Chapter 6: Inviting Spirits (5)

What did she see?
Standing at the alley’s entrance, Lu Jinchao intently watched Cen Duo, who maintained an inverted posture inside the alley.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds...
Six seconds! Seven seconds! Eight seconds!
Cen Duo remained motionless.
It wasn’t until a full twenty seconds had passed that the stiff figure wobbled unnaturally, as if her brain had become congested from holding that position too long, losing control of her limbs, and she struggled to stand up again.
Those at the alleyway’s mouth continued to observe silently; no one spoke or called out Cen Duo’s name.
Only when Cen Duo picked up the incense stick stuck in the ground and stepped out did everyone notice she appeared no different than before entering. They finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked,
“Why did you stare for so long just now?”
Cen Duo blinked in surprise, “Was it that long?”
“Anyway, it wasn’t short. Did you see something?”
Holding the incense stick, a fleeting haze crossed her expression, as if recalling the scene she saw after inhaling the incense’s scent. Fear flickered across her face, and she slowly replied,
“...I think I saw many shadows; the wall disappeared and turned into a path. On that path, there were many figures. I saw them, and they saw me.”
Her voice faltered suddenly, pausing for a few seconds before continuing:
“I was scared. I never imagined I would really see... those things. My mind went blank.”
“Maybe after a while, I remembered what the book said and hurried to get up.”
Something wasn’t right.
Lu Jinchao studied Cen Duo’s still slightly terrified expression, which indeed seemed fitting for someone who had encountered a supernatural event. But something felt off.
Cen Duo’s account was brief, summarizing the ordeal in just a few sentences. In truth, the ghost-seeing ritual was short, and everyone had witnessed the entire process. Her explanation seemed plausible.
Yet Lu Jinchao suspected Cen Duo was lying.
At least, she wasn’t telling the whole truth.
She deliberately glossed over details with vague language, only describing her feelings as being scared.
Could it be that she saw something unspeakable?
Twenty whole seconds, and all she saw were shadows, got scared, and that was it?
Impossible!
Lin Shuyue was still trapped inside that room.
Something was definitely wrong.
Cen Duo saw the shadows, and they saw her—but did she truly get up in time?
Did those passersby regard her as a newborn soul and “reincarnate” into her?
No one knew.
Lu Jinchao’s internal alarm kept ringing. When they moved on to the next ghost-seeing location, she deliberately walked at the back, keeping her distance from Cen Duo.
Jiang Yingzhi did the same.
“You’re sharp,” Jiang Yingzhi whispered from the rear.
Her mood was quite low, which was not surprising. No one who drew her lot would feel better than she did.
Lu Jinchao didn’t immediately respond. Jiang Yingzhi didn’t expect an answer, merely delivering a sort of farewell:
“It’s best for everyone to stay away from her in this copy.”
“If you see Lin Shuyue alive later, and she’s about to die, you can stay with her a bit longer. She carries something valuable—something good that can save her life. If you can take it in exchange, that would be best.”
“If you can’t save her, at least try to get that item.”
The more Lu Jinchao listened, the more uneasy she felt. She interrupted Jiang Yingzhi, asking, “Why tell me this?”
It didn’t align with the message Jiang Yingzhi had been emphasizing—that passengers had no bonds, only self-preservation.
“Because I’m probably going to die,” Jiang Yingzhi looked up at Lu Jinchao.
“If I had a chance to survive, I wouldn’t tell you these things. But since I’m about to die, I might as well do something good before then.”
“Though I don’t even know why this is happening to me.”
No matter how she thought about it, Jiang Yingzhi had no idea how she could survive and escape.
She was merely a passenger who had only experienced two stations, hardly a veteran. The only possible help—the person she had some friendship with, Lin Shuyue—was still trapped in that room.
She had already lost hope.
Before dying, she didn’t mind sharing some information with Lu Jinchao, who she found somewhat agreeable.
Lu Jinchao looked at her and asked, “If you don’t die later and I’m in danger, would you save me?”
Jiang Yingzhi blinked, “Probably not. Even though I’m dying, I don’t have much intention of self-sacrifice.”
“Well then,” Lu Jinchao stopped walking and turned toward Jiang Yingzhi. Her expression was no longer gentle and harmless but calm and resolute, her tone low but carrying an unshakable certainty.
“What if I told you I have a way to help you complete the task?”
“What are you willing to give up for this method?”
Jiang Yingzhi froze, her expression stalled for several seconds before she asked vaguely, “What... did you say?”
Then suddenly, she became urgent: “You have a way?”
“What way?”
“It’s not a good way,” Lu Jinchao’s expression remained unchanged, “But it’s a way.”
“Whatever the cost... as long as it completes the task, as long as it doesn’t mean I have to die, I’ll listen to you.”
What can you do for someone who has been given hope in despair?
Lu Jinchao was about to find out.
But she wouldn’t trust immediately. Instead, she asked, “How can I believe you won’t deceive me or go back on your word?”
Jiang Yingzhi hesitated and took out her ticket.
“Usually, tickets don’t get lost or stolen, except if you hand them over yourself.”
“Of course, having someone else’s ticket is useless except for one thing...”
“Tearing it up.”
Lu Jinchao understood.
“But after we return to the train, you have to give it back to me.” Jiang Yingzhi hesitated, then said, “If we’re assigned to the same station again, within reason, I can listen to you, but I can’t keep the ticket.”
Lu Jinchao nodded in understanding. “Then it’s settled.”
Taking the ticket, under Jiang Yingzhi’s eager gaze, Lu Jinchao looked toward the roadside.
The layout of Chinatown was not complicated; they were retracing their steps, which Lu Jinchao had already observed.
Now, Chinatown was lit with more lights than before, but the streets didn’t feel any brighter.
Her voice grew deep in the hazy environment: “Pregnant woman—what does that mean?”
“A woman carrying life within her.”
“To complete this task, you just need to have a life growing inside you, right?”
Jiang Yingzhi frowned, uncertain: “I don’t understand what you mean. I have no way to get pregnant in such a short time...”
Lu Jinchao’s gaze drifted past her to the street corner.
There was a litter of puppies recently born from stray dogs, looking healthy.
Jiang Yingzhi followed her gaze, then heard the girl’s light, emotionless voice:
“As long as you have a baby growing in your womb, aren’t you pregnant?”