Chapter 196
Chapter 196
Qin Ying and the others had few options at the moment.
They could turn back to the crossroads, if the crossroads were even still there.
Or they could keep moving forward.
Black Seven and his fellow street toughs had long since lost their nerve. They were all counting on Zhao Jixian, while Zhao Jixian was still preoccupied with the secret mission Qin Ying had mentioned and was relying entirely on her.
That chain of dependence brought them to a quick consensus: they would keep going.
Qin Ying wanted to return to Carriage No. 8 and see whether Zhang Yuqin was still there.
Black Seven and the others laid the dead Skinny beside the tracks.
Their other badly injured companion was still alive. After tearing strips from the hem of his clothes for a makeshift bandage, they brought him along.
Perhaps there was courage in numbers. As they continued forward, Black Fatty answered Qin Ying’s questions much more readily. Black Fatty was another nickname for Black Seven, who was also known simply as Fatty.
It turned out that after leaving Qin Ying’s group, they had obediently returned to Carriage No. 9.
That carriage was closest to the locomotive. It was the noisiest and had the worst coal smoke and soot, but it was also the street toughs’ usual haunt.
They had boarded up the windows so they could not see outside, then huddled together to play bridge.
After its temporary stop, the train had entered Qingzhai Tunnel.
When disaster struck, they had been the first to notice.
First they heard the engineer scream. Then came a cry from the fireman shoveling coal into the boiler.
Before they could react, the bare-chested fireman stumbled into the carriage.
Train firemen worked year-round in nothing but shorts. Several creatures called Human-Faced Flesh Mass clung to his naked skin like cockleburs, each with a high-bridged nose.
Their faces might have resembled human faces, but when their mouths split open, they became like glue boards used to catch rats. Once they latched onto someone, they refused to let go and began writhing.
Within moments, they could devour a huge chunk of flesh.
Skinny must have been cursed with terrible luck. He failed to dodge in time and was knocked down by the fireman.
The creature on the fireman’s face opened its mouth and fastened itself to Skinny’s face.
Just then, perhaps the engineer up front had not yet died and managed to pull the emergency brake.
The train’s flanged wheels screeched against the rails, throwing up sparks as the violent jolt sent everyone sprawling.
A commotion erupted in the carriages behind them as well.
Amid the chaos, Fatty and the others used coal shovels to pry the creature off Skinny’s face. They then supported Skinny between them and fled forward with the panicked crowd.
At this point, Qin Ying interrupted. “Then how was the other man injured?”
Only then did Black Fatty seem to get a clear look at Qin Ying. He turned to Zhao Jixian and asked blankly, “Who is she?”
Zhao Jixian did not even know Qin Ying’s name, so he merely put on an air of inscrutable authority. “She’s been sent by the higher-ups to investigate. Don’t ask questions you have no business asking.”
“That crackling bird is her pet!”
Black Seven was instantly filled with awe. His narrow little eyes stopped roving over Qin Ying.
He answered honestly, “Our other brother was injured while we were running.”
Black Seven and his men had been terrified out of their wits in the darkness, but they had adopted the same strategy as Qin Ying’s group: follow the tracks.
They figured that as long as they kept to the rails, they would eventually find their way out.
Instead of encountering the crossroads, however, they had run into a Shadowy Figure that dropped from above.
The Shadowy Figure was taller than a man and had both a head and a tail. It did not look human at all.
Black Seven reacted quickly and fired a shot at the Shadowy Figure.
He carried the gun only to look intimidating, so he had no idea whether he had hit it. He had definitely enraged the monster, though.
Amid the shouting and chaos, one of Black Seven’s men was injured.
They kept running until they encountered Qin Ying’s group of three.
To their surprise, the bizarre Shadowy Figure had not left. It had followed them and was only driven away by the Thunderbird.
After they finished exchanging information, Black Seven pointed ahead. “That’s where we ran into that thing, right in front of the locomotive.”
Qin Ying looked over and saw two powerful beams shining through the darkness ahead.
They came from the headlights of the train that had been brought to an emergency stop.
Compared with their kerosene lamps, the two headlights were far brighter.
Yet Qin Ying felt no relief.
Approaching the train meant returning to the place where danger had struck.
“Everyone, stay alert!” Qin Ying called out before Black Seven could say it.
Annoyed that she had stolen his line, Black Seven smacked his lips.
Given the situation, however, he did not dare complain.
As they approached the locomotive and their eyes adjusted to the glare, the first things Qin Ying saw were the corpses on the ground.
They had been devoured until little more than half a bare skeleton remained of each, lying in puddles beside the tracks.
Black Seven and his men had spent years roaming the underworld in troubled times. They had seen their share of horrors.
Zhao Jixian was often on the railway and had seen people reduced to far worse messes.
Only the silent Feng Meiyu trembled uncontrollably with fear.
The sight of the puddles made Qin Ying’s head ache. She first warned the Thunderbird to be careful.
Only then did she approach cautiously.
The engineer’s body hung halfway out of the cab, every scrap of flesh stripped from it.
The flesh-eating creatures called Human-Faced Flesh Mass were nowhere to be seen.
Mustering her courage, Qin Ying made a circuit of the area, then pointed straight at Black Seven, the man they called Fatty. “You. Drag this body down.”
Fatty let out a startled “Huh?” before coming to his senses. He turned to his underlings. “You lot go drag the body down.”
The petty thugs who had just had the job passed down to them did not dare protest. One pulled off his belt, fashioned it into a noose, looped it around the mangled corpse’s neck, and dragged the body down.
Qin Ying found a clean spot and climbed into the locomotive cab.
The fire in the coal furnace had died down, leaving only a few glowing red embers.
Qin Ying fiddled with the controls for a while, then leaned out and asked Zhao Jixian, “Do you know how to drive a train?”
Zhao Jixian grimaced and shook his head.
Seeing that there was no hope there, Qin Ying turned and headed toward Carriage No. 8.
Carriage No. 9 had become a charnel house of piled corpses and blood. Stripped skeletons lay mired in slime a finger thick across the wooden floor.
Qin Ying’s scalp prickled at the sight, and she raised her guard even further.
Just as she stepped onto the gangway leading into Carriage No. 8, the Thunderbird, which had returned to her shoulder, suddenly fluffed up all its feathers.
Behind a row of seats farther inside, a Shadowy Figure was moving.