Chapter 29: The Twentieth Cycle of Time (I)

"Holy shit, that was close!"

Even Boy, who has always been a gentleman, could not help but burst into tears when he woke up again.

"So that bell is a timing device? Or one of the detonating devices?"

It's a terrible feeling to be on the brink of failure, and Boy couldn't take it.

Li Shiqing's situation is no better.

Like Boy before, this time the pressure cooker exploded while she was holding it, and the explosion left her bones intact, and when she came to her senses, she couldn't feel her hands at all.

But even more unacceptable than the physical pain was the sudden change of heart at the end of the last time loop.

Li Shiqing never doubted Uncle Driver, not even once.

She was not from the city and had come alone to the city to go to school. To save some pocket money, like most university students, she usually chose to take the bus when she went out.

Her family had a car, and before she went to university, she was mostly driven by her parents to places further away, and walked or cycled to places not far away.

Learning to take the bus and reading the bus routes was something that came after I arrived in the city.

Since the school is on this route, she takes the 45 route most often and the driver she meets most often on this route is the same one.

When she first learned how to ride the bus, she often had problems, sometimes she overstayed, sometimes she sat in the wrong direction, sometimes she gave up her seat for an elderly person but a young person took it ......

Many times, it was only with the patient help of this kind driver that she managed to reach her destination.

It was the driver's uncle who made her love this humane city and enjoy riding the city's buses.

Unlike the deadly underground and the monotonous and boring taxis, taking the bus is so much more fun.

She likes the low fares, the view of the city from the windows of the car, and the way she can measure every inch of the city.

She loves listening to the locals talking loudly in dialect about the city in the carriage, the brief human bonding each time she gets on and off the train, and the simple but life-affirming few minutes spent with many different people in the car.

Whenever she got on the bus, as long as there were not too many people in the carriage, she liked to sit behind the driver's uncle and make small talk with him from time to time, sometimes without even talking, just sitting in the seat behind him was very reassuring.

Just smile and beg the uncle when you get on the bus, and you won't have to worry about overshooting the station at all.

Although Li Shiqing has never spoken to the driver, she is grateful to him from the bottom of her heart and has always wanted to say "thank you" to him.

To thank him for his kind guidance and selfless help when he was new to the city and helpless.

I also thank him for reminding me every time before I arrived at the station and defending me when I had a scuffle with someone.

When the "bus time loop" incident started, she tried to persuade the driver to stop, to turn around, and even to create various incidents, but each time he insisted on taking the customer to the stop and drove away.

At that time, she was still annoyed by his excessive "dedication" in her mind.

It's not that her companion didn't question the driver's uncle.

As soon as it happened, he sidetracked the driver and asked him if he was mentally unwell and that was why he had the accident.

-- that time, it was she who helped the uncle explain and dispel his doubts.

He questioned the possibility that the driver might have left a bus full of passengers to escape or simply not believed them.

--It was she who rejected his suspicions with absolute certainty, even exclaiming "he's not like that".

It was because of her blind trust in her uncle and her overconfidence in her own judgment that she insisted on choosing the "least difficult" way to get through the game ......

It turned out to be a lost cause.

The driver really wasn't someone who would leave a car full of people to run away, and what he wanted ...... was for no one to get off.

"Why is this ......" Li Shiqing fell into a deep disbelief and disbelief, muttering to herself, "...... Uncle Driver Why is this happening?"

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't relate the vicious "thugs" to the kind and friendly driver.

"Whatever the reason, it is now certain that the driver and the crazy older woman are in cahoots. It is possible that the 'Wang Xingde' that the older woman was hysterically shouting earlier was the driver's name ......"

Boy was also in a bad mood when a sudden change of heart occurred at the last minute, but luckily he didn't know the driver in the first place and didn't take too much of a hit.

"They probably knew each other already, and he was probably in the know about this bombing."

"They must have some reason ......"

Li Shiqing muttered.

She remembered the last look the older man had given him.

The look in his eyes was too complex, as if he had many, many things to say to her, but in the end he could only choke on them without words.

She had too little experience in life to understand the meaning of the look the older man gave her, but she could see the intense guilt and pain in those eyes.

This is not the look of a "thug" who wants to die with someone.

"Whatever the hardship, with this kind of variation, plans have to change along with it ......"

Boy took off his glasses and rubbed his swollen forehead in annoyance, slightly annoyed.

He had made the plan so many times, but never included the part about the "driver's uncle" and the "others".

As far as he was concerned, everyone except him and Li Shiqing were uncontrollable factors, and in his plan, all factors other than the two of them were 'risks'.

