Chapter 446: Getting Off the Train

Daoist talismans were useless, and Buddhist scriptures offered limited help—they did nothing more than clear the distracting thoughts from my mind. The only thing that could truly hurt the conductor was the Fate Manipulator Token.

I had obtained it from the Two-Faced Buddha. It carried a faint trace of destiny's aura. I still didn't know what else it could do, only that it served as proof of a Fate Usurper's identity.

By now, the conductor's body had mutated. She stood eight chi tall with elongated, spindly limbs. Bracing her hands against the walls, she moved at terrifying speed.

With the wind howling in my ears and her hoarse roars echoing behind me, I ran for my life, finally escaping that special carriage.

I pulled the door shut and gasped for breath. Glancing back, I saw the conductor looking like a mutated, four-legged giant spider. Her arms scraped against the walls, sending scraps of paper fluttering through the carriage amid the agonizing wails and cries of countless souls.

"Has she completely lost her mind?" I didn't dare linger. I pocketed the broken half of the Fate Manipulator Token and glanced down at the porcelain bowl in my hand. "Not a single drop spilled. If this really is the legendary Meng Po Soup, that counts as a treasure."

A substance that could erase memories without a trace was the perfect tool for covering up foul play. If I managed to take it off this train, it might just become a crucial trump card in my hands.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. The iron door wouldn't hold the conductor back for long. Gripping the porcelain bowl, I continued my escape.

A thick, pungent stench hit my nose as I entered October Carriage 23. The conductor pursued me relentlessly, but I noticed a crucial detail: her movements had slowed down significantly in here, completely unlike in the last carriage.

She had slowed down, and despite her ferocious expression, she didn't make much noise, as if terrified of waking something up.

'She's wary of something.' Countless livestreams had honed my sharp eyes. My mind raced, and I immediately realized this was an opportunity.

The more the conductor held back, afraid of making too much noise, the more I needed to be acting in the opposite way.

I began to loudly chant Buddhist scriptures. As I ran past the berths, whenever I saw a figure lying on one, I snatched away the white cloth covering it and tossed it into the aisle.

The mangled human figures beneath the white cloths made my heart pound. I didn't know if what I was doing was right or wrong, but at this point I didn't have the luxury of worrying about the consequences. All I wanted was to escape with my life.

As I tore away more and more white cloths, my understanding of October Carriage 23 shifted. Though the mutilated figures looked thoroughly wretched, they still retained a degree of self-awareness. I could feel a heavy wave of resentment radiating from them.

'According to the conductor, the "people" on this train can only get off and start a new life once they purge the karmic obstacles from their bodies. These "people" have suffered on this train for seven days and seven nights, mortgaging away their very flesh and organs, yet they still haven't been able to disembark. Just how heavy were their original sins?'

It was safe to say that anyone still left in this carriage was an utterly wicked scoundrel who had terrorized others in life. They were incredibly dangerous. If they hadn't been suppressed by some power within the train, or force-fed the Sorrow-Forgetting Water ahead of time, they probably would have long since mutated into troublesome evil ghosts and vicious spirits.

As the white cloths were ripped away, these mangled "people" began to shift their bodies. Right as some even started to slowly sit up, the conductor's furious curses echoed from behind me.

Her fury was the best proof I could ask for: 'It's working!'

I doubled my efforts to rip away the white cloths. The conductor's speed plummeted. Glancing back, I saw that some of the mutilated passengers completely ignored her, even actively moving to block her path.

However, these mutilated figures were in an incredibly weak state. The essence of their bodies had long since been drained dry, leaving behind nothing more than battered, empty husks.

'I'm saved!' The mangled figures' obstruction was brushed aside by the conductor without any effort, but there were simply too many of them. She sent the passengers flying, yet moments later, they crawled right back. With slow, relentless determination, they grabbed onto the conductor and began to climb up her body.

"Lu Xing! Get back here!"

The conductor's furious scream sent a shiver down my spine. I quickened my pace, tearing through Carriage No. 23, Carriage 24, and Carriage 25, successfully making it into the October 26th Carriage.

