Yang Zicang (杨子藏) woke up to find himself inside an unfamiliar bus.
杨子藏醒来时，发现自己在陌生的巴士内。
“I… I’m not dead?”
“我，没死？”
In the dim light outside the window, a yellow taxi drove past this bus that was stopped in the middle of the road.
车窗外的昏暗光线下，一辆黄色出租车从这辆停在路中间的巴士旁开过。
In the instant it passed by, Yang Zicang (杨子藏) saw, in the passenger seat of that taxi, a gaunt young man with a face as sharp and cold as if carved by knife and axe.
它路过的瞬间，杨子藏见到那辆出租车的副驾位上，是位脸颊如刀削斧琢般冷峻的消瘦男生。
He was wearing a dark-patterned blue shirt, a black sports bag slung diagonally across his body, a peaked cap on his head, and a blue earring on his ear.
他穿着暗纹蓝色衬衫，斜挎着黑色运动包，头戴着顶鸭舌帽，耳朵上是枚蓝色耳钉。
Yang Zicang’s pupils suddenly contracted.
杨子藏的瞳孔骤然一缩。
That was actually himself!
那居然是自己！
In disbelief, he watched as that car — carrying the other self and his younger brother fooling around in the back seat — drove into an unfamiliar residential complex nearby.
不敢置信地看着那个车载着另一个自己和在后排座上玩闹的弟弟，开进旁边的陌生小区。
He pressed both hands against the window, pressing his face against it to get a clearer look at that person.
他双手拍住车窗，将脸贴了上去想要看清那人。
“Hey!”
“喂！”
He shouted loudly, but the outside world could not hear the sound inside the car at all.
他大声喊道，但外界根本听不见车内的声音。
It was another version of himself?!
是另一个自己？！
Just as this thought occurred, countless fragmented memories came flooding in — explosions, flying flesh and blood, heads tossed high into the air, and monsters flying like metal winged humans…
刚想至此，无数支离破碎的记忆涌来！爆炸、纷飞的血肉，高高抛起的头颅，以及金属翼人般飞行的怪物…
His mind wavered for a few moments. Yang Zicang shook his head and turned to look at this stopped bus. The men and women inside were all deeply asleep. A strange atmosphere enveloped the place.
精神恍惚了几下的杨子藏，甩甩头转头看了眼这个停下来的巴士，车上的男女全部陷入沉睡，怪异气氛笼罩此地。
It seemed like someone’s heartbeat was sounding.
似有谁的心跳声在响起。
“What the hell is going on? No… I have to get out.”
“这到底是怎么回事？不行…我得离开。”
He stood up and walked to the bus door. The people inside the bus also slowly opened their eyes. “What just happened?” a few murmured voices said.
他起身走到车门口，大巴车内的人也慢悠悠的睁眼，“刚刚发生了什么事？”一些呢喃的声音说道。
The door handle had become slippery. It had grown a membranous film. Yang Zicang couldn’t pull open this tightly shut bus door no matter what…
门把手变得滑腻，它长出了肉膜，杨子藏双手根本拉不开这扇紧闭的车门…
He turned his head to look at the driver’s seat. There, thick with smoke, strange网状 (wǎng zhuàng) patterns as thick as a thumb were everywhere. Floating above the seat was a faint, flickering small pale white ring of light. Inside it seemed to be numbers that couldn’t be clearly seen. It was about to disappear, fading away.
他转头看去司机的位置。那里烟雾弥漫，拇指粗的怪异网状密布，座椅上悬浮着一个缓慢闪烁的淡白色小光环，里面好似有无法看清的数字，它即将消失地隐去。
The air grew somewhat viscous and suffocating. As the crowd’s voices gradually grew louder, Yang Zicang (杨子藏) looked left and right anxiously. His heart fluttered with the feeling that something was about to be born inside the bus.
空气变得有些粘稠与窒息，杨子藏在众人逐渐大声中左右张望，他心慌地感觉仿佛有什么东西即将在车内诞生。
The gloomy atmosphere made Yang Zicang’s hair stand on end.
