Forces of Temptation

The limit of thinking time left for Nan Zhou should not exceed five seconds.

More than five seconds is enough to arouse everyone's suspicion.

After sorting out the known information, Nanzhou can draw the following conclusions:

This is an intercity bus from City C.

The destination of the vehicle is unknown.

The passing place is unknown.

The driving GPS is turned off, so there is no way to guess the driving route.

...he has four seconds left.

There is a small map of City C on the advertising light box in front of the first row of seats.

A corner of the map covered by several missing person notices was exposed, which happened to be the location of Longtan District, with the school logo of No. [-] Middle School on it.

This is also the source of inspiration for one of Nanzhou Lies.

However, the location of the residential area will not be marked on it.

In other words, if he was asked where he got on the bus and the details of where he got on the bus, he couldn't completely make it up.

From the corner of Nan Zhou's eyes, he quickly turned to the driver's seat directly in front of him.

...three seconds to go.

It was clearly written on the badge that the driver of this car should be a woman named Shen Qiuyan.

But next to the storage rack where the water cup was placed, there was a brand new plastic-sealed work permit, and the strap and the handle of the water cup were entangled together.

According to the information obtained at a glance, the person who drove today was named She or Yu, and he was a man.

Why change drivers?

Is it a common shift between drivers?

...two seconds.

wrong.

None of the four people who spoke so far said they boarded from the normal bus stop.

They all started from their respective residential areas, even down to the details of "Phase I" and "Phase II", "foreigner area" and "ordinary residential area".

So, this is a bus traveling on an unusual route.

...a new driver who was suddenly replaced, and a bus that was not running normally.

Moreover, all the passengers in the car seem to be going to a specific place.

Therefore, it is very likely that the bus was requisitioned to perform rescue missions.

The "volunteers" mentioned in Li Yinhang's words can be mutually confirmed with his guess.

...only one second left.

So why are there so few people in the car?

It is still daytime, and it stands to reason that now is the best time to carry out a rescue.

In other words, even if the car wasn't overcrowded during the day, it shouldn't be at the current density.

what does this mean?

It means that these people are probably not the first wave of rescued people.

...So, it is already obvious where Nanzhou should get on the bus.

--time up.

Nan Zhou withdrew his gaze and looked at the crowd.

He said frankly, "I was the first to get on the bus."

Zhao Guanglu was the first to raise an objection: "No, I didn't see you when I got in the car."

The moment before the atmosphere in the car froze, Nan Zhou accepted his question and gave his answer: "I came up secretly."

Everyone: "...?"

"I was originally taken to a shelter, and there was no mother in that shelter."

"But I don't know where she is, and I asked volunteers, but there was no result."

"I was worried about her, so I hid this car parked at the door and hid under the seat since last night, trying to find her."

"Maybe get off the car halfway, or sneak into other shelters to have a look."

"I was very sleepy and then fell asleep, and the car drove for a long time before waking up."

"My head hurts a bit. After I quietly came out, I slept against the glass for a while..."

He spoke slowly but methodically, making it sound like he wasn't fully awake yet.

While speaking, Nan Zhou also raised his sleeves to ensure that everyone could see the thin dust on them when he went down to look for the bracelet just now.

Everyone said "oh" in their hearts.

The gap under the seat of the bus is indeed enough to hide a person of his stature.

If you don't look carefully, you may not find anything hiding under the seat.

Someone asked: "At this time, don't you stay in the 'cocoon room' obediently, and dare to run outside?"

... Nan Zhou silently remembered that the name of the shelter was "Cocoon Room".

At the same time, he gently cleaned the dust on his sleeves, and slowly replied: "Well, not everyone has relatives, and not everyone understands this feeling of worry."

"..." The questioner was so choked that he almost rolled his eyes.

It has to be said that Nanzhou's reason is sufficient, and there is no point to refute it.

But the problem is, Nan Zhou's temperament is very weird.

Black eyes, black hair, except for the clothes that are not in season, there is no extra decoration on her body. When she speaks every sentence with the corners of her eyes reddened by sleep, she looks like a slow-moving wooden beauty.

But the mole of tears that fell right under his left eye not only gave him the charm and coldness that he should have, but also made him have a strange ghostly air.

Even though the sunlight was so strong that it was almost whitish outside the window next to him, he still felt a sense of incompatibility with the sun.

This smell makes everyone feel uncomfortable.

Someone continued to ask him: "The mushroom is so close to you, why aren't you afraid?"

"Because I thought it was a dream at first." Nan Zhou said, "After I woke up, I found it wasn't too scary."

Everyone:"……"

One thing to say, the mushroom itself is not scary.

And the distance between the mushroomed weird head and the first row is too far.

He did have reason not to be afraid.

So, it's time for the last question.

"What is there to prove what you said?"

Moreover, the question is buy one get one free: "It's summer, why do you dress like this?"

Nan Zhou didn't speak any more, but loosened the straps of the windbreaker cuffs, ready to show his evidence.

A squirrel-colored animal poked its head out of his cuff.

It's a sugar glider.

Nan Zhou introduced: "Get to know it, it's called Nanjixing."

As soon as he saw the apple on the other side of the seat, Nanjixing's black eyes suddenly lit up, he opened the skin of his hind limbs, and swooped out, holding the apple tightly with his two front paws, moving his buttocks and gathering energy, thinking Put the apple up your sleeve and keep it for yourself.

