Chapter 26 The Four Seasons Train (3) p2
Ghosts, especially vengeful ghosts, were often driven by malice and obsession. As Zhu Ming had said, they knew none of them would back down easily.
The little girl crunched on her lollipop. When the male university student ghost clutched his stomach and doubled over in pain, she extended her claws and slashed at his chest and abdomen. He screamed and scrambled back, desperate to reach the bathroom!
The little girl giggled. No one knew the effects of her candy better than she did. It worked on everyone, not just Awakened, but other ghosts as well. Of course, they all knew each other’s tricks and wouldn’t eat anything offered by another ghost. They had that annoying big sister to thank for that.
“You think you can compete with me in your current state? Get lost!”
The pigtailed ghost, her mouth filled with sharp teeth, knew the consequences of the candy, yet she had chosen to take the risk. She wasn’t about to be intimidated by a few words.
While the little girl was gloating, she lunged forward, tackling her and rolling on the floor.
They grappled fiercely.
They were both ghosts, their fighting styles similar. The little girl, having been Awakened in life, retained her abilities after death, but she was young and inexperienced, no match for the pigtailed ghost’s cunning. Neither could gain the upper hand.
The intelligent, beautiful wife ghost looked anything but intelligent or beautiful now. Her face, like her husband’s, was covered in cracks. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Zhu Ming had moved to the seat closest to the door and was watching the fight with amusement, one leg crossed over the other.
The wife ghost quickly said, “Stop fighting! We’ll miss our chance! She’s not as easy to deal with as you think! Let’s kill her first, then we can discuss who gets the ticket!”
She had a point.
The little girl and the pigtailed ghost glared at each other, then released their holds, their bodies covered in wounds. Several pairs of sinister eyes turned to Zhu Ming.
Even without eyes, the little ghost glared at her. “You’re so mean, big sister! Trying to turn us against each other!”
Zhu Ming was even meaner. “What are you talking about? Don’t you enjoy a good dogfight?”
Enraged, the ghosts, already filled with resentment, needed no further encouragement. They lunged at Zhu Ming.
Zhu Ming, who had been pretending to be injured, stood up. “Sitting for so long makes my legs stiff. Time to stretch.”
The family of three surrounded her, the pigtailed ghost attacking her legs, while the two male university student ghosts… well, they were too busy running to the bathroom to care about killing anyone.
Zhu Ming cracked her knuckles. Without her crowbar, ranged attacks were inconvenient. But that was fine…
Under the dim lights, the woman in black moved with feline agility. She grabbed a luggage rack, arched her back, and sprang into the air, twisting her body mid-jump to land precisely behind one of the ghosts. Quick as a flash, she grabbed their heads, one in each hand, and slammed them together.
Crack! The two adult ghosts slumped to the floor, a searing pain shooting through their skulls. The Yang energy radiating from this woman was terrifyingly intense!
They landed on top of the pigtailed ghost. The little ghost, who had missed Zhu Ming and crashed into the window, bounced back and lunged at her face.
Zhu Ming landed on the pile of three ghosts, her knees pinning them down. Instead of dodging, she reached out and grabbed the little ghost’s clawed hands.
The little ghost froze, experiencing this for the first time in her ghostly existence.
Zhu Ming smiled. “Don’t worry, I don’t have that kind of fetish.”
With a swift twist of her wrists, she bent the little ghost’s claws backwards!
A sharp cry of pain. Black smoke rose from where the little ghost touched Zhu Ming, and the sizzling sound of burning flesh filled the air. The little ghost frantically swiped at Zhu Ming with her other hand. But Zhu Ming caught it, twisted her wrist, and directed the ten sharp claws towards the ghost beneath her feet.
The husband ghost, caught in the crossfire: “ARGH!!!”
The claws pierced his back, right through his ghostly heart. Black smoke billowed from the wounds and the points of contact with Zhu Ming. His face contorted in agony, burns and claw marks appearing on his translucent body as if he were still human, black and red blood oozing onto the floor. He died instantly.
Zhu Ming’s knees relaxed, and she kicked the husband ghost’s body aside, still holding the little ghost’s hand.
The little ghost, terrified, seeing her mother next, thrashed wildly, trying to pull away.
Her claws were sharp and slippery. Zhu Ming lost her grip. Just as she was about to grab the little ghost again, she heard a creaking sound.
She turned to see the doors at both ends of the carriage swinging open. All the carriage doors, simultaneously, opened.
Zhu Ming blinked, looking from one end of the train to the other.
Carriage 17 in front, carriage 19 behind, both empty of ghosts.
A participant stumbled into carriage 17. She had come from carriage 16. The ghost pursuing her hadn’t crossed over, remaining at the doorway of 16, glaring at her.
