Chapter 154 Evasion

Distinct sword scars marked the surfaces of the train carriages!

Whether by Yichen's deliberate restraint or simply due to fortune, the carriages were not pierced or destroyed; everything was executed with absolute precision.

Trailing right behind Yichen, Bai Ge and Liang Bing witnessed this exact scene, struck completely speechless.

Having slaughtered an entire carriage full of zombies in this manner, what on earth was he planning to do?

Indifferent to the two women's stunned gazes, Yichen hoisted his sword and continued forward, soon reaching the next carriage.

This time, not a single zombie dared to act rashly.

Wherever he walked, the zombies became "obedient and tame." They stood docilely against the walls, as quiet as a row of ugly wooden puppets.

Strength decides everything. Yichen towered far above them, an absolute, king-like existence. Of this, there was no doubt.

After observing for a moment, Bai Ge and Liang Bing boldly followed him. They wove through the ranks of zombies without encountering any attacks.

After falling unconscious, Yichen had not completely lost his awareness.

He had even instinctively sensed the crisis aboard the train, but his body was utterly exhausted, out of sync with his mind, rendering him completely immobile.

In desperation, relying on the zombie virus within his body, he forced himself back up. However, he could no longer be considered a living human; he now resembled a zombie far more.

One thing remained firmly etched in his mind at the moment the virus took command of his body.

This train needed to be protected. This was his territory, and he would not allow anything to run amok here!

He was not doing this to save humanity, but for himself—to spare himself the deeper anguish of losing anything else!

The sudden cessation of hostilities by the zombies quickly caught the attention of the surviving train crew.

The conductor placed a call directly to Bai Ge, inquiring about what had happened.

Bai Ge reported the facts to him without omission. Though it remained unclear whether the outcome would be good or bad, Yichen waking up at this moment and controlling the zombies was, for now, advantageous in buying them time to await the rescue from Xijing!

Listening to Bai Ge's analysis, the conductor felt a mix of joy and apprehension. The joy was that they at least had a glimmer of hope for survival; the apprehension was that their deaths might turn out even more gruesome later on.

Just what kind of monster was Yichen, that he could make the vast horde of zombies in the rear cars so utterly obedient and suppress their instinctive desire to hunt and feed?

Ending the call with Bai Ge, the conductor immediately relayed the situation to Xijing.

The other end expressed great surprise upon hearing the news, asking him to hold for a moment before transferring the call to another dedicated secure line.

"...We are fully aware of the situation. Do your best to find a way to keep that special infected individual calm and make him continue to control the zombies to buy time."

Gripping the receiver, the conductor felt as though he might burst into tears. It was easy for them to say, but how was he supposed to keep him calm?

He still could not determine whether Yichen was friend or foe. He was the equivalent of a ticking time bomb; if he detonated, the catastrophic consequences would far surpass zombies breaching the carriages one by one!

"After consultation, the rescue and extraction point has been preliminarily determined as—the Minjiang Bridge."

"Understood! Based on our current location and speed, we should arrive at the designated spot in about five hours!" Hearing the arrangement, the conductor's spirits lifted. He had finally heard some good news!

He immediately followed up with a question: "How do you plan to execute the rescue, and what do you need our side to cooperate with?"

"You don't need to do anything for now. We will dispatch helicopters along with another train to uncouple your engine and tow away the front half of the carriages."

"There is a tunnel we must pass through just before reaching the Minjiang Bridge. Wouldn't it be better to detach the engine there?" The conductor offered a suggestion.

That damn bloody rain showed no signs of stopping. If the environment remained this hostile five hours from now, who would dare to volunteer for such hazardous work?

The voice on the other end paused before replying, "We will have specialized personnel in charge of this task arriving at the scene via helicopter. Helicopters cannot fly low enough to enter tunnels."

"...Very well." The conductor pressed the matter no further.

Xijing seemed to be complicating things unnecessarily, but since they were the ones awaiting rescue, making excessive demands was out of the question. Since the other party was confident, following their arrangements entirely posed no problem.

The terrain around Nanchuan city was relatively flat, with mountains appearing only to the north, but Xijing was entirely different. Xijing was a city built almost entirely amidst clusters of mountains; as the train progressed, they would have to pass through one tunnel after another.

Navigating through the mountains meant plunging into pitch-black darkness, a lightless sensation that bred deep fear and uncertainty. Coupled with the fact that half the train was now packed with zombies, this felt no different from sleeping while hugging an atomic bomb.

The conductor relayed the newly acquired information back to Bai Ge, shifting the heavy responsibility and pressure of keeping watch over Yichen entirely onto her shoulders.

Bai Ge curled her lip and continued to follow Yichen. She was the one who had brought him onto the train; bearing this responsibility and obligation was only natural.

Yichen walked straight ahead, searching for someone.

There were almost no living people left in the rear carriages. Compared to the suffocating overcrowding at the beginning, the space now appeared remarkably vacant.

He could sense Xuemang and the others; everything was normal.

Ling Lan, Xuemang, and Chang Qing had previously endured a painful and arduous journey swimming against the current of the crowd. Bai Ge had given them ten minutes, but in that span, they had only managed to squeeze as far back as the nearby carriages, leaving them no time to search for Ling Zhe, let alone bring him back.

Shortly after, the carriage doors were sealed, the crowd plunged into chaos, and the situation spiraled completely out of control.

Though desperate to find her younger brother, Ling Lan kept her wits about her. Spotting their chance, they quickly squeezed into a restroom and bolted the door from the inside. Several people were already crammed inside the restroom, turning the tiny, foul-smelling space into a stifling pressure cooker that left them gasping and nearly suffocating.

Taking advantage of the situation, Chang Qing felt them up by rubbing against Xuemang and Ling Lan.

With her heart consumed by worry for her brother, Ling Lan didn't react to being groped, but Xuemang forcefully raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

"If you ask me, we should just go out and fight. Are we still afraid of zombies? What's the point of hiding in here?" Chang Qing suggested.

"Easy for you to say! There are so many people outside, we'd end up hurting innocent victims!" Xuemang shook her head.

"What's the difference?" Chang Qing said dismissively. "They're dead whether they get bitten or eaten by zombies anyway. Better they die by our hands and suffer less pain."

"...In any case, we cannot kill people indiscriminately!"

"Manting, this is the end of the world. You're just showing misplaced benevolence..."

"Get lost, you're the one showing misplaced benevolence!"

Xuemang erected an ice wall outside the restroom door for defense, simultaneously isolating their scent and sound. Even though they were arguing fiercely inside, the zombies wandering outside paid no attention to this spot.

The virus spread rapidly. The scene outside had transitioned from an initial civilian riot to panicked screams, and then, a few minutes later, even the roars of the zombies and the sounds of them tearing into flesh and chewing gradually faded away.

"They've moved to other carriages," Xuemang said after sensing the positions of the zombies. With only a few stragglers left outside, they could completely and easily clear them out if they went out now.