My focus was pushed to its absolute limit, but when I ran to Wang Shi's berth, the empty bed didn't have a single soul on it.

"Wang Shi?" I yelled loudly, not caring if I woke up the other passengers anymore.

"Over here!" Wang Shi poked his head out from the junction between Carriage 26 and Carriage 27 and waved at me.

I hurried over, slightly taken aback by the scene before me. Aside from Wang Shi, there were five or six other people standing here.

"Who are they?"

"They're just like you and me—lucky souls who woke up early and haven't lost their self-awareness." From Wang Shi, I learned that this train treated its passengers vastly differently. Those with the fewest karmic obstacles, or those who accumulated merit through daily good deeds, would get off on the first day. Those with minor karmic obstacles, possessing a balance of good and evil in their hearts, would disembark on the second day. Those with heavier karmic obstacles, who had committed murder or harbored dark intentions, would leave on the third or fourth day. Meanwhile, those drowning in karmic obstacles and countless wicked deeds would be taken away prematurely, force-fed the Sorrow-Forgetting Water, and sent into the sleeper carriages to wait until the fifth or sixth day to disembark. As for the final carriage, most of its passengers were guilty of the Ten Unpardonable Evils and had committed numerous heinous atrocities. They might get off on the seventh day, or they might never be able to get off at all.

During his days on the train, Wang Shi had played the part of an honest, well-behaved passenger on the surface, successfully dodging the conductor's inspections time and time again. But as time passed and he watched the passengers around him get taken away one by one, returning as mindless, idiotic shells of their former selves who had lost their self-awareness, he finally couldn't sit still anymore.

This suspense novelist was even more cautious and seasoned than I was. He tried reaching out to those nearby who still retained their self-awareness, uniting everyone together. He had accumulated enough strength and secured an absolute numerical advantage, yet he still wasn't ready to act. Instead, he set his sights on the other carriages.

For various reasons, their physical bodies would emit a heavy stench if they left their designated carriage to go to the others. As a result, he had only managed to make contact with a very select few passengers from the October 27th Carriage and the October 25th Carriage.

But even that minor contact had allowed Wang Shi to learn a lot of crucial information. He had discovered a weakness in the conductor—or, more accurately, a habit that could be treated as a weakness.

Right before every stop, the conductor would pull out a Yellow Leather Notebook and check things off. Only after confirming a passenger's name would she allow them to board. To the conductor, that Yellow Leather Notebook was absolutely vital.

Once the train stopped, only the doors numbered for that specific day would open. With the conductor blocking the doorway, it was fundamentally impossible to slip off in the confusion. That left only one option: snatch the conductor's Yellow Leather Notebook and lure her away.

Based on the findings of Wang Shi and the other passengers on the train, the main tool the conductor relied on to identify passengers was the Yellow Leather Notebook. Without the Yellow Leather Notebook, the conductor was essentially blind.

The conductor also had a distinct habit: every time she finished using the Yellow Leather Notebook, she would fold it up and shove it into the left pocket of her uniform. This tiny habit was the opportunity Wang Shi needed.

So, he secretly coordinated with some passengers across three carriages to map out a detailed plan. They intended to steal the Yellow Leather Notebook just as the train was about to stop, then spark a riot and take advantage of the chaos to get off.

My expression turned strange as Wang Shi finished speaking. His plan theoretically had a chance of succeeding, but that was before. Just now, I had thoroughly enraged the conductor. She had already turned into a monster. Even if they managed to steal the Yellow Leather Notebook, she might not necessarily change targets.

Of course, I wasn't going to tell Wang Shi that. If he could unite the majority of the passengers across three carriages just to leave the train, then I could play completely dirty just to survive.

"I've told you my entire plan. Now it's time you showed some sincerity, right?" Wang Shi and the other passengers surrounded me. They had clearly planned this out in advance, asking in unison: "Which station is safe to get off at?"

I hesitated for a moment. Just as I was about to say it, the train violently lurched, and its speed began to drop.

"We're at the station!"