Chapter 27 Part 2

That big sister, the friend of the Management Bureau employee—could she be in trouble? No, please, let her be okay! But she’s been blocked inside with no movement…

In Miss Legs’s eyes, everything around her moved in slow motion. As she skirted past the plump girl’s table again, the plump girl suddenly lunged forward. Surprise flashed across Miss Legs’s face, but in the next second, she had already dashed three meters away.

The plump girl, her expression twisted, crushed several of the ghosts trailing behind Miss Legs under her immense weight.

In a broken, halting voice, she said, “Sis… you lied… to ghosts…”

Within the increasingly cramped booth, made all the more crowded by the girl’s massive, deformed body, the woman in black slowly withdrew her hand. Dark, crimson gore dripped down the blade in winding rivulets. She looked up and grinned at Miss Legs, completely unaware that the blood splattered across her face made her more terrifying than any ghost.

“A little late. Sorry about that.”

Miss Legs wouldn’t dream of blaming her. Sincerely, she said, “Not late, not late! As long as you’re okay!”

As long as Zhu Ming was fine, this “night” was secure!

……

Five minutes later, every front and rear carriage door simultaneously slid open.

Inside Car No. 16 lurked two ghosts, the ones Miss Legs hadn’t dealt with in the previous round. In Car No. 18 were four ghosts, their resentment towards Zhu Ming practically materializing into the heavens.

“Go forward.”

Zhu Ming shook the blood from her hands and stepped first into Car No. 16, Miss Legs right behind her.

The two menacing ghosts were delighted to see them enter. Ah, the prey that escaped last time has returned!

But before they could make a move, another person stepped in through the opposite door.

The two ghosts froze. Three people? Can we handle killing them all?

Fortunately, their decaying ghost brains didn’t need to ponder this for long. Because soon enough, the third arrival placed a hand on each of their shoulders. Her choppy, layered hair was dyed with blue-purple highlights, playful and fluffy. The person laughed. “Why so bedraggled, Zhu Ming?”

The words had barely left her mouth when Miss Legs watched in astonishment as a blinding flash of purple-white lightning arced out. The two ghosts began to convulse violently.

Heavenly Thunder Exorcism directly countered ghostly entities. Their faces contorted in agony as they shrieked, trying to attack the newcomer. But she was also sheathed in a layer of electricity, and the two ghostly monsters dared not even touch her.

Moments later, the ghosts disintegrated into black ash. The woman in the crop top dusted off her hands and stretched languidly. “Exhausting. Who’s this little sister?”

Miss Legs introduced herself.

Wenren Tu then smiled and shook her hand. “Hi, hi! My name is Wenren Tu. I’m Zhu Ming’s very good friend.”

……

There were three participants in Car No. 16 now: Zhu Ming, Wenren Tu, and Miss Legs.

The train rushed out of the tunnel, transitioning from summer into autumn. Outside the window, everything was a brilliant gold. The distant wheat fields, stretching as far as the eye could see, were refreshing to the soul. But as the seasons changed, the temperature inside the carriage also suddenly dropped.

The remains of the two ghosts who had just died had vanished without a trace. In the carriage, the recurring pattern of “three missing one” seats now had two fewer people.

Zhu Ming cleaned the grime off herself at the washbasin. Miss Legs looked curiously at Wenren Tu, wondering if she was Zhu Ming’s friend from the Anomaly Management Bureau.

“Why could you bring your knife in, but not my crowbar?” Zhu Ming was a bit annoyed.

“Probably because of the Spirit Attachment Technique. And it’s my Binding Object.” Wenren Tu patted the long blade hanging at her waist, Autumn-Severing. “You came at the perfect time. It wasn’t fun enough fighting alone; those little ghosts are too good at climbing.”

She patted her bulging pants pockets, filled with food tickets. When Wenren Tu first entered the dungeon, she had been in Car No. 14. After probing the side effects of the food tickets and getting a general idea, she moved to Car No. 15 and began harvesting tickets on a large scale. Considering her own limitations, she’d only managed to collect tickets from half the carriage.

But that didn’t mean she had slaughtered all the nightly ghosts.

“Sometimes, being too strong is also a sin,” Wenren Tu boasted. “I only insta-killed a few ghosts, and the rest started running away. Some hung from the ceiling, others shrunk and hid in the corners.”

Wenren Tu’s supernatural ability had a major flaw: it couldn’t be used at a distance. And since the carriages here couldn’t be damaged, she couldn’t apply her ability to seats or walls. Her physical skills were also fairly average. After chasing them for a while, she got tired and gave up.

But now, Zhu Ming was here.

Zhu Ming washed her face. “Actually, I was waiting for you too. There were too many watching eyes outside, not a good time to talk. But now that we’re in here, I think it’s time to tell you.”

“Huh? What’s so secretive?”

