Li Cangshan and Zhou Guang looked at each other, and Li Cangshan said, “Let’s go back to the compartment.”
The moment the compartment door closed, Zhou Guang quickly said, “The middle-aged woman in the adjacent bed was taken away by a staff member!”
“We didn’t see her in the compartment when we came back, and later we learned from the adjacent compartment that she was taken away.”
“Damn it, these staff members are not following common sense. After we got off just now, they checked for tickets. She gave me her ticket, so she couldn’t produce it. The staff member suspected her of fare evasion and forcibly took her away.”
“We need to find her quickly. That man disappeared after he was taken away yesterday. The consequences of fare evasion are definitely not as simple as buying a ticket or getting off the train. She’s taking the fall for me.”
“Give me her ticket.” Bai Lixin frowned and stretched out his hand. “Li Cangshan and I will find help. Hide in the compartment. The staff member remembered you yesterday, so it’s better if you don’t show yourself.”
Zhou Guang quickly took out the ticket from his pocket and handed it to Bai Lixin. He licked his lips and said guiltily, “Sorry for causing you trouble again, God Xin.”
Bai Lixin: “Originally, you two shouldn’t have gotten involved in this game. You came because of me. If we talk about causing trouble, the root of the trouble lies with me.”
Zhou Guang: “No, you’re not trouble.”
Bai Lixin smiled, “If I’m not trouble, then you’re not trouble either. Don’t overthink it. You’ve managed such a large guild so well for me, It’s not too late for me to thank you. Let’s go, Li Cangshan.”
Watching the departing figures of Li Cangshan and Bai Lixin, all Zhou Guang could do now was silently pray.
Bai Lixin and Li Cangshan walked briskly towards the front.
After the man was taken away yesterday, Zhou Guang secretly inquired and learned that those caught evading fares were taken to the second carriage.
To get to the second carriage, they had to pass through the third carriage, but the second carriage required a password to open.
Coincidentally, today when he watched the surveillance, he saw a staff member opening the second carriage, and he caught sight of the password.
In a surveillance blind spot, Bai Lixin took out two invisibility cards from his backpack, and each used one.
Then they swiftly passed through the third carriage and found the electronic door.
Bai Lixin pressed the password, effortlessly opening the electronic door, and they sneaked inside.
It was pitch black inside. Bai Lixin felt a tug on his hand, and then a figure passed by him and someone stood in front of him.
An elderly male voice came to his ears, “God Xin, I’ll go first. I have good night vision.”
Bai Lixin didn’t refuse Li Cangshan’s kindness. “Protecting others” was Li Cangshan’s professional habit and instinct.
The room was somewhat cold. When the train started, moonlight streamed in from the window, briefly illuminating this dark carriage.
Bai Lixin used this light to vaguely see the general situation inside the carriage.
The second carriage was surprisingly empty, devoid of anything.
No chairs, no tables, just emptiness. Normally, the second carriage is the most comfortable, yet here, there was nothing.
Li Cangshan also saw the situation in the carriage. “There’s nothing in the carriage. Should we continue forward?”
Bai Lixin: “They might have gone to the front. Let’s see what’s ahead.”
Li Cangshan: “Alright.”
And so, the two of them quietly reached the first carriage.
The first carriage was the driver’s compartment. In old-style coal-burning trains like this, the first carriage is usually connected to the front of the train, and fuel is burned at the front. In the past, people used to manually add coal to the boiler, but this train should automatically add fuel.
The time for the invisibility card was running out, so Bai Lixin took out two more for both of them.
There was a glass panel on the door leading to the first carriage. The two silently looked through the glass to the opposite side, and they saw a person in uniform.
The man stood in front of the control panel, motionless, as if concentrating on driving the train.
Bai Lixin shifted his angle and finally saw the woman who had been taken away, tucked away in a nearly invisible corner.
The woman was bound with coarse hemp rope, and there was a cloth stuffed in her mouth. She looked disheveled, thrown into a corner with a pile of fuel.
The woman was sitting on a conveyor belt. As the conveyor belt moved, she was slowly moved towards the invisible front of the train.
Close to the front was a pair of semi-circles partially visible in the dim light, emitting a few points of crimson flames. The two dark metal semicircles resembled the giant jaws of a beast, gradually swallowing everything delivered to it.
The woman’s face was pale and her expression terrified. She was clearly frightened out of her wits.
She never imagined that the cost of fare evasion on this train would be becoming the fuel for the train to run.
The door opened silently…
The middle-aged woman watched as the black opening grew closer and closer, and tears of fear streamed down her face.
Just when she thought she was doomed, her body was suddenly lifted by an invisible force, and floating lightly in mid-air.
The woman’s eyes widened.
Though she couldn’t see, she could distinctly feel that it was a princess carry, with arms clearly supporting her back and legs. Perhaps to console her, she even felt her back being gently patted twice.
A very awkward attempt at comforting.
‘A person?! Was there a person here?!’
The woman wanted to call out, but she quickly came to her senses and forcefully bit down on the cloth in her mouth, she shouldn’t make a sound.
Though she didn’t know if she was being held by a monster or a god, for some reason, she instinctively felt this power was saving her.
As soon as this thought flashed through her mind, she felt her body gently moving towards the door.
The woman held her breath, wide-eyed, staring without blinking at the driver who was now within arm’s reach.
Just as she was about to retreat to the door, the driver, who had been driving attentively, suddenly stretched lazily, turned his head without warning, and his eyes met the woman’s.
The woman’s breath stopped at that moment.
Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, and her throat felt dry and tight. She stared at the driver’s emotionless eyes with a numb scalp.
In that moment, only one thought flashed in the woman’s mind.
—It’s over! She was discovered.
However, the driver just glanced over and then averted his gaze. His expressionless eyes focused on the conveyor belt, and he murmured to himself, “Strange, why is the fuel burning so quickly this time?”
After saying that, he stretched lazily again, turning his gaze back to the front.
The woman mustered all her strength to swallow her saliva.
Floating behind the driver, she silently looked at the windscreen in front of the driver.
The transparent glass reflected the vague shadows inside the room—control panel, conveyor belt, driver—but strangely, there was no sign of herself.
Had she disappeared?
Was the driver unable to see her?
Could it be that being saved just now was just her illusion? In reality, she was already dead?
The woman’s eyes widened in shock. Just as she was in a daze, she felt her body move again.
The partially closed door silently opened, and under the guidance of the unknown force, she safely left the place of death.
The door was silently closed again, and then her body moved once more, swiftly running through the second carriage where she had come from.
The woman sighed silently.
It seems she really died; otherwise, how could she run so fast?
That speed was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, she passed through the several carriages and arrived at her original middle-class compartment.
While she was still in a daze, that force suddenly lifted her, and tucked her into the bed.
When the woman realized what was happening, she abruptly sat up, and exclaimed, “Am I dead?!”
Finally caught up! Thank you so much for translating this.