Chapter 225: Hide and Seek
Chapter 225: Hide and Seek
Just as the gunmen were about to pull the triggers, Chen Chuan moved first, his body surging forward abruptly. However, these men seemed to barely keep up with his movements, and the gun muzzles flashed with fire.
Chen Chuan merely raised his arm to cover his head and face, leaving the rest of his body exposed. When the bullets hit his body, he only felt a slight twitch in certain areas of his protective suit, and then the bullets fell off one by one.
At that moment, he spun with the knife in his hand, and a flash of blade light emanated, producing a sound akin to slicing through a mixture of human flesh, firearms, metal, and leather. Instantly, a blade mark appeared on both sides of the carriage wall.
The gunmen in front paused, then their upper bodies fell forward in unison, along with all the items they were holding, as if following a perfectly smooth and straight cut.
Chen Chuan looked ahead, and with a leap, his body was enveloped in blade light as he rushed forward like a rolling snowball. When he landed, the few carriages behind him were already littered with severed limbs and bodies.
He had now reached the third-to-last carriage, which had no seats. Three people in front held shields, while those behind pointed guns at the heads of the company representatives.
Even though these representatives were being manipulated, they kept repeating their words.
The resistance organization members initially found it amusing, but now they were just annoyed and wished they could shoot them all.
Bao Yuan stood behind the crowd, looking at Chen Chuan with uncertainty. He clenched his teeth; the mission had already succeeded, and he had even sent out a telegram. He hadn't expected a suspected Tier Three Combatant to appear and ruin things.
He wasn't sure if this was someone Yangzhi City had arranged to guard the train or if there was a premeditated plot. Right now, he didn't need to think about all that; the most important hostages were already in his hands.
He shouted, "Stop! Are you from the Yangzhi Municipal Government? These are representatives from various companies. If you take one more step forward, they'll be dead! You may be fast, but we're not slow either. You can bet on whether our trigger fingers are quicker or your movements are faster!"
He wasn't entirely bluffing because when they heard the gunshots outside, the elite members of their team had already taken drugs in time. Now, their eyes were bloodshot, and they were in a state of heightened alertness and excitement, barely keeping up with Chen Chuan's movements.
Chen Chuan seemed to ignore his words, brandishing his long blade and continuing to advance. Seeing that he wasn't affected, Bao Yuan immediately raised his gun and fired, shooting one of the company representatives dead.
"I'm not joking," he said sternly. "These are all representatives from foreign companies. If they die here, you won't be able to take responsibility! Get out of here now, or none of these people will survive!"
The drug's effect was limited. If they didn't show Chen Chuan their determination and waited for the drug's effect to wear off, they would surely die.
Chen Chuan glanced at them, stopped in his tracks, and then slowly retreated backward. The crowd watched him nervously, but when they saw him move back, they slightly relaxed.
Chen Chuan's expression remained calm. He needed to resolve this quickly, as the secret ritual also had an invasive effect. If the situation dragged on for too long, even if the passengers were lucky enough to wake up afterward, they might suffer irreversible damage.
Compared to the passengers in front, these company representatives were just a minority. They would save those they could, and if they couldn't, there was nothing they could do. If they continued to stall, everyone would be at risk.
Taking action now would give them a glimmer of hope.
So...
He had now retreated to the door, creating a slight distance from Bao Yuan. Then, with a strong push from his feet, the wooden boards beneath him cracked, and the carriage door frame and nearby walls twisted and deformed. His entire body shot forward like an arrow!
In that instant, as he made his move, the resistance members also fired at their targets without hesitation. Amidst the gunshots,
Chen Chuan charged forward, colliding with the shields in front and the bodies behind. Upon contact, they were all knocked away, landing with shattered bones and ruptured organs. Snow Lady Sword's blade light bloomed, and heads flew with its passage.
Bao Yuan, standing behind, watched in shock as Chen Chuan charged forward without regard. He was furious and shouted, sending a punch towards Chen Chuan. The drugs he took undoubtedly made him the strongest here, and this attack was precise in both aim and force.
Chen Chuan glanced at him and noticed that the skin on the back of his hand had turned blue, with something inside seeming to swell and burst. Sensing something amiss, he didn't strike with his blade but instead used his elbow to block, simultaneously moving the hilt of the blade upwards to deflect the arm with a soft force.
However, at this moment, another change occurred. With a hiss, three tongue whips shot out from Bao Yuan's mouth. One came straight from the front, while the other two pierced through his cheeks, aiming for Chen Chuan's head from both sides.
