It Is a Living Thing Too!

The three of them did not stray too far from the train, merely searching the lush forest for some edible fruits.

Passing through a patch of flowers, they returned to the overgrown tracks where the train remained parked, as steady as before...

However, the area around the train was unnervingly quiet.

The others were nowhere to be seen!

"Do you hear anything?" Su Li asked.

Wu Hen shook his head.

There was not a single sound.

This was far too abnormal. The rest of the team had been gathering supplies near the train; it was impossible for there to be absolutely no noise at all.

Unless...

A breeze blew from the other side of the train, carrying with it the thick, metallic scent of blood.

Su Li, Wu Hen, and Yang Qin approached with extreme caution. Soon, they saw a striking splash of crimson at the carriage door!

It was human blood!

It had been sprayed there only moments ago!

On the tracks lay a discarded axe, painted a deep red by the blood. Stuck to the blade were bits of sinew and strands of hair!

Yang Qin covered her mouth in terror, nearly screaming out loud.

That axe—wasn't it the signature weapon of Scar-faced Uncle?!

"There's movement inside the safe house... it's the sound of cracking joints!" Wu Hen finally caught a faint noise and spoke to Su Li immediately.

The safe house was completely sealed and light-proof; the Firefly that could protect them at night required such an environment.

But if the door had been opened, allowing an evil spirit to enter, the dim light of the Firefly would not be enough to deter it!

There was still a Midnight Mass hidden on the train!

Moreover, someone had taken advantage of the time everyone was gathering supplies to move the Midnight Mass into the pitch-black safe house!

One could easily imagine: when those gathering supplies returned to put their items away, they weren't greeted by the Firefly, but by the Midnight Mass!!

"I'm going to take care of it!" Anger flared in Wu Hen's heart.

They had worked so hard to escape together, only to avoid dying at the hands of evil spirits, yet end up dying because of the madness of their own kind.

A single Midnight Mass was manageable; a single shot would be enough to obliterate it.

The safe house was vital to them; they had to take it back, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to face so many evil spirits once night fell.

"Xiao Yi!"

Wu Hen tried to call out to his exclusive weapon.

"Xiao Yi?"

"Father???"

However, after calling out several times, Father did not respond to him at all, not even a single light pattern appearing on his right hand.

"Without Yuan You to feed it, the Yuan Yi power will fall into a deep slumber," Su Li said.

Wu Hen froze instantly.

After showing off such great power yesterday, it just went limp the very next day?

Without Yuan You, it wouldn't even care if its brother lived or died?

"What do we do? What do we do?" Yang Qin, standing to the side, was on the verge of tears.

"Abandon the safe house. The Fireflies have likely been let loose. We need to go to the locomotive, start the train, and leave this Evil Soil as soon as possible!" Su Li said.

Running on foot, there was no way they could leave this land before dark, especially since the soil was constantly eroding and expanding.

They couldn't abandon the train. The best option right now was to take advantage of the daylight, while Midnight Mass dared not emerge from the safe house, and drive away immediately!

"Save me..."

"Save me..."

"Uncle Lin has gone mad; he cut me."

Just then, from one of the carriages, a blood-covered little boy crawled to the window, crying and shouting.

Yang Qin saw the little boy and instinctively wanted to help, but Su Li yanked her forward hard.

"No... are we not saving him?" Yang Qin asked in terror.

"Don't believe anything!" Su Li continued running forward without even glancing at the miserable little boy, throwing back one final sentence, "If you want to live, crawl to the front of the train yourself!"

Wu Hen didn't say a word either, following Su Li toward the locomotive.

Fortunately, the train's drive system was still functional, and Su Li let out a long sigh of relief.

It was a good thing that people suffering from the evil madness didn't have high intelligence; if they had destroyed the locomotive as well, they would truly be in a desperate situation!

"Clack-clack~~"

"Clack-clack... clack-clack..."

The train started moving again. Su Li could only hope that this old train was fast enough to escape this Evil Soil before nightfall.

"They're all dead, they're all dead..." Yang Qin huddled in the locomotive, her spirit on the verge of collapse.

She never would have imagined that in broad daylight—the safest time of all—a living, breathing team would be reduced to just a few survivors in the blink of an eye.

The most agonizing part was that from the middle section of the train, a pitiful cry for help could still be heard. He seemed to be trying so very hard to crawl toward the locomotive.

The boy wanted to live.

Yang Qin was truly desperate; she wanted to go home so, so badly.

Wu Hen could naturally hear the boy's helpless cries as well...

However, at a blood-soaked scene, the sole survivor is the one most worthy of suspicion.

Did Scar-faced Uncle kill everyone, or did the little boy bring the Midnight Mass into the safe house?

They couldn't make an accurate judgment.

With a fifty-fifty chance, they had to choose indifference.

"Auntie, last night I saw the city growing along the earth like roots. Does that mean this Evil Soil will keep expanding?" Wu Hen asked.

"Yes."

"Like a desert consuming a forest, desertifying it bit by bit?" Wu Hen asked.

"The nature is similar, but the speed of erosion is different," Su Li said.

"Is it fast? How fast?" Wu Hen recalled the terrifying and bizarre scene of the city growing under yesterday's sunset.

