Chapter 88: Atmospheric Cloud Jellyfish (Part 2 — Requesting Monthly Tickets)

“Ah!”

A massive pulling force caused the entire train to lurch forward violently; terrifying noises erupted from the roof and sides, and Chen Sixuan lost her balance and collapsed to her knees.

She stared at the dark shadow outside the window and her mind went utterly blank with terror.

But the flickering headlights above quickly pulled her sanity back.

Lin Xian! Lin Xian!

Save Lin Xian!

Chen Sixuan clenched her silver teeth and sat up from the floor.

She fixed her gaze on the light, repeating over and over:

“One short, one long, a”

“Two long, m”

“Two long, three short, 7”

“Am7… am7? What does that mean?” Chen Sixuan’s lips were dry; her heartbeat surged wildly. Suddenly, she turned to the radio on the sofa, her eyes widening.

“Am07—it’s a frequency band! I get it!!”

She had just stood up—BOOM!

A massive tentacle slid past the side of the train with a heavy thud, nearly overturning the entire carriage; Chen Sixuan lost her balance again and fell to the ground.

She didn’t hesitate—she struggled back up, turned on the radio, and tuned it to Am07.

…

On the other side, Lin Xian stared at the radio, his expression grim.

He had pre-tuned it to Am07 and had been waiting for Chen Laoshi’s signal.

But he waited a long time—and still received no response.

“What’s wrong? Did I guess wrong?”

“That shouldn’t be…”

Lin Xian stared at the radio in his hand, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

His mechanical heart sensed violent tremors throughout the entire train—but where he was, nothing had happened.

“Why did we encounter the 1542 Strange Radio Station?”

“But… be careful. Using this thing doesn’t just let you pick up human signals…”

He suddenly remembered what Jiang Yun had said.

“Right—the Strange Blood Essence. Only this thing can activate the Dark Radio.”

Lin Xian’s heart lurched. He had attached that Strange Blood Essence to the radio before triggering this terrifying frequency.

He suddenly recalled—hadn’t he taken that Strange Blood Essence off?

Lin Xian took a deep breath and began searching frantically.

“I clearly remember holding it in my hand. It must be on me.”

But he couldn’t recall anything—since entering this strange frequency, he’d completely forgotten he still had the Strange Blood Essence.

“On the sofa… not there.”

“What about the floor?”

Lin Xian grew frantic. He turned on the lights and crawled along the floor searching.

That blood-red bead should’ve been easy to spot.

“Where is it?”

He pressed his face to the ground, expression grim, inch by inch searching.

As Lin Xian scoured the floor, his vision suddenly caught a pair of pale white feet. He looked up—it was the headless ghost girl in her bikini.

“Get away!”

Lin Xian shoved her aside; the ghost stepped one pace to the side.

“Wait—”

Lin Xian shot to his feet, his gaze locking onto the red dress on the floor, then the bikini on the ghost, then the skull in the corner—his eyes met.

After a long silence, Lin Xian frowned and spoke slowly.

“Why are you dressed entirely in red?”

At those words, the ghost’s expression twisted. Her entire head flew upward, fangs bared, lunging at Lin Xian.

SMACK!

Lin Xian reached out and snatched her head out of the air.

“Oh, I get it. That’s why I heard the sound of glass marbles…”

“It was you…”

The ghost’s face twisted in terror. The train’s lights began flickering violently. Lin Xian’s eyes hardened—he gripped the ghost’s head tightly and squeezed with all his strength!

CRACK! CRACK!

The skull shattered beneath his hands, releasing a cloud of red mist that coalesced again. Lin Xian felt a wave of hallucination flood his vision.

When he blinked again, a red bead now rested in his palm.

Strange Blood Essence!

“You trapped me in my own train, killed me with my own knife, and turned my belongings into ghosts to terrify me—this is psychological torture…” Lin Xian’s expression darkened. He picked up the radio and attached the Strange Blood Essence to it.

CLICK!

In an instant, the surroundings shrank rapidly. Lin Xian felt a flash of light before his eyes.

Then—

BOOM!

A massive impact sent him stumbling, his eardrums ringing.

“Lin Xian!”

Before he could react, Chen Laoshi flung herself into his arms, and the entire train nearly tipped over.

“Chen Laoshi, be careful!”

Lin Xian reflexively shoved Chen Sixuan down and shielded her with his body.

The “Infinity” now seemed swallowed by some monstrous entity; violent scraping sounds came from all directions.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

!

KONG! KONG! KONG! KONG!

The deafening noise battered their eardrums for what felt like an eternity—until finally, the terrifying sound vanished.

“What the hell was that…”

Chen Sixuan rose, trembling with fear. She was utterly drained, leaning against Lin Xian with no strength left.

Lin Xian supported her as they walked into the cab. Both sides of the track ahead had been completely flattened, leaving countless long, narrow grooves!

The track hundreds of meters ahead was almost entirely destroyed.

The horrific scene filled them with dread.

“Lin Xian, look!”

Chen Sixuan lifted her gaze—and saw a sight that stole her breath.

Above the train, in the sky, floated a colossal jellyfish, as large as an island, drifting slowly over the valley—beautiful yet chilling, sending shivers down the spine.

Lin Xian was stunned. The shock of this creature rivaled that of the floating corpse he’d seen in the black mist.

How many more unknown horrors lurked in this night?

Shasha and Kiki finally rose and rushed to Car 1.

“Lin brother… ah!?” Shasha hadn’t yet recovered from seeing Lin Xian when she spotted the monstrous entity—she screamed.

Even the usually silent Lou Ye paled at the sight of this colossal anomaly.

Kiki stepped forward, eyes wide in astonishment: “Atmospheric… cloud jellyfish?”

This bizarre creature resembled something from old interstellar horror literature.

“How do you even shoot this thing?” Shasha stared, incredulous.

Lin Xian scanned the surroundings, his face darkening.

“We’re lucky it didn’t swallow us whole.”

They watched in relief as the colossal shadow slowly vanished into the night. Only after a long while did they finally exhale, the crushing pressure lifting.

“It’s gone…”

“Oh my god, that was terrifying,” Chen Sixuan whispered.

Shasha snapped back to reality, turning to Lin Xian and Kiki: “Lin brother, you’re finally back! Where did you go? And Kiki-sis—you were unconscious, then vanished—you scared us to death!”

Lin Xian glanced at Kiki—she grinned at him playfully.

“Long story. Wait—we need to assess our situation first.”

“Shasha, come with me to inspect the damage and see if we can repair the track. Little girl…” Lin Xian turned to Kiki. “Any discomfort left?”

Kiki shook her head, hands on her hips. “Report, Train Captain: this little girl is feeling great.”

Lin Xian studied her. Her attitude toward him had changed noticeably.

He gave her a long, thoughtful look. “Alright. Use the drone to scout the surroundings.”

“Shasha, stand guard.”

“What about me?” Chen Sixuan spoke up at this moment.

Lin Xian saw her exhausted expression and said, “Rest first. If we’re certain we’re out of danger, I’ll fix the tracks, then we’ll head into the southern line of Dalaoshan—you’ll still be driving.”

Chen Sixuan shook her head and said, “It’s snowing hard outside. Let me make something to eat. Kiki just woke up—her body hasn’t recovered yet.”

“That’s right,” Kiki said now. “Aren’t you worried that thing’s still up there ahead of us?”

Lin Xian, hearing this, felt it made sense and nodded. “You’re right. Let’s rest a bit longer and set out at dawn.”

New book launched! Begging for monthly votes—Infinite Train, Soaring to the Clouds!

Deeply grateful!

(End of chapter)