EP.5·[Nights Are Forever Night]

Foreword:

We live in this world not by God's grace.

Nikita Sergei Khrushchev

[Part 1: The Pursuers]

In the airport terminal's restaurant, Xue Ming had dinner with this eccentric train conductor.

He remained vigilant, because the series of events was far too bizarre.

"Mr. Wood, I have many questions."

Xue Ming decided to get straight to the point.

Why do you look almost exactly like someone I know?

The conductor's credentials and the phone number he made to the train platform were genuine, but Wood Plark's face looked fake.

For example, when we are traveling, a colleague from the next office looks exactly like our uncle from our hometown.

Could such a coincidence really happen?

Wood Plark picked up his chopsticks, held the large bowl, and skillfully used them to pick up the soup dumplings, shaking off the excess water.

"You mean Adams Wehrmacht?"

Jiang Xueming: "Adams Vihari?"

Wood: "Yes, don't you remember?"

This was the first time Jiang Xueming had heard this name.

"No."

Wood continued, "That's Chen Fugui —an American from Texas, whose ID card and driver's license both list Adams Wehhar as his name. He came to China a long time ago to make a living."

Jiang Xueming: "Hmm"

Wood: "He looks exactly like me, doesn't he?"

"Besides your demeanor and temperament," Jiang Xueming described, "You exude an aura from head to toe."

"Smells of sulfur," Wood joked. "I use Dior sulfur soap."

"Heh," Xue Ming pursed his lips and quickly said, "No, Mr. Wood, what I mean is that your spiritual pressure and soul power have the smell of explosives. I often come into contact with these things and can smell the primers of firearms and mercury fulminate."

Wood inserted a coin into the vending machine, and a bottle of Coke fell out. He flicked his Thumb, pressed the detonator, and the alloy bottle cap of the Coke popped into the air. Finally, he handed the Coke to Xue Ming.

"Go on, drink when you're thirsty."

"Mr. Wood, are you and my Uncle Chen—" Jiang Xueming thought for a moment, then changed his words, "And this Adams Wehar, are you twin brothers?"

Xue Ming didn't know much about Boss Chen.

Back when I was struggling to survive in Hengyin, I saw a job posting at a paper craft shop. Boss Chen thought Xue Ming's face was good at attracting customers, so he sent him to work at Brother Ye Bei's shop.

He was a very kind and approachable uncle who called Ye Bei "Xiao Bei" and Xue Ming "Xiao Jiang". After hearing Xue Ming's family story, he immediately lent her two months' living expenses without asking when she would pay it back.

In Hengyin, lending money is practically equivalent to doing charity. Jiang Xueming felt incredibly lucky to have met someone like Uncle Chen.

Now, however, he encountered someone in the Abyssal Railway system who looked exactly like Uncle Chen, which made Xue Ming more cautious.

When Wood Plark heard this question—

He finished all the dumplings, seemingly after thinking for a long time.

They are not twin brothers.

Jiang Xueming then asked, "Then why do you two look so alike?"

When this matter is mentioned--

Xue Ming was extremely curious.

When he heard about [Tian Shu] from Brother Ye Bei, he only knew that it was a sister unit of the Abyssal Railway.

So he thought—perhaps Plark and Uncle Chen were brothers, and these brothers had Inspiration and spiritual pressure that were different from ordinary people, so one went to Tian Shu and the other went to the Nine Realms.

The one in Tian Shu became Brother Ye Bei's good partner.

In the Nine Realms, this one became the train conductor of Ming De.

Wood countered, "Is this important?"

Xue Ming could sense that the train conductor seemed reluctant to answer the question, but he was determined to press for an answer. He wouldn't back down until the other party showed signs of annoyance or resistance. After all, it concerned preparing gifts for visiting Uncle Chen's house during holidays, which was very important.

"Very important."

Wood didn't seem to mind much; he just found the little guy quite amusing.

"It's a very, very long story. It's completely different from what you imagine twin brothers to be, or cloning technology. If I were to tell the whole story of how Adams Wehall, also known as Chen Fugui, and I look exactly alike, we'd probably miss our flight."

