I'm Actually Panicking Because My Heart Doesn't Beat (GL) - Chapter 43

The No. bus 444?

Not only did Guan Xiaoxuan wonder, even the taxi driver said aloud in confusion, “No. bus 444? Which bus line is that? I’ve never heard of it.”

As the bus drove farther away, Guan Xiaoxuan turned to the driver and asked, “Is this a newly opened night route?”

The driver shook his head and forced a laugh. “I just started driving a taxi not long ago, and honestly, I’ve never heard of this bus line.”

Guan Xiaoxuan didn’t say anything more. She was a bit sleepy now and just wanted to get home, wash her face, and go to bed. But thinking about how she’d just been in the water today and hadn’t even washed her hair yet made her feel uncomfortable all over.

Better to take a shower before sleeping. It wouldn’t take too much time anyway.

“Hey, can I ask you guys, did the city start a new night bus route?”

Guan Xiaoxuan snapped back to reality, thinking the driver was talking to her, but then realized he was sending a voice message to a group chat.

Soon, someone replied, “No, I haven’t heard of any new night buses in the city.”

The taxi driver was puzzled. “Then why did I see a No. bus 444 on the road, and it even had passengers? Isn’t that a new night bus?”

That message set the group chat off.

“What? You saw the No. bus 444?”

“Wow, on your first night driving, you ran into that ghostly thing? Not sure if that’s lucky or unlucky for you.”

“No. 444 is bad luck. You’d better go home quickly!”

After that, Guan Xiaoxuan couldn’t hear any more. The taxi driver seemed careful not to say more since he had a passenger, so the rest of the chat was just text-to-voice messages.

The No. bus 444 is some kind of ghost thing?

Guan Xiaoxuan looked back but the bus was long gone, leaving only an empty road behind.

Then the taxi sped up like it wanted to drop Guan Xiaoxuan off as soon as possible before finishing its shift. It took only about ten minutes to reach her neighborhood entrance. She scanned to pay, and without a word, the driver turned away and left fast, leaving Guan Xiaoxuan speechless.

Was it really that scary?

She was curious but decided to keep this in mind.

Back home, Guan Xiaoxuan fed Guazi (her pet) a can of food, took a hot shower, roughly dried her hair, then turned on her computer to search for info about the No. bus 444 in Xinglin City.

After looking for a long time, she found no record of a No. bus 444 in the city, which confused her.

Closing the webpage, she opened a paranormal forum and searched for No. bus 444. Suddenly, tons of posts popped up.

“No. bus 444 Reappears in Xinglin City!”

“Creepy bus No. 444 — rumor says all the passengers are ghosts looking for replacements to die for them.”

“Reward: Special items dropped by No. bus 444, buying at 1.5 times the normal price!”

…and many more posts about the No. bus 444. Guan Xiaoxuan clicked through them one by one and finally got some clues.

Xinglin City did have a No. bus 444 route before. It connected the downtown area with the suburbs. A few years ago, there was an accident where the No. bus 444 plunged into the river with all passengers on board, and no one survived.

Since then, the bus company stopped running that route. But not long after, the No. bus 444 mysteriously appeared again and started running the route by itself.

However, this bus only shows up at midnight every day. The passengers on it are the ones who died in the accident, including the driver. It sometimes stops at bus stops to lure in the wrong passengers.

Rumor has it that those who unknowingly board the bus never survive. They become ghost substitutes, stuck on the bus forever.

The latest post was from a few weeks ago, written by someone who saw the No. bus 444 from afar. The bus was full of passengers who all looked pale and ghostly.

The post included a photo, which Guan Xiaoxuan opened. The photo was taken from far away, only showing the bus number 444 and blurry shadows by the windows. People in the comments joked the picture was so blurry it looked like it was taken with a door handle.

Looking at the photo of the No. bus 444, Guan Xiaoxuan saved it to her phone.

The bus she saw today was probably just a coincidence, but she realized she might have a body prone to attracting strange things. From now on, she should avoid walking alone at night.

While drying her hair, Guan Xiaoxuan idly scrolled through the late-night paranormal forum. There were many night owls here, still awake at almost 1 AM, with new posts appearing every time she refreshed.

“Reward: 1 million seeking special item from orphanage boy.”

Guan Xiaoxuan paused at this post and clicked it open.

Poster: Sword and Immortality

Post content: The missing student case involving the orphanage boy has been closed. Now seeking to buy a special item dropped from that case. Starting price: 1 million. If unsatisfied, we can pay more! Serious buyers only. If you have clues, please connect us. Generous reward guaranteed!

Though short, the price was very high.

Guan Xiaoxuan noticed that the 1 million was only the starting price, and they were willing to go higher. This made her excited and alert.