Through the open doors, Zhu Ming saw blood splattered across the floor of carriage 20. The occupant was likely dead. There was movement in the carriages further down the train, but she couldn’t see clearly.
Zhu Ming wondered if she should switch carriages.
Beneath her knees, the wife ghost was now sizzling and screaming, though she hadn’t dissipated yet.
A sharp pain in her ankle. Zhu Ming looked down to see the pigtailed ghost, having crawled out from under the wife ghost, biting her ferociously.
Zhu Ming raised an eyebrow. A moment later, the blood dripping from her ankle landed on the wife ghost, burning holes in her translucent flesh. At the same time, the pigtailed ghost lost all her beautiful, sharp teeth.
The pigtailed ghost: “…”
While Zhu Ming wasn’t looking, the little ghost grabbed her mother’s arm and tried to pull her away. At the same time, Zhu Ming noticed that the doors, which had been open for less than a minute, were slowly closing!
Zhu Ming pressed her hand against the back of the wife ghost’s head, channeling a surge of Yang energy, a small flame igniting. A soft poof sounded as the wife ghost’s eyes, ears, and nose began to bleed. She went still.
Having wasted time watching the fight, she didn’t have time to deal with the remaining ghosts. Zhu Ming lunged towards carriage 17, just making it through the closing door.
The little ghost, having witnessed both her parents die, bristled with rage, her form distorting as she clawed at the closing door between carriages 17 and 18, screaming. Even though the door wasn’t completely closed, an invisible barrier prevented her from entering carriage 17.
Zhu Ming narrowed her eyes. “Want to join your parents? I’ll help you.”
She stepped forward to finish off the little ghost, but found herself blocked by the same invisible barrier. She couldn’t go back.
Unable to perform her act of kindness, Zhu Ming felt a twinge of regret.
She turned to see a young woman looking at her warily. “Hello, I’m a participant. Are you too?”
Zhu Ming nodded, showing her invitation.
The girl’s expression relaxed slightly, though she still seemed apprehensive. She said, trying to be friendly, “You’re so strong! Is your ability attack-based? Those ghosts couldn’t even touch you. You’ll definitely complete this instance.”
Zhu Ming blinked. “What about you? What’s your ability?”
The girl replied, “Speed enhancement.”
That’s how she had managed to evade the ghosts so far, by kiting them.
“That’s pretty good too,” Zhu Ming said politely, then sat down to rest. Although she had destroyed the pigtailed ghost’s teeth, the sharp fangs had left deep wounds on her ankle.
The girl sat in one of the empty seats across from her and introduced herself. “Because I’m fast, my friends call me ‘Speedy Gonzales,’ which I think is awful. I asked them to call me ‘Leggy Goddess’ instead, but they said that was false advertising. So they just call me ‘Legs.’ You can call me that too.”
Zhu Ming asked, “Do you want to team up?”
Legs nodded eagerly. “The instance has just begun. I’m not much of a fighter, but I might be useful later.” Fighting wasn’t her forte, but running was.
Zhu Ming said, “I’m Zhu Ming. Teaming up is fine, but I have a companion in this instance. I need to find her.”
Legs replied without hesitation, “These carriages are all the same. I’ll go with you.”
“Can you tell me what happened to your finger?”
Legs’ face paled, and she held up her left pinky finger, the flesh torn and bloody, the nail missing.
If it had been injured by a ghost during the “night,” the injury wouldn’t be limited to just her pinky finger.
“I traded my fingernail for food coupons,” Legs said. “What did you trade? You don’t seem to be missing anything. Don’t tell me you traded your train ticket! You didn’t, did you? That looks important!”
Zhu Ming stared at her, stunned. “I didn’t trade it. I’ve just realized… you can’t judge a book by its cover. Or a person by their apparent timidity.”
She would never have guessed Legs, who seemed so timid, would be so ruthless towards herself.
Just as they finished speaking, the dim lights above began to flicker again. They stopped talking, their eyes scanning their surroundings warily.
Zhu Ming leaned on the table and looked out the window. A bright, almost blinding white light was approaching the front of the train. They were about to exit the tunnel!
As they burst out of the white light, the scenery outside abruptly changed from absolute darkness to a lush summer landscape. The temperature inside the carriage also rose sharply.
At the same time, the sounds of chatter and activity filled the air. The people who had disappeared during the “night” reappeared.
Sitting beside Legs were three tall, dark-skinned men in ragged clothes and straw sandals. Beside Zhu Ming were three men in traditional Chinese jackets with long braids, chatting and laughing.
Interesting. The people in this carriage seemed to be dressed in rather old-fashioned clothes.
Perhaps due to some lingering Qing dynasty customs, the men and women were seated separately, even in death adhering to social norms, a testament to the deep-rooted influence of societal expectations.
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