Chapter 59.3: Strangers on the Train

The first place they had to investigate was undoubtedly the small village ahead.

“Has anyone noticed?” Li Zhuiyuan swept his gaze over the other three. “We’ve been here since morning, and not a single villager has passed our truck.”

There was only one road from the village to the main road; the back was bordered by mountains.

Their truck was parked just beside the road where one could see the village entrance.

Of course, it could be argued that the villagers here lived off the mountain and were entirely self-sufficient, with little need for contact with the outside world.

But with Zhu Yang’s disappearance already weighing on their minds, this new detail made everyone uneasy.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Let’s go. We’ll search the village together.”

Xue Liangliang asked, “Should someone stay behind to watch the truck?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “No need. If the goods or gas get stolen, so be it. If we find Zhu Yang, we can argue it out later. It’s not our fault anyway.

Leaving someone behind, only for them to disappear too? Or worse, they sit waiting, growing more and more anxious when no one returns—that’s even worse.”

Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin exchanged a glance and nodded. Just imagining the scenario gave them the chills.

The four of them got out of the truck and headed toward the village.

Li Zhuiyuan thought the group was pretty manageable; at least their thinking aligned. Maybe it was because he’d spent so long with his great-grandfather—having normal teammates suddenly felt a bit odd.

The villagers’ homes weren’t exactly rundown, and there were clear signs of habitation. When they drove in last night, many houses had their lights on. But now, as they walked through, there was no sign of life.

Tan Wenbin said, “Do the villagers here sleep in that late? It’s midday already.”

Xue Liangliang looked around. “Should we keep going deeper?”

Li Zhuiyuan stopped. “No, let’s fall back a bit.”

Nobody questioned him. They followed the boy as he retreated toward the village entrance.

When they reached the first house, Li Zhuiyuan stopped. “Runsheng, knock.”

“Got it!”

Runsheng walked to the door and knocked with his left hand.

In his right sleeve, he had a steel pipe hidden.

Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin were also carrying weapons—a knife and another pipe—taken from Zhu Yang’s stash when they left the truck.

Of course, unless danger actually presented itself, they couldn’t reveal these. Otherwise, they’d look like robbers.

Bang bang bang!

He knocked for quite a while, but there was no response.

Runsheng turned and shouted, “Xiaoyuan, seems like no one’s inside.”

“Knock harder!”

“Roger that!”

Runsheng started slamming the door hard, shaking the door panel with each hit.

Still, no response from inside—and no stir from the neighboring homes either.

“Runsheng, kick it in!”

“On it!”

Boom!

Runsheng’s kick blasted the door open.

They stepped inside.

Yes, it was technically breaking and entering. But no one in the group accused Li Zhuiyuan of being overly cautious.

If it turned out to be a misunderstanding, they’d just apologize and pay for the damages.

Unlike the outer walls, which still had things hung out to dry, the inside was thick with dust—clearly long-abandoned.

On the bedroom bed was a large, sticky patch of something.

Runsheng sniffed it and said with certainty, “Xiaoyuan, that’s corpse water.”

Li Zhuiyuan trusted him. “Let’s check another house.”

Boom!

The door of the second house went down just as easily. More dust inside. The dining table still had bowls and chopsticks with moldy leftovers.

From the looks of it, their last meal had been noodles.

There was no gore on the bed this time, but Runsheng sniffed around, then opened a cabinet. Inside, several shelves were caked in congealed slime.

“Still corpse water.”

Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang had already drawn their weapons. No more reason to play it safe—what kind of normal village had corpse residue in every home?

“Xiaoyuan, what now? Keep breaking in?”

“No.”

Li Zhuiyuan stepped out and signaled the others to follow. Then he headed straight out of the village.

Xue Liangliang caught up, whispering, “We’re just leaving?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re not looking for Zhu Yang?”

“Once we’re out, we call the cops.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Li Zhuiyuan gave up without hesitation. It wasn’t worth the risk—diving into that village any deeper without preparation was foolish.

But when they got a good distance outside the village, all four stopped in their tracks.

The truck was gone.

Tan Wenbin said, “Maybe Zhu Yang came back and drove off? We went looking for him, and he didn’t wait?”

“No,” Xue Liangliang crouched and pointed. “It’s not just the truck. Even the tire tracks are gone.”

Tan Wenbin frowned. “What’s going on?”

Xue Liangliang stood, knife in one hand, the other on his hip. “We’re screwed this time.”

It wasn’t unusual for someone to steal a truck, its goods, or even siphon the gas. Some thieves could hotwire a vehicle. That was believable.

But who cleaned the site afterward? Who wipes away tracks that thoroughly?

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the spot where he and Runsheng had peed last night. He remembered Runsheng’s stream had carved a small dip in the dirt. That dip was gone too.

“I think maybe the truck wasn’t stolen. It’s still where we left it. We’re the ones who aren’t ‘in place’ anymore.”

That made the other three stare at each other in shock.

Xue Liangliang followed the thought. “Then Zhu Yang might not be missing at all?”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. “Maybe he’s out there right now, trying to find us.”

Xue Liangliang waved a hand. “That’s just too wild.”

“Brother Liangliang, is it really wilder than what you’ve already been through?”

“Well…”

Tan Wenbin scraped his shoe in the dirt. “So where the hell are we now?”

“Runsheng, the compass.”

Runsheng immediately handed over the compass.

Li Zhuiyuan held it up, scanning the surrounding feng shui aura.

Everything looked… normal.

He checked again. Still no signs.

“Runsheng, hold me for a minute.”

“Got it.”

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes and pressed the compass lightly to his face. Then his body wobbled and slumped toward Runsheng.

Runsheng caught him, gripping his arm and starting a mental count.

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