Chapter 16: Inviting Spirits (13)

At the crossroads at night, a young man suddenly realized what he had done and, in a panic, tossed aside his bowl and chopsticks, fleeing wildly as if losing his mind.

In a makeshift mourning hall, a woman lowered her head to look at her “companion” dressed in funeral clothes and casually turned off the alarm clock that was supposed to signal his awakening.

Deep within the pitch-black forest, someone who had been hiding for a long time suddenly felt a gentle tap on their shoulder.

In a dark operating room, a woman who appeared to be pregnant tied a cloth strip to the head of the bed and then looped it around her own neck.

At some point, Chinatown had long since lost any trace of living souls.

—Rumble, rumble—

The sound of a train gradually approaching.

Passengers eager to board were drawn by the sound, slowly making their way toward it.

This was no train platform, not even a station. Originally, this was just an unusually wide street outside Chinatown.

But now, silent black tracks had mysteriously appeared on the ground, stretching into the unseen darkness.

A faint roar of the train, seemingly playing from a distant place, echoed through the dark, as if this train, carrying the hope of life, was about to break through the barriers of space and time and appear before everyone.

But Jin Chao knew the train brought more than just hope for survival.

She gently touched her eyelids, which still burned fiercely, like an alarm bell constantly reminding her that danger was far from over.

With less than twenty minutes until the train’s arrival, Jin Chao kept her distance from the open street—too exposed, with no buildings to hide behind, no shelter at all.

She was still hiding within Chinatown, but close enough to the street that if the train stopped, she could reach it in about five minutes.

Her original plan was to hide here and observe the situation. If her guess was correct, other passengers would gradually arrive around this time.

She was prepared for the possibility that these passengers might not all be human, but when she finally saw a human figure, a chill of terror still crept over her.

It was a figure with long hair. Even though Jin Chao’s gaze was fixed downward, she could see the black hair trailing at the figure’s feet.

She was certain that none of the other arrivals had hair nearly that long.

The hair seemed like a black cloak enveloping the person, but on closer look, the strands were incredibly dense. The outer layer appeared smooth, but within, many black strands seemed alive, burrowing into the body like blood-sucking leeches.

Perhaps this person’s internal organs were already entwined by these hairs, yet she was not dead—at least part of her consciousness remained. She was still trying to survive by boarding the train; otherwise, she wouldn’t have made it here.

But she probably wouldn’t survive the journey onto the train.

Jin Chao sighed quietly in her heart but had no intention of intervening.

From a distance, another figure seemed to be approaching. If she looked up, she might recognize who it was, but Jin Chao chose to wait silently until the person came fully into view.

That way, she wouldn’t accidentally see anything she shouldn’t.

The surroundings were quiet. The long-haired woman stood silently by the street, and if one ignored the eerie hair and the hour, she looked like any ordinary person waiting for a ride.

Soft footsteps came from the side, accompanied by the gradual approach of the second figure.

The streetlights still glowed, but the light was dim. The figure in the distance was blurry, and due to limited vision, Jin Chao had to focus intensely to discern who it was, while restraining her gaze from wandering to forbidden sights.

Her concentration sharpened, and her awareness of everything around her became extraordinarily acute.

“Xiao Lu.”

A calm voice, without any prelude, suddenly came from behind her, so close it felt almost pressed against her.

“What are you looking at?”

Jin Chao’s pupils snapped shut; the voice struck her mind like a thunderclap.

A chill shot up her spine to her head, and her brain momentarily numbed. For a moment, she nearly turned her head to see who was behind her!

But fortunately, what would have been an uncontrollable panic-induced reaction lasted less than a second. She simply froze, her body refusing to betray her with any errant movements.

Never turn around!

There could be no person behind her.

Or rather, it couldn’t be only a person.

A ghost was trying to scare her.

Jin Chao shut her eyes tightly, fear still lingering, her heart pounding faster and adrenaline surging. Her hands trembled slightly. If she had to run now, she might move faster than ever before.

But it was too late to run.

The silent presence behind her, whether human or ghost, had already reached out and grabbed her shoulder as it spoke.

Cold, rigid, and unyielding, the grip felt like five iron rods clamping down on her shoulder.

She was caught.

How did this ghostly thing behind her know she was hiding here?

When had it arrived?

Even now, Jin Chao’s mind raced swiftly; she hadn’t given up.

She remembered Jiang Yingzhi saying that true ghosts cannot speak or communicate with humans.

This presence behind her was either a hallucination or a person possessed by a ghost.

“Xiao Lu, what are you doing here?”

“Let’s wait for the train together.”

As it spoke, Jin Chao heard faint, desperate breaths, like those of someone near death.

She immediately confirmed that this was not a ghost, but a person possessed by one.

The powerful force on her shoulder brought sharp pain, and Jin Chao realized the fingers gripping her must have broken the skin, digging into her flesh.

Icy cold seeped through the wound, and within mere seconds, half her body felt numb.

Cold sweat dripped from her forehead as she heard the voice behind her calling her name, urging her to open her eyes with chilling words.

Opening her eyes now was a death sentence.

Yet in the next moment, a faint breath came from in front of her.

A stench of decay, biting cold.

Jin Chao’s eyelids twitched violently. She immediately knew what it was.

Damn it!

Besides behind her, there was a ghost standing before her as well!

The same ghost that had followed her from the operating room until now!