The Last Bus/In the Mist | Campfire Stories with MrBallen

**MrBallen** (0:00)
Hey guys, welcome back to the official Mr Ballen Campfire. Tonight, I have two awesome stories to tell you.
They are both of the strange variety.
In both stories, we're going to talk about a tragedy, but it is not the tragedy that is the reason we remember these things. We remember these events or we still talk about these events, because in both stories there are elements that just nobody can fully explain. There are truly unexplained phenomena that are fascinating, that are terrifying, and I know you're going to love it. So if that's of interest to you, please sneak into the Follow Buttons house and replace all of their shoelaces with 20-foot-long shoelaces.
Also please subscribe to our channel and turn on all notifications so you don't miss any of our weekly uploads. Okay, let's get into tonight's stories.
The story of Southern New Hampshire University started in 1932 above a small storefront. Almost a century later, SNHU offers over 200 degree programs online. There are no set class times, so learning fits around your schedule. And courses are career-focused to help strengthen your skills. But the best part of the story? SNHU's online tuition rates are some of the lowest in the entire country. This could be your next chapter. Visit snhu.edu/mrballentoday.
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Just before 10 a.m. on November 14th, 1995, a 19-year-old man named Zhang ran down a dark street toward a bus stop on the outskirts of Beijing, which is the capital city of China. Zhang, who worked at a fast food restaurant, had gotten off work late, and so now he had to catch this bus because it was the last one out of the area, and if he missed it, he'd be stranded. So this area where Zhang worked was actually a pretty historic district in Beijing. It was home to several old palaces and shrines that were built at the foot of this mountain called Baiwang Mountain. And so this area was sort of like a popular tourist area. And so during the day, it was very busy. There was lots of cabs coming in and out of the area.
But at night, it was basically deserted and no cabs came through here. So again, the bus really was his only shot of getting out here unless he wanted to walk on foot. And that was just not practical. And so Zhang continued running along until he turned the corner. And up ahead, he saw the bus stop and he didn't see the bus. It was just basically a deserted street. But standing near the bus stop was this old woman. And it appeared like she was waiting for the bus, which suggested to Zhang that he had not missed the final bus, because clearly she was waiting for it too, unless she also missed it perhaps. But it just seemed like she hadn't. And so Zhang, who by this point is like kind of out of breath, he stopped running and he walked the last distance up to the bus stop where this woman was. And as he approached her, she kind of turned and looked at him like, who are you? You know, it's late at night. She's all alone. You know, it's just kind of weird. But she looked at him and he kind of just smiled at her to signal like, I'm no threat. You know, I'm just here for the bus too. And then before the two could even talk, Zhang heard the sound of a bus approaching. And he turned and here comes bus 375 Came to a stop, the old woman climbed on, and Zhang followed up right after her. A moment later, Zhang was inside the bus. The doors had closed behind him. The driver had taken off from the curb. Zhang had paid the ticket seller who was separate from the driver, sitting in sort of the front right seat. And the woman who had been in front of him, she also had paid, she had sat down in the row right next to the ticket seller, right behind the driver. And Zhang, even though the whole bus was empty, nobody else is on here except for these three people, he just sat down right behind the old woman. So he takes his seat, they're driving down the road, and it's late at night, he's tired, he's had a long shift. And so for a little while, Zhang just looked out the window and watched all the Imperial Gardens and the shrines and all the various landmarks that drew people to the area. This was again sort of a touristy area. He's just watching it all pass by. You know, it's late, it's dark, he can't see much out there.