Chapter 28 Part 2

Creak. The doors were closing.

Wenren Tu didn’t release the silver chain. Dragging it, she sprinted madly towards Car No. 15. She was well aware that Zhu Ming’s body was probably still numb from the electricity and couldn’t run fast.

Zhu Ming lay on the floor, hugging her head as she was dragged through a thunderous, jarring series of collisions. “Can’t you be more gentle?!”

Wenren Tu didn’t turn her head. “I’m afraid if I’m gentle, you’ll get caught in the door crack!”

At the critical moment, Zhu Ming was dragged sliding into Car No. 15. Miss Legs, her figure blurring with speed, retrieved the long blade that had fallen.

Zhu Ming turned her head to look at Bell-bottoms on the other side of the door. Bell-bottoms was lying on the floor, holding her stomach and trembling. She stared at Zhu Ming in silence. At the very instant the door closed completely, that ashen-white body curled up into a tight ball.

Expressionlessly, Zhu Ming raised her middle finger at the ghost. The middle finger was still trembling.

Huff— Finally dealt with.

Wenren Tu glanced back. The ghostly monsters that had been waiting in Car No. 15 uniformly retreated several steps.

A short while later, Zhu Ming recovered. The train moved into winter.

The temperature dropped sharply. Looking at the heavy snow swirling outside the window, Miss Legs hugged her stuffed backpack and shook out a down coat, handing it to Wenren Tu. “Big sis, put this on quick. It’s warm.”

But why were there only two down coats? Perhaps they didn’t have enough food tickets. Miss Legs offered the other one to Zhu Ming.

Zhu Ming waved her hand. “You wear it. I’m fine in the trench coat.” She genuinely didn’t feel too cold.

“But it is cold,” Miss Legs insisted worriedly. “And you were injured earlier.” She glanced at Zhu Ming’s ankle. The pant leg was still torn, but the wound on her ankle had completely vanished.

Maybe the wound also healed along with the accelerated metabolism. Miss Legs didn’t think too much about it.

The unexpected setback had left Wenren Tu feeling very frustrated. But after resting and regrouping, she and Zhu Ming started causing trouble again.

Miss Legs had thought that after the bell-bottoms incident, Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu would be more cautious. But she never imagined—these two showed absolutely no restraint at all!

She knew Zhu Ming was strong, and had noticed Wenren Tu was arrogant, but she never expected that together, the two would turn into a pair of absolute numbskulls.

“Robbery, robbery, robbery! Hand over your food tickets immediately! Hmm? You’re handing it over—you think I’d just take it? As if! …Ack! Which son of a bleep hit me?!”

Conductor: Tch! I’ll hit both of you!

These two made exasperating ghosts their life’s mission, selectively picking and choosing a few food tickets to collect. Not many, mainly because Wenren Tu had already swept through once, and the number of ghosts appearing at night was already quite high.

The ghosts who’d been bullied and survived, still present during the day, all stared at Wenren Tu with resentful eyes.

Miss Legs felt a headache coming on. What if another Bell-bottoms appeared among them?

While Zhu Ming was in the restroom, Wenren Tu laughed and patted Miss Legs on the shoulder. “What’s wrong? Worried something bad will happen?”

Miss Legs was a little embarrassed. She wasn’t the main combat force; she felt she didn’t have much standing to offer opinions on such matters. “What if you get hurt?”

Wenren Tu smiled, lowering her gaze. “But if we don’t do our best to weed out the dangerous characters in this carriage, what will happen to the people who enter this carriage later? You know better than anyone—not everyone is a combat-type Awakened.”

Miss Legs froze. She realized that Wenren Tu, unlike the playful, joking attitude she showed when Zhu Ming was around, had now reined in her outward emotions. She looked at the ghosts disguised in human skin with a cold glint in her eyes.

Could it be… that these two being so blatant was actually intentional? Right—Wenren Tu was an employee of the Anomaly Management Bureau. How could she forget that just because she seemed so arrogant?

Miss Legs was deeply moved. Because she, too, was one of those being protected!

Just as the emotion in her heart was about to peak, Wenren Tu muttered, “We’ve already taken out the strongest ones. Leaving a few ordinary ghosts for everyone shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Miss Legs choked. She said slowly, “If it were me, I’d actually mind quite a lot.”

……

Night fell. People vanished, ghosts appeared. Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu attacked from both sides, venting all the frustration they’d felt in Car No. 16.

They passed through several carriages in a row without encountering any particularly formidable foes, their progress relatively smooth. But they hadn’t come across any other living participants.

It wasn’t until they entered their second autumn that they arrived in Car No. 12. It was empty, not a single ghost inside, yet…

The three of them uniformly clamped their hands over their mouths and noses, staring in shock at a beefy, heavyset man. The man was pulling up his pants, his face bright red with embarrassment. “What are you looking at? Never seen a man taking a dump?!”

This was a person. A living person. A participant…

There were no ghosts in this carriage, only a participant… and pile after pile of Pixelated Messes.

This was probably a memory Zhu Ming would least want to recall for the rest of her life. The three of them reached a silent, unanimous agreement in this carriage with unparalleled tacit understanding: Silence. Leave fast!

No one wanted to fight here. No one wanted to eat here either.

