My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

After boarding the bus, Zhang Ying did not immediately walk to the back of the carriage.

He pressed himself against the front door handle, staring intently out the window through the dusty and scratched glass.

The scenery outside the window was no longer the familiar country road he knew. The night was as thick as ink, enveloping the world completely.

The trees along the roadside were withered and twisted, their branches resembling dry human hands, reaching out towards the sky in a menacing manner.

Everything on the path blurred and distorted as it rushed past, as if the bus was traveling between illusion and reality.

Zhang Ying withdrew his gaze, suppressed the pounding in his heart, and slowly turned to look into the car.

Inside the large carriage, the dim yellow lights flickered on and off, and the air was filled with a musty smell of old leather.

Besides the pale-faced driver in the driver's seat, there were three other people sitting in the back seat.

On the left, by the window, sat a woman with a voluptuous figure, wearing a fiery red dress that stood out starkly in the dimly lit carriage.

In the middle sat an office worker carrying a black leather bag. He was dressed in a suit and tie but looked exhausted, his head nodding as if he might fall asleep at any moment.

In the far right corner, a little girl with a red backpack was huddled up, her two short legs dangling in mid-air, swaying gently.

Zhang Ying's nose twitched, and his brows furrowed slightly. These three people had a strong "living smell" about them, without the nauseating stench of corpses or a chilling aura, so they didn't seem like ghosts.

Strangely, on this eerie bus late at night, the three of them seemed unusually relaxed and at ease.

The woman was touching up her makeup in front of a small mirror, the office worker was dozing off, and the little girl was playing with her fingers, as if sitting in this dilapidated car was a perfectly normal thing to do.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Even if these three aren't charlatans, they're definitely not ordinary people.

Zhang Ying didn't want to cause trouble, so he found a seat at the back of the front carriage, trying to minimize his presence, and waited quietly for the bus to arrive at the stop.

After sitting down, he didn't give up trying. Deep in his mind, he frantically called out to Li Ziqing, attempting to establish a connection through the panel.

However, my mind remained a deathly blank.

The feeling of isolation didn't disappear; instead, it became stronger as the bus moved on.

He took out his phone again, and the signal bar in the upper left corner of the screen showed "No Service".

This feeling of being unable to do anything and only waiting for an unknown fate to arrive made Zhang Ying feel extremely uncomfortable, and a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart.

To ease the tension, Zhang Ying tried his best to avoid looking at the three people behind him, his eyes fixed on the GG sticker on the back of the chair.

But people's gaze is often uncontrollable; the more suppressed it is, the more their curiosity grows like wild grass.

Finally, he couldn't resist and his gaze involuntarily drifted back.

This sight made his throat go dry, and he swallowed hard, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He then realized that although the three people had the aura of living people, every detail was strangely unsettling.

The alluring woman, dressed in a flamboyant red dress, with a beautiful face, was applying powder to her face with a powder puff.

But as the bus lurched and trembled, white powder kept falling off her body and landed on her red dress.

Zhang Ying was horrified to discover that the woman's entire body seemed to be covered with a thick layer of foundation. As the foundation was shaken off, what lay beneath was not delicate skin, but rather a series of shocking red spots and festering, pus-filled wounds.

She seemed oblivious to the pain, mechanically applying powder to the rotting flesh, trying to cover up the disgusting decay.

Looking at the office worker carrying the briefcase, although he didn't have any obvious external injuries, his condition was even worse.

His lips were a deathly purple, his pupils trembled violently in their sockets, his breathing was rapid and shallow, and a wheezing sound like a broken bellows came from his throat.

His face was as pale as paper, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat, as if he was about to die on the spot at any moment and would turn into a corpse at any time.

The little girl with the red backpack was the one who seemed the most suspicious.

She sat there quietly, her hair dry and yellow, like a cheap wig. Her skin was dull and dry, with an unhealthy, ashen color.

Her rolled-up sleeves revealed her arms covered in needle marks, some already scabbed over, others still bleeding. She appeared extremely weak, likely due to a serious illness and the prolonged, painful chemotherapy she had undergone.

The three people in the back compartment all looked like they were on their deathbeds and terminally ill.

Zhang Ying's heart clenched, and a bold and terrifying conjecture exploded in his mind: Could it be that the destination of this bus is the underworld?

Such a bold idea startled Zhang Ying, sending chills down his spine.

"No, we absolutely cannot ride all the way to the finish line!"

He made up his mind that no matter where the next stop was, even if it was the middle of nowhere, he had to get off the bus.

Staying on this train to hell means certain death.

He tried to stand up from his seat; his legs were a little weak, but he still forced himself to walk towards the back door. Along the way, his steps were unimpeded, and he did not encounter the "Zeno's tortoise paradox"-like resistance he had encountered outside.

It seems that once you get on the bus, the strange rules no longer apply, or rather, the rules inside the bus allow passengers to move around.

This intensified his desire to get off the bus. He just wanted to get off, just want to leave this awful place!

After traveling a distance through the distorted darkness, the bus gradually slowed down, and the roar of the engine became low and muffled.

At the same time, a mechanical and cold broadcast voice suddenly rang in Zhang Ying's mind:

"Beep—We are approaching the station, Erxiangkou Lakeview Residential Area. Passengers, please prepare to disembark."

Erxiangkou Lakeside Community?

Upon hearing the station name, Zhang Ying breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the bus wouldn't go all the way to the final stop; there were stops along the way.

But when he realized where he had arrived, his eyes widened suddenly, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Second Alley Lakeview Residential Area? Isn't that the area around Sanjianghu?

creak-

With a screeching sound of brakes, the bus came to a stop. The front and rear doors opened simultaneously, and a gust of damp, cold lake wind rushed into the carriage, carrying a strong, fishy smell.

Standing at the back door, Zhang Ying looked at the scene outside the car and couldn't help but swallow.

The bus stop outside the car was indeed the Lakeview Community bus stop, and even the lettering on the bus stop sign was clearly visible.

But the scenery outside the platform was a deathly gray and white, and the lake was like a stagnant pool, without a ripple.

He always felt that if he got off the bus again, something terrible would happen.

"Should I get off here?" Zhang Ying was torn between two conflicting thoughts.

Although the strange realm of the Three Rivers and Lakes looks very eerie, at least I know the terrain here.

Once they get off this bus and summon Li Ziqing, he'll at least have a chance to escape.

If we stay on the bus, we don't know where the next stop will be.

"Let's give it our all!"

He made up his mind to get off the car, and his right foot had already stepped out of the door.

Just then, a series of footsteps suddenly sounded from the front door of the bus.

Tap, tap, tap...

Someone has boarded the bus!

At this time of day, at this strange station, how could anyone still board the train?

Zhang Ying subconsciously looked towards the front door, and that one glance struck him like a thunderbolt. His pupils contracted sharply, and he froze on the spot.

The person who got on the bus was wearing a brown jacket, and was of a relatively robust build compared to the average person. He was about the same age as the man.

"Old Shen?! What are you doing here?!"

Zhang Ying cried out, his voice trembling with shock.

The person boarding the bus through the front door was none other than his childhood best friend, Shen Yugang!

Shen Yugang seemed quite frightened by the strange bus, trembling as he boarded, clutching a bunch of keys tightly in his hand.

When he heard someone call his name, he turned around abruptly. The moment he saw Zhang Ying, his face lit up with surprise and disbelief. He shouted, "Zhang Ying?! Holy crap, it really is you! What are you doing here?!"

Zhang Ying stared at the living, breathing Shen Yugang and was momentarily dazed.

Seeing a familiar and vibrant face in this eerie and deathly space feels both intimate and absurd.