"Bento boxes! Two meat dishes and one vegetable for 25 yuan! Instant noodles are 10 yuan a pack. Hot water is available in Car 6!"
"This high-speed train is in motion. Please do not smoke!"
"Yangcheng specialty sweet cakes! Just 15 yuan each. Would any passengers like one?"
As noon approached, a train attendant pushed a food cart back and forth, hawking lunch to the passengers.
High-speed train bento boxes—everyone knew what those were like. Very few people were willing to pay for them, and most brought their own instant noodles to eat in Dining Car 6.
Car 5, where Xu Fang was sitting, quickly emptied out.
Xu Fang put down his phone and reached into his bag for some bread to tide him over.
Across from him, an old woman sat with her legs crossed, constantly spitting out sunflower seed shells and making the metal tray on the table clatter.
Beside her was a little brat, seven or eight years old—the age when kids were hated by people and dogs alike. His face still had the clear, innocent look of someone untouched by discipline.
Ever since he'd boarded, the little brat had been eyeing Xu Fang's golden hair. But Xu Fang didn't look particularly friendly, so the kid hadn't dared touch it.
Now, as Xu Fang lowered his head to look for his bread, the kid finally couldn't resist. He reached out to tug at it.
"Smack!"
A mage's Spiritual Power far surpassed that of an ordinary person. Before the brat could touch him, Xu Fang had already slapped the kid's hand with a sharp crack.
"Waaah—!" The brat burst into tears.
"What are you doing?!" The old woman snapped, pointing at Xu Fang and scolding him. "What's the harm in letting a child tug on it? Young people shouldn't be so petty!"
Xu Fang raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"Don't worry about who I am! I just can't stand the way you young people—"
"So you're a stranger, then?" Xu Fang suddenly raised his voice. "Then why is this child with you? Where are his parents? I see—you kidnapped him!"
"Bullshit!" The old woman shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Guys, you won't believe this. Today, an old bat got mad and started cursing me out." Xu Fang took out his phone and started recording. "Now I have even more reason to doubt who you are. Train attendant! Where's the train attendant?"
"You're crazy!"
The old woman got up, taking the brat by the hand. "Come on, Dage. We're not sitting here. We're not staying next to bad people!"
The teary-eyed brat was only too happy to go. Xu Fang's slap had landed hard, and his hand was still red.
The train attendant finally arrived.
"Sir, what happened?"
"Nothing. I'll have one Yangcheng sweet cake." Xu Fang calmly sent her on her way. The passengers who'd witnessed the whole thing stared at him in astonishment.
What a talent!
Who knew you could handle things like that?
With the brat gone, the carriage grew much quieter.
The midday sun was particularly fierce, and its glare made Xu Fang's phone screen hard to see. He simply leaned against the window and basked in the sunshine as he entered a state of meditation.
Within his Star Dust, the Golden Star Seeds had been trained into shape, no longer as rebellious as before. They raced along their prescribed orbits.
As the golden core and red Star Ring revolved, the magic energy within him gradually filled up.
Meditation was incredibly boring. All a mage could do was observe the Star Seeds in motion. Luckily, Xu Fang's Star Seeds moved quickly. Watching his magic energy grow at such a rapid pace gave him the thrill of playing a management game.
Time ticked by, second by second.
A series of screams shattered the quiet of the carriage.
"Help! Help me!"
"Monsters! There are monsters!"
A group of passengers screamed as they charged over from the dining car, racing through Car 5 and desperately fleeing into the cars ahead. People kept tripping and falling, only to be trampled underfoot by those behind them!
The passengers who'd been dozing in their seats stared blankly, not knowing what had gotten into the crowd.
They looked in the direction the passengers had come from. The next moment, terror was etched across their faces!
"H-help..."
Their teeth chattered, and their legs felt as though all their strength had been drained away. They could barely stand.
Countless dark shapes lurched out of the dining car. Even from far away, the stench of blood was overpowering. Black chunks of flesh dangled from their skeletal bodies.
