At 1:40 AM.
Chen Xi patted the steering wheel with some irritation.
As an eyewitness to the "May 13th Living Corpse" case, she had been writing reports and undergoing psychological counseling constantly for the past two days.
Wang Dazhi's bones and Wang Hao's corpse had been sent to the provincial department for testing. As the sole survivor of the case, Liu Mei was still undergoing medical treatment.
The forensic medical examiner's conclusion was that Wang Dazhi had been dead for at least twenty-four hours.
As for the corpse's bizarre rate of decomposition and the fact that he was still active after death, the forensic examiner had yet to provide an explanation.
Naturally, Chen Xi had also repeatedly pulled up and reviewed the surveillance footage from the day of the incident.
The footage from the body camera of the police officer who had found "Wang Dazhi" on the roadside also proved that he was "alive."
—But a corpse coming back to life, bones showing when the rooster crows, was simply too terrifying and difficult to accept. Everyone present that day had been taken in for a drug test.
Chen Xi should have stayed at the station to focus on writing her reports, but with the citywide curfew and a shortage of night patrol officers, she had been permitted to join the night patrol.
Thinking of this, she massaged her throbbing temples, staring at the thick, impenetrable fog outside the windshield, feeling an inexplicable irritation in her heart.
The crackle of static from the walkie-talkie had been sounding for a long time. The command center repeated the alert orders every five minutes, making one's skin crawl.
...
“Captain Chen, we can head back once we finish patrolling this stretch of road.”
The intern in the passenger seat, Xiao Li, yawned. “There isn't a soul in sight in the middle of the night.”
Just as Chen Xi was about to speak, she suddenly caught sight of two pale headlights in her rearview mirror.
The lights were very dim and old.
At first glance, they were not the bright LED lights of modern cars, but a pair of dim, fuzzy, yellowish incandescent bulbs.
“What kind of vehicle is that behind us?”
Chen Xi stepped on the brakes to slow down. Xiao Li looked back and was also stunned. “Route 404? Hasn't that line been abandoned for a long time?”
An old bus was following unhurriedly behind them, about fifty meters away.
Its body was mottled, with peeling paint.
“No, wait,” Chen Xi's heart suddenly tightened. “When did the fog start rolling in? Did the weather forecast say anything about heavy fog tonight?!”
Xiao Li looked closer, and his entire body instantly went cold.
The bus's wheels were turning, but they were not touching the ground.
It hovered half an inch off the ground, gliding silently. There was no engine rumble, no sound of tires friction, like a leaf floating in the fog.
Just then, the bus suddenly accelerated and overtook their police car.
The moment the two vehicles drove side by side, Chen Xi clearly saw several people frantically pounding on the windows for help.
“What the hell!”
Chen Xi's voice cracked as she slammed on the gas pedal. “Report to the command center, quick!”
Xiao Li scrambled to grab the walkie-talkie, his voice trembling: “Command center! Command center! This is Patrol Car 071, Riverside Avenue Section 4. We have spotted a... a Route 404 Bus! Repeat! We have spotted a Route 404 Bus! It is currently heading toward Jiefang Lane. Do we intercept?!”
【Radio Channel 1: Crackle—Copy that, 071! Maintain your distance! Do not approach! We are immediately dispatching nearby units for backup!】
“What on earth is this thing?!”
Chen Xi gripped the steering wheel tightly and floored the accelerator, chasing after it directly. The distance between the two vehicles closed rapidly—fifty meters, thirty meters, twenty meters...
Just as she was about to catch up, thick white fog suddenly billowed out from all around the Route 404 Bus.
“Hold on!” Chen Xi slammed on the brakes. Xiao Li was nearly thrown from his seat!
In the next second, right before their eyes, the Route 404 Bus vanished into thin air.
Outside the windshield, there was nothing but an empty road.
“V-Vanished?” Xiao Li's voice carried a hint of tears. “Captain Chen, where did it go?”
In truth, he wanted to ask why they kept running into these kinds of things lately.
Cold sweat drenched Chen Xi as she stared intently ahead.
Her mind was in a complete mess.
The collision of materialism with real-world supernatural phenomena gave her a subtle sense of frustration, yet at the same time, she felt a wave of... excitement.
