Chapter 436: Right Before Death

The blind old woman said a lot. Lu Wenchang and his wife listened as though it were just a story, but I treated it as crucial inside information.

'Land God Temple, Yellow Springs Road, Hometown-Viewing Terrace, Vicious Dog Ridge, Golden Rooster Mountain, Wild Ghost Village. People get on and off at these six stations, which should be the key to my escape.' Just hearing the names made them sound like ghostly realms of the netherworld. Coupled with what the old woman had said earlier, I felt a chill. 'Could the final destination of this train be the Underworld?'

I wasn't curious about the truth, nor did I have the courage to explore its mysteries. I just wanted to survive.

'The first station that allows passengers to disembark is the Land God Temple. That name actually sounds somewhat acceptable.' I stroked my chin, pondering silently. Delaying would only invite trouble; the longer I dragged this out, the lower my chances of survival. This first station—the Land God Temple—was absolutely crucial to me.

"Old lady, how many stops are left until this Land God Temple you mentioned?"

I asked. Her milky-white eyes rolled toward my voice as she weighed my tone. Before long, a faint smile appeared on her face. "You're a smart young man, and your ambitions aren't small. But I'll still offer you a word of advice: life and death are decreed by fate, and that cannot be defied."

Age breeds cunning. Just from my tone and my question, the old woman had roughly guessed my intentions. She realized I wasn't resigned to dying here and wanted to use the Land God Temple to escape the train and evade death.

"You're right, old lady. I was just asking." I gave a sheepish chuckle and said brazenly, "It's fate that we met. The journey is long and rather boring. Do you have any other stories, old lady? I'm quite curious."

"There are no more stories. All that's left in my heart now are regrets. If someone could help me fulfill these wishes, I wouldn't mind offering them a few extra pointers."

Her words carried a hidden meaning. I caught on immediately and hurried to say, "If you have any wishes, old lady, please tell me. As long as it's within my power, I will absolutely help you see them through."

In truth, our conversation was easy to understand. We both knew the perilous situation we were in. The old woman knew I wanted to escape the train. She neither stopped me nor explicitly pointed it out; she just tactfully expressed that she had unfulfilled wishes.

The implication was obvious: as long as I promised to help her fulfill her dying wishes, she would lend a hand to help me escape.

"My surname is Wen, and my given name is Shuang. After today, I'll be exactly ninety-nine. Honestly, I've lived long enough, but I still harbor some attachments to this bustling world. Looking back now, my heart is full of unfulfilled regrets." The blind old woman rested both hands on her knees. Her eyes were completely white, yet she gave off the impression of someone who had seen through all vanity. "Dust to dust, earth to earth. That's just how a person's life goes. I just have this unwillingness in my heart. My eldest son passed away before me, and his children had a bitter falling out with the main family over the inheritance. I haven't seen them in a long time. If you have the heart to help me, young man, I hope you can give this to my grandson."

The old woman fished an ancient Brocade Bag out of her pocket. A winter chrysanthemum was embroidered at the opening.

"Don't worry, old lady. As long as I can smoothly get off this train, I will definitely deliver this!" I pledged solemnly, though my words contained a prerequisite—that I could successfully disembark.

"You're young, but you've got quite the scheming mind. Take it. When we reach the Land God Temple, I will notify you in advance." The old woman handed the Brocade Bag to me. "I just thought it was a pity for someone as young as you to die, which is why I'm doing my best to help."

Overjoyed, I took the Brocade Bag and hastily thanked her.

My conversation with the blind old woman left the people around us utterly baffled. However, I was more than happy to play dumb. The fewer people who knew about my plan to secretly disembark, the easier it would be to pull off.

Old Lady Wen Shuang, who possessed valuable experience riding this train, was willing to help me. This was good news.

Feeling a bit more confident, I turned my attention back to the disabled passengers. They were from the Shuangfo District, and most of them were believers of the Two-Faced Buddha. If I could figure out why they had boarded this train, it would be a huge help in deciphering the Double-Faced Buddha Plan.

