Chapter 35

“I remember you. Mingming cares about you a great deal.”

Yin Yu’s warmth made Miss Legs feel a bit overwhelmed by the favor. It was just that her way of phrasing things was strange, leaving Miss Legs unsure how to take it. “Not really, I guess.”

Yin Yu said, “Of course she does. You’ve only known each other for a short time, yet Mingming has been carrying you everywhere, afraid you might get even a little hurt.”

Sorrow welled up from Miss Legs’s heart. She cried, “That’s because I’m too weak, wuwu.”

Yin Yu said, “Everyone has their strengths. Why sell yourself short?”

Miss Legs hung her head. “But I haven’t been able to help much at all.”

Yin Yu then said, “How could that be? You’re about to play a very important role. It’s just that Mingming values you so much, I’m afraid she won’t be willing to let you take the risk.”

Pretending to doze nearby, Zhu Ming had finally had enough. She didn’t want to engage with Yin Yu, but she wasn’t deaf. “Yin Yu, can you speak like a normal human being?”

Yin Yu smiled. “Alright. I want this little friend here to make another trip down to run an errand. Blondie notified me that the cockpit door is open but there’s no way to stop the train. Everyone’s planning to jump off. However, like Mingming, I’m not ready to just let it end like that.”

Zhu Ming didn’t refute her. They hadn’t communicated much about clearing the dungeon since entering, but Zhu Ming never underestimated Yin Yu. She likely had some overlooked discovery.

In the last dungeon, Yin Yu had rendered the initial scheme of the ghosts useless with just a few words, forcing them to hastily construct a flawed new scenario. During her later analysis, Zhu Ming realized the key had been the hint on the Invitation Letter. Yin Yu had merely seen the line “This world has 9 participants in total” and immediately realized the dungeon would play tricks with player counts. Given her sharpness and decisiveness, any clue she provided would carry weight.

Yin Yu said, “Everyone has been too focused on the train itself up to now. The ghosts inside, the carriages, the cockpit… But for the train to keep running and functioning, the train itself is not enough alone.”

Zhu Ming opened her eyes, a spark of an idea forming. “You mean, the tracks?”

Yin Yu nodded. “Precisely. Beyond the train itself, there are other things related to its operation. Besides the tracks, there’s one more thing: the guard booths at the left and right of every tunnel entrance and exit. There are four per tunnel. Normally, that shouldn’t be necessary. I want to know what’s inside them. Have your little friend—and her, she’s called Tu Wei—go investigate the booths on both sides. They don’t need to run that far back, but the inspection might take time.”

Tu Wei, the tall, silent woman wearing a mask, was the fourth living person in Carriage No. 60. Once Miss Legs’s emotions stabilized, she noticed that although it was currently “daytime,” Carriage No. 60 had no ghosts whatsoever besides the four participants.

Hearing Yin Yu’s request, Miss Legs thought it over and agreed. “I just need some time. Once my ankle heals, I can go.”

Yin Yu smiled and moved aside. “Tu Wei knows massage and bone-setting. Let her rub it for you.”

Once Yin Yu left, the masked woman named Tu Wei walked over and crouched down, gripping Miss Legs’s calf to examine it. Miss Legs felt a bit embarrassed, her whole body stiff as she watched Tu Wei remove her shoe and sock to massage the area. She had to admit, Tu Wei’s technique was excellent. After a short while, she felt much better.

They bought some medicine when the little pushcart came by. After a “day and night” passed, thanks to the accelerated metabolic healing of the train, Miss Legs recovered completely.

On this train, injuries always healed quickly. But thinking about the reason behind it made one wish it weren’t so fast.

To leave enough time for Miss Legs and Tu Wei to check the guard booths, they moved to a carriage near the front. When the next autumn arrived and the train exited the tunnel, they would have Miss Legs and Tu Wei disembark to check the booths at the exit. The train itself was very long, and it took time for it to fully leave the tunnel, buying them some extra time for the investigation.

Unlike Miss Legs, who needed assistance getting on and off, Tu Wei was much more independent. She remained utterly silent, like a mute. Though her movement speed wasn’t as fast as Miss Legs’s, she wasn’t a hindrance.

The guard booths were surprisingly simple inside. Like the cockpit, you could take in everything at a single glance. There was no need to waste time rummaging or inspecting. Thus, Miss Legs and Tu Wei quickly returned to the train.

“There was a small control console inside with a lever that could only be pulled left. A diagram of a track switch was drawn on the lever: forward was a solid line, left was a dashed line,” Miss Legs described. “There was nothing else.”

Tu Wei, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. “The right guard booth was identical to what she said, except the lever and the dashed line for the track switch pointed to the right.”

Zhu Ming rapped the tabletop. “So these guard booths are actually for switching tracks! We can’t stop the train, but we can use a track switch to make it run another route!”

