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Chapter 4: Woo-hoo!!

As though Tang Ye\'s loud voice had shattered the spell in the air, Old Guan snapped back to his senses and let out a hysterical scream. "Aaahh—!!" He squeezed his eyes shut, ducked his head and forcefully shoved the corpse officer away in lieu of running to the door!

Tang Ye readily caught the middle aged man\'s hand and both of them tumbled down from the steps, still reeling from the shock and terror.

Almost in an instant, the door slid close with a faint hiss behind them, trapping the bus officer inside.

Wait, could he still be considered a bus officer? Jin Jiuchi tilted his head and observed that bizarre creature curiously.

It seemed to have been caught off guard, not expecting that Old Guan would run out in the nick of time. Alas, the bus door was already tightly shut and it had no way to get off. Enraged, it rushed to the nearest window and banged his fist on the glass. The little mouth on the ghastly hand kept moving again and again, screaming frantically.

Jin Jiuchi slowly mouthed along, "Why would you run? Come here... you don\'t want to get off, do you..." he let out a mirthful chortle and turned to ask the jade doll. "Hey, why is it so obsessed with Old Guan?" It\'s not like he looks particularly delicious, was what Jin Jiuchi did not say.

He had expected to be ignored just like the entire way here. But again, the ethereal jade doll surprised him by answering with a solemn milky voice, "It\'s a blood parasite. Its host\'s body is already rotting and it can\'t wait to obtain a new vessel. A living one, at best."

"Huh..." Jin Jiuchi rubbed his chin in thought, slightly amused. "The choice for bus officer sure is... unique." He had never heard of \'blood parasite\' before, but he reckoned that it was because he had spent too many years in that damned asylum, leaving many blank holes in his common knowledge.

"You are not afraid?" The jade doll asked weirdly.

Jin Jiuchi tilted his head in confusion. "Should I? I mean, it looks kinda gross— oh!" Realization finally dawned on Jin Jiuchi and he teased the jade doll with a grin. "Don\'t tell me... are you afraid, kid? You are, aren\'t you? That\'s why you—" His words were cut off by a loud and breathless shriek.

"W–W–What the hell is that?!!" Old Guan scrambled away from the bus, pupils wild in terror. He was trembling so badly like a sieve and in the next second, fat droplets of tears started running down his face. "I–It wants to kill me! You guys saw it, didn\'t you? It almost killed me!!" His voice cracked in the end, veins bursting out of his neck from how hard he was screaming.

"Duh," Sister Hong rolled her eyes with a disdainful look. "It\'s because you are slow in getting off the bus. This is why idiot newbies are the worst."

Apparently, her words did nothing to assuage Old Guan\'s fear at all. It became worse, instead. "You... You are all in this together, aren\'t you?" He swept his bloodshot eyes over everyone\'s present... except the jade doll, before landing on Jin Jiuchi at last. As a good and law-abiding citizen, Jin Jiuchi was taught to offer a smile every time he met someone\'s eyes, and thus he did.

Old Guan became hysterical. He pointed at Jin Jiuchi\'s nose. Rude. Pointing at people\'s nose was extremely rude, or so he had been taught.

"You...! You are a ghost and that thing... that monster inside the bus... you are all in this together!" He hollered on top of his lungs. "I don\'t want to be here anymore! I want to get out of this place—!!"

In a fit of madness, he took off running to the street – away from the bus, the passengers and the apartment. His pace was surprisingly agile and fast. His thin figure was quickly swallowed by the surrounding fog as if it was a predator that was just waiting for a prey to fall right into its mouth.

Jin Jiuchi narrowed his eyes and tried to see where Old Guan had run off to, but he could not see anything at all past the fog barrier. It was like Old Guan had vanished into thin air... just like that. Even the echo of his voice could not be heard anymore.

Jin Jiuchi made a curious noise from his throat and asked the person closest to him – who coincidentally turned out to be Tang Ye. "Where does this road lead to?"

Tang Ye shook his head grimly. "Nowhere."

Before Jin Jiuchi could ask what he meant by that, his ears suddenly picked up a familiar voice from behind. He swiveled his head around in astonishment, and there Old Guan was, sweaty and panting, still screaming on top of his lungs. "I want to get out of this—" His eyes flew wide in horror once he saw the familiar scenery reappearing in front of him again. "No... nononono... this is not real! This can\'t be real!!!" Squeezing his eyes shut, he picked up his pace and dashed past the apartment again, letting the hazy embrace of the fog welcome him.

Seeing Jin Jiuchi\'s dumbfounded face, Tang Ye grimaced and told him, "It\'s no use... there is no way out once you enter this place. You will only return here again and again. After all, this is a Cycle..."

Xinxin shivered with a pale face, presumably recalling some unpleasant memories.

On the other hand, Sister Hong was completely unmoved against Old Guan\'s hysterics. She clicked her tongue impatiently, "Can we just leave the newbie behind and enter the apartment? It\'s getting dark soon."

Jin Jiuchi stared at the place where Old Guan had disappeared into, his broad frame shaking ever so slightly.

Assuming that Jin Jiuchi was starting to lose it out of fear, Tang Ye stepped forward in sympathy and reached out to pat his shoulder. "Brother Yang..."

But he touched nothing but empty air.

Because Jin Jiuchi had also taken off running toward Old Guan\'s direction. Yes, he was starting to lose it... out of excitement, of course! His booming laughter echoed in the air, full of joy and delight. "Ha... hahaha! What is this place?! This is amazinggg—!!!"

How could such a magical place exist in this world? If he did not test it out by himself, then it would be his loss!

Jin Jiuchi\'s legs were long and his running speed was a few times faster than Old Guan, just like an overexcited beast that was finally let out of its cage. He let his body be engulfed by the fog, let the chilling coldness seep into his skin, let the wind whistle past his ears. He stretched his eyes open and filled his lungs with a mouthful of hazy fog.

At that moment, he was truly free!

He opened his arms wide and yelled on top of his lungs, "Woo-hoo...!!"

Soon, he caught up with Old Guan amidst the thickening vapor. The middle aged man began to lose his stamina and his pace had slowed into a breathless jog. However, upon hearing Jin Jiuchi\'s excited cry from behind, he screamed and forced his aching legs to move... faster! He had to run faster!! He had to run away from the ghost!!!

"Get lost!!" Old Guan\'s pupils dilated sharply when he saw that Jin Jiuchi was approaching him at a rapid pace. His breath was stuck in his throat and his entire body was petrified. In that split second, he prepared himself for the worst...

...but then Jin Jiuchi ran past him like a mad horse, leaving a strong gust of wind and trail of dust in his wake.

"Woo-hoo!!" His joyful cheers reverberated in the air, getting fainter and fainter.

Old Guan almost tripped on his feet out of shock. "...H-Huh?"