Chapter 1: Parchment And Train Ticket
Early spring.
The weather was warming up, which should have been a fine day of spring warmth and blooming flowers, if Little Lu’s university roommate Lin Zhao hadn’t suddenly leaped off the dormitory building that day, her head splitting open.
Even worse, on the night before Lin Zhao fell to her death, she had tightly gripped Little Lu’s hand and asked a few strange things.
“Little Lu, do you believe there are ghosts in this world?”
“Whether you believe it or not, you must remember, I’m not harming you.”
“The item is in storage locker 504 on the underground platform at the train station, password 144.”
Facing the police’s questioning, Little Lu inexplicably couldn’t speak those strange lines of dialogue; every time the words reached her mouth, it was as if something was stuck in her throat, preventing her from continuing.
In the end, Lin Zhao’s death was ruled a suicide, with surveillance clearly capturing her suddenly leaving the dormitory late at night and climbing to the rooftop, the entire process.
However, there were vague rumors among the students that before jumping off the rooftop, Lin Zhao seemed to struggle and hesitate for a long time, and the posture in which she ultimately jumped was very strange, as if she had been pushed by something.
But that was just a rumor; no one dared say they had seen that scene with their own eyes.
At first, Little Lu didn’t understand what Lin Zhao meant by the “item,” until she discovered that her “amulet” was missing.
Calling it an “amulet” wasn’t quite accurate; specifically, it was a relic left by her parents, a palm-sized parchment.
Combined with her inability to tell anyone Lin Zhao’s “last words” no matter what, Little Lu felt things had become somewhat weird.
But she had to get the amulet back.
There was only one operating train station in Yuncheng; when Little Lu arrived, even though it wasn’t a holiday, the train station still bustled with quite a bit of passenger flow.
Fully prepared, Little Lu arrived at the underground platform, glanced at the surveillance overhead and the security personnel not far away, then walked to the front of the storage lockers and found the compartment Lin Zhao had mentioned.
She entered the password; it was correct.
With a bang, the storage locker door popped open.
Little Lu’s line of sight looked over and saw the item placed in the locker: very little, just a palm-sized brown parchment and a white card?
“Is it written with some words?”
Little Lu took out the two items; the card was folded over the parchment, the same size as a train ticket, but completely blank on it.
Just as Little Lu was puzzled, suddenly, a stinging pain came from her fingertip pinching the paper, as if a needle had pierced her finger; the next instant, like a scene from a sci-fi movie, the pure white card began to change color from where she was pinching it.
Black and white patterns gradually spread across the entire card; the originally white paper instantly transformed into a black, old-fashioned train ticket exuding weirdness.
“Train ticket?”
Little Lu looked closely; it was indeed a train ticket, with a lot of strange information on it, like some kind of prank or horror movie prop. What made her feel even more discomfort was that her name was already engraved on this train ticket.
“Class D Train, Yuncheng Station to Thailand?”
What a joke?
“Departure time is in half an hour, and it’s seatless.”
The amount showed 100, with 【Valid only for today’s train】 written below.
This was all the information on the ticket, missing some content compared to a normal train ticket, and the color was too eerie, looking just like a train ticket to the underworld.
“What am I thinking.”
Leaving aside whether there really are ghosts in this world, this train ticket was from Yuncheng to Thailand—that was too far-fetched!
While thinking, the stinging pain in her finger had long vanished, as if it had been an illusion. Little Lu picked up the train ticket intending to check the back, but when she lifted it and saw the parchment below, her gaze froze.
She had originally thought the white paper that should have words had none, but the parchment that shouldn’t have words now had a line of text.
【Do you believe there are ghosts?】
Little Lu’s complexion wasn’t good; she instinctively thought this was Lin Zhao’s doing, after all, Lin Zhao had grabbed her hand that night and asked this question.
The parchment held special meaning for her; Little Lu had carried it with her all these years and protected it extremely well, yet now someone had written on it with red ink—how could she stay calm?