She had thought 1 million was already a lot, but Sword and Immortality was willing to pay more.

What kind of ability does this item have that its buyer is willing to spend so much?

She found the glass bead Haohao gave her. Haohao said that as long as she carried it, she could take any object within 200 meters that weighed less than 5 kilograms.

200 meters, 5 kilograms.

Guan Xiaoxuan held the glass bead, then looked at her phone on the bed.

[Bring phone to yourself]

She stared at her phone and silently repeated the command in her mind twice. Suddenly, the phone flashed and appeared right in front of her, startling her.

The phone almost dropped, but she quickly caught it.

If it broke, it would be an expensive repair.

Watching this amazing scene, Guan Xiaoxuan more or less understood why Sword and Immortality’s backer was willing to pay so much for this special item.

It was indeed very useful.

Though she liked the item, the thought of the 1 million price tag made her decide to sell it to Sword and Immortality.

She quickly replied to the buying post, then went to the bathroom to dry her hair fully before climbing into bed for a good sleep.

The next morning, when she opened her computer, she saw a private message from Sword and Immortality.

[Sword and Immortality]: Hello, I saw your reply under the post saying you have the orphanage boy’s special item. How can we contact you?

The message was sent past 3 AM. Guan Xiaoxuan stroked her chin, thought for a moment, then replied with a new WeChat ID for them to reach her.

After finishing everything, Guan Xiaoxuan stretched, washed up, and ate breakfast. Just then, her phone buzzed—a friend request popped up.

The message from the requester was just four characters: “Sword and Immortality.”

After accepting the request, “Sword and Immortality” got straight to the point and messaged Guan Xiaoxuan: “May I see that special item first?”

Guan Xiaoxuan quickly finished the last bite of her egg, picked up the pearl, and went out onto the balcony. She found a spot where her location wouldn’t be revealed, took a photo, and sent it to Sword and Immortality.

Sword and Immortality replied: “It does look like the special item I need, but I still need to see it in person. When are you free? We can arrange a meeting.”

Tapping on her screen, Guan Xiaoxuan typed back: “Sure. Let’s meet at the lakeside café—the same place the forum held their offline meetup last time. How about tomorrow at 3 PM?”

Sword and Immortality responded quickly: “You’ve been to the forum’s offline salon too?”

Guan Xiaoxuan: “Of course.”

Sword and Immortality: “Then it’s settled. We’ll meet there tomorrow at 3. I’ll bring my boss with me—two people in total. Is that okay?”

Guan Xiaoxuan: “Sure.”

She had known from the start that Sword and Immortality was just a middleman. The real buyer was his boss.

The goods were here, so there was no reason for the boss not to see them in person. Guan Xiaoxuan understood that.

At first, she was worried Sword and Immortality and his boss might double-cross each other. But after thinking it through, wearing her mask and getting Bai Zhiqi’s help, she felt it shouldn’t be a big problem.

She was just selling something, not committing a crime. Even if she got cheated, she could always drop the item and run.

Guan Xiaoxuan felt confident.

After setting the meeting time with Sword and Immortality, she got busy.

She first went to the school and talked to Bai Zhiqi. Using two cakes as a deposit, she successfully convinced Bai Zhiqi to help her. Bai Zhiqi agreed to be picked up at 2 PM tomorrow, and they would go to the café together.

On the bus ride back from school, Guan Xiaoxuan ran into Xing Tianqing as she stepped into the elevator.

Seeing Xing Tianqing’s black trench coat, Guan Xiaoxuan’s eyes lit up. Smiling brightly, she greeted her: “Team Leader Xing, are you heading out again?”

Xing Tianqing smiled back: “I just got back from work and was going to take a nap.”

They rode the elevator together. Guan Xiaoxuan glanced at her and asked, “Team Leader Xing, I got home late yesterday and saw a Route bus 444 while taking a taxi.”

Hearing that, Xing Tianqing turned to her with concern and asked, “You didn’t get on it, right?”

Guan Xiaoxuan shook her head: “No, I saw it from the taxi. The driver said it might be the urban weirdness of Xinglin City. Do you know about it?”

Xing Tianqing nodded and said, “Route 444 is a recent strange occurrence. We’ve been watching it closely. The rumors online about it looking for someone to take the fall are mostly fake. So far, no one’s been hurt by that bus. That’s why we’re taking a cautious approach—it’s not like we have many people in the Weirdness Bureau.”

Seeing Guan Xiaoxuan looking thoughtful, she reminded her: “Most weird things don’t go out of their way to cause trouble. The Route bus 444 doesn’t follow a fixed route and often avoids us on purpose or by chance. So if you ever see it again, remember to call us.”

Guan Xiaoxuan nodded seriously and said, “I will.”