The Two-Faced Buddha had always been cloaked in mystery. Traces of his existence could be seen everywhere, but I had never seen his true face. Even the title "Two-Faced Buddha" was just a name I had given him on my own. I had no idea what his real name was.

'Lu Xing is just a pawn in the Buddha's hands. The relationship between them is much like the one between me and the Underworld Live Show. The fact that I could replace Lu Xing to board this train and mix in with these disabled passengers—getting as close to the Double-Faced Buddha Plan as possible—is an incredibly rare opportunity.'

For so many disabled people to board the train at the same place and on the same day—this entire situation reeked of strangeness. I didn't believe in such coincidences. Figuring out their cause of death was an urgent priority.

In the October 28th Carriage, I had awakened Liu Xin's death memories. Afterward, she became hysterical and caused a huge commotion, her body appearing to suffer immense damage. From this, it was clear that awakening memories from the final seconds before death posed a certain danger to these passengers, and it might even attract the conductor again.

I was extremely wary of that conductor. Her identity was also a mystery, and she was incredibly dangerous. If I wanted to leave this train alive, I had to avoid provoking her as much as possible.

Looking around, six people sat facing each other across the front and back rows. Besides Lu Wenchang's family of three, Old Mrs. Wen, and myself, there was one other woman. She had her head lowered and seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. Judging by her appearance alone, her body didn't have any missing parts, but her left cheek seemed to have been burned, leaving behind a massive scar. The first time I saw her, I actually saw a bit of Lu Xing's shadow in her.

Awakening all of their death memories at the same time would have too massive an impact and slip beyond my control. Therefore, I decided to start with the youngest, Lu Ming. Even if he lost control, I could easily subdue him.

I turned my head to look. Lu Ming was sitting blankly in his seat, lost in thought. With a smile on my face, I asked him, "Little guy, do you still remember what you had for dinner tonight?"

Lu Ming blankly raised his head, a hint of confusion appearing on his cute face. He furrowed his delicate eyebrows and only answered after a long while, "Dumplings."

"Dumplings for dinner? Are you sure?" My tone was casual, and my demeanor relaxed. Lu Ming's parents didn't say much either; they didn't realize anything was amiss.

"It was dumplings, vegetarian ones. My dad said there was a Buddha Assembly tonight and that the buddha children would appear. Today is a big, festive day, so we had to eat dumplings." Children were naturally energetic. Seeing that his father hadn't scolded him, Lu Ming gradually started talking more. I was happy to see this and continued to guide him.

"Since it's a Buddha Assembly, it must have been especially grand. What fun things did you see?" I used a teasing tone, but in reality, I was completely focused. I would repeatedly ponder every single word Lu Ming said.

"I didn't see anything fun." Lu Ming curled his lip. "It was too dark, and there were no lights. A lot of people like us gathered together and headed to the same place."

"Then did you see anything strange after you got there? Didn't your dad say you were going to meet the buddha children? Did you see them?"

At the mention of the buddha children, Lu Ming seemed to suddenly recall something. The blankness in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by an increasingly heavy terror.

The little guy lowered his head. His breathing grew heavier and heavier as if he were suffocating, and his body began to tremble.

"Lu Ming, what's wrong?"

His abnormal behavior was noticed by Lu Wenchang and Chang Feifei. The couple immediately left their seats, wanting to check on Lu Ming's condition up close. But right then, Lu Ming did something no one expected.

He pushed Lu Wenchang away, jumped out of his seat, and ran into the aisle. His eyes were wide open, fear spreading like ivy to consume every inch of his eyes.

Stumbling, Lu Ming used the last of his strength to reach out, pointing at Lu Wenchang and Chang Feifei as he screamed, "You aren't my parents! Go away! Go away!"

I hadn't expected this sudden turn of events either, but I quickly figured out the crucial point. My guidance just now had successfully made Lu Ming remember what happened right before his death!