阴晦气氛让杨子藏逐渐寒毛倒竖。
“Where… is this?” several voices inside the bus sounded.
“这里…是哪儿？”车内几道声音响起。
Just as these words were spoken, the bus’s onboard TV screen — which had lost power — lit up. Amidst a flickering, unstable signal, a voice emerged with background noise:
刚说着，忽地停电的车内车载电视屏幕亮起光芒，信号不稳的画面闪动中，带着背噪的一道声音出现道：
“Found a new one. Oh, ladies and gentlemen, this bus is already in the prelude state of birthing a Nightmare (恶魇). You’d better get out within three minutes.”
——“找到新的了。噢，诸位，这辆车已经处于育魇前奏的状态，你们最好在三分钟内出来。”
“This door won’t open at all!” Yang Zicang (杨子藏) said anxiously to the TV. He didn’t know whether whoever was there could see this place.
“这道门根本打不开！”杨子藏对着电视焦急道，他不知道对方能不能看见这里。
“I’ll do it.” A man stood up ，He’s bald on top with hair on the sides， (地中海发型dì zhōng hǎi) and walked over, Three others also gathered around. All were middle-aged men in their forties or fifties, with strong hands. Yang Zicang (杨子藏) stepped back to make way for these people.
“我来。”一个地中海发型的男人站起身走来，另外也有三人围了过来，他们都是四五十岁的中年人，手上力气很足，杨子藏往后退去为这些人让出路来。
At the same time, someone on the bus took a nail hammer to pry open the window glass, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t break it.
同时，车上有人拿钉锤翘起窗户玻璃，却无论如何用力，都无法敲碎它们。
“Ladies and gentlemen, the state of this bus has changed. From a certain perspective, it’s already a special life-form about to be born, and you are the nourishment for its birth.”
“诸位，这辆车的状态已经不一样了，从某种角度来说，它已经算是一个即将诞生的特殊生命，而你们就是诞生它的养料。”
The crowd looked at the onboard TV screen either in confusion or with furrowed brows.
众人都或茫然或皱眉地看着那车载电视屏幕。
“Hey, who are you? Are you kidnappers?” A fat man stood up and said. He walked toward the driver’s seat, wanting to start the bus, but the place was eerily gloomy. Before he could even get close, his whole body trembled, and he dared not go any further.
“喂，你是谁啊，你们是绑匪吗？”一个胖子站起身说道，他往驾驶位的方向走去，想要将车启动，但是那里阴气森然，他还未靠近就浑身发抖，不敢再往前。
“About two minutes and thirty seconds left. If you can’t manage to get out, you’ll become its meal.”
“大约还有两分三十秒，如果你们无法成功离开这里，就会成为它的口粮。”
The figure on the TV was very blurry. The image flickered left and right constantly. Yang Zicang (杨子藏) couldn’t make out his appearance at all.
电视里的人影很模糊，画面不断左右闪动，杨子藏根本看不清他的模样。
“Excuse me, how do we leave?” a girl in her twenties at the back seat asked weakly.
“请问，该怎么离开？”后排车座上一个二十来岁的女孩柔弱地道。
“If you’re willing to make a deal, then I’ll tell you how to get out.”
“如果你们愿意达成一项交易，那么我就告诉你们离开的方法。”
The bus immediately erupted in commotion.
车内顿时骚动起来。
“So you are kidnappers after all. Hey, who has a phone? Call the police.”
“果然是绑匪，喂，谁有手机，报下警。”
Some people were slapping the windows and shouting loudly, but the passersby outside didn’t seem to see this bus at all. No one paid any attention to them.
一些人拍着窗户大声叫喊起来，可是外界路过的人似乎都看不见这辆车一样，根本无人注意这里。
Yang Zicang clearly remembered that he had already died once. He said to the TV, “What do you want?”