"Faster than we can run," Su Li said.

Upon hearing this, Wu Hen froze.

The speed of the erosion and expansion was faster than a human could run?

That meant the key to escaping an Evil Soil wasn't just walking away; you had to reach a certain speed!

The reason they had to board the train to escape was because the train's speed met the escape threshold. Otherwise, they would be trapped in this soil forever...

If they stayed in one place, that living, breathing Evil City would even catch up to them!!

That is fucking ridiculous!!

To be honest, Wu Hen really missed home.

No matter how precarious their home might be, it was a thousand times better than this place.

It was no wonder Su Li called this place heaven.

"So, can we get out?" Yang Qin asked, huddled there, her face streaked with tears.

"I don't know." Su Li looked up, gazing at the white sun in the vast sky.

"He's gone quiet..." Yang Qin whispered.

Su Li remained silent.

In truth, if the gun had had bullets, Su Li wouldn't have minded putting one in him back then; it would have been a quicker release.

The white sun moved bit by bit.

The train roared along the tracks, the prolonged torment making Wu Hen involuntarily look up at the sky.

He hoped the sun would sink slower, and he also hoped the old train could go faster.

They gnawed on tree fruits, but it couldn't satisfy their hunger. Their consciousness would inexplicably drift; even though a wonderland of green lay ahead, whenever he shifted his gaze, the scenery caught in his peripheral vision looked completely different—like decaying, festering mountains and earth oozing with pus!

Wu Hen rubbed his eyes, feeling them grow increasingly dry.

The mental infection Su Li had mentioned was already taking effect. Wu Hen's mood became inexplicably irritable, and he constantly felt the urge to vent in some way.

Yet, Wu Hen knew clearly that this was definitely not his usual self.

"Creak, creak~~~~~"

"Creak, creak!!!"

From within the safe house came a series of sounds like bones grinding together.

It was that Midnight Mass hiding in the safe house; it had started moving again.

Wu Hen glanced at the sky once more and saw that the sun was tilting, with an hour or two left before it sank below the horizon.

"We're almost out!" Suddenly, a hint of joy broke through Su Li's voice.

Yang Qin hurriedly stood up. Her gaze pierced through the long, winding tracks and saw a magnificent mountain range ahead. At the peak of the mountains, there was a layer of ethereal cloud currents, like a boundary in the sky, separating this world from the world on the other side of the mountains!

At the base of the mountain, there was a train tunnel.

Although it was still some distance away, it was visible to the naked eye!

He looked at the sky again; in the other direction, the sun still had a while before it set.

At this speed, the train should easily be able to pass through the mountain tunnel and reach the other side of the mountain range!

"Can we go home now?" Yang Qin asked excitedly.

"Once you're out of the Evil Soil, you won't get lost so easily. Just follow the guidance of the Soul-Returning Wood, and you will definitely find the Nuwa Divine Tree," Su Li said.

Yang Qin grew even more excited, about to share her joy with Wu Hen.

Wu Hen ignored her, his expression unusually grave.

"Aunt, something is wrong," Wu Hen said.

"Are you worried that the Midnight Mass will attack while we pass through the tunnel?" Su Li asked.

"No, the Midnight Mass in the safe house was doing something very strange. It sounded like it was dancing," Wu Hen said.

"Dancing?" A faint, ominous premonition welled up in Su Li's heart.

Suddenly, from the carriage serving as the safe house, streaks of sinister blood-red light burst through the windows. A massive volume of liquid, as fresh and red as blood, poured out of the small safe house without end!!

Like a floodgate opening, the blood-red liquid instantly flowed onto the tracks, rapidly staining the earth crimson!!

Wu Hen poked his head out of the train window. When he looked back at the path the train had traveled, he saw nothing but blood-red covering the mountains and plains.

Vegetation, soil, and mountain rocks—the blood tide was devouring the landscape at an incredible speed. The eerie light even surged into the sky, dyeing the firmament into a canopy of evil crimson!!

Wu Hen was struck with horror.

What kind of power could be strong enough to change the mountains and rivers in an instant, or was it that...

"Wu Hen, don't blink. This is the true form of the Evil Soil!" At this moment, Su Li's voice revealed a hint of composure.

Wu Hen could not believe it; his heart was deeply shaken, and his soul trembled involuntarily.

In contrast, Yang Qin, standing beside him, seemed unable to see any of this at all. She remained immersed in the joy of their impending escape, even though everything around them had revealed its most terrifying face!

"So it was a sacrificial summoning," Su Li muttered to herself. "No wonder it killed all our companions!"

"Aunt..." Wu Hen forced himself to stay calm.

"It's coming," Su Li said, gazing at the sky.

Wu Hen didn't quite understand, but he still followed Su Li's gaze toward the sky, which had been stained blood-red.

And that single glance made Wu Hen's scalp tingle instantly; his soul felt as though it were about to be shattered by the immense, horrifying visual impact...

The sun in the sky!!

The sun in the sky was moving in reverse, even chasing after the train from the other side of the horizon at a speed that seemed to tear the heavens apart.

Wu Hen could not believe it—it was also a living creature!!!