The school bus slowly came to a stop.

With a "bang," the front and back doors opened at the same time.

When the car is in motion, there is the sound of the wind, which is rhythmic. But when it stops, only the irregular sound of the wheels passing by can be heard from outside the door.

The sudden commotion diluted my fear, and I grabbed Wang Chu, preparing to get off from the back door.

The girl in school uniform stopped me: "Zhou Li, the rules are real. [After the school bus starts, unless it reaches the new school campus, no matter what happens during the journey, do not get off the bus, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences], you cannot get off!"

"But even if the rules are real, we have already violated one. From the punishment just now...," I hesitated for a moment and continued, "I don't know what you all saw, but from what I saw, the consequences of breaking the rules are within our capacity to bear. The situation ahead is unknown, maybe we can only figure out what is going on by getting off the bus."

"There was such a violent argument just now, and even the driver was unwilling to help you. Now suddenly stopping the car and opening the door, don't you find it suspicious?" [The school bus shuttles only between the new and old school campuses, with no other stops along the way], don't you think this rule is more of a warning than a constraint?"

She made a valid point. If [swiping the card upon boarding] and [not getting off] are constraints on passengers, with penalties for violation, then this rule indeed seemed more like a reminder.

If there is room for breaking the rules, then the rule-breaker must be the driver, and not the passenger.

I looked at the driver, who calmly remained in the driver's seat, without any extra movements. But I had long ago begun to doubt him, as everything about him seemed so odd to me.

While Wang Chu only had eyes for the girl in the school uniform, instantly transforming into an elder brother figure: "I have seen this junior sister. How old is the junior sister this year? What is her name? Has she read any books?"

The girl in the school uniform was quite generous: "Wang Chu, I study biology, my name is Ye Nanpu."

"Ye student, what do you think? I still think it's better to get off the bus." I looked at Wang Chu, "What about you, elder brother Chu?"

"I'll listen to junior sister Ye~"

I... I really wanted to slap this old pervert and send him to outer space! Earth can no longer contain him!

Ye Nanpu slung the canvas bag she had been holding on her arm, seeming to contain something large inside.

"The name 'Arkham,' don't you find it strange?" she looked at me.

I instantly understood, "Just go to the new campus via Minghua Avenue to Sanxian Bridge, the road is all in the old residential area, it is unlikely to have a strange name like 'Arkham' for a stop."

The three of us looked out the door at the same time.

It was just an ordinary bus stop, with no platform name, and no bus route sign, looking like it had been abandoned. And the location of this stop was also strange, at a fork in the road where three main roads intersect.

"There's no one here at all..."

Wang Chu casually remarked, but it made both Ye Nanpu and I shocked, as we looked at each other with the same concern in our eyes.

"If there are no people waiting at the stop, why did the school bus stop here for so long?" My heart sank halfway.

"Wait for us to get off?" Wang Chu was perplexed.

Ye Nanpu furrowed her brow, "According to the rules, we cannot get off. He must be waiting for someone or 'passengers' to board."

"The driver definitely has a problem! He must know something beyond the rules." I whispered.

"So what should we do? Get off or not?" Wang Chu asked anxiously.

Ye Nanpu looked at me, and I looked at the bus stop.

Although the outside bus stop was dilapidated, the street was bustling with traffic, and pedestrians in the distance were either leisurely or in a hurry, it was the familiar normal world to me.

I am an ordinary person, who tends to retreat in the face of problems, and I have no curiosity about exploring the unknown.

Regardless of the consequences, I was eager to return to that familiar world.

I gritted my teeth and said, "Get off!"

But as if mocking me on purpose, before I could take a step, the door suddenly closed.

The school bus started again, and due to inertia, I fell directly to the ground, with Wang Chu and Ye Nanpu falling down as well.

I hit the railing with my head, and my head was spinning.

What happened? I lifted my wrist, and the watch showed the time. Does the school bus have a fixed stopping time, only staying for 3 minutes?

"What are you doing? Don't move, you kicked my Achilles tendon! Damn!"

The boy jumped up in anger, his fist about to hit Wang Chu.

I rushed over to stop him, and suddenly smelled a very strong odor.

A strange salty and bloody smell... somewhat familiar... it seemed like when the ticket seller appeared earlier, I also smelled it!