A cold wind howled across the platform at night, causing the hanging gas lamps to sway precariously.
In this scene, the dim yellow light sometimes lengthens and sometimes shortens, allowing the Steam train, which is quietly parked on the tracks, to occasionally escape the darkness and sometimes fall into shadow, creating an increasingly indescribable sense of gloom and death.
At this moment, a group of police officers in black and white checkered uniforms entered the platform and, led by the railway company's duty manager, headed towards the somewhat old and huge train.
"I don't know why, after all the passengers left, all the train attendants, including the conductor, returned to their carriages and didn't come out again. I sent someone to look for them and tell them to come out quickly so they could get some rest. But the person I sent ran out of the carriage very soon, like he had a disease, and all he could do was hysterically shout 'They're all dead! They're all dead!'" The railway company's duty manager, wearing a blue coat, carried a lantern as he walked, explaining the situation.
From his slightly stuttering words and trembling body, the police could easily tell that he harbored immense fear. It seemed that if someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder, he would jump up, drop everything, and run towards the platform exit.
This sentiment also affected the police officers; they all placed their hands on their waists and gripped their gun holsters.
The sound of leather boots clattering on the hard ground echoed as the police officers, following the duty manager, cautiously entered the front of a train car.
Inside this carriage, two people sat in each row, on either side of each other, all away from the windows, and were currently leaning back against their seats without moving.
By the light of the gas lamp outside the window and the lantern in his hand, the head inspector quickly saw the scene before him.
The people here are all staff members of the Steam train. They are wearing blue uniforms with different styles for men and women, sitting quietly in different positions. Their faces are pale, their eyes are open, and although they are no longer breathing, the corners of their mouths are clearly upturned, revealing eight teeth.
Seeing those almost identical smiles, everyone present felt their hair stand on end and instinctively held their breath.
To them, the scene was too bizarre and terrifying; they just wanted to turn around immediately, leave, and come back to check the situation at dawn!
The lead inspector took two deep breaths and gave instructions to the officers beside him:
"Go and confirm whether they are... whether they are all dead..."
At this point, he glanced at the railway company's duty manager again:
"Follow them and see if there are few or many people."
"Okay, okay, officer," the duty manager said, trembling.
As he and several officers ventured into the carriage, the rest of the personnel drew their pistols and became more alert.
In the unbearable silence, time passed slowly. Finally, several police officers stopped at the back of the carriage, turned around, and called out:
"All confirmed dead!"
The railway company's duty manager followed up, trembling, and said:
"Two people are missing: the train conductor and the driver..."
Seeing that nothing unexpected had happened after so long, the lead inspector calmed down considerably. After thinking for a moment, he addressed all the officers:
"Preserve the body as is and await an investigation into the cause of death."
"At the same time, two groups were split up: one group went to other carriages to look for the train conductor and driver, and the other group examined the scene for clues and collected relevant information. After the Sun, they conducted a search among both train staff and previous passengers to look for commonalities and unusual details."
Although many passengers did not present identification documents when purchasing their tickets, the chief inspector believed that he could always find some people who had truthfully registered their information, and then ask them if they had noticed anything unusual or noteworthy on the train.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a gust of icy, bone-chilling wind arose from nowhere and howled through the carriage.
Once everything had calmed down, the head inspector was about to emphasize what he had just said when he suddenly noticed something was amiss:
The Steam train worker, still sitting in his seat, had his eyes open, his face pale, but his mouth was closed at some point, no longer showing his eight teeth.
In a luxurious hotel room, the wall lamps complemented each other, illuminating the carpeted area furnished with tables and chairs with exceptional brightness.
Klein had transformed into Gehrman Sparrow, sitting on a single sofa with his left leg crossed over his right.
Beside him stood Enzo, the " Winner " who had been transformed into a local aboriginal, and in front of him stood a row of cult Marionette.
These were some of the people who had previously attempted to sacrifice all the passengers on the Steam train, led by the man with small red, swollen patches on the side of his face, the train conductor, and the driver.
They came from different neighborhoods, in different appearances, and then gathered here.
