86: Chapter 86 Welcome to Yinshan Village

...

The dilapidated bus continued its journey.

Although Old Wu and the short man, Xiao Zei, spoke in lowered voices, they didn't seem to care about the others overhearing. They chatted unscrupulously about things that sounded incomprehensible to ordinary people.

The small-time thugs who had been herded onto the bus by the tattooed man were also confused, but they sensed something unusual in the conversation. One young man with a Heavenly Eye tattooed between his eyebrows suddenly stood up and shouted:

"Chen Yao, what kind of ghost place have you brought us to? I want to go back..."

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a sudden "bang."

As if a balloon had been overinflated and popped, the young man with the Heavenly Eye tattoo suddenly exploded. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, filling the bus cabin.

Old Wu and the others seemed accustomed to such a horrific scene.

The passengers who were already on the bus before them had subconsciously closed their eyes beforehand, as if they had long expected this.

The other thugs who had just boarded were completely frozen, paralyzed with fear.

Two of them let out a shrill cry of "Mommy!" and tried to flee, but before they could take two steps, their bodies also burst apart, adding more crimson to the dim cabin!

"Sigh! There are always idiots who can't get their heads straight. I told you to follow the passenger regulations, so why won't you listen!"

The tattooed man known as Chen Yao rubbed his face vigorously and said in a hushed voice, "If you don't want to die, just sit still and don't move. Don't worry, I definitely won't harm you!"

Bang!

Another person exploded on the spot because they were so scared they wet their pants.

Only then did silence return to the cabin, save for the sound of timid sobbing. Someone was crying from fear but didn't dare make too much noise, desperately suppressing themselves.

Chu Xuan's heart was also pounding. He noticed the interior of the bus was emitting a faint red glow; like the peristalsis of intestinal walls, it absorbed every last bit of the splattered flesh and blood.

Even the chunks of flesh splattered on people crawled down slowly like little insects, sinking into the bus floor like rain into the earth, disappearing completely.

Only some scattered clothes and shoes remained.

The remaining five thugs were scared out of their wits and didn't dare move an inch. They sat blankly in their seats, completely traumatized.

Clink, clink, clink...

A crisp, pleasant sound came from the fare box by the front door. Chu Xuan saw several silver coins roll into a small slot at the bottom of the box.

Judging by the sound, there were probably six coins.

"Sigh, what a loss. I was supposed to make forty, but now I've only made twenty. This is still a loss," Chen Yao sighed, shaking his head repeatedly.

The remaining five thugs stared at Chen Yao with faces full of terror, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

About five minutes later, they reached another stop. Chu Xuan observed the area; it seemed to be an industrial zone, but this time no one boarded.

The bus waited for over ten seconds, and when still no one came, it slowly closed its doors and drove away.

Chen Yao took the opportunity while the bus was stopped to step forward, retrieve the six coins from the bottom of the fare box, and put them back in his pocket, still looking regretful.

There were still people who wanted to call the authorities, but unfortunately, there was no cell signal inside the bus.

The rest of the journey passed in silence. Amidst everyone's trepidation, the bus arrived at a small mountain village around four in the morning.

Although Chu Xuan had never been to Xishan, the village's appearance was very old-fashioned, looking like something out of the 70s or 80s on TV.

It lacked any resemblance to a modern urbanized new village.

Looking around, there was no light from the sun or moon, only a murky darkness. Only the houses in the village were lit up, as if they were welcoming their arrival.

Just then, a notification appeared from the System—

[The time limit for your talent skill is approaching. Spend 10 spirituality value to extend it by 1 hour? 10 seconds remaining...]

[10!]

[9!]

Chu Xuan's heart skipped a beat. He pulled out his phone again.

It was exactly 3:59 AM.

And the time he had woken up on the hotel bed was 3:00 AM.

In other words, the time limit for the [Precognitive Dream] talent skill was only one hour?

If he wanted to extend the dream, he had to spend spirituality value to renew it!

Chu Xuan suddenly remembered the panicked expression Tang Zheng had shown at the last moment when facing the Night Demon. Perhaps at that time, his spirituality value had run out, making it impossible to extend the duration of his talent ability.

Chu Xuan checked his remaining spirituality value.

[spirituality value: 35.]

Without hesitation, Chu Xuan chose to spend 10 spirituality value to extend the time.

He had already spent 50 points on this dream; how could he give up halfway? He had to gather some useful intelligence.

[You have consumed 10 spirituality value.]

[Remaining spirituality value: 25]

Fortunately, the renewal cost was only 10 points, a base price, rather than the 50 points deducted for entering the dream.

"Why did your spirituality decrease?" The Phantom Demon's voice rang out quite abruptly.

Chu Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he said calmly, "Paid my taxes."

"Hehe." The Phantom Demon gave a faint chuckle. "This place isn't very safe for you. If you encounter danger, I can temporarily take over your body to help you through a crisis, provided your spirit offers no resistance."

Chu Xuan said no more. When the bus doors opened, he followed the others as they filed out.

"Welcome to Yinshan Village..."

A White-haired Elder led a group of villagers standing under a weathered archway, offering warm smiles to the passengers getting off the bus.

Not just Chu Xuan, but everyone who stepped off the bus could see the strangeness and wrongness of this place.

Leaving aside the village's appearance which didn't match the architecture of this era, who would come out at four in the morning to welcome tourists?

And judging by the number of people—about a hundred—it looked like the entire village had come out.

However, the way these people were dressed was very bizarre.

It didn't match the vintage feel of the village at all; instead, they were dressed similarly to those who had just gotten off the bus. There were even well-dressed young and middle-aged men among the villagers, as well as fashionably dressed women.

There was also a woman under the archway holding a large broom, perpetually sweeping the same corner in a mechanical repetition.

These welcoming villagers seemed warm, but the smiles on their faces were incredibly stiff, and their movements gave off a sense of mechanical, dull repetition.

Everything here reeked of inconsistency.

"Don't go running around here. If something happens, don't blame me for not warning you," Old Wu said flatly, deliberately glancing at a few people huddled together who clearly looked like a family.

"Whether you believe me is up to you. I won't stop you if you want to run, but if something like what just happened on the bus occurs, I won't be held responsible."

Old Wu grinned, revealing his large yellow teeth as he chuckled.