"Wait a minute." Jiang Xueming finally realized something was wrong. "Commander Wood! You're on the same flight as me? You're going to Hong Kong?"

Wood: "I've decided to go with you."

Jiang Xueming: "Why?"

Wood: "You have the protective charm of Ming De on you, don't you?"

Jiang Xueming: "Yes. How did you know?"

Wood: "When I was in close contact with you, when you were fixing my belt and we were almost touching, I felt the BOSS's spiritual pressure—originating from Red Mountain Stone."

Jiang Xueming asked in surprise, "You did this on purpose?"

Wood crossed his arms and crossed his legs.

"No self-introduction is as direct and straightforward as a spiritual connection."

Jiang Xueming finally realized that the train conductor in front of him was definitely a shrewd person.

That calm and authoritative aura, braving the risk of being naked in the cold wind, allowed them to investigate Jiang Xueming's spirit and belongings thoroughly in just over ten minutes.

Jiang Xueming: "So."

"I will protect you, Jiang Xueming. If anything happens to the BOSS, I will lose my job." Wood stated bluntly, "If you die on this return journey, I will also carry the BOSS's life-saving charm back to the Nine Realms to face my fate."

Jiang Xueming's eyes widened.

"Am I in danger?"

"If I'm not mistaken," Wood Plark explained his conjecture, "The information from the Broken Log indicates that you just returned from Red Star Hill, from a VIP trial mission—the cultists of the Heaven's Ladder saw you. There are always some who slip through the net and pass your information on to others."

Jiang Xueming: "Am I being watched?"

Wood took out two plane tickets from his pocket and handed one to Jiang Xueming.

"If I can find you, it means others can find you too. During this harvest season, the people of the Madness Butterfly Sect are celebrating—at first, I only wanted to chat with you, but after I learned that you possess the Red Mountain Stone, I changed my mind."

After saying this, Mr. Wood took out his teaching certificate from the Galahad Magic Academy from his pocket.

"I am Balason's magic teacher, teaching people all over the world how to control their soul power. The path of soul growth doesn't end with the moment of breaking free from the cocoon—it's just the beginning. You're only one step away from this crucial juncture. It would be such a pity to die at this critical moment; the BOSS would be heartbroken for a very, very long time."

To be honest, Xue Ming was very unsure of herself.

This sales pitch sounds a lot like a traditional esoteric scam.

For example, a classic tactic used by charlatans is to say, "You are in danger of bloodshed, but I have a way to help you get through it."

If what Wood Plark said is true, and the Heaven's Ladder has already leaked the information of the Red Star Hill assault team members, then at this moment, Jiang Xueming, who is alone, is like a piece of tender fat meat, already being targeted by many predators.

Jiang Xueming: "Can you protect me?"

Wood: "No."

Upon hearing these words, Xue Ming felt inexplicably at ease.

If Wood Plark had actually sworn that "I'll keep you safe," Xue Ming would have definitely run away.

Jiang Xueming: "Can you save Red Mountain Stone?"

Wood: "I tried my best."

Jiang Xueming immediately pulled out his logbook, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

"Mr. Wood, our flight route."

Before he could finish speaking, Wood immediately interrupted.

"Starting from Reykjavik, Iceland, we'll cross the Arctic, stop for three hours at Peter Great Bay in Vladivostok, and then fly directly to Hong Kong."

Jiang Xueming looked up at the other passengers in the waiting area.

--Several dozen meters apart, there were only a handful of people in the hall.

"Sixteen Americans, three Mexicans." Wood tilted his head and glanced across the hall. "Three Japanese, two Bolivians, one Korean, and one Russian. Judging from how often they looked at the boarding information board, thirteen of them were traveling with us. They were very concerned about the departure time—ten men and three women. There was also a little girl, who looked only thirteen or fourteen. She was staring at the planes on the runway, and you could see the fuel lines in the reflection of her pupils."

