Chapter 568: On the Verge of Collapse

The pink giant horse galloped across the empty street, its hooves striking the asphalt road with a crisp, dense sound.

A Xing sat steadily on the horse's back, one hand gripping the rein, the other pressing down on the dark Top Hat on his head, its brim lowered low, hiding all emotion in his golden eyes.

Grey strands of hair flew backward in the wind blowing towards him, revealing that eternally expressionless face.

She wore a practical outfit for movement, the collar standing upright, the hem fluttering in the wind, outlining her slender waistline.

The pink giant horse's body was packed with bulging muscles, each muscle tensing and relaxing as it ran, the strong lines looking as if carved, the rhythm formed while running on its back carrying a primitive, wild power.

Tengcun Lixiang was bound to the back of this muscular giant horse, her whole body lying prone on the horse's back, rising and falling with the running rhythm; the stone-hard horseback jolted her chest with each bump, making her feel as if her chest cavity were about to be shattered.

Even more unbelievably, behind the Pink Horse was still dragging a……

Something that could be called a 'cart' for now.

That thing looked like it was haphazardly pieced together from a few random planks of unknown origin, its four wheels of uneven size—two rubber, two metal—making a harsh clang-clang as it rolled.

A thick hemp rope had one end tied to the base of the Pink Horse's Tail—the horse didn't resist this treatment—and the other end fastened to the front of the rickety little cart.

Sha Jin lay sprawled in that little cart.

That once vigorous gambler now lay utterly unkempt on a few planks, his whole body swaying up and down, left and right with the cart's jolts, like a Salted Fish tossed into a spinning washing machine.

His clothes were torn to rags, his golden hair messy like a bird's nest, his face covered in grime, his lips chapped, his gaze unfocused, his whole body exuding an air of decadence.

The surrounding world presented a strange state—though it had clearly grown completely dark, by all logic one should not see five fingers ahead, yet oddly, everything around could be seen perfectly clearly.

Those inverted signs, those empty shops, those twisted streetlights were all shrouded in a pale bluish-gray light that seemed to come from nowhere.

That light had no source, no direction, just evenly spread across every corner, as if the whole world were soaked in some luminous liquid.

"I say……"

Tengcun Lixiang struggled to lift her head, her face turned deathly pale from the prolonged jolting, sweat sliding down her cheeks and sticking a few strands of orange short hair to her forehead.

Her school uniform was soaked through with sweat, the thin fabric clinging to her body, outlining the girl's slender waist and the especially prominent curve from lying on the horse's back—"Can't… can't you let me sit up? If not, let me change my posture… I feel like I'm about to be shaken apart…"

Her voice drifted away in the wind, carrying a feeling of being on the verge of collapse.

The Pink Horse's muscles were simply too hard, as hard as lying on stone; each rise and fall of its gallop slammed her body hard against the rigid horseback, the soft parts of her chest throbbing with dull pain from the repeated impacts, leaving her embarrassed, annoyed, yet helpless.

A Xing gave no response.

She didn't even turn her head, just continued silently driving the horse in a frantic gallop across the empty street, her golden eyes fixed on the road ahead, her expressionless face showing no emotion.

Fujimura bit her lip, turning her gaze toward the broken cart behind her.

"Mr. Sha Jin……"

She called out weakly, "Can you… help me say something to her?"

Sha Jin lay in the small cart, and upon hearing this, he turned his head with difficulty, squeezing out a smile uglier than tears on his dust-covered face.

"She won't listen."

His voice hoarse, tinged with resignation, "I've already tried just now—I asked at least twenty questions, and she didn't reply with a single word."

Fujimura fell silent for a second.

"Then what do you think… where are we headed now?"

Sha Jin lifted his head, gazing at the seemingly endless street ahead, then at the inverted signs flashing past around him, and finally let out a long sigh to the sky.

"Who knows."

In that recent chaos, they finally escaped from the building surrounded by Monkeys.

Those dense yellow figures, the 'Jiaojiao' cries coming from all directions, and that eerie Monkey in a white coat—just recalling it made Sha Jin's scalp go numb.

They ran all the way, passing through several streets, turning countless corners, and finally shook off that troop of Monkeys.

At least for now they'd shaken them off.

Fujimura shifted her posture, trying to make her body a little more comfortable, but soon realized it was utterly futile.

Then, with difficulty, she turned her head and glanced sideways at Sha Jin in the cart, his face full of envy.

"You're the comfortable one… lying there… every jolt here slams my chest and hurts…"

Sha Jin grinned, that smile looking especially ridiculous on his ashen face.

"Comfortable? Want to give it a try? I think these planks are about to fall apart—I could be thrown out at any moment."

Lixiang fell silent for a second, then spoke with even greater difficulty:

"Then… shall we switch? You lie on the horse's back, I'll lie in the cart?"

The smile on Sha Jin's face froze for a moment, then he looked at the absurdly muscular pink giant horse, then at his own rickety cart that could collapse any second, and finally shook his head.

"Never mind, never mind, I think this is fine as is."

Lixiang: "……"

During that escape just now, she and Sha Jin actually chatted quite a bit.

From Sha Jin she learned that this blond man was an Archer, the Archer class, having previously fought and barely won against a huge black figure, only to be ambushed by a troop of Monkeys and wake up bound to this cart.

Sha Jin also learned from her that she was the Master of Saber, having inexplicably fallen into this Monkey-filled eerie place, and then been rescued from a certain building by that grey-haired girl.

As for who that grey-haired girl is—

"What's your name?" Sha Jin had asked at the time.

A Xing gave no answer.

"Which class's Servant are you?"

Still no answer.

"What's your relation to the Star Rail Train?"

Still no answer.

A Xing seemed not to have heard at all, merely silently driving the horse, his hollow eyes fixed ahead, showing no expression.

Sha Jin later gave up as well.

"Just who is she…" Sha Jin muttered to himself.

Just then—