Chapter 194
Chapter 194
The face pressed against the train window had all its features squashed together, its boneless-looking nose flattened against the glass.
Qin Ying’s first thought was of a blobfish hauled up from the deep sea.
The kind of huge-headed monster fish that lived in dark ocean trenches, as though nature had slapped its face together at random, eyes and all, before coating the whole thing in sticky slime.
She was closest to the window. Even as her thoughts wandered, her body instinctively took a step back.
Behind her, Zhao Jixian and Feng Meiyu didn’t have eyesight as sharp as hers.
In the wavering light of the kerosene lamp, it took them another two breaths to realize there was something on the window.
They screamed one after the other.
Like a chain reaction, gasps and shrieks began erupting throughout the carriage.
Against the pitch-black window, the pale, grotesque face slid wetly downward. The three of them could almost imagine the squeak of a wet hand dragging across the glass.
The Thunderbird stood on Qin Ying’s shoulder, the feathers behind its crest standing on end.
Despite the language barrier, Qin Ying understood the urgency in the Thunderbird’s cries.
There was danger.
Qin Ying snapped back to her senses. Whatever was wrong with her wiring, the part that made her calmer the worse things got, kicked in.
Expressionless, she yanked the red velvet curtain shut, hiding the face from view again.
With her other hand, she grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulders.
It contained the food she had prepared, a basic first-aid kit, and an emergency blanket to ward off hypothermia.
She fastened the waist strap, stepped right onto the compartment seat without the slightest concern for manners, and reached for the kerosene lamp overhead.
At the same time, she called out, “Don’t panic. We’ll retreat to Carriage No. 1 first.”
Zhao Jixian had mentioned earlier that the rear car coupled behind Carriage No. 2 was Carriage No. 1.
If the worst happened, they could jump from the rear carriage and escape.
Before she had even finished speaking, a long, piercing screech rang out.
The carriage pitched sharply forward as the train slammed on its emergency brakes and ground to a halt.
Standing on the seat as she reached for the kerosene lamp, Qin Ying lost her balance and nearly plunged headfirst to the floor.
At that critical moment, a silver metallic tendril suddenly shot from her right sleeve at blinding speed.
One end buried itself deep in the carriage’s walnut ceiling. Though no thicker than two strands of hair, it held Qin Ying dangling from the ceiling like a slab of cured meat hanging from a hook.
After swinging twice, Qin Ying planted one foot on the opposite seat and steadied herself. The silver filament quietly withdrew into her sleeve, its heroic deed destined to go unsung.
No one had noticed a thing.
Glancing around in panic, Zhao Jixian and Feng Meiyu only saw Qin Ying teeter on tiptoe like an acrobat before somehow regaining her balance.
Zhao Jixian had instinctively reached out to catch her. Now, his eyes shone with wonder.
He blurted out, “With skills like that, could you be the Great Detective mentioned in the newspapers?”
In 1896, Shiwu Bao began serializing tales of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.
By the Third Year of Ruixi, or 1910, the stories had already become household classics.
Zhao Jixian was clearly a detective enthusiast, though his imagination had a tendency to run wild.
Qin Ying didn’t answer. Holding the kerosene lamp, she jumped down from the seat and turned to regard the two of them with a look of absolute resolve.
“Since you’ve seen through me, there’s no point pretending anymore.”
“We are currently facing a major crisis. I need you to follow my orders and assist me!”
Her spur-of-the-moment performance completely fooled Zhao Jixian. He gave her a salute worthy of the Young Pioneers, his expression as resolute as if he were about to lay down his life for his country.
“We’ll do exactly as you say. Just give the order!”
When Feng Meiyu failed to react, he even nudged her shoulder from behind.
“Yes!” Feng Meiyu had no idea what was going on, but she hastily followed his example. “Just tell us what to do.”
“Excellent.” Qin Ying raised the kerosene lamp and tried to brighten it, only to realize she had no idea how. She casually shoved it into Zhao Jixian’s hands. “Turn it up. We’re leaving.”
Zhao Jixian was far too excited to wonder why a Great Detective carrying out a secret mission didn’t even know how to adjust a lamp.
He did as instructed, then followed behind Qin Ying.
“Protect this young lady. The younger generation are the nation’s flowers and future pillars.”
Before pulling open the compartment door, Qin Ying spouted this nonsense, having gotten a little too immersed in her role.