杨子藏可是清晰的记得自己已经死过一次了，他对着电视道：“你想要什么？”
The dark figure on the TV laughed coldly:
那电视内的黑影冷声笑道：
“The deal is: within seven days, pay me fifty years of Time Sequence (时序). As long as you agree, the deal is made. How about it?”
“交易就是，在七日内，支付我50年的时序，只要同意就是交易达成，如何？”
“Fifty years of Time Sequence (时序)? What’s that? A product?”
“50年时序？那是什么，商品吗？”
“A product? Heh heh, you could say that. After all, it’s startup capital that everyone possesses. Make your decision quickly. Less than two minutes remain.”
“商品？哼哼，算是吧，毕竟那也是你们人人拥有的启动资金，快做决定吧，只有不到两分钟了。”
Those pulling hard on the door couldn’t open it no matter what. The atmosphere inside the bus grew increasingly gloomy.
使劲拉门的人无论如何也无法将车门打开，巴士内的气氛越来越阴沉。
The flickering light ball on the driver’s seat completely disappeared.
司机座位上闪烁的光球彻底消失。
The bus seemed to shudder slightly. A stronger sense of stifling panic lingered in everyone’s hearts. Black crystalline membranes like spiderwebs grew on the ceiling, as if a terrifying demon was about to be born.
车辆像是震动了下，更强烈的慌闷情绪萦绕众人心间。顶棚上长出黑色蛛网般的晶膜，似乎有恐怖的魔物即将诞生。
“Fifty years… Could it be that you have to use your lifespan to open it?” Yang Zicang said incredulously.
“50年…难道，要用寿命才能打开？”杨子藏不可思议的道。
The people around glanced at Yang Zicang (杨子藏) as if he were crazy, then anxiously looked back at the door.
周围人如看神经病般扫了杨子藏一眼，随后又焦急的望向门口。
Upon hearing these words, the figure on the TV paused for a moment. A dry laugh came from his throat.
听闻此话，电视里的人影顿了下，他的喉咙里发出干燥的笑声。
“I didn’t expect you to figure it out yourself.”
“没想到你居然自己猜到。”
“What!”
“什么！”
“Heh, since that’s the case, I’ll be straightforward. Next, this bus will devour your lives.
“呵，既然这样，我就直说好了。接下来这辆车会吞噬你们的生命。
“Its doors and windows are no longer doors and windows in the physical sense. Your attacks are futile. To open them, you either use time to ripen them, or use an amount of time exceeding what they contain to smash them open. Moreover, for every additional person who dies, the difficulty of opening them will increase even more.”
“它的门与窗，都已经不是物理意义上的门窗了，你们的攻击只是徒劳。想要将其打开，要么用时间将它催熟，要么用超越它蕴含时间的长短来将它砸破。而且每多死一人。你们要打开的难度都会增加更多。”
Everyone stared at the flickering TV screen in shock. Their minds had not yet absorbed this information.
众人震惊的看着颤动的电视画面，大脑还没有接受这个信息。
“I’ll do it!” The Bald-on-top Man pushed through the crowd, his face full of anger, and grasped the door handle with both hands.
“我来！”那地中海男人推开众人，满脸怒容地双手握住门把手。
“Director Huang (黄主任), do you really believe this?”
“黄主任，你，你真的相信这话吗？”
“We won’t know until we try.”
“试试不就知道了。”
“But what if it’s true?”
“可万一是真的。”
“Heh. If it’s true, then it’s true.” This Director Huang (黄主任), his face full of ferocity, growled in a low voice: “No matter how many years of my life you want to eat, just open for me!”
“呵，真的就真的。”这黄主任满脸狠劲，低声咆哮道：“不管你要吃掉我多少寿命，给老子开啊！”
Clatter!
哗啦！
With a heavy thud, the bus door burst open instantly.
砰地声沉响，巴士大门瞬间被打开。
Several ladies in their seats covered their mouths. The middle-aged man who knew Director Huang supported himself against the bus seat with trembling hands.
