Chapitre 4: 4. Corpse Demon Train
The sleeper compartments are in the form of cubicles, with each cubicle containing four beds.
Apart from me, the other three beds were occupied by a family, who seemed to span three generations from their conversation.
The elderly person had a pallid complexion and hadn't made a sound since lying down in the lower bunk, just dozing fitfully, looking as if they'd been contaminated by some dirty substance, their spirit and soul not fully intact.
However, many seriously ill elders look this way, tormented by their illnesses to the point of a scattered spirit and soul, so it wasn't anything particularly unusual.
The middle-aged man's expression was always very stern, appearing somewhat restless, sitting there wiping the elder's face one moment and pacing by the door the next.
But the child was quite cute, plump, and very polite, not shy around strangers.
When eating potato chips, they even remembered to offer me a couple.
"Sister! Eat! Eat…"
Accepting the potato chips from the chubby little hands and seeing the child's gleaming, oily smile, some of the sorrow in my heart was washed away.
Feeling peckish from the potato chips…
My stomach began to rumble, and I opened the bundle my grandmother had prepared for me to find quite a revelation upon opening it.
An Immortal-binding Rope glinting with golden light, woven with gold thread and Snake Slough; the Snake Slough alone looked to be at least 500 years old considering its rich hue.
The vigorous tree peony in my grandmother's courtyard also seemed too young; it looked like my grandmother had got this good item from elsewhere.
Besides the Immortal-binding Rope, there was also a Peach Wood Sword, a piece of jade, and a Wolf Fang.
The Peach Wood Sword was the most precious item in my grandmother's possession, smooth and lustrous, engraved with talismans of stars, the sun, and the moon—short in length but a perfect fit in the hand.
When we first got it, I had nagged her for a long time, wanting to play with it, but my grandmother really couldn't bear to part with it, fearing I'd ruin it due to my young age.
But now, she still prepared it to protect me on my journey.
This Wolf Fang was unfamiliar to me—it looked so new, and it seemed like there were still traces of blood at the base…
She couldn't have pulled this from the teeth of a celestial wolf, could she…
My grandmother did indeed accept a couple of younger celestial wolves recently. I was already imagining her in a dentist's outfit, pulling teeth from a celestial wolf.
I was somewhat helpless at my own bizarre imagination; how could my respectful and kind-hearted grandmother engage in pulling teeth from a celestial wolf…
After putting on the Wolf Fang bracelet, Xiao Hei whispered:
"This tooth was pulled not long ago. If your grandma didn't snatch it, then she begged for it. It'll need to be repaid in the future, so you'd better do more good deeds; otherwise, after your grandmother passes, you'll be repaying it for a long while."
"Mhm! I will!"
The last item I held in my hands was that piece of jade, a family heirloom that I recognized, which had always been buried under the big locust tree at my house…
It seemed that my grandmother had been busy paving the way for me while I slept last night, wishing to ensure my safety.
The activated evil-repelling jade that Di Ma provided was always Ancient Jade, which could protect the home when buried in the ground and increase one's abilities when carried on the person.
Ancient Jade comes in two types…
One is Yang Jade, which has a known origin, mostly passed down through families or bestowed by emperors in ancient times.
The other is Yin Jade, which refers to jade with unknown origins. The risk with such jade is higher, often coming from tombs, and it may wear down one's own fortune.
At the very bottom of the bundle, I found the sour cabbage-filled buns my grandmother had packed, a whole box of eight or nine!
Taking one out, I saw it was still warm and quickly took a couple of bites. The juice filled and spread throughout my mouth, a truly satisfying experience!
The scent of sour cabbage-filled buns wafted throughout the compartment, with people outside even asking where the delicious aroma was coming from.
Seeing the child watching my bun with longing eyes and drool dripping to his chin, I reciprocated by giving him a bun as well.
"Thank you! Thank you, sister!"
The child thanked me and then started eating eagerly.
The middle-aged man kept tending to the elder throughout the journey, and upon seeing his son enjoying the food, he simply nodded at me to express his thanks.
After four or five hours of travel, night fell, and everyone in the family except for the middle-aged man, including the elder and the child, had fallen asleep.
Having slept too much the previous night, I wasn't very sleepy today, so I lay in bed playing with my phone and watching videos…
But for some reason, the more I watched, the colder I felt.
My whole body was like it was in an ice cellar, so cold that my hands began to stiffen, and as I watched a video of a chubby Corgi wagging its butt, I stopped scrolling.
Looking down, the carriage was filled with a blood-red mist.
This was a blood mist, invisible to ordinary people.
"Master... this..."
At this moment, Master was extremely nervous, shaking inside the bottle. Hearing me, he whispered a reminder:
"This is a vengeful ghost claiming lives! Lie down quickly and don't move. You, with your enlightened senses, are the easiest to be possessed. This ghost has profound cultivation, and I'm no match for it."
I've always been one to heed advice since I was young, so I immediately covered myself with the blanket and then slowly sensed the position of the malevolent entity.
At first, I thought that with such a vast blood mist, it must be a very powerful female ghost, probably with great grievances, and she would leave after her vengeance was satisfied.
But now I realized that wasn't the case...
It wasn't just one evil entity; it was a group.
This blew my mind. What the hell, was there a zombie outbreak happening? There had to be at least two to three hundred of these evil entities! Could such a situation still exist in the world today?
This was not an ordinary vengeful ghost claiming lives!
If these malevolent beings frequently roamed, they would undoubtedly cause trouble, yet I don't recall any recent news about incidents related to trains.
Even if there wasn't any news coverage, with the current development of short video platforms, one should be able to stumble upon it.
I took out my phone to look; there was no signal.
Looking outside the window, the sky was a sheet of blood-red, with many wisps of souls drifting aimlessly.
There was only one possibility at the moment.
This train at a specific time… had entered a particular space, just like a tunnel.
If the train was moving, it would definitely exit this special space.
I wasn't panicked, armed with the Wolf Fang on my wrist and my Ancient Jade to protect my home. As long as I didn't move, I should not be detected.
The train stopped at some point...
"Weeping Tree Village is here... those who need to get off, hurry up..."
A cold voice echoed. The train attendant, like a robot, walked while repeating this phrase, as if possessed.
Many passengers were asking about this stop, having never heard of Weeping Tree Village.
The scent of blood in the air grew stronger, and the sound of high heels and leather shoes walking could be heard.
Clack, clack, clack.
The malevolent entities had arrived.
"Hurry... eat up... get off..."
"Shut up... stop babbling..."
These two voices were hoarse, as if their vocal cords had been scorched... Soon, screams could be heard from around.
The train began to move slowly again...
The door to the sleeper compartment could be closed. The panicked middle-aged man ran back to the entrance and locked the door.
It looked like things had gotten chaotic outside...
I originally didn't want to meddle in others' business, and if I just lay still, I wouldn't have any problems! If I held my breath properly, even these evil entities might not notice me...
But seeing the bloody mess of a malevolent ghost pounce toward the door, scaring the little chubby kid into crying, I still sat up.
Damn it.
I leaped out of bed, pressing the Peach Wood Sword to the door, emitting a glow that repelled the evil entity. They seemed afraid upon seeing the Peach Wood Sword but still attempted to pounce. Sensing again, I realized all the evil beings were converging towards this place...
With the Peach Wood Sword's blessing, evil entities should detour...
Why were they attracted?
Suddenly, as if realizing something, I turned to see the elderly person who had been lying there had passed away at some point.
"How did this old person... Are you a Corpse Chaser?"
"Who are you... how do you know..."
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone