Chapter 191
Chapter 191
These thugs were not to be trifled with. Back in the day, men like them practically ran the trains, even monopolizing petty businesses like selling sunflower seeds and peanuts.
It sounded absurd, but for a certain period of history, such things had genuinely existed.
Of course, those were only their smaller operations. These thugs would do anything that made money.
Human trafficking, smuggling, theft, extortion; the list went on.
On this one little train, every manner of crook, lowlife, and monster could be found.
A brutal environment bred brutal people, and their methods were vicious.
People like this had once operated in the Old City District where Qin Ying lived. They had only been wiped out after the anti-gang campaigns.
From what the thug had shouted, the young girl had crossed the line into their turf to sell edamame.
It might have seemed like a minor offense, but if they caught this adolescent girl, her fate would undoubtedly be horrific.
Qin Ying glanced around. The narrow passage connecting the carriages left no room to avoid them.
She had no faith that these men would behave themselves and leave her alone.
That meant she had no choice but to deal with them.
Qin Ying gave one shoulder a quick twitch, signaling Thunderbird to get ready.
To her surprise, someone grabbed her hand. The girl, who had already run halfway down the passage, had doubled back for her.
Qin Ying could feel the warmth of her palm and the faint sheen of sweat on it.
It felt just like a living person’s hand.
In that moment of hesitation, the girl pulled her along and ran into the next carriage.
The various stenches grew even stronger inside the packed carriage.
Still holding Qin Ying’s hand, the girl bounded through the crowd as if she were doing parkour.
Some passengers stared at them in surprise, while others ignored them completely.
When they passed Zhang Yuqin’s seat, Qin Ying deliberately slowed down.
Compared with the act Zhang Yuqin had put on earlier to deceive her, she now looked unmistakably abnormal. Black markings crawled across her plaster-white face.
Her entire body looked like porcelain that had been shattered and pieced back together.
The draft from their passing stirred the hem of her clothes. She sat with both hands resting on her knees, completely ignoring Qin Ying.
“Catch her! Catch her!”
The thugs’ shouts rang out behind them. They shoved and stumbled their way through the crowd in pursuit.
Qin Ying followed the girl through the carriage. The sensation beneath her feet suddenly changed as she stepped onto a somewhat dirty red-and-gold velvet carpet.
Unlike the hard-seat carriage, this area was lavishly decorated, with walnut partitions dividing it into one private compartment after another.
The thugs no longer dared to yell so brazenly, and their pace slowed considerably.
“That’s strange. Why didn’t anyone stop us?”
Only then did the girl slow down and look around in confusion.
Generally speaking, a luxurious compartment section like this would be located far from the locomotive, in a relatively quiet and comfortable part of the train.
Train attendants would stand guard at the connections between carriages to prevent riffraff from slipping in and disturbing the distinguished passengers here.
Yet no one had stopped them today, which was why the girl found it so strange.
Her gaze soon fell on Qin Ying, and realization dawned.
Qin Ying’s appearance and attire would have been highly unusual in the era to which this train belonged.
Compared with the chaotic third-class carriage, she seemed far more at home here.
The girl hurriedly released her hand. “I’m sorry.”
Qin Ying shook her head and looked at the number on the compartment to her right.
She took out the ticket she had received upon boarding and examined it.
The ticket was handwritten in traditional characters and stamped with a red seal. It read:
Express No. 37
Eighth Day of the Leap Seventh Month, Third Year of Ruixi
From Yunlan Prefecture Station to Zhang Prefecture Station
Third-Class Passenger Ticket, Carriage No. 9
Fare: 2 silver dollars and 7 jiao
Ticket No.: Yun Series, No. 804
It also bore notices such as: “Ticket Required for Boarding,” “Additional Fare Charged for Travel Beyond Destination,” and “No Replacement if Lost.”
When Qin Ying had boarded with that ticket, she had made a point of checking: the carriage she entered was Carriage No. 9.
She had met the young girl at the junction between Carriage No. 9 and Carriage No. 8, then followed her through Carriage No. 8.
Logically, they should now have been standing in Carriage No. 7.
Yet the gilded lettering on the walnut panel of the carriage to their right clearly read: Carriage No. 2.
Qin Ying looked back again. Behind her was still the same chaotic Carriage No. 8. From where she stood, she could even see Zhang Yuqin’s coiled bun.
She could also see the hooligans in the distance, cursing up a storm.
Yet not a single person seemed to think anything was amiss.
Qin Ying took out her phone and checked it again.
The date on the screen continued to flicker as if possessed, jumping back and forth between 2025 and the Third Year of Ruixi, or 1910.
Had she boarded a train from more than a century ago?
Seeing the change in her expression, the young girl with the basket of green soybeans looped over her arm assumed she had offended Qin Ying and grew even more apprehensive.
She said softly, “I’ll leave right away.”
But the moment she took a step, Qin Ying placed a hand on her shoulder. “Wait. I have some questions for you.”
Before the girl could answer, a voice shouted, “Black Seven! What are you lot doing?”
It was the conductor who had inspected Qin Ying’s ticket.
A train was a miniature society unto itself, with its own pecking order. No matter how unruly the hooligans were, they generally knew better than to offend a conductor.
The men watching from Carriage No. 8 immediately changed their tune, plastering ingratiating smiles across their faces.
The conductor, who held a brass handbell, glared at them. “Are you blind? Chasing after just anyone like that!”
“Aren’t you afraid of bringing trouble down on your own heads?”
Fatty, who had led the pursuit, froze before replying awkwardly, “That brat crossed into our territory to sell green soybeans, and she wouldn’t pay the protection money.”
“How could some girl selling green soybeans bring trouble down on us?”
The conductor’s neck bulged with fury. Lowering his voice, he hissed, “Are you all blind?”
“What about the person beside the girl?”
“One look at her clothes and you can tell she’s a rich young lady who’s just returned from overseas. She only came to third class for a bit of amusement. You’d better not provoke her.”
After saying his piece, the conductor was certain that would be enough to convince those bastards.
To his surprise, the hooligans merely exchanged glances, none of them saying a word.
Only the quick-tongued Skinny muttered under his breath, “But there’s no one beside that girl.”
The vestibule was too noisy, and the conductor failed to hear him.
He waved them off as though shooing flies. “Go on, get back to your own place. We’ll be entering Qingzhai Tunnel soon. Aren’t you scared?”
The words Qingzhai Tunnel seemed to strike the gang’s Achilles’ heel.
All their expressions changed.
Fatty forced a laugh. “Of course we’re scared. Maybe it’s because Ghost Festival is getting close, but things have been getting spookier and spookier.”
The conductor did not want to hear such ominous talk and snapped, “Get lost, all of you. Keep out of trouble for a while.”
After driving the hooligans away, the conductor walked over to Qin Ying and the girl.
He gave Qin Ying another careful once-over, taking in her clothes, which looked nothing like the long gowns or jacket-and-skirt outfits he knew, and her long legs clad in trousers.
He clicked his tongue inwardly. Someone who had returned from overseas really was different. She was certainly daring.
He smiled at Qin Ying and started to offer a traditional clasped-fist salute, only to decide that was inappropriate and switch to raising a hand in greeting instead. Even so, he bent deeply at the waist.
“Good day, miss. Where might you be headed?”
His accent was thick, and his sallow face gleamed with oil.
Qin Ying curved her lips slightly. “Zhang Prefecture.”
“I heard strange things have been happening along this stretch of track lately, so I came to look into them.”