Looking down the long railway tracks, they could see an old, rust-covered train stopped at a fork in the rails.
The weeds on either side had grown taller than a person.
A few more years, and the tracks would probably be swallowed by the lush weeds, with even the train buried beneath a sea of wild grass.
It wasn't too far, and they had plenty of time.
Wu Hen wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm. The moment the sweat touched his skin, a tingling sensation ran through it.
He opened up the inside of his arm and saw the strange black substance appearing once more. But what was absurd was that it no longer looked like the Death Sword. Instead... it was a dark-ink pistol!
Huh???
Foster Father, what the hell are you???
First lightning, then the Death Sword, and now you can turn into a gun!
Could it be that after eating the Origin Mech Pistol last night, you'd transformed into a firearm???
But you're stuck on my arm like a sticker. How am I supposed to use you?
"Xiao Hen, do you hear anything?" Su Li's voice broke into Wu Hen's thoughts.
"Oh, right. I wasn't listening carefully just now. Give me a moment to scan with sound waves." Only then did Wu Hen close his eyes and focus on his Auditory Sense.
Once he concentrated, Wu Hen's Auditory Sense began to spread out in every direction.
"Creak~"
"Creak~~ creak~"
The faintest sound of bones rubbing together!
It was a little like the noise made by a reinforced-concrete building expanding and contracting with the heat.
"They're moving very, very slowly. We just can't detect it with the naked eye," Wu Hen said quietly to Su Li.
"Mm. The sunlight has slowed them almost to a standstill. In theory, they're still alive, but under these conditions, they can't threaten us." Su Li nodded.
"Aunt, can our Origin Mech Pistols kill them?" Wu Hen asked.
"When they're thawed, you can't kill them unless you hit a vital spot. When they're stone-frozen, their defenses increase dozens of times. They're practically invincible," Su Li said.
"Oh, right. There are too many of them anyway. Even if we could kill them, it'd be a waste of bullets," Wu Hen said.
"Mm. Where's your gun? Stay alert," Su Li said.
Wu Hen looked awkward. He had no choice but to raise his right arm, make a pistol shape with his fingers, and solemnly prop it up with his left hand.
Su Li saw him and shook her head with a wry smile.
It didn't feel like he'd changed at all. He was still just as stupid.
"We're close. Everyone, pick up the pace," Scar-faced Uncle said.
The rust-covered train was about two kilometers away.
Once they boarded and entered the enclosed space of the train car, they could release the Fireflies to fill it with light. They'd be safe, and they'd be able to get away from this Evil Soil.
"We can finally get back to the Nuwa Divine Tree. Thank goodness."
"I've had enough of this. I'm practically losing my mind."
"Hahaha! I told you, follow Su Li and we'll reach the other side."
Even those who'd grumbled at first were excited now. They could finally escape this place!
Everyone's spirits lifted, and they unconsciously quickened their pace.
But for some reason, from the open ground around them, as eerie as a graveyard, pairs of deep-red eyes stared their way. They radiated resentment and malice. Even without looking directly at them, everyone could clearly feel that hostility!
"Creak, creak~~~~"
"Creak, creak, creak~~~~~~"
The sound of bones grinding grew louder and louder. The enormous group of Evil Spirit Statues behind them seemed to be coming to life, their movements growing more pronounced by the second!
"Aunt, something's wrong with the sounds!" Wu Hen immediately warned her.
Su Li looked back, but with the naked eye, she still couldn't make out any movement from the statues.
"Strange. Why does it feel like it's getting darker?" someone muttered.
At those words, Wu Hen and Su Li instinctively looked up—and suddenly noticed that a corner of the sun had disappeared.
It was as if something had taken a huge bite out of it!
Wu Hen was horrified. How could he not recognize this sight?
It was a Solar Eclipse!
"Damn it, an eclipse!" Even Su Li, who was usually calm, couldn't help crying out.
The bite out of the sun grew larger. As everyone ran, a quarter of it had already been swallowed, and the light around them was visibly weakening, growing dimmer by the moment!
"Run!!"
"Everyone, hurry up!!!"
"We have to reach the train before totality!" Su Li shouted, her voice trembling.
Wu Hen picked up the pace too. He could see the sunlight gradually being blocked out, and he could also hear the "crackling" of bones all around them, like firecrackers going off everywhere on New Year's Eve.
The Midnight Mass of the entire nest was thawing all at once. Rows of deep-red eyes turned toward the living people on the tracks.
They were coming to life!!
"Damn this eclipse! How does something that might not happen once in decades show up today of all days?" Wu Hen sprinted for his life, cursing as he ran.
He was running ahead while his soul chased after him.
The missing portion of the sun looked especially bizarre. Instead of forming a smooth, regular arc, its edge was jagged and uneven, like serrated wings.
If the sun were a bright old-fashioned light bulb, it was as if a huge moth were slowly crawling over it, dimming the whole room!
Sinister!
Strange!
Impossible to explain by any ordinary logic!
Wu Hen grew more and more panicked. The eclipse was moving faster than he'd expected. Could they really run those two kilometers and make it into the train car?
Not long ago, the sun had been shining brightly.
In no time, the world had turned dark.
High above, a dim, eclipsed sun hung in the sky. On the ground, a group of people ran for their lives, nearly scared out of their wits. They followed the tracks in search of safety, but on either side, the Midnight Mass—with one deep-red eye after another—advanced toward the rails like a malicious tide!