However, the next second, what she thought was red ink suddenly melted, dissolving from the parchment like blood; a large amount of red liquid seeped into the parchment and disappeared, leaving behind two fresh red large characters.
【There are ghosts】
“What is this?”
A chill ran down Little Lu’s back; she had to admit that, though she didn’t know what trick it was, she did feel a bit of horror in that instant.
But it wasn’t over; blood-colored foam continued bubbling up from the parchment, as if the red liquid that had just seeped in was having digestion issues. As the foam increased, another line of text reappeared.
【Look around】
Around?
Little Lu’s body stiffened; after the parchment’s “hint,” she suddenly realized that, unbeknownst to her, the train station interior had become unusually quiet.
No sounds could be heard—not the passenger flow, nor the train arrival and departure sounds, nor the broadcast prompts that rang out from time to time; all had disappeared unnoticed.
She raised her head and immediately discovered a terrifying fact:
They had disappeared.
Both the staff and the bustling passenger flow had vanished along with the sounds.
The vast train station now seemed to have only her in it.
The lighting had also imperceptibly become dim; it had been bright and sunny when she entered, but now it was like the moment before a storm arrived.
Little Lu inevitably thought of the two characters she had seen on the parchment: there are ghosts.
What could explain the current scene besides “supernatural event”?
Even if it was a prank, no one would use an entire Yuncheng train station to cooperate!
It was even less possible in this era for any terror attack to silently achieve this level domestically; she hadn’t heard the slightest noise—everything had happened quietly within a few minutes!
An ominous premonition lingered in Little Lu’s heart; goosebumps uncontrollably rose on her arms, as if her subconscious was warning her that her current situation was extremely dangerous.
She thought of something and looked down at the train ticket and parchment again; sure enough, new text had appeared on the parchment.
【You’re about to die】
No.
That wasn’t what she wanted to see.
The parchment seemed to know what she was thinking and continued changing text.
【Board the train to gain a chance to survive.】
【Don’t board, and it’s a dead end.】
Little Lu completely couldn’t understand what the current situation was; she couldn’t help asking, “So what exactly is that train?”
Was this inexplicable ticket in her hand the one to use for boarding that train?
The parchment didn’t answer her, only bubbling up its final line of text on its own.
【Pay the price, exchange for a way to survive】
Then, the blood script disappeared; no matter what Little Lu said, the parchment no longer responded.
Wind poured into the underground station, chilling Little Lu’s already cold body; she couldn’t control the torrent of terrible thoughts surging in her brain—after all, no matter how she looked at it, she seemed to have encountered some bizarre supernatural event.
Was what the parchment said true?
Was this ticket real?
Did a train really exist that she must board, or she’d die?
She thought of Lin Zhao again; now she finally somewhat understood those strange words the other had said, but Lin Zhao had also said this wasn’t harming her. They say the words of the dying are kind, but now, no matter how she looked at it, it was Lin Zhao’s actions that had put her in this predicament, right?
Why?
They were both freshmen; though not very familiar with each other, they certainly had no conflicts.
“Never mind, thinking about this now has no meaning.”
The pressing matter was that she had to figure out if all this was real or fake; just standing here lost in thought wouldn’t yield any results.
Little Lu looked around and then confirmed one thing: she couldn’t leave the underground platform.
Whether elevator or stairs, she encountered ghost hitting wall situations, unable to leave; her mobile phone had no signal, not even emergency calls could be made.
“Looks like I’ve really seen a ghost.”
A wry smile appeared on the girl’s face; her encounter could no longer be explained by “science.” Even though she was pretending to be calm on the surface, only Little Lu knew that the clothes on her back were soaked with cold sweat, her legs were going soft, and she could still move only thanks to willpower.
Even though she felt terror and fear from what she was experiencing, her heart pounding, forehead dripping cold sweat, brain buzzing, Little Lu wasn’t scared into immobility and could even maintain basic thinking. Little Lu admitted she wasn’t brilliantly intelligent, but she was better than most at staying calm.
