Chapter 150: Substitute
Lu Jinzhao could feel that Qin Wan’s breathing was very weak, her body barely standing was also trembling slightly, looking like its last gasp.
And although her own current condition wasn’t much better, thanks to the enhancement of her physique plus being somewhat accustomed to getting injured inside the platform, Lu Jinzhao felt she could still endure it.
However, what exactly was going on with this Zhou Zimo who had been sticking by their side all along? Neither of them could let their guard down about him.
Was Zhou Zimo still alive?
Whether Lu Jinzhao or Qin Wan, both felt the possibility was extremely low, so low that from the first glance at this Zhou Zimo, they were certain it was a substitute.
But if it was a substitute, why hadn’t it made any moves against them when they were in such poor condition?
Killing is a ghost’s instinct; if it didn’t act soon, the train would arrive.
They had already heard the distant whistle of the train approaching the station.
If it was going to strike, then only now.
But. Lu Jinzhao looked beside her; Zhou Zimo still had that somewhat silly appearance, his body exceptionally relaxed, as if he felt the mission was already complete, thus showing no vigilance at all.
He would occasionally grimace and reach out to try to cover his wound, only to draw in a sharp breath from the more intense pain upon touching it.
How to put it.
He looked full of “living person” vibe.
He noticed Qin Wan and Lu Jinzhao’s vigilance toward him, didn’t interact further with them, and deliberately kept his distance, seemingly just to reassure them.
Even as the train’s headlight pierced the distant darkness and shone in, and a section of black rail appeared out of nowhere on the ground ahead, Zhou Zimo showed no abnormality.
A hint of doubt and disbelief appeared on Qin Wan’s face; she was undoubtedly tense at this moment, her fingers clutching the pocket watch, ready at any moment—if Zhou Zimo made any strange move, she would open the pocket watch to ensure she could board alive.
While Lu Jinzhao appeared calm, she was actually observing closely all the time.
But even as the train slowly pulled in and gradually stopped in front of them, and then the warm carriage lights shone through the window onto them, Zhou Zimo still didn’t do anything to them.
He even showed a quite delighted expression: “Great! The train is finally here! We’ve finally waited for it!”
He looked extremely fortunate, just short of shedding tears of joy.
Completely like an excited passenger who had survived.
Just a bit exaggerated?
At their level, having experienced many platforms, even after the most thrilling and stimulating situations, they wouldn’t show the tearful excitement of newcomers anymore.
“Could it be because the brain Zhou Zimo had taken by the ghost hasn’t returned yet?” Qin Wan thought.
“Or maybe, he’s still off.”
Even with the door already open, if the ghost didn’t act, they would return to the train; yet Zhou Zimo beside them was still just excitedly staring at the open door, completely ignoring Qin Wan and Lu Jinzhao.
Not only did he not approach them, he even ran toward the door on his own.
As if afraid of being one step late and abandoned by the train.
“.It really is him?” Qin Wan finally couldn’t help showing a shocked expression.
Ghosts cannot board the train; that’s an iron rule.
“Let’s hurry and board too.” Shocked as she was, Qin Wan now just wanted to leave this ghost place that had given her psychological shadows immediately.
Lu Jinzhao beside her didn’t speak, clear doubt showing between her slightly furrowed brows.
Obviously, Zhou Zimo boarding completely exceeded her expectations.
She had even thought of many ways a ghost might act in this final stage, but never imagined that here, nothing happened.
She just returned to the train like this?
For an instant, Lu Jinzhao even felt like she had fallen into an illusion.
But this ghost had no ability to create illusions.
As her foot stepped onto the train, Lu Jinzhao felt a weight lift from her heart, her tense body also going soft.
She looked at Qin Wan: “Don’t repair the body first.”
Qin Wan paused, remembering her transaction with Lu Jinzhao: “Then we have to hurry; only ten minutes.”
Lu Jinzhao nodded.
The skin on Qin Wan’s back was unusable, but she had plenty of complete skin on her body, and on the train, there was no worry about the bell’s use timing out.
The train would firmly suppress it.
The train could convert items passengers brought from inside the platform into supernatural items, and naturally could also suppress all supernatural items converted by it.
“The train.”
Just as the two finished saying this, they heard Zhou Zimo’s voice.
The strange feeling in Lu Jinzhao’s heart grew stronger.
Qin Wan also sensed something wrong; both looked toward Zhou Zimo at the same time.
Zhou Zimo had walked about two seconds faster than them, now standing ahead, back to them, muttering to himself: “I’ve boarded.”
The train doors were slowly closing.
Lu Jinzhao’s heart jolted; she immediately realized something, quickly stepped in front of Zhou Zimo, and then saw a horrifying sight!
Zhou Zimo’s facial features, like ice cream in summer, were rapidly melting.
That part of his which could hardly be called a “mouth” was still unconsciously repeating: “.Train”
“I’ve boarded.”
“.The”
“Train”
When the last sliver of gap in the door closed, accompanied by a slight clunk, “Zhou Zimo” turned into a puddle of flesh and blood muck, and then the train floor seemed to automatically clean such “filth,” the muck gradually disappearing.
Qin Wan was completely frozen.
She couldn’t comprehend the current situation.
“This is. what thing? Zhou Zimo, what happened to him?” Due to extreme weakness, she was already on the edge of unconsciousness; seeing this shocking scene now, her brain couldn’t turn at all.
Lu Jinzhao took a deep breath: “It’s not Zhou Zimo.”
“It’s the substitute.”
Qin Wan was even more baffled: “The substitute, why. didn’t it attack us?”
Killing is the instinct engraved in a ghost’s “genes.”
“I don’t know.” Lu Jinzhao answered thus, but in her heart, she immediately thought of something.
That was her first time entering a platform, the one named [Summon Ghosts].
When the train departed, as she stood by the window, heart shaken from the first encounter, the scene she saw that left a deep memory even now.
Those “people” possessed by ghosts, looking longingly at her—no, longingly at the train carrying her, with that expression.
She later thought they wanted to board.
Now, the substitute Zhou Zimo had overridden the ghost’s killing instinct, did nothing to them, and directly ran onto the train!
What did this represent?
Ghosts’.desire to board the train was stronger than the desire to kill?
No.
Not all ghosts were like this.
[Loss of Control], [Slaughterhouse], [Funeral home], [Inheritance], the ghosts in these platforms hadn’t shown this side.
The ones longing to board were only ghosts that could “possess” or act as “substitutes” for humans.
Or rather, only ghosts that could disguise as “humans” could approach the train and strongly desire to try boarding it.
Lu Jinzhao reached this chilling conclusion.
Thanks to keineee boss for the alliance leader reward
Urgently retracted a leave notice.
Seeing the reward made me insist on going home after lunch to write, ovo, pigeonholing the original plan