Chen Chuan nimbly dodged with a slight crouch, avoiding all three tongue whips. Taking advantage of the momentum, he raised his blade to Bao Yuan's neck, following the forward thrust to produce a sound of friction against a hard object.
In the aftermath of the attack, the black chitinous protective plate beneath the torn skin was exposed, but Chen Chuan's expression remained unchanged. With a swift twist of his waist, he executed a dragging slash with his blade.
This time, the protective plate failed to block the strike, and as the blade sliced through, the skull was dislodged and fell to the ground, bouncing once before rolling to the side. The three tongue whips continued to lash about uncontrollably.
Chen Chuan, seeing no other living enemies nearby, straightened his body. He stared at the tongue whips, recognizing the origin of these implants.
"This is... a Secret Snake Sect implant?" he wondered aloud.
He had seen Tan Wang's shopping list for implants, and this item was on it. The Secret Snake Sect seemed to provide surgical implants for its members and also offered their services to others. It was unclear if this person was a member of the sect or had simply purchased the implant from them.
But that was of no concern to him.
He averted his gaze and took a few steps, reaching for the door handle of the rear carriage. He intended to check if there were any more members of the resistance group present.
However, as he opened the carriage door, his gaze suddenly sharpened.
Lying before him were several familiar-looking bodies. One was smashed against the carriage wall, while another had been stone-headed, their head shattered by a pebble. On the adjacent carriage door, a distinct slash mark was visible, reminiscent of the scene from the first carriage when he had first boarded the train.
But he was currently in the last few carriages!
He glanced at his Second Self, noticing the flickering light, a sign of a severe mental assault.
His mind raced as he closed the door, turned around, and looked back the way he had come. The scene before him remained identical to what he had just witnessed.
Even though he had changed direction, there was no difference in the view.
Secret rituals could have an impact, but most of them were primarily psychological, with relatively weaker physical effects. Therefore, this was not a secret ritual but a haunting!
Secret sects could use rituals to control hauntings and utilize their power, like the Two-Faced Heart Demon or the Mountain Goblin of Xieshan Mountain. The same was true for the situation he was currently facing.
However, while he had limited knowledge of secret rituals, hauntings were a familiar territory for him.
He calmly reasoned that this haunting could not have been created out of thin air by a ritual, and currently, no known secret ritual could achieve such a feat. Therefore, it must have originated from Xieshan Mountain, the source, and been restrained there.
Recalling the Three Mountains Legend, he found a similar existence—the Hide and Seek Path.
According to the legend, there was a mountain path on Xieshan Mountain where, if one was not careful, they would be trapped in an endless loop, walking in circles until they perished.
In this haunting legend, it was said that a little ghost was playing hide-and-seek with people. To escape, one had to hide, finding a place where the ghost couldn't find them, and then they could leave the mountain.
However, if one tried to find a hiding place, they might never escape. There was only one solution.
He closed his eyes, reached out, and grasped the door handle beside him, turning it open. With a single step, he ventured out.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a carriage he had never been to before.
In the legend, closing one's eyes on the mountain path meant hiding from the little ghost, allowing one to leave the mountain.
The challenge here was that it was impossible to walk with closed eyes on the mountain path without the risk of falling and injuring oneself. But on the train, that concern was non-existent.
Of course, he knew the solution, but for others, it might have been a different story. The most challenging aspect of a haunting was not the haunting itself but the constant mental assault. Without a quick resolution, one might succumb to the pressure.
Although he had escaped the influence, the problem was not entirely resolved. Others were still trapped, and to free them, he needed to break the haunting. To do that, he had to find the ghost!
He surveyed his surroundings; this was likely the second-to-last carriage. Strangely, there was no sign of the resistance group members heading this way, as if they had unconsciously ignored this area.
Considering the haunting and the fact that this area was crucial for their escape route, it was odd that no one was stationed here, not even a single guard.
With this information, he had an idea.
He continued forward, reaching the last carriage. With his eyes closed, he grasped the door handle, turned it, and opened the door.
Inside, there were no seats, only various luggage and items. Sitting on top of a box was a person with a secret ritual pattern painted on their face.
Upon seeing Chen Chuan open the door, the person looked up in astonishment, then panicked, standing up, and backing away. "How... how did you get here? Stay back!" they stammered.
...
...
(End of Chapter)
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