The Preface of Floating City on the Other Shore

  Under the coverage of intercity high-speed rail and bullet trains, green skin trains are becoming less and less. And I'm sitting in a southbound green skin train, where it's going doesn't matter to me, all I know is that from the moment I stepped into this train, it started moving further and further away from that city.

  This makes me feel calm and serene.

  "Who just said they wanted to buy a sleeper ticket?" The train conductor yelled from the front of the car.

  He immediately raised his hand, "I."

  "Come with me."

  "Where are you supplementing your ticket to? Please show your ID."

  I fell silent for a moment, then opened my mouth to explain: "My ID is in the bag on the seat, can I supplement the ticket first and send it over later?" The indifferent face behind the window raised an eyebrow at me, saying impatiently: "Alright, where are you going to supplement the ticket to?"

  "Where is this bus terminal?"

  Xining.

  I nodded, "Then I'll buy a ticket to Xining."

  "Add another 246 pieces."

  I took out the money from my pocket and handed it over, the train attendant quickly checked the authenticity of the bill and then gave me a sleeper ticket and change. As I turned around to leave, she added: "Don't forget to bring your ID for registration."

  I pretended not to hear, bowed my head and walked through the compartments, and when I returned to my seat, I found that my position had been occupied by someone else. It was a middle-aged woman, who didn't show any intention of giving up her seat when she saw me coming back, and when I stared at her, she even shouted: "Didn't they say we need to buy a sleeper ticket?" Her face showed obvious tension.

  I looked at her for a moment, then smiled and said: "Sister, you sit down. I'll get the things." After finishing speaking, I reached over her head to pull the black backpack on top, but only pulled it once. My face suddenly turned cold, and I sternly asked in a chilly tone: "Who touched my bag?"

  The buckle was pulled open, and the hasty traces of being pulled up were even more obvious.

  No one made a sound, some who were dozing off didn't even lift an eyebrow. I looked around and finally my gaze fell on the middle-aged woman's face. She immediately flushed with anger, jumping up from her seat: "What do you mean? Who wants to touch your bag? It was you yourself who didn't put it away properly, it fell down from above, I kindly picked it up for you......"

  Under my gaze, the woman's voice grew smaller and eventually avoided eye contact. After checking her bag with her head down, she zipped it up with a brush sound and slung it over her shoulder, striding towards the sleeping car compartment.

  I didn't expect the environment to be great, but when I pushed open the door and a musty smell hit me in the face, it was hard not to wrinkle my brow. The layout was upper and lower bunks, with four beds in total, two of which were occupied by people on the top, while the bottom ones were still empty.

  He looked down at the ticket, his eyes fell on the person in the upper berth on the right side, it was a man with yellow hair who looked like a smooth talker, wearing earphones and seemed to be listening to music, his feet were still shaking.

  I stepped forward, "This is my seat."

  The blonde didn't even raise an eyebrow, so I raised my voice and said it again. This time the blonde turned his head to glance at me, pulled down his earphone with a sly smile and said: "Sister, I don't have money for your business, go find someone next door."

  Ignoring his filthy words, she said coldly: "The position you're lying in is mine."

  Huang Mao made a sudden realization, "Oh, this position is yours." He sat up and drooled on the white bedding below him, then asked: "Do you want to switch?"

  Stared at him for a full ten seconds, the bundle on his shoulder was thrown onto the bed below. Huang Mao smiled triumphantly, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. Lying on the bottom bunk, my mood didn't fluctuate in the slightest due to the friction earlier, I don't know when it started, but nothing seemed to be able to stir up any emotional waves in me anymore, as if there was a stagnant pool of water somewhere inside my body.

  The eyes that floated in from across the way and peeked in had already been observed earlier, belonging to a middle-aged man who looked around 40 or 50 years old.

  Didn't go to care, eyes fixed on the window, watching the trees' shadows constantly receding.

  The train's terminal is Xining, a distant and unfamiliar place. I couldn't help but ask: where is my destination?

  In the middle of the night, half asleep and half awake, I heard the snoring sounds from both sides of the upper bunk, like a accompaniment responding to each other, at least it made me feel more at ease, no need to worry about being disturbed in the middle of sleep.

  Whoosh, a sound came over, I suddenly opened my eyes and saw a figure walking in from the sliding door. It seemed to have identified its position at the door and then walked straight to the lower bunk bed opposite. Letting out a silent sigh of relief, it turned out that someone else had also come to sleep after buying a ticket.

  But before I could calm down, a black shadow flashed by and a strong gust of wind hit me. Instinctively, I raised my hand to block it. As the irritating smell covered my mouth and nose, I widened my eyes trying to see who the other person was, and my mind was filled with doubts: How did someone know I was on this train?

  Less than ten seconds of persistence, the legs that kicked with force began to soften, and in despair, I realized that the other two sleeping people would not have noticed. In the daze of consciousness, a black shadow suddenly approached, and a faint outline came from hell's voice: "You can't escape."

  Withdrawing the last thread of consciousness, I closed my eyes and fell into a dark world...