Such keen observation skills— Xue Ming recorded all this information in his logbook as instructed by Mr. Wood.

Xue Ming reached out her hand. "Can I trust you?"

"Don't shake my hand." Mr. Wood did not respond to the handshake. "My hands are extremely dangerous. The activation of my Soul Power ability almost always relies on these palms. As for whether you can trust me—I believe everything between you and me is equal and fair; there is no question of trust."

"Is there no trust at all?"

Xue Ming's eyes were unfocused; he could hardly comprehend the train conductor's unspoken meaning.

Wood rubbed his chin, raising an eyebrow with his other hand. "In the eyes of the Madness Butterfly Cult, I am also a high-value target—if I die, three trains on the Abyssal Railway will have to stop running, and the closed, remote stations will become isolated towns in the dark world, where sunlight will hardly reach."

Jiang Xueming: "Where there is no sunlight, mold and viruses will grow."

"Yet! Yup! Yes!" Wood applauded Xue Ming's associative thinking, "Most horror movies are set in relatively isolated villages, places where it's dark and gloomy. It's difficult for the police and military to project force into these secluded villages. Without heavy firepower, people can only submit to the unilateral violence of cultists or ghosts. They are helpless and have no one to turn to—either die or join them."

Jiang Xueming closed the journal. "I understand, Mr. Wood, there really isn't any trust between you and me."

"So put away your naive ideas, Jiang Xueming," Wood Plark said. "I don't have David Victor's mind-reading abilities—I don't know you at all. Yet you want to talk to me about the expensive luxury of trust. The one who should be looking on incredulously is me."

Jiang Xueming stood up, preparing to board the plane. "So we don't need to complicate simple things."

Wood stood up and said to his plastic brother, "My priority is ensuring Red Mountain Stone's safety; your life comes next."

Jiang Xueming picked up her luggage and went to the security checkpoint.

"Mr. Wood, if we return to Hong Kong without any trouble on this trip, may I be your friend?"

Wood: "Why?"

Jiang Xueming: "Because I think you are very mature, efficient, and logical. I want to learn some skills from you."

Wood tossed his luggage into the security scanner. "No, that's not what I'm asking. What I'm asking is, why does everything have to be smooth sailing and without any trouble before you're willing to be friends with me?"

Jiang Xueming was suddenly rendered silent by the train conductor's words.

For a moment, he really couldn't figure out whether Wood was joking or pretending to be confused.

Their luggage simultaneously triggered alarms at the security checkpoint. It wasn't until the flight attendants came to check that Jiang Xueming and Wood reluctantly handed over their service pistols.

[Part ②: Purgatory Special Plane]

Jiang Xueming: "Then let me put it another way. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wood. Can we be friends?"

Wood packed his bags. "No."

Jiang Xueming: "Is it because I look dangerous? Many people say I'm as cold as ice."

Wood: "My wife is very bothered by this and tells me not to have affairs."

Jiang Xueming: "But I'm a man!"

Wood: "Just because you're a man."

Xue Ming fell silent again, this time for a longer period of time, not saying a word until boarding the plane.

The two returned to their economy class seats, finally free from the oppressive and irritating atmosphere.

Everything seemed perfectly normal; there weren't many passengers on the plane departing from Iceland, a situation where the pandemic in recent years had nearly crippled airlines around the world.

It was nearly midnight, and the plane had already begun taxiing on the runway.

The navigation lights flashing past the window and the flight attendants' gentle, sweet announcements made people drowsy.

At that moment, Xue Ming couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He thought to himself that perhaps Captain Wood's worries were unnecessary.

Wood started chatting, talking about things outside of work.

"Jiang Xueming, do you like watching movies?"

Not really interested.

"What about the TV series?"

I basically never look at them.

"My wife is a movie buff and a huge fan of TV series. We pass the time while we work on the train by watching these things."

"Um."

Do you watch "Tom and Jerry"?

"I've seen it."

"I really like this animation."

Is it because it's interesting?

"It's because its characters are clearly defined, making it understandable for almost all age groups. Which character do you like the most?"