Just as Chen Xi was about to speak, another patrol group's call suddenly came through the walkie-talkie:
【Radio Channel 2: Command center! Command center! This is Patrol Car 037! At the north entrance of Jiefang Lane, we also spotted the 404! It just drove right past us! Heading toward the old town!】
Chen Xi and Xiao Li froze at the same time.
The north entrance of Jiefang Lane was a full three kilometers away from Section 3 of Riverside Avenue.
It had been less than two seconds.
In just two seconds, that bus had teleported from right in front of them to Jiefang Lane, three kilometers away.
Was that even possible?
...
Municipal Bureau Command Center.
On the massive surveillance wall, dozens of screens flickered simultaneously.
The top-left corner showed the white fog on Riverside Road, the top-right showed a residual shadow in Jiefang Lane, and the bottom-right displayed night-vision footage of the city bypass highway.
All surveillance cameras were operating as usual, but the moment the Route 404 Bus appeared on screen, static would cover the display before returning to normal.
【Commander! Patrol Car 052 reporting! We spotted the 404 at the entrance of the South City Furniture City!】
【Commander! SWAT Group One reporting! We have detected traces of the 404 at the exit of the city bypass highway! It is heading toward Taiping Cemetery!】
【Commander! The emergency command center has received over twenty calls from citizens! They all report seeing a driverless green bus!】
One report after another flooded in, and the voices in the walkie-talkies were a chaotic mess.
Panting, shouting, static—various sounds overlapped like a chaotic symphony.
“All units pay attention, there are likely innocent citizens on board.”
The commander leaned heavily on the table with both hands. “Block all intersections and stop that bus at all costs! SWAT, deploy armored vehicles! You must force it to stop!”
Whether it was supernatural or man-made, their duty was to protect this city.
“Yes, sir!”
...
“Screeech—”
The police car's tires shrieked against the ground as Chen Xi gripped the steering wheel firmly. The map on the navigation system updated continuously.
As the various patrol units continuously reported their locations, she gradually pieced together a route.
“Its destination is Taiping Cemetery. We'll head there to block it!”
“Captain Chen, Ch-Chen-jie, I'm scared to death. Are you—are you really not afraid?”
Xiao Li clutched his seatbelt tightly, looking utterly hopeless. “I just joined the force. Am I going to die a hero tonight? If I survive tonight, I must remember to tell my mom not to set me up on blind dates anymore, sob, sob, sob...”
“Who cares what it is! Is the gun in your hand just for show?!”
Chen Xi cursed and stepped on the gas. Sure enough, the familiar Route 404 Bus appeared in her line of sight.
This was a narrow alleyway, barely wide enough for a single vehicle, yet the massive body of the Route 404 Bus glided through without touching any walls or clutter.
It was practically as agile as a fish.
“It's going to hit the wall! It's going to crash, it's going to crash!” Xiao Li screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Brake! Brake now!”
At the end of the alley was a three-meter-high brick wall. The Route 404 Bus did not slow down, rushing straight toward it.
“What on earth are you?!”
Chen Xi slammed on the brakes. The police car's tires left two long black skid marks on the ground, stopping a few meters away from the brick wall.
Then, she watched with her own eyes as the bus drove straight through the brick wall, disappearing onto the other side.
There was no sound of a crash, no flying debris, nothing.
It was as if the wall did not exist at all.
Stunned, Chen Xi walked forward and pounded hard on the wall.
Xiao Li slumped in his seat, his eyes vacant.
“...It's over. I have to write another report. Do you think the higher-ups will believe that a bus phased through a wall right in front of our eyes?”
His tone was filled with utter despair.
Chen Xi turned back, got into the car, and started the engine. Under Xiao Li's disbelieving gaze, she coldly spat out a few words: “We're going to Taiping Cemetery.”
Xiao Li practically wanted to get on his knees for his captain. We already know this thing is bizarre, yet you're still chasing after it.
Besides, Taiping Cemetery was clearly not a place for the living!
A corpse coming back to life was already absurd enough, and now a Route 404 Bus that could phase through walls had appeared.
Had everyone started cultivating immortality without letting them know?!
...
...
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