"Bang!!"
Suddenly, Su Li fired a shot!
The bullet, wrapped in powerful energy, exploded against the head of a Midnight Mass on the tracks!
That Midnight Mass had been very close to the tracks. As it moved slowly, it had already crawled onto the path ahead of them!
Wu Hen also noticed that some of the Midnight Mass were clearly stronger. Even with some sunlight still remaining during the eclipse, they could move their limbs—and had already begun to lunge and bite!
Their steps were stiff, much like zombies. As the Heavenly Radiance faded, their mobility surged!
Wu Hen had seen how fast the Midnight Mass could truly move. Even a flashlight beam could barely keep up with them.
"Get out of my way!!"
Scar-faced Uncle pulled a weapon from his backpack: an axe made of some unknown material.
He was kindhearted, staying behind to look after Yang Qin, the slowest member of the group.
The puppet-like, zombie-moving Midnight Mass could just about be handled with weapons. But once the sun was completely swallowed, not even Origin Mech weapons could kill them!
"Aunt Huang, go release the Fireflies inside the train car!" Su Li immediately ordered.
"But the car isn't sealed. The Fireflies will fly out," Auntie Huang said.
"We can't worry about that now. If we lose them, so be it!" Su Li said.
"Okay!" Auntie Huang nodded.
She looked old and was short, but when she really ran, Auntie Huang was astonishingly fast, like a trained athlete.
Her backpack held the Fireflies that could provide light inside an enclosed space.
Without a light source, even an enclosed space would still be attacked by the evil spirits. It was hard to conceal the presence of the living.
So Auntie Huang had to get there first and release the Fireflies to light up the train car.
"Shan Hu, you have to cover the broken window in the train car as soon as possible!" Su Li called to another woman.
The woman had dark skin and short hair, and she too carried a bulging backpack.
"Okay!" Shan Hu nodded and picked up her pace.
Su Li looked back and saw Scar-faced Uncle, Yang Qin, and a boy at the rear of the group.
She deliberately looked up at the sky.
Only a sliver of sunlight remained.
"Bang!"
"Bang!!"
"Bang!!!"
Su Li fired three shots in a row. Each one struck a Midnight Mass in the head with perfect accuracy!
A Midnight Mass wouldn't die from a shot to the head, but its body would harden. After a while, it would quickly recover!
"Keep up!" Su Li deliberately stayed with them for a while to protect them.
Scar-faced Uncle and the little boy didn't think much of it, but Yang Qin was greatly surprised.
She hadn't expected Su Li to refuse to abandon her, even though she'd almost chosen the wrong side.
If that Glasses Man had still been leading the group, she probably would've been left behind again!
"I'll start the train." Su Li glanced at Wu Hen, signaling for him to climb into the train car first.
"I'm coming with you," Wu Hen said.
The safe train car was a short distance from the locomotive. Totality was almost here, and the ground had turned purplish-black. Wu Hen didn't feel right leaving his dear Aunt alone.
"Mm!" Su Li didn't say anything more and quickly ran toward the front of the train!
"Ugh~~ ugh~~ ugh~~~~~"
On either side of the old train, the Midnight Mass were now moving like the walking dead, only slightly slower than an ordinary person.
They crawled toward Wu Hen and Su Li, surrounding them.
Wu Hen snatched up a steel rod from the ground and swung it hard at the Midnight Mass blocking their way!!
"Creak!"
Suddenly, a sharp crack of bone rang out. Though Wu Hen couldn't see the source, he instantly pinpointed its location.
"Aunt, on top of the locomotive!" Wu Hen shouted.
Su Li reacted extremely quickly. She immediately raised her gun and aimed at the blind spot above the locomotive.
The moment she took aim, a Midnight Mass that had mostly thawed lunged down to bite them. It moved with the speed of a wild beast!!
"Bang!!!"
A headshot!
Su Li's aim was deadly. The instant the Midnight Mass ambushed them, she blew its head apart. Its disgusting half-corpse hung on the locomotive, its body turning rigid.
Su Li didn't have time to worry about anything else. She kicked the headless Midnight Mass away and leaped into the locomotive.
She took an ordinary-looking Yuan You from her backpack and tossed it into the boiler.
The Yuan You burned rapidly inside the boiler, generating a massive amount of power. In an instant, the entire front of the train heated up, and the instruments on the control panel lit up.
"Ka-chunk~~ ka-chunk~~ ka-chunk~~~~~"
The train's axles began to turn, rumbling loudly.
Just as Su Li and Wu Hen thought the whole train was about to roar away, an extremely grating sound came from the tracks.
"Eeeeeek!!!!"
The train's wheels were moving forward, but something was jammed, blocking its progress!
"What's going on?" Su Li panicked a little. She couldn't understand why the train wasn't moving.
"The train's stopped on the switch. The switch hasn't been opened!" Wu Hen bent down to inspect the tracks and quickly realized what was wrong.
"Where's the manual switch?" Su Li asked.
"Over there!" Wu Hen pointed, then immediately ran toward the switch. "I'll open it. You keep starting the train!"
"Xiao Hen, don't go over there!!" Su Li saw the enormous Midnight Mass by the switch at a glance!!
And now, only a faint, almost nonexistent halo of sunlight remained...
Like a cold midnight moon, totality was about to fall!!
Before you continue