Nan Zhou held down the apple stalk with his hand, stopped it from moving, and was a little unhappy: "Mine."

The little animal puffed up its cheeks and stared at Nan Zhou, feeling aggrieved.

Nan Zhou remained unmoved.

It kept such a cute and pitiful posture, snatched a piece of apple in one bite, and slid back quickly along Nanzhou's open cuff with the apple piece in its mouth.

Nanzhou: "..."

Facts have proved that human judgment is affected by some non-objective factors.

Just like now, everyone's vigilance against Nanzhou has been greatly reduced.

Not only because of the reason "ghosts will bring pets up here?", but also because of the fluctuation of his expression at the moment when the apple was stolen, which made him look much more alive.

The person Nan Zhou ranted against just now pointed at him unwillingly: "Didn't you say you are a teacher?"

Nan Zhou held the apple in his hand and nodded: "Yes."

The man asked sharply: "The teacher allows you to grow such hair?"

Nan Zhou nodded reservedly again: "Yes, art teacher. Is there any question?"

Everyone: ...grass.

Immediately, everyone had a completely reasonable understanding of this person's weird temperament.

——It turned out to be an artist, I understand.

Nan Zhou calmly looked at the people who had already started the next round of self-introduction, looking at every face that was either nervous or trying to be calm.

But when his eyes turned to the Ukrainian mixed-race youth, Nan Zhou's eyes paused slightly.

Jiang Fang leaned on the bus seat, and didn't seem to be looking at himself.

But Nan Zhou knew that he was looking at himself.

...Looking at my own reflection in the window pane beside me.

It's half a smile, so gentle that it's hard to judge his true emotions.

Nan Zhou remained calm, as if he didn't notice it at all, and naturally turned his gaze to other people.

It took a little longer for Nanzhou's statement and explanation, so the speed of everyone's introduction was a bit slow.

The bus has 15 rows and 61 seats.

Counting from back to front, the situation is as follows:

In the penultimate row, the man sitting on the left side is the architect Zhao Guanglu.

On the right side of the penultimate row is an unknown person who died because he violated the rules and tried to jump out of the window. The only information that can be confirmed at present is "he is an ordinary person".

In the penultimate row on the left is the unlucky bank clerk Li Yinhang.

The fifth row from the bottom was Jiang Fang sitting directly in front of Li Yinhang.

The door of the two-door bus opens near the fifth row from the bottom.

Going forward, a man named Liu Rongrui sat in the sixth-to-last row.

He was the one who was speechless by Nan Zhou just now.

He said he had nothing to eat, so he mustered up the courage to leave the house. After walking for a long time, he couldn't find a supermarket that was still open.

In the end, he heard that there was food to eat, so he got into the car with two volunteers, one old and one young.

Speaking of this, his face was full of remorse that "I would have known that I would not have starved to death and would not have boarded this thief ship".

The seventh-to-last row is vacant.

The eighth row from the bottom, that is, the eighth row from the top, is a bit special. There are two people sitting, a man and a woman.

The girl sitting on the left is called Sun Ruowei, and the young man sitting on the right is called Lin Xiangjun.

Both of them came up from the Longquan community, and after getting on the bus, they even exchanged a few words. It can be said that they are the most able to testify for each other among all the people in the car.

But on the contrary, they may also be ghost companions who lie together.

The seventh row is vacant.

Qin Yadong, male, is sitting in the sixth row on the left, getting on from Xingfu Street.

He waved on the side of the road and boarded the bus.

In the fifth row, Qin Yadong sat in front of a fat man who weighed nearly two hundred catties.

According to him, he got on the bus at Xingfuyuan on Gonggong Street.

Qin Yadong can testify for him, because he adjusted the back of the chair from the moment he got up, and when he lay back, it directly pressed against his thigh.

But the fat man didn't appreciate it very much, saying that he fell asleep when he came up and didn't notice anyone behind him.

In the fourth row, on the right, sat a rather nervous young man.

He looked at everyone vigilantly, gnawed his fingernails anxiously, and said that he was a student at C University, and his name was Wu Yukai.

When someone questioned "Did we pass C University just now?", he yelled back angrily: "Nonsense!"

The reaction was so violent, I don't know if it was because of a guilty conscience, or simply didn't like being questioned in this situation.

The third row from the front is Xie Yangyang, an employee of a foreign company who got on the car with Jiang Fang in Donghua Community, screamed first, and is still trembling now.

The first row is Nanzhou, also known as Luoyan.

Just as Xie Yangyang was stammering his self-statement, the interior of the carriage was suddenly swept, wrapped, and gripped by boundless darkness.

The moment the bus passed through the tunnel without warning, a fact was silently announced to everyone.

First round, empty ticket.

Five rounds to go...

Only five rounds left.

After seeing the light again, everyone turned their attention to the huge mushroom in the back row.

The soft and slender mycelium had already wrapped the entire seat he was in, and the colorful canopy swayed regularly with the shaking of the vehicle.

...as if alive.

The atmosphere in the car became visibly anxious and tense.

The author has something to say:

——On what everyone is thinking at the moment

Li Yinhang: My unlucky name.

Jiang Fang: My lovely daughter-in-law.

Nan Zhou: My poor apple.