Chapter 443: Tangled in Karmic Obstacles

Something brushed my calf. I knew this was Wang Shi's signal. A silent understanding had formed between the two of us "murderers."

I couldn't expose Wang Shi just yet. Before the conductor could speak, I lowered my hands and resumed my submissive posture.

The conductor's face darkened. She had been about to flare up, but seeing my current state was like punching cotton. She didn't say anything more, only giving a cold snort as her grip on my shoulder tightened.

"Could you loosen your grip? It's not like I'm going to run away." Following the conductor step by step into the next carriage, I honestly felt a bit of regret. I should have gathered more information from Old Mrs. Wen earlier, or at least asked exactly how long it would be until the next station so I could mentally prepare myself.

"What a pity," I said, slowly glancing back at Wang Shi's berth. That old fox really knew how to bide his time. He remained completely motionless, his disguise utterly flawless. Had I not known he was hiding beneath that white cloth, I doubt I would have ever suspected him.

The October 26th Carriage was several times longer than the others. This might have been because it consisted entirely of sleeper berths, or perhaps because today was Double Ninth in the Yang Realm, a day when countless ghosts hid themselves and scrambled to board the train.

"Can I ask you a question? Why does this carriage have sleeper berths while the other carriages just have seats? Were our ticket prices different?" Now that I had established contact with Wang Shi, I wasn't in such a rush. As they say, man proposes, heaven disposes. If another accident really occurred, I would just have to resign myself to fate.

"Why do you have so many questions?" The conductor's attitude toward me was extremely hostile.

"It's just basic human psychology. Why do they get so much space while the rest of us in the other carriages have to cram together? Are our tickets really different?" I mostly said this to stall for time, buying Wang Shi an opportunity to make his move. As for the difference in accommodations, who the hell actually cared? When your life was on the line, why worry about something like that?

"You actually guessed right. The price you all paid to board wasn't the same." Perhaps because I posed absolutely no threat in the conductor's eyes, her guard lowered slightly and she answered casually, "Those of you sitting down are merely taking a ride. But these people lying down have already mortgaged everything they have just to get on. They will become cargo on this train, shipped off to a place that needs them."

"Where is that? The Underworld?" I blurted out. However, the conductor merely gave a cold smile, offering no direct answer.

"If you want to go there that badly, I can send you along with them." She looked at me with dead seriousness, her stare making the hairs on my body stand on end. Only then did I realize she wasn't joking.

"No thanks, I much prefer sitting." I waved my hands repeatedly. Soon, the conductor and I left the October 26th Carriage and entered the October 25th Carriage.

Along the way, I discreetly used my Judging Eye to glance back. Wang Shi had already sat up from his berth; he, too, was sensing the impending danger.

'Wang Shi knows one of the conductor's weaknesses, and I know when to get off. If we team up, we just might have a chance.' If there was still a long way to go before we reached a station where we could disembark, I wouldn't have believed teaming up with Wang Shi could succeed. But as luck would have it, the very next stop was the Land God Temple. As long as I stalled until the train stopped, I could escape.

The October 25th Carriage was also full of sleeper berths. The difference was that a faint stench drifted through the air here. In the conductor's words, this carriage reeked of the aura of death.

I looked toward the berths. The white cloths here were no longer spotless. Yellowish-brown stains marked many of the sheets, looking like bloodstains left behind after a washing.

"Are we there yet?"

The conductor didn't answer. Gripping my shoulder tightly, she hauled me straight through Carriage 25 and Carriage 24, eventually entering Carriage No. 23.

Counting from Carriage 29, this represented exactly seven days—a full week's time.

Pushing open the door to October Carriage 23, the pungent stench immediately made my stomach churn. Even when I had seen all those mutilated corpses back at the Henshan Psychiatric Hospital, I hadn't experienced such a violent physical reaction.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" The acrid odor constantly pushed the limits of my senses.

"Shut up." The conductor looked extremely tense. This was the very first time I had seen such an expression on her face.

