Chapter 58: Chapter Fifty-Nine: Something Happened Again

Train conductor Liu Guoyou had worked on the railway for many years and was very familiar with its quirks; he spoke with great wit.

Wang Yimin said to Li Xuewu: “During escort duty, communicate often with the conductor—they’re seasoned veterans with plenty of experience worth learning from.”

This remark was Wang Yimin flattering Liu Guoyou; this entire mission depended on the conductor arranging meals.

Li Xuewu, naturally perceptive, replied: “Indeed, we’ve barely traveled far and already ran into this—plus we must constantly signal the duty signalman. Railway workers truly have it tough.”

Liu Guoyou wore a look of deep suffering and said: “Railway workers like me all have terrible tempers—it’s the work environment. People on the ground think we’re all hot-headed and arrogant.”

As they talked, Liu Guoyou opened up about his own amusing story.

“Last month, after a heavy snowfall, my fellow conductors and I finally got a chance to eat together. To warm up and shake off the chill, we had a bit of liquor—I got drunk and passed out cold.”

“When they carried me home, my wife was dealing with some family matter. She tried every method to sober me up, but nothing worked, so she called a friend who works on the railway.”

The friend said: “Try shouting, ‘Snow’s falling! Get to your post and clear it!’”

“My wife didn’t understand, but she did it anyway.”

The moment she shouted it, before the words even faded, I shot straight up from bed, wide awake, yelling: ‘Let’s go! Grab the tools...’”

Hahaha!

After chatting for over an hour, Han Zhan woke up and got up to relieve Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu was no longer sleepy from all the commotion, and since Liu Guoyou’s story was something he’d never heard before, he found it fascinating—he told Wang Yimin to rest first.

Wang Yimin yawned, took off his coat, and climbed into bed; Han Zhan picked up his cup and went to get hot water.

At that moment, the high-speed train jolted violently, then emitted a piercing screech as it slammed on the brakes, throwing Han Zhan straight to the floor.

“Ah!”

“!”

Li Xuewu was also thrown, his shoulder slamming into the window frame; the train screeched and coasted another hundred meters before stopping.

The scream had come from Han Zhan—hot water had spilled onto his hand.

“Don’t make a sound!”

Li Xuewu whispered sharply, unlocked the safety, raised his rifle, and crouched in the lower right corner of the observation window, peered out quickly, then dropped back down.

Outside was pitch black, no light anywhere.

Wang Yimin hadn’t even put on his coat—he rolled off the bed clutching his rifle, hit something hard, and let out a muffled grunt.

Han Zhan shook his hand, crouched low, grabbed his rifle, and crawled toward the observation window at the other end.

Liu Guoyou jumped up at once, ignoring Han Zhan still on the floor, and rushed to the observation window to lean out and check ahead.

Li Xuewu and the others were guards—their role was protection and retaliation; he was the conductor, so he had to take the initiative to investigate any situation.

Outside, the night was utterly dark, nothing visible.

Li Xuewu swapped positions with Wang Yimin, moved to Han Zhan’s side, and helped him check his injuries.

Wang Yimin, now in Li Xuewu’s spot, took the rifle, unlocked the safety, and burst out the door onto the platform.

Once the train had come to a complete stop, Li Xuewu saw Han Zhan’s hand was only red—no open wounds—and finally stood at the door with his rifle ready.

At the door, he noticed a flickering light moving toward them from the locomotive direction.

Liu Guoyou squeezed out the door, stood on the platform, stared at the light ahead, and muttered: “The train might have hit someone.”

Li Xuewu walked over to Wang Yimin and asked: “Master Wang, how should we handle this?”

Wang Yimin pulled back inside and said: “We only guard the cargo, not people—leave it to the conductor.”

At that moment, Han Zhan had straightened himself, rifle in hand, standing behind the group: “Conductor Liu, let’s go check.”

Liu Guoyou shook his head: “We can’t get off yet. The hit is just my guess—we must wait for the engineer to come to us. If we jump off now and it’s just a minor locomotive malfunction, the train will leave without us.”

Seeing nothing amiss outside, Li Xuewu, Han Zhan, and Wang Yimin returned inside, watching ahead through the windows, waiting.

After about five minutes, the engineer arrived running with a flashlight.

Liu Guoyou leaned on the platform railing and asked: “Engineer Han, what happened?”

Engineer Han stood beside the tracks and replied: “Just hit two people. Only one’s under the train—I spent ages searching before finding the other on the slope below the rails.”

“Dead?” Liu Guoyou asked.

Engineer Han answered: “The one under the train is dead. The one on the embankment is still breathing—huffing and puffing. Come down and take a look.”

“Alright.”

Liu Guoyou re-entered the carriage and called Li Xuewu and Wang Yimin to follow him off the guard car, walking with Engineer Han toward the front...

The collision occurred near the middle-front of the train. Engineer Han had come down with the fireman; the assistant engineer stayed on the locomotive, and the fireman waited at the impact site.

Engineer Han led them first to the spot where the boxcar had crushed someone, shining his flashlight.

“No good—head’s gone,” Wang Yimin muttered, then refused to look further.

Li Xuewu had seen everything—yet he studied the body closely and felt something was off.

Logically, if the head was gone, the body shouldn’t still be rising and falling—yet this man’s chest was moving slightly.

Seeing the others about to leave, Li Xuewu pointed at the man under the train: “Look—he’s still moving.”

Those three beside him were terrified.

Engineer Han’s flashlight trembled in his hand—the light’s up-and-down motion revealed his extreme nervousness.

Liu Guoyou snatched the flashlight from him and shone it directly on the man.

The light confirmed it—the man was indeed moving, though faintly.

Li Xuewu said to Wang Yimin: “Master Wang, lend a hand—get him out. You got the nerve?”

Liu Guoyou added: “We’ve got to get him out—we can’t leave without him. You hold the light—I’ll help Comrade Li.”