Sister Jia suddenly stood up. “The route map in the cockpit is circular. Maybe we should study it more carefully.”

The group returned to the now-empty cockpit. On the monitor, Zhu Ming saw Yin Yu in Carriage No. 60, her back to the camera, staring idly out the window at the scenery.

Sister Jia tapped the route map. The pattern formed by the four colored segments suddenly shifted slightly. Two diagonal dashed lines suddenly connected the junctions where the colored segments met—the tunnels. Sister Jia said, “We discovered this after Zhu Ming left, but we haven’t figured out what it means. Now, considering the control consoles in the guard booths, I believe these are the hidden alternate routes inside the tunnels. If we coordinate the track switches correctly, we can make the train run along the diagonals, thus reversing the train’s direction!”

A train moving forward couldn’t stop and would drain the passengers’ lifespan. What if it moved backward?

Miss Legs, her spirit refreshed, asked, “Does that mean we can get back the lifespan we’ve lost?”

Zhu Ming silently calculated and said, “Yes, if our conjectures are correct.”

Wenren Tu said, “Correct or not, we can just ask our dear Train Master.”

With a new theory and a new goal, they were far from afraid to try; they’d only been afraid of having no leads at all.

Wenren Tu nudged the Train Master, who was still playing dead. “So, this train can switch tracks, can’t it?”

The Train Master opened his eyes and said sourly, “Why would you think I’d help you? Since you’ve found it out yourselves, go ahead and try. Nyeh.”

Zhu Ming sat on the other side, resting her hand on the back of the chair as she sized him up. “Already losing heart?”

The Train Master didn’t rise to her provocation. “Until you succeed, everything is meaningless. Have you considered why the tracks can switch both left and right? Have you thought about what happens if you switch to the wrong track?”

Zhu Ming said, “That’s why we’re asking you.”

The Train Master made a demand. “Let me down, and I’ll tell you the consequences of switching to the wrong track.”

The ropes were cut. The Train Master crashed to the floor with a thud. He got up with a sneer. “The consequence is simple: being swallowed by eternal darkness, that’s all. Try it. See if you dare to take the risk. As for which side to switch, what combination is correct—don’t expect me to tell you that. Never seen a player who can’t think for themselves and only pesters the GM.”

Zhu Ming raised an eyebrow. “You see yourself as the GM? Then I have another question. What happens if we switch to the right track?”

The Train Master settled back into his swivel chair, grinning. “I told you, I won’t tell you. This game—you need to clear it yourselves.”

Wenren Tu couldn’t stand the sight of him like this. Her hands itched. She stood up, ready to tie him up again.

Zhu Ming laid a hand on her shoulder, licking the tip of her canine. “No rush. I’m really looking forward to his reaction when we do switch to the right track.”

…

Knowing they could switch tracks didn’t mean they could instantly make the train reverse. They very likely had only one chance to try.

Sister Jia bought paper and pen from the shopkeeper. She drew out the route map, extending the hidden diagonal tunnel tracks. “If we switch to the wrong track, we’ll likely travel in eternal darkness, never to emerge. There’s no shopkeeper at night; we’d starve to death. And that’s just one possibility. Perhaps something even worse will happen.”

Zhu Ming, who had climbed to the roof several times to survey the surroundings, offered confirmation. “The tunnels are hidden inside the mountains. Looking left or right, it seems to extend infinitely. But our vision is limited. We can’t be certain how long the mountain range truly is. It’s possible that driving along a horizontal tunnel means eventually crashing right into the mountain.”

Then the train would be destroyed and everyone dead, swallowed by the darkness.

Sister Jia pointed to the diagonal dashed line in the center. “But there is indeed a correct switching route here. The mountain range might actually form an X-shape that we simply can’t see completely. The train enters from one end, crosses diagonally, and exits from the other. It’s possible.”

After mentally calculating the possibilities, Zhu Ming laid out the plan: “The current operational sequence is spring, summer, autumn, winter. Let’s label the guard booths within the same season as Spring-1, Spring-2, Summer-1, Summer-2, and so on… The tunnel lies between Spring-2 and Summer-1, and so forth. We won’t distinguish left and right for now.

If we cross on the spring-autumn diagonal, we need to switch the track at Summer-2 after the train leaves the tunnel. Then switch the track at Winter-2 before the train enters the tunnel. The train will cross the diagonal tunnel, exiting from Summer-2, and travel in reverse through summer and spring. At this point, the track for the spring-winter tunnel will be misaligned. We need to switch the track back at Winter-2, and the Summer-2 track also needs to be switched back. Only then can the misaligned tracks reconnect into a circle, achieving a reversal of the train’s direction to winter-autumn-summer-spring.”

