Chapter 14: The Body Runs, the Soul Chases
Looking down the long rail track, one could see a rusty old train, parked at the track fork.
The weeds on both sides had grown taller than a person.
In a few more years, the track would probably be swallowed by these lush weeds, with the train buried in a sea of wild grass.
The distance wasn't too far, and they had more than enough time.
Wu Hen wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, but the sensation on his arm felt strangely tingly.
Looking at the inside of his arm, that magical black substance had reappeared, but oddly, it was no longer in the form of the Death Sword, but rather... an ink-black handgun!
"Huh???"
"Adoptive father, what exactly are you???"
"First lightning, then the Death Sword, and now it transforms into a firearm!"
"Could it be that after eating that elemental weapon pistol last night, it transformed into a firearm???"
"But it's stuck on my arm like a tattoo, I can't even use it!"
"Wu Hen, did you hear anything?" Su Li's voice interrupted Wu Hen's thoughts.
"Oh, oh, I wasn't listening carefully just now, let me do a sound scan." Wu Hen closed his eyes and focused on his listening sense.
Concentrating, Wu Hen's listening sense began to spread around him.
"Creak~"
"Creak~~Creak~"
A very faint creaking sound of bones rubbing against each other!
It sounded a bit like the sound of steel-reinforced concrete houses contracting and expanding due to temperature changes.
"They are moving very slowly, so slowly that our naked eyes can't detect it," Wu Hen whispered to Su Li.
"Yes, the sunlight only slows them down infinitely. In theory, they are still alive, but under these conditions, they can't pose a threat to us," Su Li nodded.
"Auntie, can't our elemental weapon pistols kill them?" Wu Hen asked.
"In the thawed state, unless you hit their vital points, they can't be killed. In the stone-frozen state, their defense capability increases dozens of times, making them nearly invincible," Su Li said.
"Oh, there are too many of them anyway, it would be a waste of bullets even if we could kill them," Wu Hen said.
"Right, keep your gun ready," Su Li said.
Wu Hen, looking awkward, could only raise his right arm and form a handgun shape with his fingers, holding it with his left hand as if seriously.
Seeing this, Su Li shook her head with a wry smile.
It felt like nothing had changed, still so clueless.
...
"We're close, everyone move faster," Scar-faced Uncle said.
The rusty train was about two kilometers away.
Once they got on the train and into the enclosed carriages, they would release the Firefly to help them stay safe and leave this cursed soil.
"Finally, we can return to the Nuwa Divine Tree, thank goodness."
"I've had enough of these days; I'm on the verge of a breakdown."
"Hahaha, I told you, following Su Li would lead us to the other side."
Those who initially had complaints now stirred with excitement, finally able to escape this place!
Moods soared, and their steps quickened involuntarily.
Yet for some reason, around the eerie cemetery-like open field, pairs of eerily red eyes watched them, emanating malice and spite. Even if you didn't stare back, you could clearly feel this evil intent!
"Creak-creak~~~~"
"Creak-creak-creak~~~~~~"
The sound of bone joints grinding grew louder, especially from the large group of Evil Spirit Statues behind them, which seemed to be coming to life, movements growing larger!
"Auntie, the sound isn't right!" Wu Hen immediately warned.
Su Li looked back, but her naked eyes still couldn't discern any movement from the statues.
"Strange, why does it feel darker??" Someone murmured.
Hearing this, Wu Hen and Su Li instinctively looked up, only to find that at some point, a chunk of the sun was missing!
The sun looked as if something had taken a vicious bite out of it!!
Wu Hen was shocked; he had seen this phenomenon before!
It was a solar eclipse!
"No, there's going to be an eclipse!!" Even the usually calm Su Li couldn't help but cry out.
The bite in the sun grew larger, and as they ran, a quarter of it had been devoured, with the surrounding light dimming rapidly alongside the eclipse!
"Run!!"
"Everyone, run faster!!!"
"We must reach the train before the total eclipse!!" Su Li shouted, her voice trembling with urgency.
Wu Hen quickened his pace; he not only saw the sunlight being gradually obscured but also heard the incessant "crackle-crackling" of bone joints all around, like firecrackers on New Year's Eve.
The entire lair was thawing out for a collective Midnight Mass, and those eerie red eyes were all trained on the living souls along the tracks.
They were coming to life!!
"Damn solar eclipse, a phenomenon that might not even occur once in decades, happens to appear today!" Wu Hen cursed as he sprinted with all his might.
Truly, they were running ahead while the spirits chased them from behind.
The devoured eclipse was particularly uncanny, not forming a regular curved shape but rather an irregular jagged outline.
If the sun were likened to a shining old-fashioned light bulb, it was as if a large moth was slowly climbing over it, darkening the entire room!
It was sinister!
It was bizarre!
Impossible to explain rationally!
Wu Hen grew increasingly anxious; the speed of the eclipse was faster than anticipated. Could they really cover these two kilometers to the train carriages?
Just a moment ago, it was all sunshine.
In a blink, it was dark as night.
