Chapter 424: The Last Train

I looked at Feng Minglong. "Can you tell me more about it?"

He hesitated for a moment and pointed at the surveillance camera overhead. "Sorry, but we have rules. We can't just share this stuff with outsiders."

"You're the station staff, and we're the passengers. If someone actually committed suicide here, how can I feel safe letting my daughter take the subway here?" I wasn't just being difficult; I was trying to pry some useful information out of him.

"Alright, but don't go running your mouth. It's really no big deal. We just keep it quiet because we don't want the station's image to be misunderstood." Feng Minglong glanced around. The evening rush hour had long passed, leaving the station mostly empty. He sat down next to me and leaned in to whisper, "It was about a week ago, on my shift. Since this is the last stop in the Northern Suburb, we usually close late. Normally, trains stop running at eleven at night, and we lock the doors at eleven-twenty. That night was a bit unusual. A man left his leather bag in the station. Yeah, just like you, he claimed he was picking someone up. He never got on a train. I'm not sure what time he came in, but he loitered until the trains stopped before finally leaving. Who'd have thought he'd come running back right before closing, claiming he left his bag behind."

"And then what?" Waiting for someone was just my excuse; unsure of what Feng Minglong was implying, I kept my face blank.

"Then he just rushed into the tunnel. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have even known there were bodies hidden deep inside." Feng Minglong seemed to recall something horrifying. His eyes darted wildly, and he had to take a deep breath to steady himself before continuing. "It was gruesome. There might have been three bodies. I didn't dare look too closely. My legs turned to jelly; after all, it was my first time seeing a dead body."

"Did you call the police?"

"Not me, it was the man looking for his bag." Feng Minglong still looked shaken. "The police took him away later. Three or four squad cars showed up that night and hauled the bodies out in blue body bags. The police eventually announced that they died from suicide."

"Do you know that strange man's name? Or was there anything distinctive about his appearance?"

"He looked ordinary. Nothing special at all." He thought for a moment before adding, "The only weird thing was how panicked he seemed. He kept muttering things like he was going to be late, and how the Buddha was summoning him."

"The Buddha? Are you sure you heard that right?" I casually pulled out a cheap cigarette, deep in thought. 'Could these alleged suicides be the work of the Two-Faced Buddha?'

"That's definitely what it sounded like." Feng Minglong politely patted my hand. "Sir, smoking isn't allowed here."

"Oh, sorry." I put the cigarette pack away. "Did anything else happen?"

"Not really. Though, if you check the surveillance footage, you'll see people have been sneaking in after the station closes lately. The cameras occasionally catch shadows, but absolutely nothing goes missing from the station. Strange, isn't it?" Feng Minglong sounded a bit exasperated. "There are a lot of silly urban legends about the subway online. I suspect some netizens are just coming here to pull pranks."

"Yeah, that's possible." I nodded and didn't press further. I had already gathered plenty of information from our chat. 'This livestream has a lot of restrictions. It looks like I need to plan carefully.'

Staring into the pitch-black tunnel, I leaned back in my chair and grabbed two newspapers from the free rack to cover my face.

"Pitiful is the world's parental heart." Feng Minglong stood up. He hadn't gone far before he called back to me, "Sir, what's your daughter's name? Maybe I can help you look for her when the train arrives."

"Thanks, but there's no need to trouble yourself."

"Passengers come first. It's the least I can do."

Feng Minglong seemed like a naturally warm-hearted person. Frowning slightly, I peeked out from behind the newspapers. "My daughter's name is Lu Feng, and I'm Lu Xing."

...

In the blink of an eye, it was ten-forty. I looked at the subway schedule; the final train would arrive in ten minutes.

Despite the long wait, I didn't show any signs of impatience. This slightly worried Feng Minglong, who had been secretly keeping an eye on me from a distance. To him, my behavior didn't resemble someone waiting to pick up their daughter. He hesitated, wanting to say something, and almost walked over several times before finally giving up. He just sat at the information desk, sipping tea and stealing glances at me every now and then.

I couldn't be bothered to put on an act for Feng Minglong. I had just made up the daughter on the spot, and the lie would be exposed sooner or later anyway.

Time ticked by. At ten forty-seven, before the train had even arrived, an announcement suddenly rang out over the speakers: "The train heading to Jiangcheng South Station is no longer in service. Passengers, please do not enter the station to wait."

"Isn't there still one last train?" I put down the newspaper. Since this involved my livestream task, I didn't dare be careless. I walked over to the information desk. "Doesn't the final train arrive at ten-fifty? Why is the broadcast saying service has stopped?"

"That's completely normal." Feng Minglong smiled. "To prevent passengers from buying tickets and missing the last train, we always announce the end of service ahead of time. We especially need to turn away passengers transferring from other lines early. Regular commuters know exactly what time the last train leaves. Though, speaking on behalf of the station, I should still give you a friendly tip: it's best not to take the final train."

"Why?" Hearing this from a station employee gave the words a completely different weight. "Are those online urban legends actually true? Is the last train really the Soul Train? Does it carry wrongfully killed spirits straight to the Underworld?"

"Uh, you're overthinking it." Feng Minglong was a bit speechless. "The wait times between trains are very long at night. By the time you transfer, some lines might already be closed. We warn people against taking the last train so they don't get stranded halfway without a ride home, which would mean we'd have to process ticket refunds."

"Oh, so that's why." I turned to look at the platform, where four or five people were still standing. "I'll leave you to your work, then."

A rumbling sound echoed from the tunnel. While Feng Minglong and I had been talking, the final train pulled into the station.

The broadcasts ceased, and the staff started putting up signs to prepare for the shutdown.

I strolled over slowly, not hesitating to expend some Pre-Heaven True Qi to activate my Judging Eye and peer inside the train. I memorized every detail of the passengers' appearances and movements. After a careful analysis, I realized they were all just ordinary people.

Under the Judging Eye, it was incredibly difficult for ghosts and monsters to maintain a disguise. I checked several times but couldn't spot a single anomaly. 'This isn't right. It's just a normal train with regular passengers. Could a train like this really head to the Two-Faced Buddha's lair?'

I glanced at the schedule nearby. The train in front of me was definitely the final run of the night in the traditional sense; getting on it seemed like it would fulfill my livestream task.

'No, something must be wrong.' It wasn't even eleven o'clock yet, and the livestream hadn't started. The train I needed to board shouldn't be this one.

The wealth of experience I'd accumulated from multiple livestreams told me to be patient and keep waiting. Taking out my phone, I used the screen's reflection to clearly see Feng Minglong staring intently at me from the information desk. Too many strange things had happened at the station recently, and my unusual behavior had already caught his attention.

'Should I get on, get off at the next stop, and then circle back here?' Just as I was hesitating, my phone suddenly rang. Looking at the caller ID, I saw it was actually Tie Ningxiang.

"Senior, why are you calling me this late at night?"

"Do you still remember that body we found in the Central Hospital Mortuary?" Tie Ningxiang's voice came through the receiver. She sounded grim; it definitely wasn't good news.

"I remember. What's wrong? Did you catch the killer?" My livestream was about to start, so I couldn't go running around tonight. No matter what Tie Ningxiang said, I was going to turn her down.

"A new victim has turned up. It's the exact same method of murder: the stomach was ripped open, as if the killer had animal claws."

"Senior, I'm a bit tied up right now. Can we talk about this in the morning?"

"The victim lived right next door to your Adult Shop! The body had been dragged. I suspect the person the killer actually wants to murder is you!"