"Jerry's older cousin."

"It has a name, it's called Marsol."

"I don't remember. I only know that this mouse is incredibly strong and can beat up a bunch of big cats. Does that matter?"

"Yes, names are important. I hope you'll abandon your given name immediately." Wood tilted his head and leaned closer to Jiang Xueming: "I'll call you Gunsmith, and you can call me Bomber. That'll be fine."

"It sounds like a cartoon character." Jiang Xueming wondered, "Does it have any profound meaning?"

Wood pouted, nodding in a teasing tone. "If I call out to you, it won't be so obvious that everyone on the plane knows you're [Jiang Xueming] and that a stranger is chasing you, asking where you are, like yelling at the top of their lungs—'Where did that Jiang Xueming go?' Our flight attendants and passengers won't immediately report your location to others based on your ticket information."

The moment the plane leaves the ground --

Xue Ming's expression changed drastically.

He felt the fuselage trembling unnaturally, accompanied by a strange spiritual pressure that carried the stench of spoiled swill.

At this moment, he finally realized that Wood Plark was not joking; the train conductor was not playing around, nor was he looking for fun during the harvest season holiday.

There were indeed members of the Madness Butterfly Sect on this plane.

Moreover, judging from the abnormal fluctuations in spiritual pressure, the soul power had already begun to take effect the moment the plane took off!

Who is the target of the attack? What is the method of attack? What will be the effect?

Xue Ming was completely unaware of all this.

The snoring coming from all around made me involuntarily drowsy.

Xue Ming immediately got up to find the source of the strange spiritual pressure, but Wood grabbed him and pulled him back to his seat.

"Don't wander off, gunsmith."

"I have to go check it out," Xue Ming said straightforwardly. "Mr. Wu the Bomber, I just felt..."

"Is Butch behind this?" Wood asked.

Xue Ming: "And what is Butch?"

Wood: "In Tom and Jerry, there's a trio of bad cats, and their leader is Butch, who bullies Tom's big black cat all day long."

Xue Ming: "I'm not sure, but something must have happened."

Wood: "And then?"

Xue Ming suddenly woke up with a start.

This isn't about fighting chaotic, mindless monsters or corrupt giants! Our opponents are living, breathing human beings!

The examples given by Train Conductor Wood are very vivid. What if there's more than one enemy? What if they're the well-prepared trio of bad cats?

This deliberately displayed Inspiration Pressure is like a fishing hook, trying to pull Xue Ming, this curious fish, out of the water.

"If you unbuckle your seatbelt and stand up immediately during the climb, the enemy on board will know who you are without the flight attendants even announcing your name, Gunsmith," Wood Plark tapped the armrest lightly. "Get ready. Once the plane breaks through the clouds, I'll go with you to find out the truth."

Jiang Xueming looked at the aluminum alloy armrests of the seat and understood what Mr. Wood meant.

He carefully activated his spirit, cutting and reshaping the metal armrest between the two of them into more than a hundred parts, constructing a primitive and ancient firearm—a Browning pistol. There were no flammable or explosive materials on the plane, so bullets couldn't be made, but this thing should be able to intimidate the enemy.

Because the enemy is in the same situation as them, they all have to go through security checks.

Before the plane lands, unless the enemy possesses the superpower to defy gravity, these guys will never easily destroy the aircraft in order to seize the Red Mountain Stone and escape safely.

"Your learning speed is astonishing, Gunsmith." Wood Plark clapped his hands lightly. "Now."

Before the words had even finished --

Jiang Xueming covered Captain Wood's mouth with one hand and looked out the observation window of the plane.

The fuselage crashed into the clouds, and in the thick fog, a furry, strange shape lay on the wing of the plane!

A flash of lightning streaked across the cumulonimbus clouds, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Xue Ming swallowed hard and said nervously, "The Bomber was just outside; it seemed to be observing us."

The plane broke through the clouds and entered level flight.

Wood pried Xue Ming's hand away and sighed.