Zhu Ming usurped a ghost’s seat and yanked the window open, sticking her head out to keep blowing in the wind. This autumn was exceptionally long.

Finally, it was time for nightfall. The train headed into the tunnel. Zhu Ming eagerly looked towards the door. Since there were no ghosts in Car No. 12 anyway, everyone had tacitly agreed not to collect any food tickets.

The fat man shouted, “Close the windows! Hurry!”

Zhu Ming instinctively shut hers. Wenren Tu was a step slower. In the next second, the darkness outside suddenly surged in through the yet-unsealed crack in the window. The darkness was thick and viscous like asphalt. Wenren Tu yanked the window shut with all her might. A severed strand of the black asphalt dripped onto her hand, sizzling as it corroded a patch of flesh.

“Hurts!” Wenren Tu gritted her teeth and instinctively generated electricity around her hand. The asphalt-like darkness gradually dissipated, but the process was agonizingly slow.

The most terrifying part wasn’t this unknown corrosive substance. It was that during the process, she’d involuntarily taken a deep breath… Wenren Tu’s face turned green. She nearly vomited right then and there.

The fat man who had shared the journey with them had long since forgotten his earlier shame. He snorted coldly. “Only the ones who survive are the strongest.”

None of the three dared to retort. They fled Car No. 12 at top speed. Zhu Ming desperately wished she could instantly lose this memory. As for the unknown fat man, none of them mentioned teaming up. It was obvious they weren’t on the same path; there was no point in mutual discomfort.

Miss Legs said, her expression haunted, “How… how could someone, just to not be hunted by ghosts, eat their stuff? Why… the restrooms also cost food tickets… bleurgh…”

Zhu Ming & Wenren Tu: “Bleurgh!“

They continued forward. After passing through several carriages, they finally managed to escape that suffocating stench.

The second round, Winter. Entered Car No. 11. There were bloodstains in the carriage, but no lingering ghosts.

The third round, Spring. Entered Car No. 10. Several lingering ghosts awaited them.

The third round, Summer. Entered Car No. 9. It was empty. Wenren Tu and Zhu Ming repeated their old tricks, provoking the ghosts there.

Then came the third round, Autumn. At the tail end of “night,” the three of them stepped into Car No. 8.

This carriage was a bit strange. It was packed full of seated ghosts. At a single glance, it seemed almost every ghost in the carriage had manifested.

However, everyone was quiet, their faces pale and haggard, their eyes listless and adrift. They showed absolutely no intent to attack. They were so polite, Zhu Ming and Wenren Tu didn’t even know if they should strike first.

Something’s off.

Wenren Tu walked at the very front, scanning both sides as she moved.

Who’s that?

Wenren Tu noticed a woman with waist-length black hair, wearing a white shirt dress with a khaki trench coat draped over her shoulders. Judging by both her appearance and her aura, this was a living, breathing person. She must also be a participant.

And somehow, she felt familiar, yet Wenren Tu was sure they’d never met. She found this a bit unscientific. Such a beautiful woman—if she’d seen her before, how could she possibly not remember?

The strangest part was that there was a participant in this carriage, yet the ghosts weren’t attacking. It couldn’t be that they were unable to harm her because of her beauty. Then there was only one answer: this person’s ability was immensely powerful, possibly on par with her own.

Wenren Tu rapidly came to this conclusion.

The woman in the white shirt was sitting by the window. The three seats beside her were empty, devoid of any ghosts. There was a teacup in front of her, a thin layer of light brown liquid settled at the bottom. A sniff of the air confirmed a faint, lingering aroma of milk tea.

Wenren Tu hooked her fingers behind her back, signaling Zhu Ming and Miss Legs to be on point. She then naturally sat down opposite the woman. Just as she was about to greet her, she noticed Zhu Ming’s expression, who had just walked up, suddenly become extremely weird for a split second.

Zhu Ming stared at the white-dressed beauty, rooted to the spot. Her soul had practically shot to the heavens. Is this real? No way, is it another illusion?! Illusion… the kiss… it wasn’t such a big deal anyway…

Wenren Tu felt a little embarrassed for her. Zhu Ming, ah, Zhu Ming, I know you’ve been single for many years, but you don’t need to be completely stunned at the sight of a pretty woman, do you?!

“Zhu Ming! Zhu Ming!” Wenren Tu called out twice.

The call finally snapped Zhu Ming back to reality. She jolted violently. Her first instinct was to turn and run—but the door was already closed. Zhu Ming slapped against it with a thud.

Wenren Tu was stunned. “Why are you running?!”

Zhu Ming then froze herself. “Yeah, why am I running?” It’s not like she knows what I was thinking!

At that point, Wenren Tu finally realized something was wrong. It wasn’t that Zhu Ming was love-struck at first sight. She knew this woman.

The train plunged into a flash of white light, rushing out of the darkness and into autumn. The window view was quickly overtaken by a brilliant gold, and the temperature suddenly dropped.

Yin Yu opened the window. The wind tousled her hair. She turned back to look at Zhu Ming and smiled. “We meet again, Mingming.”

Zhu Ming: “…”

Damn it. Why did she keep thinking about that illusion the moment she saw her? Zhu Ming felt like she was going to develop PTSD.