In the painted scroll, a single-masted, full-bellied sailboat sat quietly in the night, its bow slightly raised and its single horizontal sail hanging still from the midsection.
But suddenly, a shift broke the calm.
Without warning, the hull trembled violently. Barrels and cups rolled wildly, tables and chairs scraped and crashed across the deck, letting out strange groans as if the whole ship were about to fall apart.
“Ao Zang ” sprang to his feet, his fingers tightening gradually around the hilt of the sword at his waist. “What’s going on? There shouldn’t be waves like this on this sea! “
“These waves are wrong! ” the bald man growled, his gaze turning to Ning Jiajia, who was leaning against the cabin wall. She was cradling her head, seemingly dazed, her body sliding weakly and tilting with the ship’s rocking.
{Woo— }
A sharp, urgent whistling came from the distance. As the crowd heard it, the strange unease in their hearts began to ease considerably.
However, suddenly a loud shout rang out.
“Look over there, everyone! “
Amid the shaking, all eyes turned to the distant sea where he pointed. Beyond the starboard side, a thick, murky fog was rapidly spreading across the sea’s surface.
Within this dense fog, spanning nearly half a kilometer left to right, faint points of light flickered through the sea mist, shining weakly.
“Watch out! ” Zangzang drew the blade from its sheath.
The person tending the machine on the ship stood up in surprise.
“Woo-woo— ” the sound of the wind as the train slid in shifted from a mental awareness to tangible reality.
Suddenly, the sea surface churned like a tsunami, hurling the wooden boat into the air like a falling leaf.
The piercing shriek of the train tearing through the void and the roar of the seawater exploding resounded simultaneously!
But a golden path of light, like a gliding fish, swiftly cut between the train and the sailboat, and a storm formed by psychic will suddenly appeared.
The figure gripping a wooden staff stood on a broken ancient ship in the night, pointing at the sailboat that had been flung skyward by the giant waves, which was now falling toward the ghost ship.
“Ning Jiajia! ” Cheng Yunze shouted in a loud voice.
The demon train pulled its form at high speed but struggled to quickly penetrate this constructed storm of will.
The blocked demon train saw, in that instant, Ao Zang on the other side of the storm wall sprinting and leaping, making a swift, illusory slash forward in mid-air—the blade aura, like a bolt of lightning, crashing into the figure that had just appeared flying directly ahead.
But with a booming sound, a crashing tsunami wave slammed Zangzang down.
Cheng Yunze suddenly sensed something and turned his head. From the seawater beside him, five figures burst up, their bodies emitting a thick, pale glow that rapidly expanded into connecting screens of light.
{I feel something is wrong. Yang Zicang stands. }
The demon train’s figure rapidly transformed into the wind, vanishing before the barrier formed, charging toward the other end it had come from.
But after rushing out, it reappeared on the sea surface, turned around and charged toward the melee with great difficulty. Those barriers had disappeared.
“Quickly go pick them up! “
Standing at the gateway of the demon train, Cheng Yunze was enveloped in a golden skeletal armor.
He could already see, across the mist ahead, another demon train floating on a falling ridge of the sea, gliding serpent-like amid the dim waters, plunging beneath the sea surface as it dragged a trail of white foaming waves.
A pale golden light suddenly appeared high above the sea.
Approaching, Cheng Yunze saw that figure standing on the half-deck of an ancient ship. A wooden staff in hand bloomed with light that shone in all directions. The pale golden radiance drew shimmering arcs, swiftly tracing a circle of light across the vast sea, encompassing everyone in an instant.
“Got you all now. “
With a faint, ethereal sound, Cheng Yunze saw that, outside the circle of light, once again swept slowly by the passing breeze, a wall of telekinetic force suddenly arose!
The duplicate demon train swallowed the bald man carrying plenty of silhouettes, just as the energy Manifest by Phantomal gathered around Lord Gaellan increased pressure yet further downward onto the diminished seas, gouging out long chasms until at last…
…an oppressive pressure thick shapeshift compressed compacted quivered skies rend far so bottom …
“Over! “
The overwhelming energy of the phantom projection crashed down like a mountain onto the cloned train that had swallowed everyone.
“Jiajia!!! “
Boom!
Cheng Yunze’s eyes were blazing with fury.
The demon train finally pushed through several carriages amidst this tempest of psionic power.
Luna Angel’s radiant bone frame erupted in a brilliant silver glow, lunging from the train doorway in a high-speed arc, diving downwards against the churning waves and dense mist to carve spreading ripples across the water’s surface.
｛Distributor Loki Tata Mingqi notes my present life experience.｝
In the second before the concentrated power of the stellar energy arrived, Luna Angel flashed forward to shield the bald man who had just rolled into the carriage and the several rescued members from the Motafu team and the broadcast crew.
“Can they block it?! ” On the train, Cheng Yunze felt his entire body becoming weightless.
A series of the distributor’s beacon thoughts rang out.
