the bus.
"Ticket."
Lin Ye glanced at the young man, surprised to find he was only a third-tier spiritual energy user with mental energy so weak Lin Ye could see through him at a glance.
So weak yet trying to ride without paying like everyone else.
Seeing such a low-level passenger in this place made Lin Ye doubt his own eyes.
"How much for a ticket?"
the young man asked.
"No charge. Just put biological materials in there until I tell you it's enough."
Lin Ye didn't plan to make things difficult for him—encountering an ordinary passenger here was rare enough. The young man rummaged for a while before pulling something egg-like from his backpack and placing it into the Coin Slot Space.
The faint sucking sensation beneath the Driver's Seat instantly disappeared.
With the ticket received, Lin Ye continued driving forward, stopping periodically to deal with the small roadside temples.
"Driver, I'm in a hurry. Could you speed up a bit?"
Seeing Lin Ye stop repeatedly to handle the small temples, the young man glanced anxiously toward the back of the bus.
"If you're in a hurry, run out on your own."
After skillfully dealing with the temple, Lin Ye returned to the bus and continued driving.
Perhaps due to different petrification durations, only the student had been restored from among the stone statues while the others had shattered.
"Hey man, I paid for my ticket. If you refund it, I'll get off and run out myself."
The young man spoke discontentedly.
"The ticket's in there. I'll send you in to retrieve it later."
Lin Ye felt the young man had some inexplicable confidence that made him want to test what would happen if he stabbed him.
"Heh, how's a regular guy like you going to send me in there?"
The young man sneered coldly.
Just as Lin Ye was about to respond, he spotted another passenger ahead waving toward the bus.
This passenger was a middle-aged bald man in work clothes who stared at the young man on the bus with a friendly smile.
"He's a bad guy coming to kill me! Don't stop, just drive past!"
The young man shouted loudly.
Lin Ye naturally ignored him, slowing down and pulling the bus toward the roadside.
The young man moved behind Lin Ye and stabbed a knife toward his neck.
A slanted mutated spiritual energy shield deflected the blade as Lin Ye conveniently used a backstab spiritual energy blade to pierce through the young man's vital spots.
The young man never expected a spiritual energy blade to appear from behind and was easily subdued by Lin Ye.
"How interesting—you treacherous bastard finally got tricked yourself."
The middle-aged bald man boarded the bus and happily grabbed the young man's head.
"Dammit, careless. I thought he was just a regular native."
Even after being stabbed through his vitals by the spiritual energy blade, the young man didn't die, his voice not even weakening.
This puzzled Lin Ye—he couldn't understand how the young man managed this.
If the young man were strong enough to make Lin Ye misjudge him, he wouldn't have been stabbed down so easily.
"Pay your ticket first."
Lin Ye interrupted the two passengers' friendly exchange.
"Okay."
The middle-aged bald man chopped off the young man's right arm and placed it into the Coin Slot Space.
After receiving the ticket, Lin Ye ignored them and continued driving forward.
The middle-aged bald man decapitated the young man and placed the head in a box, then tore open a white card he pulled from his pocket while holding the box.
"Huh?"
The card dissipated without anything happening.
Lin Ye glanced at the middle-aged bald man—they seemed connected to the system.
"Haha, can't go back now? Why do you think I came here? This area is special—only by riding this bus can you leave."
The young man's head spoke loudly from within the box.
"...So what? Once I ride out of here, I can use a return card to go back, then borrow relics to deal with your head."
Though he spoke indifferently, the middle-aged bald man was growing anxious inside. If even return cards didn't work here, it must be affected by some high-risk factor, making this place extremely dangerous.
"Hehe, well then, good luck. I'll be waiting here for you to deal with me."
The young man laughed.
Another small temple appeared ahead, and Lin Ye pulled over.
"Yang Yang!"
Yang Lin, seeing the stone statue in the temple, excitedly rushed off the bus into the small temple.
Lin Ye skillfully dealt with the slender creature in the temple, and the petrification on Yang Yang gradually faded.
"Dad? How are you here?"
Yang Yang cried as she threw herself into Yang Lin's arms. She had been regretting ever boarding that bus, thinking she'd never see her father again.
"It's okay now. We're going home."
A slanted mutated spiritual energy shield deflected the blade as Lin Ye smoothly used a backstab spiritual energy blade to pierce through the young man's vital spots.
"So touching."
The middle-aged bald man thought of his own daughter and wiped the corner of his eye.
"Yes, what a pity."
The young man's head spoke from within the box.
After they boarded, Lin Ye cut half an arm from the young man's corpse and threw it into the Coin Slot Space... but the sucking sensation didn't disappear.
'Huh?'
Without showing any reaction, Lin Ye cut two more thigh pieces and stuffed them into the Coin Slot Space—only then did the sucking sensation completely vanish.
But Lin Ye didn't stop there—he chopped the entire young man's corpse into pieces and stuffed them all into the Coin Slot Space.
"Thank you for your trouble."
Yang Lin expressed deep gratitude to Lin Ye.
"...No problem."
Lin Ye didn't elaborate, returning to the Driver's Seat and starting the bus.
The rest of the journey proceeded smoothly without incident until they dealt with the final small temple and saw that familiar road.
Lin Ye drove toward the road's end, hesitating whether to stop and deal with the passengers onboard since he wasn't sure if this would count as completing the simulation task.
But before Lin Ye could decide, some people couldn't hold back any longer.
The bus suddenly went out of control, stopping uncontrollably in place.
"Haha, did you really think I'd wait here for you to take me back? I already placed the 'eggs' inside the bus earlier! You fools even helped by putting my body in there! Now the 'eggs' have hatched! When they emerge, none of you will escape—especially you, driver! How dare you stab me from behind! I'll personally stab you to death later!"
The young man's head spoke arrogantly from within the box.
"You bastard! Everyone, run! Leave this to me!"
The middle-aged bald man gestured for the others to disembark.
The boy ran fastest, followed by Yang Lin carrying his daughter, with the student being the last to get off.
After getting off, they didn't run far because only by riding the bus could they leave this place.
"Aren't you leaving? It will be dangerous inside soon."
The middle-aged bald man looked at Lin Ye and the mysterious man in black.
"Running is useless! Without this bus, no one can leave this place!"
The young man's head laughed.
"I know. But have you considered why I stuffed your body into the Coin Slot Space?"
Lin Ye said calmly.