Zhao Jixian’s eyes shone even brighter. He gazed at Qin Ying with admiration as he reached out and pulled Feng Meiyu along.
Clatter.
The sound of the carriage door sliding open rang especially loud in the night.
For some reason, everything outside had gone quiet. It was pitch-black, without a single glimmer of light.
When the compartment door opened, the dim yellow glow of a kerosene lamp finally spilled out.
Qin Ying poked her head out and glanced both ways, then turned and beckoned for Zhao Jixian and Feng Meiyu to follow.
They were already in the rear compartment of the second carriage. All they had to do was reach the connection between the carriages and open the closed door to enter Carriage No. 1-provided nothing went wrong.
The carriage corridor was shrouded in darkness. Qin Ying held their only kerosene lamp and brought up the rear.
Zhao Jixian led the way, with Feng Meiyu in the middle.
In the deathly silence, the only sounds were their breathing.
They made their way warily to the door of Carriage No. 1. Qin Ying had just begun to relax when Zhao Jixian let out a frustrated groan.
Qin Ying had been guarding not only against the unknown danger outside, but also against the other two. The cry made every hair on her body stand on end. Once she collected herself, she heard Zhao Jixian say, “I don’t have the carriage Key.”
This was the rearmost carriage, used mainly for storing odds and ends, and the conductor kept the Key.
With only a single door barring their way, Zhao Jixian was about to stamp his foot and sigh when Qin Ying shouldered him aside.
Not having the Key was no great problem. Startling everyone like that was.
“Keep an eye on the corridor behind us.”
Qin Ying leaned her back against the door and reached her right hand toward it.
Keeping her eyes on Zhao Jixian and Feng Meiyu, she had Di Shang devour the lock cylinder.
With Di Shang around, there was no such thing as an iron lock that could not be opened.
Before long, the door silently opened a crack.
Zhao Jixian had no idea how Qin Ying had opened it with her hand behind her back and no tools. Delighted, he was just about to shower her with praise when the Thunderbird flying above them suddenly let out a piercing screech.
Two violet-blue arcs of electricity flashed through the darkness.
Zhao Jixian’s hair stood on end, and a prickling numbness spread across his face.
When he focused again, Qin Ying had already entered Carriage No. 1 and sent something flying with a kick.
Something crashed into the clutter in the distance.
The flame inside the kerosene lamp flickered twice before Qin Ying steadied herself.
Gritting her teeth, she whispered so softly that only she could hear, “Thunderbird, ease up on the voltage.”
It had helped her fend off an enemy, but it had also nearly electrocuted her.
She had no desire to experience the sensation of electricity crawling across her skin a second time.
The Thunderbird gave two aggrieved chirps and landed on Qin Ying’s shoulder.
Qin Ying walked over to the scattered junk. Amid coal dust and broken wooden crates lay an indescribable lump of bloody flesh.
She nudged it with the toe of her hiking boot.
With a sticky squelch, she rolled the charred mass over.
The thing was coated in blood and yellowish mucus and was about the size of a basketball.
It had a nose and eyes. On closer inspection, its nose was enormous, with a surprisingly high, straight bridge.
It was the very thing that had been plastered against the carriage window earlier.
Zhao Jixian, who had followed her in, saw it by the kerosene lamp’s glow and exclaimed, “What is that thing?”
Feng Meiyu had a more vivid imagination. Hugging the basket of edamame she had kept tightly hooked over her arm, she stammered, “It’s… it’s a vengeful spirit from the mountains.”
Even Qin Ying felt a chill when she heard that.
Still, she had to keep up a brave front.
Maintaining a calm expression, Qin Ying said, “It’s nothing to be afraid of.”
She glanced around, intending to find something she could use to wrap the thing up and take it with them.
But when she saw that the sticky mucus coating it had scorched a mark into the red-and-gold carpet, she knew there was no way they could bring it along.
She continued forward until she reached the door at the far end of the carriage, then once again had Di Shang devour the lock cylinder.
The instant the door opened, a damp, fishy wind rushed into her face.
The lone lamp in Qin Ying’s hand illuminated only the space within arm’s reach.
The tunnel before them stretched far into the distance, like a gigantic maw waiting to swallow the living.
The wind swept through the tunnel, magnified by the arched ceiling until it sounded like the breathing of a Monstrous Beast.