Body Running, Soul Chasing

Looking along the long iron rails, one could see a rusted, dilapidated old train parked at a fork in the tracks.

The weeds on both sides had already grown taller than a person.

In a few more years, the tracks would likely be swallowed by these lush weeds, and even the train would be submerged in a sea of wild grass.

The distance was not too far, and there was absolutely plenty of time.

Wu Hen wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, but a tingling, numb sensation spread across his skin where the sweat touched.

He spread out the inside of his arm to look, and that mysterious black substance had emerged once again. But absurdly, the shape it took was no longer that of a Death Sword, but... but an ink-black pistol!

Huh???

Foster father, what on earth are you???

First lightning, then a Death Sword, and now you can even turn into a firearm!

Could it be that because I ate that Origin Mech Pistol last night, you've morphed into a firearm???

But you're just like a mugshot on my arm; I can't even use you!

"Xiao Hen, do you hear anything?" Su Li's voice rang out, interrupting Wu Hen's thoughts.

"Oh, oh, I wasn't listening carefully just now. Wait for me to do a sonic scan." Wu Hen closed his eyes, focusing on his sense of hearing.

Once he concentrated, Wu Hen's hearing began to spread outward.

"Creak~"

"Creak~~ creak~"

A very, very faint sound of bones rubbing together!

It sounded a bit like the noise a reinforced concrete building makes when expanding or contracting due to heat.

"They are moving very, very slowly; it's just that our naked eyes can't perceive it," Wu Hen whispered to Su Li.

"Mm, the sunlight just slows their speed infinitely. Theoretically, they are still living creatures, but under these conditions, they cannot pose a threat to us," Su Li nodded.

"Auntie, can't our Origin Mech Pistol kill them?" Wu Hen asked.

"In a thawed state, unless you hit their vital points, you can't kill them. In a stone-frozen state, their defensive capabilities increase dozens of times, making them nearly invincible," Su Li said.

"Oh, oh, there are too many of them; even if we could kill them, it would be a waste of bullets," Wu Hen said.

"Mm, keep your gun ready and stay alert," Su Li said.

Wu Hen looked embarrassed. He had no choice but to raise his right arm, form his fingers into the shape of a pistol, and seriously steady it with his left hand.

Su Li shook her head with a bitter smile at the sight.

It felt like nothing had changed; he was still just as dim-witted.

"We're very close now, everyone pick up the pace," Scar-faced Uncle said.

The rusted train was about two kilometers away.

Once they boarded the train and entered the enclosed space of the carriages, they could release the Fireflies to fill the area. Not only would they be safe, but they would also be far away from this Evil Soil.

"Finally, we can return to the Nuwa Divine Tree. This is great."

"I've really had enough of these days. My mind has been drifting."

"Hahaha, I told you that if we followed Su Li, we would reach the other shore."

Those who had initially harbored complaints were now excited; they could finally escape this place!

Everyone's spirits lifted, and their steps involuntarily quickened.

Yet, for some reason, pairs of eerie, crimson eyes began to peer out from the graveyard-like, gloomy wasteland. They radiated such resentment and malice that even without looking directly at them, one could clearly feel the evil intent!

"Creak, creak~~~~"

"Creak, creak, creak-creak~~~~~~"

The sound of grinding joints grew louder. The large group of Evil Spirit Statues behind them seemed to be coming to life, their movements becoming increasingly pronounced!

"Aunt, the sound isn't right!" Wu Hen immediately called out a warning.

Su Li looked back, but with the naked eye, she still couldn't distinguish the movements of those statues.

"Strange, why does it feel like it's getting darker??" someone muttered.

Upon hearing this, Wu Hen and Su Li instinctively looked up, only to be shocked to discover that a corner of the sun in the sky was missing!

It looked as if the sun had been bitten into by something!

Wu Hen's expression changed in alarm. How could he not recognize this phenomenon!

It was a Solar Eclipse!

"No, it's a solar eclipse!!" Even the usually calm Su Li couldn't help but cry out.

The gap in the sun grew larger. As they ran, a quarter of it had already been swallowed, and the surrounding light was clearly losing its intensity, dimming bit by bit along with the eclipse!!

"Run!!"

"Everyone, speed up!!!"

"We must reach the train before the total solar eclipse!!" Su Li shouted, her voice trembling slightly.

Wu Hen also quickened his pace. Not only did he see the sun's radiance being obscured bit by bit, but he also heard the "crackle, crackle" of joints popping all around them, like firecrackers going off everywhere on New Year's Eve.

The Midnight Mass in the entire nest were collectively unfreezing, and their eerie red eyes were all snapping toward the living people on the tracks.

They were coming back to life!!

"Damn this eclipse! A phenomenon that might not even happen once in decades, why does it have to appear today!" Wu Hen sprinted for his life, cursing as he ran.

It was truly a case of the body running in front while the soul struggled to keep up.

The shadow devouring the sun was exceptionally bizarre; it wasn't a regular arc, but rather an irregular, serrated wing shape.

If one were to compare the sun to a bright, old-fashioned lightbulb, it was as if a giant moth were slowly crawling onto the bulb, causing the entire room to grow dim!

Evil!

Grotesque!

And completely impossible to explain with common logic!

Wu Hen's heart grew increasingly frantic. The eclipse was moving faster than he had imagined. Could they really cover these two kilometers and reach the train cars in time?

Only a short while ago, the sun had been shining brightly.

In the blink of an eye, the world had turned dark.

High above was the dim shadow of the incomplete eclipse, while on the ground, a group of people were running for their lives, their souls nearly shaken from their bodies. They were struggling to survive along the tracks, but the Midnight Mass with their eerie red eyes on both sides were like a malicious tide, slowly encroaching upon the tracks!

