Chapter 53: Luggage Bag
The female university student’s overly panicked reaction startled everyone, and at that moment, everyone felt as if the psychological trauma that had been lingering on each of them was converging onto that one person.
The other person’s reaction was simply too exaggerated, and their scream too piercing, to the extent that the emotions of numbness and terror in everyone were temporarily dispelled, replaced by shock and pity for the other person.
They felt as if they had witnessed a pathetic creature more timid and fragile than any of them. Those who were previously engulfed in a haze of fear after witnessing the brutal suicide scene naturally began to sympathize with the weak, temporarily forgetting their own pain.
“Um, shouldn’t we take the bag out quickly?” Seeing that everyone was at a loss, Xin Junmao came to his senses and advised the attendant who had entered with the luggage bag.
The attendant jolted awake as if from a dream, and with a cold sweat on his forehead, took the luggage bag out.
Indeed, after the luggage bag disappeared from the female university student’s sight, her emotions visibly stabilized.
After a small interlude, those who were on the verge of a breakdown now recovered, either leaving with the accompaniment of friends and family who had arrived, or bravely leaving on their own.
Xin Junmao did not notify his parents to come; he didn’t want his unworthy son to cause them any more trouble.
He had intended to leave immediately afterward, but seeing the female university student huddled in the corner and hearing her soft “Thank you,” he held back his plan to leave alone and sat back in his original seat.
“Are you okay?” Xin Junmao, who hadn’t actively spoken to a girl in a long time, managed to stammer out four words after a long pause.
The female university student looked at him, her eyes still lingering with terror, as if asking, “Can’t you see what I’m like right now?”
“Uh, what’s your name? My name is Xin Junmao.” Xin Junmao seemed to realize the awkwardness of his words, gave an embarrassed laugh, and quickly changed the subject.
After a long period of silence, the other person hesitantly replied, “My name is Zhang Xiaoxiao.”
“Hello, Zhang Xiaoxiao.” Xin Junmao forced a stiff smile and, while observing Zhang Xiaoxiao’s expression, cautiously said, “A lot has happened since this morning.”
Zhang Xiaoxiao hid her face in her knees, revealing only a pair of eyes, and nodded.
Xin Junmao continued, “Actually, I was supposed to go for an interview today. Although the job conditions offered by that company weren’t particularly good, for someone like me who hasn’t found a job in a year since graduation, there wasn’t much to be picky about… Because I always failed, I prepared for this interview for a very long time, but alas, fate was not on my side…” He spoke to himself, talking more and more, and becoming increasingly dejected.
Seeing Xin Junmao’s crestfallen appearance, Zhang Xiaoxiao felt a pang of sympathy and offered comfort, “It’s okay, there are many opportunities, you can look again.”
“It’s not that easy.” Xin Junmao shook his head with a bitter smile, “Soon, my status as a fresh graduate will be revoked. Most companies are now hiring those who graduated this year. To those companies, I’m no different from trash. Without the fresh graduate status, I’m essentially an ordinary person with no work experience.”
Zhang Xiaoxiao had thought that he might be fabricating a story to comfort her, but seeing Xin Junmao’s anxious and pained expression, it didn’t seem fake, so she immediately believed his situation. However, she was only a second-year student herself, and she planned to pursue graduate studies after university, so she couldn’t empathize with job-seeking matters.
Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and said, “Actually… actually, I saw her.”
“Hmm?” Xin Junmao looked confused and, seeing Zhang Xiaoxiao trembling again, asked, “Her?”
“The woman who died this morning…”
Xin Junmao was stunned and guessed, “She was your friend?”
“No!” Zhang Xiaoxiao shook her head, her almond-shaped eyes like two small boats drifting on a vast ocean of fear, and said, “Last night, when I took the last train back to school from the city, she and I were sitting in the same carriage…”
As she spoke, Zhang Xiaoxiao began to stammer. The memories of last night seemed to be magnified by a magnifying glass, becoming increasingly clear. She found more and more unbelievable details from her memories, which, upon closer inspection, were terrifying.
“There was also a very strange youth in that carriage. He told an urban legend that didn’t seem particularly terrifying at first. He said that if you pick up lost items from a deceased person on the train, that person will be affected by something like a curse, and soon you will die yourself in order to return the lost item to someone who no longer exists…” Zhang Xiaoxiao tried to calm herself and explained to Xin Junmao, “Then, a couple on the train really found a diamond necklace lost in the carriage…”
Zhang Xiaoxiao recounted her bizarre experience last night to Xin Junmao, including her argument with the detestable couple, her sulking off the train, and then realizing that the strange youth who had disembarked with her might be a malevolent entity… These things poured out of her like bitter water as Zhang Xiaoxiao continuously confided in Xin Junmao.
Although Zhang Xiaoxiao knew she shouldn’t be so candid with someone she had just met, the pressure was like a deflated balloon; once it started, it was hard to stop.
Beside her, Xin Junmao listened, stunned. He opened his mouth, rendered speechless, because he himself did not believe in such supernatural claims.
“I know you won’t believe me.” Seeing Xin Junmao’s hesitant look, Zhang Xiaoxiao could tell he didn’t believe her. She said dejectedly, “The bag the attendant took earlier was from that woman in black… that’s why I was so scared when I saw the woman’s luggage bag.”
Xin Junmao pursed his lips and coughed lightly, saying, “Although that luggage bag might be the woman’s belonging, didn’t you also say that lost items only count if they are left on the train?”
“The point isn’t about the luggage bag,” Zhang Xiaoxiao said with a complex expression. “Do you remember the couple I mentioned earlier?”
“Just now, when the attendant came in with the luggage bag, I saw a detail you didn’t notice. In the outer zippered pocket of the luggage bag, a silver pendant had fallen out. Because not much time had passed, I remember it very clearly: that was the necklace the couple found!”
Xin Junmao was stunned and seemed to feel a chilling coldness. “Didn’t the couple pick it up? Why would it be in the luggage bag of that woman in black?”
“That’s what scares me,” Zhang Xiaoxiao said, gasping for air and widening her eyes. “I really want to know what happened to that couple now. No, what happened to everyone on that train last night? And, I’m really concerned about the identity of that woman in black. How did she get that necklace, and why did she suddenly jump onto the tracks…”
“Holy crap!” Just as Zhang Xiaoxiao and Xin Junmao were pushing the conversation to the climax of suspense, a few exclamations and curses shifted their attention outdoors.
They heard a commotion outside. Xin Junmao and Zhang Xiaoxiao exchanged glances, and they reluctantly walked out of the duty room to take a look. They saw people gathered in a circle outside, all with expressions of horror.
When Xin Junmao and Zhang Xiaoxiao mustered the courage to step forward and look, they saw a scene that almost drove them to mental breakdown again.
The zipper of the luggage bag that had been brought into the duty room was open, revealing several vacuum-sealed human heads. And those human heads belonged to the people on the last train Zhang Xiaoxiao had taken last night.
No one had expected that, apart from her and that strange youth who might not have been human, everyone else on that train had died!
