Caught in the act again, Su Cheng remained shameless. She gave a little smile, then looked away.
Getting no answer, the woman in the red dress clicked her tongue and turned her attention back to the middle-aged man. "Since you know so much, you should know how to get off this train, right?"
All the passengers looked expectantly at the middle-aged man.
"I don't know."
The woman in red covered her lips and chuckled. "Really? Why do I feel like you're deliberately keeping it from us? When everyone else knows nothing, you know so much... I have reason to suspect you're in league with the ghost."
Amid the other passengers' uncertainty and suspicion, she continued, "Isn't it possible that you're one of them, trying to gain everyone's trust so you can work with the ghost from the inside...?"
The bald man stared unblinkingly at the woman in red, agreeing in a daze. "I think that's possible too!"
He took two steps toward her and promised, his tiny eyes brimming with affection, "Don't be scared. I'll protect you."
The corners of the woman's lips dropped, making her smile a little more sinister. "Will you?"
The girl wearing headphones shook her head. "I don't believe it. If he's a bad person, why would he tell us to stay together and not go off alone?"
The bald man snorted. "Then tell me, why does he know so much? He must be colluding with the ghost!"
After speaking, the bald man winked at the woman in red as if seeking praise, only to find her staring at the middle-aged man. He gave a low snort, growing hostile toward the man.
In the end, half the passengers chose to trust the middle-aged man. They changed seats and sat around him, toward the rear of the train.
The woman in red and the bald man occupied two seats in the middle.
Su Cheng, the old woman, and the couple sat a little farther forward, neither too close to nor too far from either group.
Only the young man near the restroom remained alone.
"Should we go get him?"
The girl wearing headphones looked around and realized everyone had chosen to ignore her.
After a moment's hesitation, she still decided to go call the young man over, but a middle-aged woman caught her hand.
The woman averted her eyes, leaned close to her ear, and lowered her voice. "Don't! With him there alone, we're a little safer. Besides, it's almost time to enter the tunnel!"
"How can you be like that!"
The girl stared at her in disbelief, but the woman pulled her down into her seat. Furious as she was, she was also mindful of the time, and ultimately did not get up again...
Holding the Soul-Pointing Needle in her left hand, Su Cheng slipped her right hand into her trench coat and gripped her dagger, silently waiting for the train to enter the tunnel that had suddenly appeared ahead...
Rumble-
Bzzzt.
The lights flickered for two seconds, then went out amid the passengers' brief cries of alarm.
The carriage fell into darkness.
No one screamed. There was only heavy breathing born of fear and muffled whimpers from mouths tightly covered.
Beside Su Cheng, the old woman repeatedly prayed for her ancestors' protection, while the couple clung tightly to each other.
Su Cheng silently counted down.
28, 27, 26, 25...
Click, click-
The Soul-Pointing Needle, which had remained completely still, spun wildly with a clicking sound.
Su Cheng drew her dagger. Her heart suddenly raced, and her mouth went dry with tension.
In the darkness, Su Cheng could vaguely see the Soul-Pointing Needle swing back and forth before pointing behind her.
The young man in the white T-shirt and the middle-aged man's group were sitting behind her...
Had the ghost chosen them?
Click, click-
The Soul-Pointing Needle suddenly began spinning again, shifted its angle, and stopped pointing toward the lower right.
The woman in red and the bald man were sitting diagonally behind her to the right.
Su Cheng faintly heard movement-a thud, like the dull sound of something heavy falling.
Rumble-
Bzzzt.
The lights came on.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Someone asked quietly, "Did... did anyone die?"
Su Cheng put away her dagger, stood up, and looked toward the woman in red's seat. The woman no longer looked as composed as before. Her carefully styled hair was somewhat disheveled, and her face was slightly pale.
At her feet lay the bald man, severed at the waist.
Once again, the cut was clean.
The bald man's expression was exactly the same as the husband's, his eyes wide open, except that his mouth gaped, as though he had been killed the instant before he could make a sound...
Blood spread beneath the woman's feet, the same color as her high heels.
The woman glanced at the bald man in disgust, composed herself, and stepped disdainfully over the body to the other side, her heels leaving red prints.
"Someone died. Over here," the woman said calmly.
The other passengers came over for a look. After confirming another death, they grew even more uneasy in their terror, afraid they would be the next unlucky one.
They now fully believed the middle-aged man's words.
"There's a ghost! It really is a ghost! No... no human could have done this!"
"What do we do? I don't want to die yet...!"
Someone even began pounding on the window. "I want to go home! Let me off!"
"Why is the ghost killing people? Go after whoever wronged you! Don't kill me!!"