"Ordinary people can't see spirits, but gunsmith, it sensed you when you made eye contact with it."

Xue Ming hadn't expected this at all, and his expression changed drastically.

Wood handed Xue Ming a coffee. "Relax, this is the standard procedure for duels between Soul Masters: find the approximate range of the target, lock onto the target, and finally kill the target. It hasn't locked onto you yet, and doesn't even know who you are—"

Next, he poured an excessive amount of sugar into the coffee cup, intending to use high-quality glucose to energize the young man.

"--You don't have Soul Power. Perhaps there are other people on the passenger plane who can see spirits. Perhaps there is more than one carnivore who came to hunt. Let's call the furry guy outside the plane Butch, because it is the boldest and most mischievous. It dared to call out Soul Power in the thunderstorm clouds, trying to find our true forms in this way."

As the flight attendants announced this, other passengers unbuckled their seatbelts and headed to the restrooms.

Wood wrote on the back of Xue Ming's hand with his finger, then fell completely silent as people moved about.

"Butch is eager to find us. He's an impatient fellow, like when he sees a snow-white female cat Tootles and immediately wags his tail and goes into heat—he's an easy enemy to deal with. The seat I arranged for you happens to be in the middle of economy class. Butch will arrive from there in order."

Wood pointed towards the first-class passenger aisle.

"From nose to tail, find a way to deal with everyone who makes eye contact with its soul power along the way. Don't let a single one escape. Just wait, Gunsmith. All you need to do is wait, and then, by impersonating Tootles's alluring and seductive appearance, Butch will reveal his true form."

Jiang Xueming's palms were sweating; he was never a passive person.

"Are we just going to wait like this?"

Wood stood up, stepped over Xue Ming's knees, and walked out.

I need to use the restroom.

"Bomberman"

Xue Ming wanted to say something more, but the train conductor's casual and natural attitude didn't seem like he was lying.

"Everyone has to go to the bathroom sometimes. Even if you're going to fight someone, you have to take care of your bladder, right?" Wood said as they walked. "Be careful on your own."

After saying this, Wood disappeared across from the flight attendants' quarters and went into the restroom.

Xue Ming remained calm, but dared not make any suspicious moves. He didn't glance to the side, only using his peripheral vision to observe the surrounding passengers. That stench-filled Inspiration Pressure lingered and lingered, like a rotting ghost crawling into the ventilation system.

While waiting, he reached into the inside pocket of his clothes, only to suddenly realize something!

--The Red Mountain Stone is gone!

He looked down and saw Wood Plark's handwriting on the lining of his winter coat!

"Gunsmith, I've taken the item. There's no need to look for it. It's safer with me. Don't misunderstand me, and don't doubt my motives—I mean, it's safer with me."

Before Xue Ming could think further, the passenger in the seat in front of her was a woman from South Korea.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, as if she were possessed by a ghost.

Her trembling hands gripped the chair handles tightly and banged against the table until Xue Ming smelled the strong stench of blood, at which point she leaned forward to look.

That scene nearly scared him out of his wits!

The woman's boarding pass was covered in blood, and only the passenger name [Park Jung-hye] could be vaguely made out.

Looking further up, her sternum was exposed, splattered on the plane floor along with the implants from her cosmetic surgery.

Blood was gushing from her mouth, nose, and eyes, and the crimson fluid oozing from the sides of her ears had dyed her hair red!

Her fingernails were curled outwards, as if she had ripped herself open, and her eyes rolled back, lifeless.

The filthy, hairy spirits, like maggots, burrowed in and out of the woman's throat and emerged from the skin of her skull, as if they could control the poor woman's brain nerves.

Xue Ming's SAN value was plummeting, but at this moment he had no time to hesitate!

Don't let anyone else notice! Act like a normal person!

"Flight attendants! Flight attendants! Where are the flight attendants!" Xue Ming shouted hoarsely, "Come quick! Come quick! Call the flight attendant team's doctor! Hey!"

Passengers around looked on curiously, but when they saw the horrific scene, their expressions turned to disgust and horror.