As long as there are risks, there will be variables, and he is not in the habit of putting his life in the hands of others, so his plan is never to "ask for help", but to "save himself".

But unlike Li Shiqing, this young girl had never left school and had received so much kindness growing up that she never hesitated to trust others with her best intentions, and when she encountered a problem, her subconscious reaction was to look for someone to turn to.

This character is evident from the fact that she had to choose to call the police when time was so urgent.

It's not a bad personality, at least she's never dropped the ball at a critical time, and always remains positive and upbeat and resilient.

This emotion also infected him, so that instead of breaking down at the prospect of such a terrible encounter, he struggled to find a way out with her.

But now, and because of this character, the driver's "mutiny" has hit her too hard.

"It's all my fault, it was my advice that went wrong ......"

Li Shiqing lowered her eyes and whispered her apologies.

"It's not your fault, at least with the help of the older man and the masked man we did manage to subdue the older woman quite easily, except that no one expected the driver to open the door at all. And if the driver was an accomplice, we didn't really stand much of a chance, even if we had the older woman under control, as long as he didn't get out of the car, it would have been too easy for him to cause a crash."

Thinking that the driver and the older woman were probably in cahoots, Boy was in a state of sorrow.

"Hey, the driver's uncle is also an accomplice, which makes it so much more difficult for us to solve this matter ......"

They didn't know how to drive, and there were countless ways to get everyone killed along the way if the driver had the intention to "self-destruct".

Not to mention that the bomb was not only detonated by "pulling the restrictor valve".

"And that bomb, as far as is known, has been detonated in two ways."

In the last time loop, they had the older woman and the pressure cooker firmly under control, but the pressure cooker still blew up.

Although he didn't have time to check his phone, Boy was 80% sure that the bomb's timing device must have been set at 13:45.

"So that phone ringing is, indeed, a timing device ......"

Manual detonation + timed detonation, as far as can be determined, are already two.

If the timing device is a mobile phone, in case the driver can also detonate by making a phone call, it could be three ......

It's a desperate situation, no matter how you think about it.

"Uncle has been driving on this line for a few years now, why would he do that?"

Li Shiqing is still dwelling on the last time loop and keeps talking to herself, unable to come out of it at all.

"What is the relationship between the uncle and the aunt? Why did you make this bombing? Why is it 13:45 every time? Why was it set to explode at 13:45 ......"

"Let's calm down for a while and then set up a proper plan."

Boy is a little concerned about Li Shiqing's mental state and reaches out to feel her forehead, but Li Shiqing's arm is grasped away.

"Don't keep thinking about that, the driver's uncle is all the way since he's the older woman's accomplice."

"You don't understand anything!"

Li Shiqing suddenly became excited and her voice suddenly rose an octave.

Li Shiqing regained control of her emotions only when the other passengers' attention was drawn to her sudden shout, but her expression was still one of stubbornness.

"You've never been in contact with Uncle Driver, you wouldn't understand that he's not even the same person as the older woman!"

Although she lowered her voice, she still couldn't hide the excitement in her tone, "When that older woman killed me, I couldn't feel her feelings at all, she was like a heartless killing machine, but Uncle was different ......"

Li Shiqing floats the glance of the uncle.

"I'm afraid I can feel it, the uncle is in pain and he must be desperate for someone to help him!"

She grabbed her companion's hand and pleaded, "He might have had something on his mind to do that! What if it was his family that was being coerced? What if he had some leverage over someone else and had to comply? If we can find the reason for this and remove his doubts, maybe he will give up this terrible plan and choose to help us?"

"But he didn't even open the door ......"

"But he let me off, he let us off!"

Li Shiqing's tears came to her eyes.

"If Uncle Driver wants to take a busload of people to their deaths, then why do we get off successfully?!"

Even if there was a pervert in the car, he was going to choose to die with everyone, so what reason was there to let them off in the middle of the ride?

Xiao Heyun froze for a moment.

Until then, he had never pondered this question.

"You're right ......"

Boy sighed softly and wiped the tears from Li Shiqing's face with his thumb.

"In that case, let's get out of the car."

"Huh?"

Li Shiqing looked at him blankly as he listened to the familiar sound of the station announcement in his ears.

"Don't you want to find out the truth?"

Boy took Li Shiqing's hand and led her all the way to the back door.

The vehicle pulls up to the East River Road stop sign and slowly opens its doors.

"Then let's get off!"

The author has something to say: Some readers have reported that this choice is "unpleasant", so I will give you a "pleasant" version in the next chapter, you can read either one.