A vibration sharp enough to split eardrums exploded within the seawater.
At this moment, towering barriers formed around the surface of the nearby sea soaring towards the heavens.
{It seems like it’s working. }
The instant the phantom projection’s energy expanded, the demon train shifted into its mental-form to evade the shockwave, charging towards Ning Jiajia’s side and crashing into the group behind Luna Angel, who was already shrinking into a dissolving line.
“You won’t succeed. “
The sea surface suddenly flashed bright, as if in an instant, Steward Kǎi teleported and flickered several times across the spreading labyrinthine rings of light, appearing at this end of the newly formed Path of Light.
“You are feeling regret. Good. “
With a faint smile, Cheng Yunze watched in disbelief as the train seemed to pause for a single moment. Just as the demon train’s vanishing head was about to devour the crowd, Steward Kǎi, who had just appeared in front of them, was swallowed whole in one gulp.
{Huh? }
“I heard you can return to some mysterious hotel. ” Steward Kǎi smiled slightly from inside the carriage. “I told you, all the fish has been netted. “
The faint sounds of countless distributors haggling rose and fell in Cheng Yunze’s mind.
He watched as the man raised the glowing wooden staff in his hand.
“I’ll give you three seconds. “
The barriers of the sealing dome, in response to Steward Kǎi’s voice, loosened, revealing cracks.
The demon train did not stir.
But in that very moment, Cheng Yunze, who was straining to hold up this carriage of the demon train, twitched the corner of his eye and reached out to touch the card tucked against his chest, the one bearing the image of the gardening scissors on its back.
“It’s over. “
As Steward Kǎi’s voice faded, the barrier’s force field sprang up again from five sides just a moment before he dispersed, forming a closed dome. It swallowed the crippled ship, the train, the churning sea, and the figure that was falling into the ocean behind…
…engulfing it all.
But at that moment, the train surged forward with a whoosh, carrying the silent Cheng Yunze into the light gate that had appeared beneath the seawater.
“Still struggling. “
The smiling Ambassador Kai inside the carriage suddenly froze.
The carriage beside him and its occupants suddenly turned into phantoms, charging in an instant toward another stretch of land beyond the light gate.
……
{Poor Little Suansuan. }
In the sky, a small elf in a tiny black cheongsam skirt wobbled and flew amidst a glowing light, sighing with pity:
{Having flown across the entire world, I still can’t find a single glittering light to record. }
{Yes, yes, and it has been ages and ages since Liliya last saw those little glowing dots. }
Beside her, Liliya, wearing a little white dress, took a hard look at the stack of small notebooks made from genuine yellow straw paper in her hand and let out a loud hmph.
{I really want to throw it away—it’s too heavy. }
{It looks terrible. }
With that, Little Suansuan tore two pages from her thick stack of paper and discarded them midair.
Liliya stared with sparkling eyes as the pages, no bigger than bees, fell; it took a long time before they hit the ground, bouncing lightly twice and rolling a few times.
{Watch me. } She tore off a sheet, crumpled it, and tossed it down. This time, under Little Suansuan’s puzzled gaze, the little ball of yellow paper, like a booger, bounced a full four times before rolling to a stop.
{I win! } Liliya shot up over a dozen centimeters in excitement.
Little Suan Suan, wearing a small black embroidered dress, hung her arms and legs limply. {Sigh. }
Suddenly, she looked up towards a tiny figure in front of a wooden cabin in the distance.
{That carpenter seems to be making a new palm for his broken hand. Want to go take a look? }
{This kind of thing has almost zero influence; I really don’t want to see it. Well, even so, it’s worth noting down. }
粒粒牙 took out the stack of papers she had tucked behind her waist, flipped through them, and stared at the small black dots on them before shaking her head in annoyance.
{I’ve recorded so, so, so many of these things. It’s too boring, too much—I don’t want to write anymore. }
{1. “Hmm… ” 小酸酸 floated there, staring at the dense, tiny black dots covering the notebook in its hands. }
“I’ve recorded quite a lot too, you know. Hey, how about we use some of them for fun? See if we can influence some more interesting things to happen. “
“Can we do that? “
“Who’s going to stop you? “
{Alright then. } The two little things quickly pressed their fingers onto the black dots on these sheets of paper. As they swiped, the little black dots drifted and merged into the air like diffusing ink.
{Hehe, hehehe… Huh?! }
Just after using up the black dots, the two small orbs of light, watching the grey-black energy drift out in swirls like smoke rings, suddenly stopped their soft humming in unison.
In the sky that was eternally twilight-like, a faint glimmer of light suddenly appeared.
On the ground, at the foot of a hill with only a few trees, Huang Xu, who was fitting a wooden hand onto his arm in front of a log cabin, sensed an unusual sound.
He looked up and saw a door of light appear high up, several dozen meters in the air.
Rumble!
A train, crashing at high speed, tumbled forward and slammed into the log cabin before him, exploding into billowing dust!
