Soul Pursuer

In the 1980s, on a winding mountain road outside the town of Xindingu in Yuxi, Yunnan Province, a 40-passenger long-distance bus was carefully navigating. This type of mountain road resembled the gates of the underworld, and a moment's inattention could lead to a plunge off the cliff. Inside the carriage, three women were seated in the middle section. The most elegant among them was Yue Xia, Ahu's mother, who was then under thirty. Her husband, Ahu's father, operated a small repair shop in the local county town that could fix bicycles, electric bikes, and motorcycles. The other two women were the wives of the second and third brothers from the same hometown, forming a sister-in-law relationship. The bus ascended the rugged mountain road, and Yue Xia sat near the window, close to the cliff. Although there were guardrails on the side of the road, everyone knew they were of little use. The driver, after driving continuously for ten hours, appeared fatigued. All passengers watched nervously as the bus frequently approached the road's edge. From their seats, it looked as if half of the bus was hanging over the abyss, creating a terrifying sight. Beside Yue Xia sat the wife of the second brother among the three siblings. She nervously glanced out of the window from time to time, her face showing a strange expression. Seated next to her was the wife of the third brother, Afeng, who seemed sturdy and unafraid. She tapped the wife of the second brother, Azhen, and asked, "Are you scared?" Azhen furrowed her brows and replied, "Aren't you scared?" She then turned to Yue Xia and asked, "What about the eldest sister?" Yue Xia, staring at their foreheads, replied, "Of course, I'm scared." Afeng chimed in, "The driver isn't scared; why should we be afraid?" Azhen remarked, "There are so many wrecked cars down the slopes below. They all got smashed." *****，*：“**，***？*********。 Yue Xia found it strange because ever since they entered the mountain road, she felt her heart racing. Just now, she saw a black aura on Azhen's forehead, thinking it might be her imagination. But in the blink of an eye, she saw a similar black aura on Afeng's forehead, startling her. Oddly, when Afeng and Azhen looked at each other, they didn't seem to notice. Yue Xia turned to look at the passengers in front and behind—most looked fatigued. However, she noticed that some of them also had the same black aura on their foreheads, at least half of them, condensed into a small cluster in front of their foreheads. These people seemed oblivious. The entire bus appeared normal; some were sleeping, some were chatting, and no one seemed to notice anything unusual. Yue Xia squinted, shook her head, and opened her eyes again. Afeng was now staring at her. Yue Xia's brows couldn't help but furrow as a sense of fear and chill surged within her. Because the black aura on Afeng and Azhen's foreheads was still clearly there. Afeng, noticing Yue Xia's strange expression, asked, "Eldest sister, what's wrong? Are you more scared than Azhen?" Yue Xia scanned the passengers again, and it was still the same—some had the black aura, and some didn't. She didn't know what was happening, but she felt her heart trembling. She glanced out of the window again, and the bus suddenly swayed towards the road edge, giving the feeling of an imminent fall. Yue Xia said to Afeng, "Take a look at each other. See if there's anything strange." Afeng, puzzled, looked at Azhen, and Azhen looked back at Afeng, both showing a strange look. They said to Yue Xia, "What's wrong? Is there something strange?" Yue Xia couldn't believe they couldn't see the obvious black aura. She turned to look at the driver, whose face she couldn't see, but she could faintly see a dark mass from the side. Azhen stared at her, saying, "Eldest sister, what's happening? You seem really nervous." Yue Xia, with a sweep of her eyes, saw it was still the same as before—some had the black aura, and some didn't. She didn't know what was going on but felt her heart shivering. She looked out of the window again, and the bus swayed to the side, making it feel like it could fall at any moment. Yue Xia said to Afeng, "Look at each other. See if there's anything strange." Afeng, confused, looked at Azhen, and Azhen looked back at Afeng, both wearing a strange expression. They said to Yue Xia, "What's wrong? Is there something strange?" Yue Xia couldn't believe they couldn't see the obvious black aura. She turned to look at the driver, whose face she couldn't see, but she could faintly see a dark mass from the side. Azhen stared at her, saying, "Eldest sister, what's happening? You seem really nervous." Yue Xia frowned as she looked at Azhen, unsure of how to respond. Azhen, with a puzzled expression, looked back at her and said, "Let's talk about it when we get home. I feel uneasy right now." Suddenly, a voice from behind them shouted, "Driver, driver, can you stop the bus? I need to pee." Yue Xia turned to look, and it was a young man in his twenties. Surprisingly, there was no black aura on his forehead. His face was red, seemingly embarrassed. The driver turned around and shouted, "Stop here? Are you kidding? One moment of carelessness, and we'll go off the cliff." Yue Xia stared blankly at the driver. There was an obvious dark mass on his forehead, indicating signs of fatigue in his eyes. Yue Xia didn't know how to process this information. The scene in front of her suddenly slowed down, and the driver widened his eyes, opened his mouth, and all the passengers couldn't help but scream. When Yue Xia opened her eyes and looked at her husband, son, and daughter, it was already five days later. Her son, Ahu, was six years old at the time, and her daughter, Azi, was four years old. Upon seeing Yue Xia wake up, her husband, with a disheveled beard, was so excited that he almost cried. **************，********，*******，***********。 When the bus was about ten meters from the bottom of the mountain, it collided with a sturdy cypress tree growing out of the cliff, slowing down its descent. Although the cypress collision immediately crushed a part of the bus, causing several more deaths, some passengers survived. This included Yue Xia. If it weren't for the obstruction of this ancient cypress tree, all forty-something people inside the bus would have turned into a mass of shattered bones. Yue Xia moved her lips slightly and said, "What about Azhen and Afeng?" Her husband's expression changed, and a hint of fear was apparent in his eyes. After a few seconds, her husband said, "They had a tragic fate. They are unrecognizable now, alas." Yue Xia's heart sank immediately. Those black auras on people's foreheads reappeared vividly in her mind. Her husband told her that Azhen and Afeng had already been buried. Azhen's husband suffered some psychological trauma and couldn't believe that the mangled figure was his wife, Azhen. Yue Xia didn't know how to make sense of those clusters of black auras. Perhaps she was seeing things, confused after being unconscious for several days. Ahu suddenly grabbed her hand and said, "Mom." Yue Xia looked at Ahu. Ahu gazed into Yue Xia's eyes and said, "Little Bell said her mom didn't die. She sees her every day." Yue Xia's husband hurriedly said, "Ahu, don't speak nonsense." Yue Xia looked into Ahu's eyes and said, "Little Bell misses her mom." Little Bell was Azhen's daughter, only four years old, often playing with Ahu. Ahu pouted and said, "I'm not making it up. Little Bell saw her mom, and I saw it too. There's still a black aura on her." Yue Xia tightly held Ahu's hand, her throat as if something was blocking it, unable to utter a word. In the summer of 2018, in an ancient building in Nanmen, Suizhou, a quiet-looking young man with glasses sat at a rosewood desk. With two ancient mahogany flower windows open in front of him, he shifted his gaze from the thick and sophisticated laptop screen in front of him to the ancient trees and well outside. Suddenly, he felt a peculiar sensation, as if something significant was about to happen today. He was Zhu Lang, a former antique dealer who, pondering the origin of human civilization, started a private radio program to share his views with those interested in exploring ultimate questions. Although Zhu Lang's radio program had a limited audience, some people remembered him, and among them was Chang Kaixuan, a mysterious and powerful man.