White Snake Mojiang River

On the other side, the culprit had already put away his pistol.

Back in the dining car, Su Huan first peeled off his sticky T-shirt, grabbed the deodorizer, and gave himself a couple of careless sprays before tossing it to Yu Jing.

"Everyone, take some deodorizer and spray down every window and door on the train, as well as anywhere there might be a gap."

A trace of confusion flashed through Yu Jing's eyes. "Just the cars in front? What about the ones behind us?"

"Take a box of deodorizer back there and give it to Wang He. Oh, and have your mom go up to the second floor of the observation car and keep an eye on things."

Su Huan narrowed his eyes as he spoke.

Soon, except for Liang Kuan and Xiao Ba, who were driving, the three women all got to work.

Spraying deodorizer throughout the train cars.

A minute later, the headlights went out, and the roars of beasts outside grew all the more terrifying.

Su Huan planned to go upstairs and take a look. As soon as he reached the second floor, he saw a figure standing there, deodorizer in hand, looking lost and helpless.

As he drew closer, he caught the faint scent of roasted chestnuts on Yu Yue and asked, puzzled, "Did you notice anything?"

The woman's face was very pale, and the moonlight coming through the window lent it a few traces of melancholy beauty.

Yu Yue's full lips trembled. "I... heard a lot of terrifying sounds."

Su Huan understood. He had long since grown used to that oppressive feeling. In his previous life, he had faced Evolutionary Beasts at close range many times, and the instinctive unease in his chest was already fading as the train pulled away.

As for those sounds, they all blended into a noisy jumble to him. There was nothing terrifying about them.

But for Yu Yue, who could control sound waves, those sounds might have seemed so close that they were right beside her.

Su Huan took the deodorizer from her hand, his voice calm and soothing. "What did you hear?"

The young man stood bare-chested, his lean, muscular body glistening with sweat. The warmth of his body, mingled with the heady scent of hormones, washed over her, making her lose focus for a moment.

At his question, Yu Yue instinctively recalled those sounds, and terror filled her eyes once more. "I heard arthropods crawling, bones snapping, flesh being torn apart, and waves crashing. It was like some terrifying thing was crawling up onto the shore..."

A warm palm suddenly cupped her trembling ear. Yu Yue froze in place.

"Remember, those things are far away from you. You're safe inside the train, and it's still moving. The farther we go, the farther away those dangers will be."

Su Huan raised his palm slightly, letting his steady, clear voice reach Yu Yue's ear.

Yu Yue looked at the young man before her. His expression was still cold, and his voice remained soft, but she felt he had become much gentler.

At least, that was how she felt right then.

Su Huan's hands blocked out those terrifying sounds, and his calm demeanor soothed her as well.

Only then did she realize she was practically being held in his arms.

A blush quickly spread across her skin. She stood frozen, unsure what to do.

"I'll slowly lift my hands away. Don't listen to sounds from too far away. Try to keep your energy from spreading, and don't instinctively listen for anything."

Su Huan lifted his hands, then let them come to rest on her shoulders.

After evolving, the woman's figure had become fuller and firmer, though most of the time her loose clothing concealed it.

Even through her clothes, he could feel her smooth skin and delicate, slender collarbones beneath his hands.

She lowered her head before him, the fine hairs on the back of her neck trembling in the air-conditioning breeze, like a bird waiting for its feathers to be smoothed.

"Okay... I feel much better."

Realizing she was being comforted in the arms of a young man about her daughter's age, Yu Yue felt unbearably embarrassed and dared not look him in the eye.

Only when she seemed less tense did Su Huan finally relax.

Evolutionists weren't all that stable. Every evolution was like compressing hundreds of thousands of years of evolution into a single instant. It was like building a pyramid—no one knew whether it would collapse the next time.

Emotional stability was a factor, too.

When she felt the hands leave her shoulders, Yu Yue felt a little hollow inside.

She cautiously raised her head and noticed Su Huan was staring behind her. Instinctively, she started to follow his gaze.

But he grabbed the soft flesh at her waist and pulled her back into his arms. His grip was so tight that she nearly squeezed out a couple of tears.

"Don't turn around!"

Su Huan's voice was frighteningly grave.

The next moment, she sensed the terrifying presence watching them, and her body stiffened.

She followed Su Huan's earlier instructions, keeping her ability confined to an extremely narrow range.

"Thump... thump..."

Feeling the skin pressed against her and the powerful heartbeat, she finally calmed down and asked softly, "What is it?"

Su Huan's hand held her tightly at the hollow of her lower back. His voice was low. "It's a... white Evolutionary Beast. It's huge."

"A... snake?"

"Yeah."

Su Huan swallowed and stared at the scene before him.

Under the clear moonlight, a huge, pure-white serpent coiled atop a water tower. Its head, as high as a three-story building, was raised in the air, and its cold blue slit pupils were fixed on the train's direction of travel, slowly contracting.

Its steel-whip-like tail struck the tower unconsciously, sending great chunks of concrete crashing down.

As the train moved on, that cold, eerie glow receded farther and farther away. Only then did Su Huan's taut muscles relax.

It seemed his past-life experience still held up in the early days of the apocalypse.

Evolutionary Beasts wouldn't stray far from their territory or enter cities or zombie hordes to pursue prey.

Still, the appearance of the white snake left him uneasy.

He had heard of this snake in his previous life.

Since it came from the Mojiang River, survivors also called it "Mojiang" or "White Snake Mojiang River."

The snake had been discovered in the third year of the apocalypse, after it devoured a Tier Four zombie. He never imagined that a single lure would draw it out.

Su Huan had never expected this.

After all, the Mojiang River crossed three provinces. Who could have guessed that the snake would happen to be right beside Mojiang City?

Fortunately, he had gotten away quickly.

The woman in his arms let out a faint, pained moan.

Su Huan finally snapped out of it. Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly let go and looked down.

A large patch of bruising had already appeared on the woman's full hips and waist, where he had pinched her.

The older woman pressed her lips together, looking a little aggrieved, her eyes moist.

Su Huan felt awkward, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize. He tugged at the woman's jeans, startling Yu Yue into clutching them tightly, her eyes full of alarm.

But Su Huan didn't do anything. He only exposed the bruised skin.

He shook his hand, then laid it over the bruised area.

The icy touch drew a surprised gasp from Yu Yue. There was no way shaking his hand a couple of times could have cooled it down so quickly.

Besides, the train car wasn't cold.

The temperature had been holding steady at around twenty-three degrees.