座位上几位女士霎时捂住了嘴。与黄主任相识的那中年人双手颤抖地扶住了汽车的椅子。
The skin on Director Huang’s body visibly grew loose and dark. The remaining ring of hair around his head gradually turned white and grey. Age spots appeared on his face.
这黄主任身上的皮肤肉眼可见的变得松弛暗沉起来，他仅剩的一圈头发逐渐花白，脸上浮现出老人斑。
He had aged. It was actually true!
他变老了，这居然是真的！
Director Huang blinked, then vigorously wiped his eyes.
黄主任眨巴了下眼睛，又使劲用手擦拭了下。
“So this is what presbyopia feels like… I just used up… over thirty years…”
“这，就是老花眼的感觉吗…我刚刚，居然用掉了，三十多年…”
Gasps of cold air filled the bus.
车内一片倒吸凉气的声音。
“Very well. You’re saved.” The person on the TV chuckled darkly:
“很好，你们得救了。”电视机里那人沉笑了下：
“Since I’ve already played the good Samaritan, I might as well see it through. Next, here’s some information about this monster… We call it a Nightmare (恶魇).
“既然已经当了好人，那我还是好人做到底好了，接下来，是关于这怪物的信息…我们称它为恶魇。
“If you can kill this monster, not only its lifespan, but also the lifespans of everyone who died inside it, will be transferred to the one who defeats it. Mm… enjoy your death.”
“要是你们能击毙这怪物，不光怪物的寿命，乃至它里面所有死去的人的寿命，都会转移到击败它的人身上。唔，好好享受死亡吧。”
The screen flickered, then went dark.
屏幕画面闪烁了下，随后消失。
Everyone around grew flustered.
周围人都慌张地起来。
Director Huang stood at the doorway, looking at the people inside the bus with his dim, aged eyes, then stepped down.
黄主任在门口用昏花的老眼看了车里的人一眼，随后迈步下车。
“Old Huang (老黄), this really was all thanks to you. I never thought you were such a noble person.”
“老黄，这次可真是多亏你啊，没想到你是这么高尚的一个人。”
“Hehe, don’t mention it. After all… everyone dies eventually.”
“呵呵，不用客气，反正…人总是要死的。”
The moment his foot touched the ground, his body, still holding onto the bus door, stiffened in place. Several people behind him who were ready to get off wanted to urge him on, but ultimately held back.
他一步落地后，扶着车门的身子紧绷地立在那儿，背后几名准备下车的人虽然有心想催促下他，但最终还是忍住了。
After all, this man before them was a hero who had just saved everyone.
毕竟眼前这个可是刚救了大家的英雄。
“I…” Director Huang (黄主任) turned his head to look inside and smiled: “Sorry, everyone.”
“我…”黄主任转头看向里面，笑了下道：“不好意思，各位。”
Before anyone could process what he meant, he pulled the bus door with both hands. With a clang, he yanked it shut and held the door handle tightly from outside! The people inside frantically pounded on the windows, but Director Huang (黄主任) outside simply buried his head, closing his eyes, afraid to look inside.
在众人还没反应过来这话的意思时，他双手猛然拉住车厢门，哐当声将门拉紧，在车外死死拽住了门把手！里面的众人疯狂拍打着玻璃窗，但外面的黄主任只是将头埋住，闭眼不敢看里面。
“With my thirty years, it should take less than two minutes now, right, child…”
“有我的三十年，应该会不到两分钟了吧，孩子…”
Just moments ago, after Huang Xu (黄旭) had used thirty years to ripen the door, he had received a faint, indistinct feedback — the monster about to be born actually seemed to regard him as its father!
就在刚刚，黄旭用三十年催熟了这扇门后，心中得到了若有若无的一丝反馈，这即将诞生的怪物居然像是将自己当成了父亲！
His whole body grew hot and restless. After a struggle in his heart, he finally made up his mind… Since I’m going to die anyway, I might as well gamble!