"Who ordered you to be sacrificed?" Klein asked in a low voice.
After advancing to Sequence 4 and becoming a " Bizarro Sorcerer," he can no longer only read thoughts from the shallow consciousness of the Marionette, but also use the enhanced " Spirit Body Threads " to control them and directly do things similar to Spirit Channeling.
Of course, the higher the level of the Marionette itself, the weaker the effect of Spirit Channeling.
After a brief silence, the train conductor, who was clearly Loen and had rather thick body hair, spoke woodenly:
"It is a decree from God."
"Which god?" Klein took the bone china teacup handed to him by " the Winner " Enzo, took a sip, and asked.
The train conductor responded blankly:
"God is God, nothing else."
Klein put down his cup and asked:
How did He deliver the oracle? What exactly did He say?
The train conductor immediately became extremely respectful:
"He gives a decree through divine objects, commanding us to please Him with a sacrifice of many lives, and in return, He will grant us eternal life in His kingdom."
Massive life sacrifices... Compared to the Spirituality Religion, the Rose School of Thought prefers similar things; they are known for their bloody sacrifices... But the idea of eternal life in the Kingdom of God is similar to some of the Spirituality Religion's beliefs. Of course, it's possible it's deliberately fabricated to deceive these people... Klein pondered for a while and said:
"What kind of divine object?"
The train conductor didn't answer, but glanced at the man with a small red, swollen patch on the side of his face.
The man then took something out of the inside pocket of his clothes:
This is a poorly made rag doll with curved eyes and a mouth.
"God gives us commands through Him at specific times. I bought this at the grocery market," the man with a small red, swollen patch on the side of his face said in a balanced, flat tone.
This... Klein thought of several possibilities in an instant, then had the " Winner " Enzo take the doll and examine it carefully, but found nothing unusual.
In his experience, this meant the problem wasn't with the doll itself. The situation could be divided into two categories: either someone nearby was using the doll as a cover to impersonate a deity, or there was a Hidden Existence that had specially marked the doll and was using it to deliver a divine message.
"If it's the former, then they must have already discovered the train crew's deaths and taken precautions... If it's the latter, perhaps they haven't noticed anything yet..." Klein considered for a moment and then had " Winner " Enzo place the rag doll on the desk by the window.
He immediately stood up and instantly transformed into another train staff member, standing alongside the row of cult members.
Similar changes occurred after Enzo, the " Winner," returned.
Time passed, and the night grew deeper.
Suddenly, on the desk bathed in the crimson Moonlight, the rag doll with curved eyes and a mouth moved its limbs and slowly stood up.
PS: This chapter is a bit short because I was so angry I couldn't write anything. I was halfway through writing when I needed to connect it to a sentence in the previous chapter, so I opened the webpage and accessed the previous chapter, only to find that the description related to the sacrifice had been deleted... This kind of censorship and editing is simply unbelievable! Without that section, who can understand that plot? Even I can't understand it! And what was so prohibited about that plot? Describing bad people doing bad things, condemning ugliness, is being deleted? I didn't specifically describe the sacrifice process so that anyone could imitate it. I completely don't understand what China Literature current censorship standards are. Do they want to revise books until they're utterly nonsensical?
I cannot accept that my novel has become such a disjointed, structurally broken, and poorly written piece, turning into something inexplicably incomprehensible. I have already pointed out the many revisions to previous chapters, and I acknowledge the current difficult environment, so everyone has been understanding and kept quiet. But now the revisions have become so extreme that the plot is incoherent and cannot be clearly written. I really cannot tolerate this. Everyone had a certain understanding of the tone and atmosphere of the Mysteries, and what would be written in the future. With this change, I simply cannot continue writing.
I've now added back the deleted content from the previous chapter, but I don't know when it will be deleted again, or in the future. I don't know if I can continue writing this book, or how long I'll finish. Well, compared to the previous hour, I'm calmer now and won't say anything inflammatory. Please enjoy the reading. I will continue writing until I can't write anymore. I won't punish my readers for other people's Error. Well, that's all.