Chapter 558: City of the Living Dead (2)
Fwoosh… Everything in his eyes turned completely monochromatic. Everything within a radius of ten meters around him became clear as day. The rest of the carriages beyond that appeared grainy and hazy. The door to the washroom opened slowly with a soft creak.
Red. The colour of blood!
There were discarded heels, broken cell phones, and even clumps of hair that were drifting in pools of blood. They haven’t had the time to clean up the bloody mess in the washroom just yet!
Pak! A hand suddenly appeared right in front of his face. The attendant had stormed right back in her heels, darting right in front of her door and slamming it shut, “Sir? What’s the matter?”
She was clearly preventing Qin Ye from entering the washroom.
“[in English] What’s in it?” Qin Ye looked her straight in the eye, “[in English] Why close?”
She’s truly unaware of what’s going on inside. But I’m afraid I can somewhat guess how the entire carriage would look without the effects of Demonic Suppression… Qin Ye turned and gazed down the aisle.
It was almost as though the train was hurtling straight into the Yellow Springs.
She took a single step, and then she paused again.
T-t-t-t… Her teeth chattered wildly. She could clearly hear a voice call out to her.
“AHHHHH!!!” She screamed at the top of her voice and ran helter-skelter away from the washroom. At once, the other passengers in the carriage turned to look at the source of the commotion.
Holy shit!
Both men cursed under their breaths - Bloody hell… How are we supposed to clear up the air?!
He had a grave expression on his face. The previous female attendant followed closely behind him, still trembling from fright. The male attendant marched right up to Qin Ye, nodded slightly, and then addressed him in fluent Cathayan, “Sir, please come with me.”
Everyone appeared just as oblivious as the other. It was almost as though they had boarded a midnight train, only to discover that everyone around them were dead people, and they were the only odd ones out.
It was only when they had finally arrived at the fourth carriage that they were finally allowed to enter the washroom.
In fact, there were only seven or eight passengers on board this carriage right now.
We’re currently aboard a train that hasn’t even been completely disinfected and cleaned of its stains, and everything has to be concealed by the deployment of the Demonic Suppression!
That said, what caught his attention was the fact that there was a door separating the dining carriage from the carriage further up the train, and the fact that there were heavily armed Daeian policemen standing guard by the door to the next carriage!
“Greetings.” Wang Chenghao had gone to the washroom, and the man at the table gesticulated for Qin Ye to take a seat. The earlier attendant acted as a translator between the two. The middle-aged police officer nodded and seized the initiative, “May I have a look at your travel documents?”
Qin Ye felt somewhat puzzled. He stared right back into the man’s eyes for several more seconds before the middle-aged police officer finally sighed and responded in a deep voice, “I’m talking about… the Pusan Special Zone Access Permit.”
At once, Qin Ye’s mind spun with thoughts.
But why would it be designated as a special zone?
But… didn’t they happen in Gyeonggi Province?
His gaze flickered slightly - That’s right, didn’t the Lord of the Springlight County City, Liu Changhe, earlier mention something about the occurrence of a real ‘Train to Pusan’?
Qin Ye ignored the scrutiny of the middle-aged police officer’s gaze and glanced back from where they had come from.
Is this train… the very same one on which the Train to Pusan incident took place?
It was possible to transport carriages of the living dead from place to place, so long as the “cargo” was properly secured. In other words… they might very well be riding a corpse-carrying train right now!
Dong dong! Just as Qin Ye was delving deeper into his thoughts, the middle-aged policeman rapped loudly on the table, causing Qin Ye to turn back to the front, only to discover that the other policemen standing behind the middle-aged man were also staring at him.
But the answer was obvious. There wasn’t much to mull over.
Someone was showing him goodwill.
Who?
“You don’t have one?” The middle-aged policeman’s voice grew stern. Just then, one of the police officers standing beside him who had been looking at something on his phone suddenly set it down, bent over and whispered something into the middle-aged policeman’s ears.
As expected… Qin Ye smiled warmly back. It was great being at the top. Sure, Lee Jung-sook might be missing in action, but the Russian Underworld most definitely had other contacts in high places. One couldn’t expect anything less of a death god of a powerful underworld.
The middle-aged policeman smiled, “Well, then… shall I explain everything to you?”
The middle-aged policeman pondered for several seconds, retracted his smile and then finally explained with an authoritative voice, “First of all, the journey from Hanyang to Pusan takes two hours. Try not to leave your seat as much as possible.”
“When we’re passing through, you should refrain from looking out of the window no matter what happens. The train is equipped with sufficient defensive measures. Also… if you hear any strange sounds, do not respond.”
Qin Ye nodded. Wang Chenghao had come out of the washroom by now. He listened silently as the middle-aged policeman finished up, and then they both left.
Qin Ye shook his head, “He wouldn’t say a word. Besides, these are things that we should be in the know of, especially given that we’d been granted special access from above. Ask too much, and we might just let the cat out of the bag and strain the privileged position we’re currently in.”
You’re really good at sucking up to others, aren’t you…
Wang One Tail was slightly taken aback.
“No…”
“The one that eventually made it to the screens is that the daughter and the pregnant mother were forced to stop at a blocked tunnel just before Pusan, and they walked through the dark tunnel on foot. The other end of the tunnel was garrisoned with soldiers with loaded guns and weapons of all sorts. They had their weapons trained at the entrance of the tunnel at all times to ensure not a single one of the living dead could make it through the tunnel. However, because of how dark the tunnel was, it was impossible to see whether the ones walking through the tunnel were living human beings or the living dead.”
Wang One Tail looked baffled, “So? What’s the point you’re trying to make?”
“In that other version… the little girl and the pregnant woman who managed to escape from the horde of living dead managed to get to the edge of the safe zone, where they entered the tunnel. But just as soon as they saw the light at the end of the tunnel… they were shot down by the soldiers garrisoned at the other end.”
“... You’re a ghost. And you’re telling me about darkness?!” Qin Ye rolled his eyes and went on, “Apart from that, the actual filming location of the show was… none other than the third tunnel at Pusan!”
Just then, there was darkness everywhere, and the lights in the carriage came on promptly.
“Have we arrived?” Wang Chenghao was taken aback, “So quick?”
“But... darkness has.”
1. See Chapter 533.
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