Yin Chushuang suddenly roared, "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you! Get lost!"
Liu Yuning was about to explode, but her shoulder was held down. I exchanged a glance with her and then went outside. As soon as she came out, she anxiously asked me, "Why did you stop me just now?"
"She really doesn't know, don't waste your time on her! If we keep stalling with her, we won't gain anything."
"How are you so sure? Is it because you can observe people's micro-expressions!"
"What do you think? When has my observation ever been wrong!" I said confidently.
Liu Yuning gave an awkward laugh, but said, "Or maybe you're wrong this time?"
"Then you can continue interrogating Yin Chushuang in rounds, but I won't accompany you. I have other things to attend to."
"Where are you going?" Liu Yuning pressed from behind me, but I didn't answer. Soon, I walked out of the provincial department, actually just because it was mealtime. "I'm going out to eat!"
"You're not taking me!" Liu Yuning said petulantly and followed me from behind.
We went to a Venice restaurant near the provincial department. It wasn't that I liked this place, but just because it was close. We ordered two steaks and coffee. While we were eating, we chatted about the case. However, somehow, Liu Yuning brought up He Xin again. "He Xin must be around 23 this year, right? Have you asked her if she's dating anyone?"
"Oh? Why are you suddenly concerned about that?"
"You aren't her real father and daughter. Living together as two unrelated people, do you think that's okay?" Liu Yuning cut into the steak on her plate, her eyes fixed on me.
"Uh, you're not jealous, are you? We're nothing. I rarely talk to her, only a few words occasionally when it's about work. You can rest assured. I think she's been with me for so long that she wouldn't want to leave. As for her romantic life, it's not something that can be forced, right? A smart girl like He Xin knows how to handle it herself!"
"Heh, I was just casually mentioning it. Why do you need to explain so much? The more you say, the more I think there's something wrong with you. I feel like you absolutely haven't let her go!"
"My dear aunt, are you deliberately looking for trouble?"
I drank my coffee, too lazy to deal with her. However, Liu Yuning didn't dwell on this topic. After finishing her steak, she stood up and said there was something at the provincial department, then left. I didn't linger. After paying the bill, I walked out of the restaurant, but I didn't go back.
I was driving around the streets bored, when my phone suddenly rang. I thought it was Liu Yuning, but it turned out to be Gao Mingqiang. "Mingqiang, what's going on?"
"Someone's gone missing in Guangming City again! This time it's over 20 young men!"
"What? At the subway station?"
"No, the subway station has been sealed off by us since the last incident. This time the disappearance occurred near the K21 bus route, but this bus stopped operating 5 years ago."
"Damn it! It's happening again? I'll be right there." As I spoke, I was driving and using the voice function to search for information about the K21 bus route on Baidu. There was a news report that said: 5 years ago, on August 15, 2017, a K21 bus, due to the driver being drunk, lost control and plunged into a lake on the outskirts of the city. Subsequently, everyone on the bus disappeared, and even their bodies were never found. A few days later, the same thing happened again. The police investigation found nothing. Until the third and fourth time, the government had no choice but to discontinue the K21 bus route. However, even so, the strange occurrences continued to repeat near the region lake. After midnight, a bus that had long been discontinued slowly drove towards a long-abandoned station, yet people were lining up there, step by step boarding the bus.
It is said that the driver was an old man. Some people have seen this old man, who turned out to be a paper figure. Those who board the bus will drive with this paper figure and eventually crash into the infernal lake. "Diyu" (地域) and "Diyu" (地狱) are homophones, so the people of Guangming City have been making a fuss about this, saying it's the work of ghosts. They believe that the ghosts of those who drowned in the past have turned into water ghosts and want to find replacements, so they are looking for people to ride the K21 bus. After those people drown, they continue to look for replacements, so this K21 bus will never stop.
Of course, I don't believe these so-called eerie legends. Coupled with my previous experiences, I immediately thought this was just Gongsun Jiayi's new trick.
This guy, after being discovered, still dares to use similar methods to commit crimes. He's quite bold. I thought I had arrived at the location Gao Mingqiang told me about.
This was the Guangyuan Road station for the former K21 bus route, which is now abandoned. The station sign has been smashed, the seats are covered in dust, and a lot of mud has settled on the ground. I went up to Gao Mingqiang and asked him, "How did you know they had taken this bus?"
"This friend, tell them!" Gao Mingqiang and several police officers were here, along with a young man about 20 years old. He looked like a college student. Judging by the wounds and bruises on his body, I could imagine he must have gone through something terrible just now.
The young man said, "Officers, are you curious because of the wounds on my body? If you want to know the truth, listen carefully to me and my unusual experiences! Actually, I escaped from that bus. Before, we saw some rumors about this bus on the news. Several of my classmates were very interested. Plus, our school recently opened a paranormal club. The teacher asked us to go out and find some real-life paranormal material to write papers. We thought this strange bus was a great topic, so we decided to come here tonight to take a look."
"Originally, my classmates and I were looking for excitement and wanted to find this bus. At 11 p.m. tonight, we didn't see the bus, so I told my classmates to leave. Yes, I chickened out and didn't want to play anymore. But they absolutely refused to leave. Until midnight, a dilapidated, dust-covered old bus actually drove over. At that moment, my classmates were not scared at all and were cheering loudly at the station."
"We really saw the old man mentioned in the reports. My classmates took out their phones and took many photos of the bus. Even after boarding, they took photos of the old man. The old man didn't scold us; instead, he sat there quietly. After we all got on, we started to feel groggy. My classmates also stopped talking."