Sister Jia said, “This is simple. As long as the people who go down to switch the tracks stay in place, calculating the right time to switch them back. Given the train’s speed is constant and the day/night duration of each season is fixed, the distance traveled within each season is consistent. This is a symmetrical, regular operational route. We can calculate the time needed to traverse the diagonal. Once the train is in reverse, we pick up the track-switching personnel, and everyone reverses course together.”

Zhu Ming said, “Once that happens, I want to try out that Acceleration Button.”

Sister Jia said, “I hope you won’t be too reckless. Also, I want to be the first to go down and switch the tracks. If the track switch is a lie and the train crashes in the diagonal tunnel, then I will have dodged a disaster. Don’t take offense, but my life is quite precious.”

Zhu Ming said, “No problem. The first person switching the tracks waits for the train to leave before switching. Speed doesn’t matter much. The second time, however, the switch must happen before the train enters the tunnel. That requires someone fast to switch it beforehand. Let Miss Legs do that. That way, A-Tu and I stay on the train to prevent the Train Master from causing trouble. No objections?”

Wenren Tu/Miss Legs: “…” They hadn’t even had a chance to interject. They were just neatly arranged so decisively.

“Wait!” Wenren Tu recalled a crucial point. “Enough with Summer-1 and Summer-2. This track can switch both left and right. So which side do we choose?”

Zhu Ming spread her hands. “Although the arrow on the route map runs clockwise, that doesn’t mean the real-world route follows the map’s orientation. Just like on a normal map, north is up, south down, left is west, right is east. But if you’re facing west, you can’t think forward is north. So… I don’t know either, hahaha.”

Wenren Tu: “…”

Wenren Tu pushed open the window to get some air. “Zhu Ming, go up top and look at the tracks. Since we’re going in a circle, the tracks should have a curve. We can switch to the inner track based on the curve’s direction.”

Zhu Ming shook her head. “I thought of that too. But I can’t tell. Looking into the distance, the tracks always appear as a straight line at the vanishing point. I really can’t discern a curve. Even when I’m on the roof, the train body also looks straight.”

The route map was clearly a circle, yet in reality, they traveled in a straight line.

Sister Jia suddenly sketched a new figure on the paper. “The train’s speed isn’t actually that fast. This means with our line of sight, a track curve should be visible. Even without the route map, since we’ve been going in circles, the actual route is a loop. If we travel in a straight line during the day, there’s only one possibility: the turns are inside the tunnels. This train’s actual operational route isn’t a perfect circle. It’s a rounded square!”

Wenren Tu let out a “Whoa,” saying, “So that means we can only judge at night whether the track curves left or right. But when the doors are open, all carriages are in a single straight line.”

And when the doors were closed, passengers couldn’t go outside to look. The outside was that dreadful, corrosive darkness. It would swallow everyone.

Sister Jia gripped her pen, frowning. “This is the hardest part. Actually, I’ve observed that the doors open on the eighth minute. By then, the train should have completely passed the curve, which is why it’s a straight line. We could try observing between the fourth and fifth minute. That window is most likely to be right at the curve.”

At nightfall, they tried using flashlights to look outside but found that the darkness swallowed not only the flashlight beams, but also the light spilling from other carriages. This darkness was substantive, pressing against the car as a solid layer. It was utterly impossible to view other carriages through it.

The Train Master sat there hugging his dog, watching the show. The mocking smile on his face was obvious and piercing.

“Is the train just too long? Are ordinary flashlights not bright enough?” Miss Legs asked.

Wenren Tu crouched by the window, frowning. “That shouldn’t be the case. Do you expect some high-tech electronic laser light from a little pushcart? Tch, even if there were, I doubt it’d help. This pitch-black stuff burned a hole in my hand. Who’d dare stick their hand outside to turn on a light? And without sticking your hand out, it’s inconvenient to point the light backward from inside the car.”

Regular flashlights couldn’t do a thing against the darkness outside. And the human body was even more fragile, directly corroded and swallowed upon contact.

Suddenly, Zhu Ming stood up, slapping Wenren Tu on the back of her hand. “I’ve got it!”

Wenren Tu pulled her hand back, rubbing it in shock. “What do you know this time?”

Zhu Ming raised an eyebrow, grinning. “You just reminded me. We do have something that can counter the darkness outside. Remember? Your hand was burned by the dark before. It was only when you used the light inside the car that the dark substance was eliminated.”

Wenren Tu understood at once. “Got it. But we can’t exactly pry the light bulbs from the ceiling. And based on past experience opening windows, doing so only makes the darkness flow inward. The interior light isn’t enough to eliminate the darkness outside.”

The window glass was like a Barrier, preventing direct contact between the darkness and the light. If only they could find a way to make the train’s own light shine outward.

Zhu Ming said, “We can. This train has forward-facing lights.”