'Is she scared too? But what could she possibly be afraid of?' Because of the change in the conductor's demeanor, I grew even more curious. I swept my gaze around, hoping to spot something unusual.

And looking around, I actually made a startling discovery.

The environment inside October Carriage 23 was the absolute worst out of the seven carriages. The aura of death overflowed, and the stench was overpowering. The white cloths were entirely covered in clumps of brown bloodstains. Unidentifiable, foul-smelling garbage was scattered everywhere across the floor and bed boards. What shocked me even more were the gaps between the wooden planks of the beds—stuffed inside was something resembling minced meat, completely congealed. The sight made my skin crawl.

There were very few passengers in this carriage. Most of the berths were empty, with only a select few holding "people." However, these figures no longer possessed human shapes. They looked as though they had been subjected to terrifying torture. Compared to what they had endured, merely losing one's sense of self was absolutely nothing.

As we reached the middle of Carriage No. 23, a white cloth happened to slip off one of the berths, revealing the "person" lying underneath. I'll just use the word "person" for now, though it took me a great deal of effort just to identify it as such.

This was an extremely mutilated body. All of his vital organs were missing. Where his nose and eyes should have been, there were only empty holes. His stomach was completely caved in, his front pressed tightly against his back. Two thin layers of dry skin clung directly to his skeleton, making it look as though he had no internal organs left at all.

I stopped in my tracks, my eyes showing a hint of pity. This "person" was like a fish thrown alive onto a hot branding iron, mouth wide open, swallowing something unseen in the air. This horrifying state, suspended entirely between life and death, made every nerve in my body tremble.

If I couldn't escape the train, would I end up exactly like it?

"Enjoying the view?" The conductor's mouth split into a grin. She was clearly delighted to see my terrified expression. "Very, very few people can last on this train for seven days."

With that, she gave me a malicious look and dragged me away from the "person."

Seeing the fate of the passengers in October Carriage 23, I grew even more puzzled by this mysterious train. 'The train passes through stations one by one. At most of these stations, you can only board; only a few allow you to disembark. Walking all the way from the October 29th Carriage, the mental states of the passengers have grown increasingly abnormal, and many empty berths have appeared in the carriages...'

'According to the popular Buddhist concepts of the modern world, evildoers enter hell, and those who do good ascend to paradise. So some people got off the train early, while others couldn't disembark even after being drained of all their organs and essence blood?'

'If the station where each person disembarks is already predestined, then every extra day they remain on board must exact a certain price. If they want to endure until it's their time to get off, I'm afraid it won't be easy.'

A realization faintly dawned on me. Death was inescapable. Every single person would board this final train, and every single person was destined to disembark at a specific station. As for when they could get off, when they could cast off their restraints—that depended entirely on the weight of the shackles and karmic obstacles they carried.

Some people were completely burden-free, like Old Mrs. Wen. She boarded that very day and disembarked after only a few stops. Then there was the person I had just seen in October Carriage 23. He had sacrificed all of his internal organs and had his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears gouged out, leaving his body as nothing more than a thin skeleton wrapped in two layers of skin. Yet, he still couldn't get off the train. His karmic obstacles had not yet been fully paid off. He had to remain here until the shackles on his soul were removed before he could finally leave.

In life, people were often not the masters of their own fate, and even in death, things didn't necessarily go their way. Thinking of this, a bitter smile surfaced on my face. Truthfully, although I had never done anything truly heinous, judging purely by merit... I had first been screwed over by the Underworld Live Show, and later I had released the Ghost Mother. Now, my brow was blackened with ill omens, a dark cloud loomed over my head, and I was thoroughly tangled in karmic obstacles. If I was truly forced to remain on this train, I figured staying for just seven days would be the least of my worries.

'I absolutely have to get out of here!' I only just realized why Lu Xing had hesitated until the very last moment before boarding at the Shuangfo District station. Judging by the murderous sins he had committed, if his identity was truly exposed on board, he would probably have to suffer death by a thousand cuts a dozen times over before he could leave.

I followed right behind the conductor, crossing straight through October Carriage 23, but she showed not the slightest intention of stopping.