Chapter Fifty: Train of Terror

  A long queue had formed in front of the ticket machine, I was bored and started counting the hairs on the head of the person in front of me, when I reached 400, a commotion broke out from the front. I took a look and it turned out to be someone who had drunk too much and was causing trouble.

  "I'm just asking you if you can get me a mouthful of broken glass from someone with a bright red face and unclear speech."

  "Please queue at the back."

  "I'm asking you if you can get it for me"

  "Sorry sir, please go to the back of the line." The young man was quite calm, although he didn't have a smile on his face, there wasn't any sign of anger either.

  The drunkard was not satisfied, pointing at the glass with his index finger and saying viciously, "Alright, you're sitting inside, I'll see who can get the ticket today if I don't leave." After finishing speaking, he inserted both hands into his pockets and stood in front of the ticket office, looking like he was going to wait it out.

  The person in front is angry but doesn't dare to speak, and it's useless to reason with someone who has had too much to drink. It's better to have one less thing to deal with. I glanced at my watch, there are still twenty minutes before the car starts, really can't afford to waste time.

  I plucked up the courage and said carefully, 'Hey, big brother, look at everyone else taking a ride, let's not make things difficult for each other, okay?'

  I thought I had spoken quite tactfully, but this big brother on the ground seemed to have found a punching bag and suddenly stood up, pointing at my nose. "Who's making it difficult for whom? You say who's making it difficult for you? What are you, anyway? Am I making it difficult for you?" I smiled awkwardly and didn't speak. But this big brother wouldn't let go, grabbing my collar with one hand: "I'm asking you a question, what...are...you?"

  I suddenly got angry and pushed his hand away. 'You're drunk, what are you doing? Just because you're fine doesn't mean the whole row of people behind you is fine too. Even a good dog wouldn't block the way.'

  This completely enraged him, he glared at me and spat a mouthful of saliva on the ground. He puffed out his chest and bumped into me, with his nose tip facing me, his tongue stiffly said 'Who are you scolding'

  "Don't be like this" I shifted my face back a bit.

  He belched and said, "What's wrong with me?"

  Delicious

  He let out a loud "ah" and suddenly gave me a punch. I covered my shoulder, the pain was so intense that I couldn't get up. Indeed, you can't reason with someone who's had too much to drink. The injury on my shoulder reminded me that I'm someone who has been through the gates of hell, I'm not afraid of even the most ferocious beasts, let alone you!

  I relaxed my shoulders and rushed forward, but was pulled back by the onlookers behind me, who told me not to get angry, it's pointless to get angry with a drunk. At this time, that drunken big brother gave me another punch, directly hitting my stomach, which made me short of breath.

  The person behind me was still holding onto me, muttering, "Hey kid, don't get angry, don't bother with the drunkard." I shouted in exasperation, "You're pulling him, why are you pulling me?" This is ridiculous, in Northeastern dialect this is called "pulling a biased frame", he's got me held back, whoever wants to hit can do so.

  I thought about it and there were still ten minutes before the train departed, so I couldn't care less anymore. At worst, I could just buy another ticket. Today, I was determined to have a showdown with him, no matter what, it would be unfair to me after all the ups and downs I've been through in this life.

  Before I could break free from the restraint of the person behind me, the drunkard had already wound up his fist to give me another punch. Seeing that I couldn't dodge it, I closed my eyes and tilted my head to one side, preparing to take the blow.

  But after a while, there was no movement. I opened my eyes and saw a man in a black windbreaker stopping the drunkard. I secretly rejoiced, finally someone who understood the situation had arrived.

  I broke free from the person behind me and strode over to the drunkard with a fierce air. Before I even reached him, he let out a loud "Ah yo ah yo". The black windbreaker almost twisted the drunkard's joints, I was shocked by how ruthless this was.

  The drunkard was in so much pain that he was sweating profusely, but his mouth still hadn't given up, and he continued to curse. The black windbreaker raised its hand with force, and the drunkard let out a loud cry, instantly kneeling on the ground.

  The black windbreaker loosened its grip, and the drunkard's arm swung twice at the shoulder before stopping. Ah oh, it was dislocated! Oh my god, this is too brutal, I stood there, not daring to move forward for a moment.