Up in the sky was a half-eclipsed disc, and down on the ground was a group of near-spectral people running frantically, seeking survival along the tracks, while on both sides the ominous eyes of the Midnight Mass surged towards the rails like a venomous tide!
"Bang!!"
Suddenly, Su Li fired a shot!
The bullet, wrapped in a strong force, exploded upon hitting the head of a Midnight Mass on the rails!
That Midnight Mass was already very close to the rails; in its slow movement, it had crawled onto their path!
Wu Hen also noticed that some of the Midnight Mass were visibly stronger; even with some residual light from the eclipse, they were already capable of moving and pouncing!
Their movements were somewhat stiff, similar to zombies, but as the light from the Heavenly Light dimmed, their activity rapidly surged!
Wu Hen had seen the true speed of the Midnight Mass before, even flashlights could barely keep up.
"Get out of my way!!"
Scar-faced Uncle pulled out a weapon from his backpack, an axe of unknown material.
He was kind-hearted, always looking out for the lagging Yang Qin.
The puppet-zombie-like Midnight Mass could still be dealt with using weapons, but if the sun were completely consumed, even elemental weapons couldn't kill the Midnight Mass!
"Aunt Huang, go release the Firefly in the carriages!" Su Li commanded without hesitation.
"But if the carriages are not sealed, the Firefly will fly out," Aunt Huang said.
"Doesn't matter, let them go if we must!" Su Li replied.
"Alright!" Aunt Huang nodded.
She might look old and short, but she was astonishingly fast, like a professional athlete when she ran.
Her backpack contained the Firefly, which would illuminate the sealed space within the carriages.
Without a light source, even a sealed space would still be attacked by the Evil Spirits, the scent of living beings was hard to hide.
So, Aunt Huang had to release the Firefly first, to light up the carriages.
"Shanhu, you need to cover the broken windows of the carriages quickly!" Su Li instructed another woman.
The woman had dark skin, short hair, and also carried a bulky bag on her back.
"Got it!" Shanhu nodded, quickening her pace.
Su Li glanced back and saw Scar-faced Uncle, Yang Qin, and a boy at the end of the group.
She purposely looked up at the sky.
The sun was almost fully eclipsed.
"Bang!"
"Bang!!"
"Bang!!!"
Su Li fired three shots, each one precisely hitting the head of a Midnight Mass behind them!
Hitting their heads wouldn't kill the Midnight Mass, but it would harden their bodies, taking some time before they could recover!
"Keep up!" Su Li made sure they were back on track.
Scar-faced Uncle and the boy were unfazed, but Yang Qin was greatly surprised.
She hadn't expected that she, someone almost on the wrong side, would not be abandoned.
If it were that bespectacled man leading the group earlier, she would probably have been left behind again!
"I'll start the train," Su Li glanced at Wu Hen, signaling him to climb into the carriages first.
"I'll go with you," Wu Hen insisted.
There was a short distance between the safe carriages and the train's front; with the total eclipse imminent and the ground turning purplish-black, Wu Hen was worried for his close aunt.
"Alright!" Su Li said no more, sprinting toward the front of the train!
"Ugh~~ugh~~ugh~~~~~"
On both sides of the old train, the Midnight Mass moved like zombies, just a tad slower than normal people.
They crawled over, blocking Wu Hen and Su Li.
Wu Hen picked up a steel rod from the ground and swung it violently at the approaching Midnight Mass!!
"Creak!"
Suddenly, a crisp bone joint sound rang out, Wu Hen, though not seeing it, instantly located its position.
"Auntie, on top of the train!" Wu Hen warned loudly.
Su Li reacted swiftly, pointing her gun upwards to the blind spot above the train.
As soon as she aimed, a Midnight Mass, half-thawed, lunged at her with a speed approaching that of a beast!!
"Bang!!!"
Headshot!
Su Li's aim was precise; she shattered its head just as it lunged for an attack, causing the disgusting half-corpse to hang on the train, its body stiffening.
She barely had time to react, kicking the headless Midnight Mass off before leaping into the train cabin.
From her backpack, she took out an ordinary-looking Yuan You, throwing it into the cylinder.
The Yuan You ignited quickly within the cylinder, generating immense power instantly, heating up the front of the train and lighting up the control panel instruments!
"Clang-clang~~clang-clang~~clang-clang~~~~~"
The wheels of the train began to move, rumbling.
Just as Su Li and Wu Hen thought the train would whistle away, an extremely harsh noise came from the tracks.
"Screeeech!!!!"
The train wheels were moving forward, but something was stuck, stopping the train from advancing!
"What's going on?" Su Li was panicked; she couldn't understand why the train wouldn't move.
"The train is on a crossing plunger; the switch isn't open!" Wu Hen checked the tracks and quickly found the problem.
"Where's the manual switch?" Su Li asked.
"Over there!" Wu Hen pointed and then dashed towards the switch, "I'll open the switch, keep the train running!"
"Wu Hen, don't go!!" Su Li saw it immediately: there was a gigantic Midnight Mass at the switch!
By now, only a faint glow of the sun remained...
Like a cold midnight, about to descend!!