A Dangerous Journey

The bare ridges of the fields passed by. If it were autumn, one would surely see endless wheat fields undulating in the wind, but now it is winter, and only a few squares of dry hay that have not yet been harvested can be seen in the field of vision.

Buildings began to appear again in the once boundless wilderness, seemingly indicating that the tram had once again entered human-controlled land. However, Feng Xue was not pleased. She simply reached for her pocket watch, glanced at it, and frowned, saying:

"According to the train timetable, it should take three hours to reach the next station, Baijiakou, and it's only 8:30 now..." Feng Xue secretly became more alert, and sure enough, the train's public address system started broadcasting:

"Dear passengers, this train is about to pass through Qinglin County Railway Station. There are no scheduled stops for this leg of the journey. Please do not approach the doors to avoid any danger..."

"Tsk tsk." Feng Xue curled her lip. Generally speaking, if it's a station without a planned stop, there shouldn't be any notification, right? Is this another rule?

Feeling the train beneath her feet slowly slow down, Feng Xue casually scrolled through her phone. Judging from the network environment, the timeline of this world should be similar to around 2010 in the present world (not the actual year 2010, but the level of technology and supporting network are equivalent to that). Various web pages lacked mobile content, making them a bit difficult to read.

However, once you overcome the discomfort of browsing web pages on a mobile phone, you can quickly get into the swing of things.

"Without the legend of the K7 Train, it doesn't quite fit the basic principles of Weird Tale!"

After repeatedly changing keywords but only receiving general feedback about the train, Feng Xue frowned. According to common sense, the existence of Weird Tale depends on cognition; the more people who know about them and the deeper their understanding, the more powerful the Weird Tale becomes.

However, there is no legend of the K7 Train in this world. This means that either the power of this train does not come from the world where the network that the mobile phone can log into exists, or this world itself is part of the Weird Tale associated with the K7 Train.

"Thump!"

Just as Feng Xue was pondering, a voice suddenly came from beside him, startling Feng Xue. He turned his head and saw a beautiful young woman standing outside the car window, a faint smile on her face, saying:

"Sir, would you like Dim Sum? We also have cigarettes, sunflower seeds, cola..."

As the young woman rattled off her goods like a menu, Feng Xue felt a chill run down her spine. In that instant, the habitable environment created by the Hometown Tree was rapidly shrinking. The area that originally covered the entire carriage had now shrunk to a sphere with a radius of about two meters.

And it's still shrinking!

Feng Xue unconsciously moved closer to the table, a realization dawning on her—this "girl" had the ability to kill him.

It's not the kind of thing where you just take Open Mouth, Close Eyes; it's the kind where you break through the lock-on-health barrier and kill twenty-seven people in one strike.

"No need, thank you." Feng Xue politely declined without even opening the car window. Although he appeared unchanged, his hair stood on end beneath the twenty-six layers of armor and Saint Seiya Training Suit.

Seeing that Feng Xue refused, the girl did not linger and immediately walked towards the next window. Only then did the intense sense of crisis ease slightly, and Feng Xue finally breathed a sigh of relief. She no longer had the mind to go online and was only worried that someone in the room ahead might open the window and let her in.

The habitable environment of the Hometown Tree began to spread again, and the biting sense of crisis subsided once more. Although there was no actual confrontation, Feng Xue deeply understood the level of danger of this dungeon journey.

Moreover, unlike the Backrooms in Kukulkan, although he could sense the location of the door, being on a train that was moving far ahead of him, even if he wanted to give up, it would be difficult to return through the door.

"It seems that this train Weird Tale does indeed possess some kind of death-instantaneous rule. Fortunately, my intuition can still detect this sense of danger. I don't know if this dangerous ability is an isolated case or a common occurrence."

The protective barrier of the Hometown Tree was restored, and the piercing sense of crisis subsided once again. The scenery outside the car window began to recede again. Compared to the gradual progress an hour and a half ago, this time the change in scenery was abrupt, with almost no transition. The scene in front of me once again transformed into a wintery rural landscape.

For the next hour and a half, nothing else went wrong. Occasionally, scantily clad young women would drift by outside the window, then disappear, covering their faces, under Feng Xue's intense gaze.

Just as Feng Xue's tense nerves, which had been a bit jolted by the salesgirl, were beginning to relax, the car radio started playing again—

"Dear passengers, this train is about to arrive at Baijiakou Station. Passengers who are scheduled to disembark, please take your belongings with you. Passengers in the restrooms, please leave as soon as possible, as the restroom doors will be locked after entering the station. New passengers will be boarding soon. Please abide by the boarding regulations. If any disputes arise, please immediately notify the train attendant for assistance. This stop is expected to last fifteen minutes. Please do not leave the train unless absolutely necessary. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Dear passengers..."

As the announcement sounded, the scenery rushing past the train window gradually slowed down. However, unlike when we entered the station earlier, there were no obvious buildings. Compared to that abandoned station, this place called Baijiakou Station seemed even more desolate.

Although the station in the distance looks quite luxurious, the surrounding buildings are very sparse. Not only the buildings, but the amount of vegetation is also beginning to decline significantly, giving the impression that we are about to enter the Gobi Desert.

Feng Xue, who had read the Travel Guidebook, was not surprised by this situation; she was just on high alert, in case something new and big appeared.

To his surprise, nothing new happened during the fifteen-minute stop. There were no little girls selling snacks, and no particularly aggressive window-peeping ghosts. If he had to name one, he only heard a few piercing screams coming from the direction of the toilet, but they didn't last long. After the Train Police in the blue uniform passed by the door, it soon quieted down again.

The train started moving again, and the scenery outside the window had transformed into a vast Gobi Desert. Scattered clumps of withered weeds were interspersed among the gravel and sand, making it look extremely desolate, yet it also possessed an indescribable sense of vastness, making one want to sing out loud.

It must be said that the scenery along this route is indeed beautiful, but the obstacle course design is truly frustrating.

Every time Feng Xue relaxed a little and began to appreciate the scenery, an announcement would always interrupt his mood.

"Urgent notice! Urgent notice! An emergency has occurred in carriage 13. If any passenger is a medical professional, please proceed to the multi-functional room in carriage 13 for assistance. This announcement expresses the patient's gratitude..."