Su Cheng paid no further attention to the commotion. She stepped carefully around the body, passed through the crowd, and headed toward the back.
This time, the young man was not curled up. He quietly watched the scenery outside the window, gloom in his eyes, as though he and the surrounding turmoil occupied two separate spaces.
Only when Su Cheng reached him did he slowly turn his head. "Do you need something?"
Su Cheng pointed ahead. "Someone died. Did you know?"
"Oh. Do you need something?"
Would an ordinary person be so indifferent to death...?
"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that it's best to stay with the group. You're an easy target alone," Su Cheng said.
The young man said nothing.
Su Cheng watched him and continued, "Aren't you curious what might target you?... It's a female ghost."
Su Cheng had never seen what the ghost looked like. She had naturally made up the part about it being female to bluff him.
And that bluff really did let Su Cheng notice something. Emotion stirred in the young man's previously tranquil eyes-not fear, but a complicated, indescribable pain.
That was not a reaction a normal person should have.
Su Cheng pressed her advantage. "Besides, don't you think it stinks around your seat...?"
"Enough!"
The young man cut her off coldly. His gaze suddenly sharpened, his muscles tensed, and his hands clenched into fists as though he were restraining himself. "If you don't need anything, stay away from me!"
His tone was utterly rude, and could even be called a warning.
The young man who had been aloof and melancholy all this time showed another face, becoming sharp and prickly as though she had touched his reverse scale.
Su Cheng raised her eyebrows, put on the look of someone whose kindness had gone unappreciated, and turned to leave.
She had approached the young man to find out why the ghost had chosen to attack the bald man first when the young man was clearly an easier target.
Although she still did not know the answer.
It had not been entirely fruitless.
Could the ghost killing people on the train be female?
Had the young man brought the female ghost aboard? If that was true, it would explain why she didn't attack him.
Based on the young man's abnormal behavior, Su Cheng could be certain that he, too, was a key figure in the side quest.
The main quest was to reach the station, but to do that, she had to break the train's repeating loop.
Breaking the loop would inevitably involve the side quest.
Su Cheng could not help grumbling inwardly, It's called a side quest, but just like the main quest, it has to be completed...
The middle-aged man, the woman in red, and the young man.
All were priority surveillance targets.
When Su Cheng returned to the edge of the crowd, the middle-aged man was already resting in his seat with his eyes closed.
To her surprise, the woman in red had taken a pile of talisman papers, nails, hammers, and similar things out of her bag, and was telling the other passengers what had happened when the bald man died.
"Actually, the ghost targeted me first, but because I had these things on me, it switched targets."
"The Taoist priest who gave me these said that as long as we put the talisman papers in every corner and drive Soul-Suppressing Nails into specific spots, whatever ghost is on this train will have its soul scattered!"
Su Cheng's eyelid twitched. "You've seen the ghost? What did it look like? Male or female?"
The woman spread her hands. "It was a cloud of bloody mist. There was no way to tell its gender."
That was not the answer Su Cheng had expected. She had thought the woman would say it was a female ghost.
The old woman glanced at the talisman papers the woman in red had taken out, looking doubtful. "Will these really work?"
"Of course. These are good things. If I didn't want to get off sooner, I wouldn't even bear to bring them out."
Two middle-aged women, one plump and one thin, were the first to lose patience. "Sister, why didn't you bring these out sooner? We'll all help you put up the talismans and hammer in the nails! Let's finish before we enter the next tunnel!"
The woman in red's lips curved. "Then, sorry for the trouble..."
"No!"
The middle-aged man abruptly stood up and shouted for them to stop. He stared darkly at the woman in red, scrutiny and probing undisguised in his eyes.
The woman in red showed no fear, and her smile deepened. "See, everyone? My earlier guess was right. He really is colluding with the ghost!"
The passengers who had trusted the middle-aged man all looked shocked, unable to understand why he would stop them.
Whether the talismans worked or not, he should not be stopping them!
One of the middle-aged women challenged him. "Why won't you let us help her put up the talismans?"
Several passengers presented a united front. "You'd better give us a reasonable explanation. If you're really what she says, a traitor to humanity, none of us will let you off!"
The man's expression darkened further, but he could not say a word. In this confrontation, his silence seemed like an indirect admission after being exposed.
Even Su Cheng could not understand why the man was so anxious to stop them.
There was only one reason for him to stop them: he did not want the ghost's soul scattered.
But why?
What connection did he have to the ghost...?
Author's note:
None.
Chapter 20
Faced with the passengers' questions, the middle-aged man still ignored them and stared straight at the woman in red. "Who are you? What's your surname!"
The woman casually folded a yellow talisman paper and blinked, giving her name in a slow, cheerful tone. "Xunfang. That's my name."