Most horrifying of all, they were gnawing on red flesh, leaving drops of blood along the way. Given the screams from earlier, it wasn't hard to guess where the flesh had come from.
Even the most terrifying zombie movie couldn't compare to the scene before them—not by a fraction.
"Black Rot Corpses?"
Xu Fang recognized the creatures immediately. The first page of A Pot of Old Wine's guide read: Black Rot Corpses, Servant level, a type of undead creature. Weaker than One-Eyed Demonic Wolves, about as strong as Giant-Eyed Stinky Rats, and extremely afraid of light.
But the high-speed train route was clearly protected by the Safety Zone. How had so many wild Black Rot Corpses gotten aboard?
There was no time to think. Star Track appeared around Xu Fang. He would deal with the immediate threat first!
"Everyone, close your eyes!"
"Radiance!"
A milky-white orb blazed with searing light, appearing suddenly in the cramped carriage.
The light was so intense that the paint on the walls seemed ready to melt from its heat. Everyone in the carriage instinctively closed their eyes, but they could still feel the stinging burn of the glare.
Radiance burst open right in front of the Black Rot Corpses. Its brilliance stabbed into their bodies like countless blades.
The parts of the Black Rot Corpses touched by the light quickly vaporized, and the effect spread throughout their bodies.
The Black Rot Corpses opened their mouths as if groaning in agony, but they had no vocal cords. Only the black, rotting flesh in their throats bobbed up and down until their entire bodies were purified by Radiance.
Just like when he'd killed the Giant-Eyed Stinky Rats, the Black Rot Corpses' magic energy turned into black mist and was absorbed as the golden light assimilated it.
Xu Fang's quick intervention had finally stabilized the situation.
The people who had fallen to the floor were helped to their feet, then staggered toward the cars behind them.
Xu Fang looked toward the dining car. He could sense intense fluctuations of magic energy there.
At the same time, inside the dining car.
"Lu Wanqing, you actually betrayed the Judgment Society and joined forces with the Black Vatican! Have you forgotten your oath beneath the Oath Tree?"
A Judgment Society officer in a polo shirt shouted furiously.
"What era are we living in? And you still believe in something as unreliable as the Oath Tree? Liu Guifang, should I call you stupid, or just brainless?"
Lu Wanqing sneered.
A short man stood beside him. A huge mask covered most of his face, and the exposed flesh looked as though it had been corroded by some kind of strong acid, bubbling into repulsive folds.
The man was also holding a battered headless corpse. Judging by its size, it had belonged to a child of seven or eight.
"After being pinned down by your Giant Shadow Nails the whole way, I finally get a chance to eat my fill."
Liu Guifang's eyes blazed with fury!
He was a trainee officer of the Bell Tower Judgment Society, ordered to capture Tu Chao, a Black Vatican member who had killed countless people, and take him back to the Ancient Capital to stand trial.
Tu Chao specialized in the Undead Element and had the Water Element as his secondary discipline. Both had reached Intermediate Level.
In a one-on-one fight, Liu Guifang, who specialized in the Shadow Element, wasn't afraid of him. But Tu Chao's attacks covered too wide an area, and Liu Guifang had been tied up trying to avoid harming ordinary people.
Fortunately, the Lingyin Judgment Society had sent a Light Mage, whose magic specifically countered Tu Chao's Undead Element. That was how the villain had finally been brought to justice.
However, just moments ago, a little brat had barged into the dining car and reached out to yank off Tu Chao's mask.
Liu Guifang had tried to warn the kid, but the brat wouldn't stop. Then an old woman had jumped in and started yelling too. Liu Guifang had been distracted for only a split second, but Tu Chao suddenly sprang into action, crushed the child's head, and summoned Black Rot Corpses with undead magic.
Meanwhile, his colleague Lu Wanqing had immediately cast Intermediate Level Light Ward—then turned around and dispelled Liu Guifang's Giant Shadow Nails as if they were nothing!
Before you continue