“My supernatural ability works again.” Zhu Ming instinctively lowered her voice.

Wenren Tu’s face immediately filled with delighted surprise. “Since when? Does your grandmother know?”

Zhu Ming shook her head. “It came back after the last dungeon. I don’t plan to tell them. They can find out on their own.”

In truth, seven years ago, shortly after Zhu Ming’s ability had awakened, it had been sealed. For a long time, she’d never truly been able to use her own power.

Miss Legs listened quietly from the side, confused by much of what the two were saying. Did Zhu Ming not have her ability before?

As she listened, Miss Legs suddenly jolted. “Achoo!”

Both Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu looked over.

Miss Legs rubbed her nose. Just as she was about to speak, she started sneezing nonstop.

Wenren Tu said, “Probably a cold from the rapid temperature change.”

Zhu Ming shrugged. “That’s likely. Judging by the rhythm and pattern, next up should be winter.”

Right then, the loudspeaker blared again:

“Greetings, esteemed passengers! Welcome aboard the Four Seasons Train No. 999! During your journey, please strictly observe the Civilized Train Etiquette Regulations. Failure to do so will result in our esteemed Conductor providing you with re-education in civility and proper conduct. The final Civilized Train Etiquette Regulation is now announced: Please keep your ride permit safe. It cannot be reissued if lost! Cannot be reissued if lost! Repeat, cannot be reissued if lost!”

The last four words were shouted so hard the voice cracked, as if the person behind the loudspeaker desperately wanted to grab each passenger by the ear and repeat it.

Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other’s thoughts.

Miss Legs pinched her nose, feeling weak all over from sneezing. She didn’t know if the cart sold medicine, or how expensive it would be. She sat down to rest. Aside from the sneezing, the high-speed hunger was accompanied by an itching, swollen throat and dizziness.

Damn it. Even illness progresses at an accelerated rate here. In this state, I’m completely useless.

Thankfully, Zhu Ming and that woman named Wenren Tu were both powerful. If she pushed herself a little, they probably wouldn’t abandon her. Miss Legs consoled herself with this thought. She watched Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu find seats and sit down to rest, not flaunting their power as openly as in the previous carriage.

Could it be they’re concerned about me, the sick one? Miss Legs felt a pang of guilt, and was deeply moved by the reliability of Anomaly Management Bureau employees.

Halfway through the autumn leg of the journey, the Border Collie Shopkeeper arrived again with the cart.

Wenren Tu quickly spent all the food tickets in her pockets. Besides essential food and water, she also bought fever medicine (for Miss Legs), three thin jackets, two down coats (in preparation for winter), and a backpack.

Indeed, though the cart wasn’t large, the items in that cabinet were surprisingly complete.

The current temperature was around ten-odd degrees. Zhu Ming felt it was just right, not really cold. But she didn’t refuse Wenren Tu’s kindness and put on the long black trench coat.

Miss Legs took the medicine, put on a jacket, and was dozing off drowsily when Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu suddenly stood up.

One announced a robbery; the other unzipped the backpack.

Miss Legs was instantly jolted awake. Wait, wait, wait, why a robbery all of a sudden?! Robbing who?!

Who else, of course, but the surviving ghosts in Car No. 16.

Even the carriage full of ghosts was stunned by this operation, not just Miss Legs. They’d seen people courting death, but never so brazenly.

“Trading food tickets has to be voluntary,” a ghost pointed out the key issue. “I won’t trade, hehe. You must have some scheme!”

For these two to be so unbridled, they were either idiots or had real skills. Seeing as they’d survived two “nights,” it was certainly the latter. This ghost figured: missing this chance was a pity, but there were other people on this train. With enough patience, he’d eventually meet his fated one.

But Zhu Ming said, “No, we will trade with you. As for what we trade, that’s up to us.”

The ghost glared at her coldly, silent, trying to intimidate this unreasonable woman with his stare.

Zhu Ming smiled slightly. “Don’t look at me like that. Actually, you can’t refuse, can you? In spring—that is, the first daytime—a ghost told me that to get someone else’s food tickets, you have to trade something in return. I didn’t think much of it then, but who knew… the Civilized Train Etiquette says, exchanges must follow the principle of voluntariness.”

Why emphasize this point specifically? It was something easily discovered. Ghosts actually couldn’t force anyone to trade; was this really worth singling out?

It wasn’t until just now, when Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu decided to rob the ghosts of Car No. 16, that she finally realized the crux of the issue.

If a player was too strong, and the ghosts decided not to trade food tickets with them, the player would simply starve to death. The ghosts could then claim a ride permit for free, without doing anything. That would be terribly unbalanced. If the rules worked that way, as long as the ghosts reached an internal consensus, every player would die.

So in fact, this rule restricted the player’s side of the trade, demanding their consent. But ghosts could not refuse a player’s demand to trade food tickets!