After confirming she couldn’t leave, the next step might be to check the ticket gate; after all, to board, she’d need ticket inspection, right?
Thinking this, Little Lu headed toward the ticket gate, but after just a few steps, she heard hurried footsteps coming from the stairs behind her.
As if someone was rushing here anxiously, afraid of missing the train about to depart.
Little Lu had no intention of hiding; based on the information she knew, she guessed there wouldn’t be danger in the station now—danger would be after boarding the train, or rather, danger was in not boarding after the train arrived, and after boarding the train.
The time hadn’t come yet; the train hadn’t arrived.
Sure enough, as the footsteps approached, a figure gradually emerged: a young woman about 26 or 27 years old, empty-handed, lightly dressed, muttering nonstop as she hurried down: “Close call, almost late, good thing I made it.”
Only when she reached the bottom of the stairs, entered the underground platform, and looked up did she discover Little Lu staring straight at her not far away.
“Eh?”
“New face, are you a new passenger boarding this time?”
With these two sentences, Little Lu confirmed that, as she thought, the person coming down the stairs was a living person, and one like her who was going to “board the train.”
While confirming this, an absurd feeling uncontrollably rose in her heart: was this ridiculous thing really happening?
Thinking this inwardly, a polite smile already appeared on Little Lu’s face: “I think probably yes?”
The newcomer seemed completely unvigilant about the stranger who had suddenly appeared on the platform; this attitude further confirmed Little Lu’s guess was correct—there would be no danger on the platform, at least before the train arrived.
“This time’s list seems to have a few new names; don’t know if the others have arrived.”
The person walked toward Little Lu, quite familiarly: “Come on, I’ll take you to the waiting room first; the others are there.”
Little Lu didn’t refuse, following behind her while saying: “Can I ask what the current situation is?”
“Sure, but time might be tight now; only about ten minutes till boarding, and then ticket inspection. How about this: after boarding, there’s some time before arrival, I’ll explain in detail then.”
This person seemed very approachable, quickly leading Little Lu to the waiting room. Entering it, Little Lu then discovered that this underground station she thought empty actually had seven other people.
Plus the two of them, nine in total.
“You’re here? How are you late again?”
After the woman entered the room, someone looked at her dissatisfied, then glanced at Little Lu: “Third newcomer, one more to go. You didn’t see them; looks like they won’t make it.”
She shook her head; the boy, probably a newcomer like Little Lu, suddenly asked: “What happens if they don’t make it?”
Little Lu thought of the words on the parchment: will die.
“They’ll die.”
Someone answered affirmatively.
During the conversation, Little Lu briefly observed everyone present: ages varied, and from their temperaments, professions likely differed too. Including herself, nine people: five women and four men, several with obvious terror and unease on their faces—probably “newcomers” like her.
But even the “veterans” didn’t have relaxed expressions, even carrying an indescribable solemnity.
Then, Little Lu looked at a screen to the right front of the waiting room, which read 【Waiting Information】
【Arriving Train Level: D】
【Passengers This Time: Ten】
【Passenger List: Liu Haoyu, Yang Junjie, Zhou Wenbo, Xu Lei, Lin Shuyue, Cen Duo, Fang Pandan, Feng Xinxin, Jiang Yingzhi, Lu Jinzhao】
【This Station: Summon Ghosts】
【Rumor has it there are many methods to see ghosts in folklore; among them, ten widely circulated ones were even made into a movie called Ten Methods to See Ghosts.】
【Do those methods really allow one to see ghosts?】
【Go to the bookstore and buy a copy of “Ten Methods to See Ghosts”; each person randomly draws one method to see ghosts and completes it. Methods cannot be repeated. Board the return train in 12 hours to complete the mission.】
——Rumble
The roar of an old-fashioned train gradually approached from afar; the obvious leader in the waiting room stood up and looked toward the station.
“Let’s go, the train’s here.”
