Translator: CinderTL
Finally, they arrived.
After the train pulled into the station, passengers began boarding. Jiang Cheng and his group gathered together and chose a middle-of-the-train car.
The interior of the car looked quite old, with wooden tables and chairs that were stained and mottled. The dim lighting only allowed them to make out the general details.
Looking out the window, the platform appeared blurry, as if distorted by some unseen force.
"Doctor," Fatty whispered, pressing close to Jiang Cheng, "should we find seats?"
Most of the passengers in the car were sitting on the wooden chairs. Only a few stood with blank expressions, their eyes vacant as if their souls had been lost.
Compared to them, their group standing together did seem rather conspicuous.
"More than just these people boarded," Jiang Cheng said.
Fatty froze, then suddenly seemed to realize something. His expression changed as he glanced at the other passengers in the car.
While waiting in line, their car had held at least a hundred people. But now, after boarding, there were fewer than thirty passengers besides them.
Many seats remained empty.
Where had the rest of the passengers gone?
Swallowing hard, Fatty entertained a daring thought: those empty seats were occupied by "people," but they were invisible to him.
Moreover, Fatty noticed something peculiar through observation: everyone seated was dressed in rags.
Men and women alike, they were gaunt, their eyes vacant, their complexions ghastly, as if they hadn't eaten a proper meal in ages.
In stark contrast, the standing passengers seemed much freer. Among them was a man who looked like a schoolteacher and a still-elegant noblewoman.
A young man with his back to them carried a mountaineering backpack, a popular style from a few years back.
Overall, it felt as if these ragged individuals were the original passengers, while the others were merely hitching a ride.
That would explain why they hadn't been assigned seats.
A few minutes later, with a blast of the train's whistle, the train began to move slowly. Simultaneously, the lights in the carriage flickered.
"Hiss—" A collective gasp filled the air. Pi Ruan's eyelids twitched violently, his face as white as a ghost's, as if he had witnessed a terrifying scene.
Jiang Cheng slowly surveyed the train car. As the train began to move, everything changed.
The previously empty car suddenly filled to bursting. Not a single seat remained unoccupied; every chair was taken.
Even the central aisle was packed with standing passengers.
A thick, acrid smell of burnt flesh mixed with the stench of blood permeated the car, making Jiang Cheng nauseous.
These figures, who had appeared out of nowhere, hung their heads, their bodies charred black and covered in horrific wounds.
Missing limbs were commonplace, and one man was even missing half his torso, his exposed internal organs still writhing.
A man standing nearby was missing half an arm. Blood gushed from the severed limb, pooling on the floor and rising above his shoes.
In an instant, the peaceful train car had transformed into a scene from hell.
Suddenly, Huai Yi felt a hand poke him twice. He instinctively turned around to see a charred, hunched figure standing behind him, no more than 1.4 meters tall.
The figure's posture resembled that of an elderly woman.
The old woman seemed to want to pass through the central aisle, but Huai Yi happened to be blocking her path.
He immediately stepped back half a step to clear the way.
The old woman made no comment. She took a step forward, limping slightly. Only then did Huai Yi notice that she was missing half of her foot.
But the next second, whether intentionally or not, the old woman's body lurched as if she had lost her balance. Her right leg, missing half its foot, landed squarely on Huai Yi's shoe. Then, slowly, she fell to the ground in front of him.
At the same time, her two arms immediately wrapped around Huai Yi's leg.
Realizing what had happened, all the blood drained from Huai Yi's face. What was this? Another attempt at extortion? He had just gone through this recently—was it happening again?
But this old woman was different from the last. Huai Yi was completely helpless. As she clung to his leg, she struggled violently, the commotion quickly drawing the attention of other passengers.
People were already turning their stiff necks to look at them.
"What the hell are you doing?" Fatty, who had no idea what was going on, widened his eyes in shock. "Why did you trip her? You trying to get yourself killed?"
"It wasn't me! I didn't do it!" Huai Yi's face was etched with the words "I'm innocent!" "She tripped herself! It has nothing to do with me!"
"Quick, help her up!" Jiang Cheng immediately ordered.
He could sense the atmosphere shifting. The passengers around them seemed to be slowly waking up, their eyes no longer vacant but now filled with a mixture of pain and resentment.
Huai Yi immediately knelt down, his face mournful as he pleaded with the old woman, "Old man, please don't do this. It's not worth it to frame me. I already gave away my sea-view villa, and I still have a mortgage to pay. Please let me go and find someone else, okay?"
Surprisingly, Huai Yi's words seemed to have an effect. The old woman, who had been struggling violently, actually calmed down.
Huai Yi's heart leaped with joy. It seemed this Ghost was a kind soul who wouldn't swindle the poor.
Just as he reached out to grab the old woman's arm and help her up, an unexpected scene unfolded.
Crack!
He actually tore off the old woman's arm!
Not only that, but the old woman's remaining half-body crashed back to the ground, this time her head completely detached. It rolled away with a sickening thud, her bloodshot eyes locking directly onto Huai Yi's face.
"Holy shit!" Huai Yi exclaimed instinctively.
Not far away, figures were already rising to their feet. Even more terrifying, footsteps echoed from nearby carriages, as if someone was approaching.
If a fight broke out, it wouldn't just be Huai Yi who died. Jiang Cheng sensed a cold, piercing gaze fixed on him.
Jiang Cheng stepped forward, knelt down, and picked up the old woman's head. Then, with lightning speed, he moved to the window where a pane of glass had shattered, leaving a gaping hole.
Holding the old woman's head, he said, "I'll give you two options. Either you keep showing off, and I'll toss your head out the window, or you take your head and get the hell out of here right now." His voice was low, but the threat was unmistakable.
Meeting the bloodshot eyes, Jiang Cheng's gaze was cold and unwavering.
After a moment, the body that had been writhing on the ground suddenly stood upright, stiff and unnatural. It slowly shuffled toward Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng kept his word and returned the head.
Seeing this, Huai Yi immediately rushed forward and, as if tossing a hot potato, dumped the severed arm into the old woman's arms.
Thud, thud
The old woman, clutching her head and half an arm, limped toward the next carriage.
With the crisis averted, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The previously chaotic carriage gradually calmed down once more.
(End of the Chapter)
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