Stunned and dumbfounded, the wooden house was shattered into pieces, and the bursting planks and blast waves sent the dazed Huang Xu at the door tumbling backward.
The two small orbs of light flew down from the sky, gazing at the demon train that had suddenly appeared amid the rolling smoke and dust.
{Hey~ It’s our missing big shot star. }
The demon train, lying crashed on the ground, remained motionless for several breaths, and then moved to relax slightly.
Kai-dashi’s body exuded such a thick aura of Stellar Yuan that, had he not actively offered to return the train to the inn and waited three seconds, Cheng Yunze and the train would hardly have had time to conjure that door of light.
Inside the carriage, struggling to get up, Cheng Yunze looked ahead. The figure emanating that terrifying aura was finally gone. The mysterious strong man from the attack on the signal station had indeed not followed them over.
But… what about the others…
Drenched from head to toe, Cheng Yunze felt a splitting headache as he covered his forehead. “Jiajia… and… Tianyi and the others… “
“Brother Cheng. ” Wang Zhi stumbled unevenly, staggering from another carriage.
Cheng Yunze turned around with a weary expression. “Has Anxi come over? “
“They’ve all disappeared. I think… I saw him fall from the train into the sea at that last moment. “
Cheng Yunze, in agonizing pain, slammed his fist against the carriage.
Steadying the train carriage that had shifted, Wang Zhi said, “But the stone slabs and documents we dug up all came along with us. It’s just that… the documents were soaked in seawater at the end. I’m not sure if the writing on them… “
Two small balls of light flew down.
{Wow, are you guys okay? }
No sooner had it spoken than a despairing, heart-wrenching scream echoed from within the smoke.
“Ah! Ma Chao! Why are you here! “
The two little sprites turned around and saw a man covered in dust, with a broken wooden ring on his wrist, wearing an old, baggy coat. He was wildly kicking the train carriage that lay motionless, sprawled lazily on its side.
{You scared me to death… I thought I’d never be able to run again. }
“What the hell are you talking about! Why are you here! “
Huang Xu was beside himself with rage. “Pay for my house! I… I… “
He looked around, then spotted the spot where a stool and wood used to be for his carpentry. The wooden stick, heavier than ordinary wood, was lying on the ground.
Huang Xu, covered in mud and ash, rushed over to pick it up. He spun around and slammed it against the outer shell of the Demon Train, screaming hysterically and incoherently:
“I’ll beat you to death, you big star! Pay for my house, pay me back! “
Bang! Bang!
Inside the train, Cheng Yunze, dripping wet, stepped out of the carriage. As soon as he turned his head, his pupils shrank at the sight: a figure was striking the Demon Train—which was lounging lazily with no desire to do anything—with a wooden staff in his hand.
His mind went blank. “Where did you get that wooden stick?! “
Huang Xu turned his head and saw this strange man charging at him. Madly, he grabbed hold of the somewhat thick front end of the wooden staff.
“You—what do you think you’re doing? “
Cheng Yunze, his chest heaving, stared at the wooden staff he had yanked in his hand. Except for the difference in texture and color, it was almost exactly the same as the one the Mysterious Person had!
“Why do you have this? Who are you? “
Seeing a flicker of temporal fire rising from Cheng Yunze’s body, Huang Xu immediately shouted:
“What, you think just ’cause I’m disabled, any one of you can come and pick on me, huh? Go ahead! I may not have any temporal powers, I might just be an old man who’s lost his bonded demon train—come on then, kill me if you can! “
Faced with the furious Huang Xu, Cheng Yunze narrowed his eyes slightly, his emotions calming down a bit.
{I heard the conductor calling him Director Huang. Don’t bother with him. Even Conductor Yang Zicang let him off. }
“Huh? ” Cheng Yunze froze for a moment. “He knows Yang Zicang, then. “
{It was I who led the Demon Train to chop off his hand. }
The two little sprites descended from the sky, murmuring to each other.
“You have a grudge with Yang Zicang? ” Cheng Yunze frowned, looking down at the wooden staff that was gripped in his own hand and the hand of the man before him.
“I… we got off the same train. But I chose the Red Model, and he became the White, so we parted ways. “
The ground trembled heavily as the Demon Train shook its head, turning its large, headlight-like eyes back to glare at them.
Huang Xu swallowed nervously, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
The Demon Train said nothing more as it began to straighten its body. The colossal creature, with the length of a real train, moved, kicking up gusts of wind and dust. The few people pressed close to it, finding the sight both breathtaking and heart-pounding from such a short distance.
The two sprites, already quite familiar with this entity, flew up and gently poked it with their tiny hands.
Seeing that the man drenched before him was still tightly gripping the wooden staff in his own hands, and that his eyes were fixed on it as if studying it, Huang Xu thought, This thingisindeed very mysterious, I don’t even know what it’s for myself. He asked, “Do you know its origin? “
“Tell me first, what is it? “
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