"Bang!!"

Suddenly, Su Li fired a shot!

The bullet, wrapped in a surge of powerful energy, exploded against the head of a Midnight Mass on the tracks!

That Midnight Mass had been very, very close to the tracks; it had been moving slowly and had already crawled onto the path the group was trying to take!

Wu Hen also noticed that some of the Midnight Mass were clearly more powerful. Even while the eclipse still left some light, they were already able to stretch their limbs and were capable of lunging and biting!

Their movements were a bit stiff, somewhat similar to zombies, but as the light faded, their vitality was growing rapidly!

Wu Hen had witnessed the true speed of the Midnight Mass; even the beam of a flashlight could barely keep up with them.

"Get out of my way!!"

Scar-faced Uncle pulled a weapon from his backpack—an axe made of an unknown material.

He was kind-hearted, after all, and had been looking after Yang Qin, who was lagging the furthest behind in the group.

The Midnight Mass moved like puppet zombies and could still be dealt with using weapons, but once the sun was completely swallowed, even meta-mechanical weapons wouldn't be able to kill the Midnight Mass!

"Aunt Huang, go inside the carriage and release the Firefly!" Su Li commanded immediately.

"But if we don't seal the carriage, the Firefly will fly out," Aunt Huang said.

"We can't worry about that now, just accept the loss!" Su Li said.

"Alright!" Aunt Huang nodded.

Despite appearing elderly and short in stature, Aunt Huang's speed when she truly started running was astonishing, like that of a professional athlete.

Her backpack contained the Firefly that could provide light to enclosed spaces.

Without a light source, even an enclosed space would be attacked by those evil spirits; the scent of the living was hard to conceal.

Therefore, Aunt Huang had to go release the Firefly first to light up the carriage.

"Shan Hu, you must cover the broken windows of the carriage as quickly as possible!" Su Li said to another woman.

That woman had dark skin, short hair, and was also carrying a very bulky pack.

"Got it!" the woman named Shan Hu nodded, also picking up her pace.

Su Li looked back and saw Scar-faced Uncle, Yang Qin, and a boy at the very end of the group.

She specifically looked up at the sky.

The sun was now reduced to nothing more than a sliver of light.

"Bang!"

"Bang!!"

"Bang!!!"

Su Li fired three shots in succession, each one accurately striking the head of a Midnight Mass behind them!

The Midnight Mass would not die from being hit in the head, but their bodies would harden, only to recover rapidly after a short while!

"Keep up, everyone!" Su Li specifically escorted them for a stretch.

Scar-faced Uncle and the little boy didn't think much of it, but Yang Qin was greatly surprised.

She hadn't expected that she, someone who had almost stood on the wrong side, would not be abandoned.

If it had been that Glasses Man leading the team before, she feared she would have been discarded once again!

"I'm starting 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.

There was a short distance between the safety car and the locomotive. The total solar eclipse was imminent, and the earth had turned a purplish-black. Wu Hen was worried about his dear aunt.

"Alright!" Su Li didn't say anything more and quickly ran toward the front of the train.

"Ugh~~ ugh~~ ugh~~~~~"

On both sides of the old train, the speed of the Midnight Mass had become like that of walking corpses, only a fraction slower than a normal person.

They crawled over, surrounding Wu Hen and Su Li.

Wu Hen casually grabbed a steel rod from the ground and smashed it hard against the Midnight Mass blocking their path!!

"Crack!"

Suddenly, a crisp sound of joints snapping rang out. Although Wu Hen didn't see it, he instantly pinpointed the creature's location.

"Aunt, on top of the locomotive!" Wu Hen shouted a warning.

Su Li reacted extremely quickly. She raised her gun the moment she heard him, aiming at the blind spot above the locomotive.

The instant the muzzle was aimed, a Midnight Mass that had mostly thawed out lunged down. Its swift speed was approaching that of a wild beast!!

"Bang!!!"

A headshot!

Su Li's marksmanship was incredibly precise. She shattered its skull the moment the Midnight Mass launched its sneak attack, leaving a disgusting half-corpse hanging off the locomotive, its body turning rigid.

Su Li didn't have time to dwell on it. She kicked the headless Midnight Mass away and leaped into the locomotive's cabin.

Taking a Yuan You with a dull luster from her backpack, Su Li tossed it into the cylinder.

The Yuan You burned rapidly inside the cylinder, generating a massive amount of kinetic energy. In an instant, the entire front of the train grew scorching hot, and the instruments on the control panel lit up!

"Clack-clack~~ clack-clack~~ clack-clack~~~~~"

The train's wheel axles began to turn, emitting a roar.

Just as Su Li and Wu Hen thought the entire train was about to roar away, an extremely harsh sound came from the tracks.

"Screech!!!!"

The train's axles were moving forward, but something was jammed, blocking the train from moving!

"What's going on?" Su Li felt a bit panicked. She didn't understand why the train wouldn't move forward.

"The train is stuck on the crossing gate, and the gate switch hasn't been opened!" Wu Hen lowered his head to inspect the tracks and quickly discovered the issue.

"Where is the manual switch?" Su Li asked.

"Over there!" Wu Hen pointed with his finger and immediately sprinted toward the gate. "I'll go open the gate, you keep trying to start the train!"

"Xiao Hen, don't go over there!!" Su Li caught a glimpse of a massive Midnight Mass at the gate switch!

At this moment, the sun was reduced to nothing more than a faint, inconsequential halo...

Like a cold midnight moon, it was about to descend!!

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