When the flight attendant arrived at the scene in response to Xue Ming's call, she immediately let out a sharp scream—

--Park Jung-hye's body stood stiffly, with blood still gushing from her face and orifices.

Xue Ming gasped for breath, his heart pounding so hard his blood pressure soared. His mind raced with images of how he would die. The injuries inflicted by this soul-powered attack, this terrifying method akin to mind control, were probably beyond the reach of Universal Elixir.

When the flight attendant's doctor arrived, they were finally able to remove the body.

The flight attendants escorted several terrified passengers to the cabin. The young woman, though quite frightened, still tried to keep to herself, awkwardly comforting the passengers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the doctor will tell us that the passenger's cause of death is likely food poisoning before boarding, which was then exacerbated by changes in air temperature or pressure during the plane's ascent."

"What nonsense are you spouting! She dug out her own throat, ribs, and lungs!" a man roared. "She's bleeding from all seven orifices! It's like she's been poisoned by a neurotoxin; blood is gushing out of her mucous membranes!"

"There's a ghost on this plane! There's a ghost on this plane! I just saw something strange clinging to the wing!" A panicked woman, whose spiritual vision was so high she could already see spirits, exclaimed, "I want to get off the plane! I need to get off right now!"

The flight attendant was nearly frantic. "Ma'am! Please calm down! We're currently at an altitude of over 8,000 meters."

The woman, from Bolivia, switched to Spanish and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Give me a parachute! I want to jump!"

At that very moment--

Xue Ming felt a chill creep up from his ankles.

He suddenly turned his head and saw a clump of dirty hair crawling in from the gap in the aircraft's emergency exit at his ankle. It coalesced into a hairy hand, like a soft snake, and slowly slid across the skin of his ankle, moving towards the woman who had just been threatening to jump off the plane.

This guy! He's looking for a goal to achieve his Inspiration!

As long as it can be seen, it is prepared to exterminate them all!

Where is it? Its range almost covers the entire aircraft!

The skin on my ankle didn't itch, and there were no signs of poisoning.

--What methods did it use to kill the person?!

Just as the fluffy spirit was about to touch its target, the oblivious Bolivian woman continued to vent her rage in a terrified voice, spewing out a string of Spanish curses.

Xue Ming simply couldn't stand idly by! These beasts from the Madness Butterfly Sect were killing people right under his nose!

He was about to summon his spirit to give this ball of fur a few good punches; given the strength of his spirit, it would probably smash the floor of the passenger plane!

At the critical moment, the flight attendant pushed the noisy female passenger out of the customer service room and sent her to the first-class cabin.

The fluffy, ball-shaped spirit slowly wriggled, only to be mercilessly severed by the isolation door, and then shrank back outside the security door.

And so, the crisis seemed to be averted. The frightened passenger, still cursing, was escorted back by the polite flight attendant.

Just as Jiang Xueming was preparing to return to his seat...

"--Could you stay with me for a moment?" The flight attendant took off her hat, looking quite frightened. "Sir, could you stay with me for a little while? I'm really scared."

Xue Ming decided to stay because the restrooms were right across from the passenger service area, and Mr. Wood was in the restrooms.

"I'm scared too, miss. I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, I can't give you courage."

The flight attendant burst into tears. She only broke down after all the other passengers had left, finally freeing herself from her service duties.

"This is the first time I've seen a corpse. There have been people who suddenly fell ill on airplanes before, but none of them seemed to have the symptoms of that Korean woman. It's really so strange. Do ghosts really exist? I heard from that Bolivian passenger that she saw a monster on the wing! Sir, did you see it too?"

Xue Ming: "I don't know. I'm not sure."

"God bless. May God bless me, I want to live, I want to go home alive, I'll resign from the airline as soon as I land, God bless me."

Just then, Wood Teacher San San. He pushed open the door and saw Jiang Xueming and the flight attendant squatting together.

The train conductor pulled Xue Ming to his side and Xue Ming.

"Don't believe her nonsense. We are not alive because of God's grace."