他浑身燥热起来，心中纠结一番后，终于下定决心…反正要死了啊，就赌一把吧！
“I’m sorry, everyone. If I can gain more lifespan, I’ll be a good person from now on. I’ll find ways to kill more of these things and offer sacrifices in your memory…”
“对不住了啊，大家，要是我能获得更多寿命的话，我以后一定当个好人，想办法多击杀些这种东西，祭奠你们…”
“If I fail… we’ll go to hell together!”
“要是失败…就一起下地狱好了！”
His face twisted as he held the door shut.
他面容扭曲地拽住这门。
The door was being battered out of shape from inside. Two or three times it almost got pulled open, but each time he held it down with all his might.
车门被里面的人打得变形，两三次都差点被拉开，又被自己死死按住。
Inside, three more people had already aged. They cursed loudly and kicked the door — the same door that would cost anyone inside over thirty years of lifespan to break if it were closed!
里面已经又有三人变得苍老了起来，他们破口大骂，拿脚踢着这扇只要关上就会消耗众人三十年以上寿命才能砸坏的车门！
Everyone was both frantic and furious: “I could still feel that I could ripen it just now, but now I can’t anymore.”
众人又急又怒：“我刚才还能感觉自己可以催熟它，现在已经不行了。”
Yang Zicang (杨子藏) was jostled by the people around him and could barely keep his footing. Also pushed aside by the crowd was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen.
杨子藏被周围的人挤得有些无法立足，同样被人群掀到一边的还有个十七八岁的少女。
“Big brother, are we going to die?”
“大哥哥，我们会死吗？”
Mu Xiaoyu (沐小雨) helplessly held back tears, clutching Yang Zicang (杨子藏)’s arm with both hands, instinctively relying on the first person who had realized that lifespan could be used.
沐小雨无助的噙着眼泪，双手拽着杨子藏的手臂，下意识将这个第一位发现寿命可以被使用的人当成了依靠。
“Die? No. No!”
“死？不，不会！”
Yang Zicang (杨子藏) steadied himself against the window, gritted his teeth, and reached out to take the escape hammer off the wall. He raised the hammer high and roared in his heart: I’m already dead anyway. No matter how many years, just break for me!
杨子藏扶住车窗立稳后，咬牙伸手取下车壁上的破窗锤，他将这锤子高高举起，心中吼道：反正我都死了，不论多少年，给我破啊！
He swung the hammer down with a fierce wind, stabbing it into the glass window that had already begun to show filament-like fungal lines.
手上抡起劲风狠狠扎在已经出现丝网菌线般的玻璃窗上。
“Crack!”
“喀嚓！”
A crack appeared in the glass.
玻璃窗出现道裂纹。
In that instant when the hammer struck, Yang Zicang (杨子藏) felt the vitality inside his body being drawn out along his arm, clashing against the invisible energy emerging from the glass.
这一锤砸下的瞬间，杨子藏感觉自己身体内的精气顺着手臂被抽出，与这玻璃上涌现的无形能量进行了一次对抗。
In the girl’s eyes, Yang Zicang (杨子藏) matured visibly in the blink of an eye.
在女孩眼中，杨子藏转眼间成熟许多。
“Open~”
“开啊~”
The young man swung the escape hammer again, bringing it down once more!
青年再次抡动破窗锤，又一锤砸下！
His skin rapidly aged.
他的皮肤迅速衰老。
Bam! The window shattered like aged tree resin that had been rotting for years. He punched through it with one fist.
砰！窗户瞬间如陈旧多年的树胶般碎裂，他一拳将之打破。
Total lifespan consumed by two strikes… forty-five years!
两锤共计消耗寿命…四十五年！
这本小说让我的写作能力提升了点。现在我决定继续让它再发挥些余热。
P.S. I’ve already learned about 25 kana characters from the Japanese fifty-sounds chart.
Also… one Swahili word that’s already starting to look a bit familiar.