  The drunkard didn't react until a while later, rolling around on the ground and shouting. The black windbreaker buried his face in his collar, didn't say a word and turned to leave, so cool it's like he has no friends.

  I stared blankly at his receding back, suddenly remembering that I hadn't picked up my ticket yet! The people waiting to pick up their tickets were all chattering excitedly about the incident, and I took advantage of the distraction to squeeze to the front of the line and grab my ticket, then sprinted towards the ticket inspection point.

  Rushed to catch the train before it departed, I finally breathed a sigh of relief as I lay down on my bunk bed. I took out my phone and called Ma Si Zhe, but no one answered. I was used to it - every time I called him, it was always the same response.

  To avoid being called by Lao Da later, I simply turned off my phone and lay down with my eyes closed to rest.

  The train was swaying back and forth, filled with all sorts of smells. I never eat anything on the train, even if it's for over ten hours. I always feel that the instant noodles on the train are cooked with feet, the taste is really indescribable.

  After I slept for a while and woke up, the sky was already dark. I looked at my watch and it was already 10 o'clock in the middle of the night. I sat up from bed, reached out to touch the water in my backpack. After drinking the water, I felt uninterested and lay down again. The two women on the lower bunk were chattering, disturbing me so much that I couldn't sleep, so I didn't sleep and listened to their conversation instead.

  "If this is an evil disease, then even the hospital can't cure it," said the woman on the bed below me.

  "What should I do?" said the woman in the lower bunk across from me, her voice sounding anxious. I looked up to see a young woman who looked quite haggard, holding a child of only a few years old in her arms.

  "Isn't there any Mr. in your village? Take the child over and let him take a look." The woman on my lower bunk said again.

  "I didn't hear anything about some Mr. either"

  "Ask around and ask the old folks in the village, someone must know. Don't worry, little sister."

  The woman holding the child choked with sobs, "It's not that I'm not satisfied with what you said, but just treating this child's illness has spent all the money in our family. My husband went out to work in another place, and because of the hundreds of yuan for the train ticket, he didn't dare come home normally. If I wasn't afraid that the child would suffer from illness, how could I bear to take a hard seat?" After finishing speaking, she burst into tears, and listening to her made my heart feel uncomfortable too.

  But what on earth is wrong with this child? It's causing such a big commotion for this whole family.

  It wasn't long before everything was quiet downstairs, probably because it was late at night and everyone had gone to sleep. I lay in bed thinking aimlessly for a while, then fell back into my dreams again.

  Having taken the train before, I'm sure everyone knows that it's impossible to sleep well in a train carriage. Most of the time, you sleep for a while and then wake up again. I was no exception. After not sleeping for long, I felt like there was a strong gust of cold wind blowing directly onto my head. I closed my eyes and used my hand to block it, but the cold wind actually blew onto my hand.

  I furrowed my brow, picked up my phone and turned on the flashlight. Looking up at the top of my head, this one glance scared me out of my wits.

  A pale face suddenly appeared on my head.

  I sat up in bed at once, covering the light of my phone. I calmed down for a moment, afraid that I was dreaming. After making sure it wasn't a dream, I plucked up the courage to move the flashlight away and shone it towards the headboard.

  That face was still stuck there, smiling at me with a strange smile. I slowly backed away, wanting to get away from him. His head turned left and right, watching my movements, his eyes were very empty, and it was impossible to see any changes in his expression.

  His body was wrapped around the bed railing, in a very twisted posture, like a snake coiled on top. Looking at his figure, he didn't seem to be an adult, but rather a child.

  I stood facing him for a while, just as I didn't know what to do, the woman on the lower bunk woke up and shouted "son".

  Then, the lights in the carriage were suddenly turned on. The woman saw the situation on my bed and let out a cry of surprise, quickly pulling the person off me.

  She hugged the child in her arms and apologized to me hastily.

  "Sorry sir, I scared you."

  I hadn't reacted yet 'Ah, it's okay. This is...' I pointed at the child in her arms.

  The woman patted the child in her arms and said with a low head, "This is my son."

  It seems that what she said earlier, the strange illness the child had, was probably this disease. After all, it's their family's sorrow, I didn't dare ask again. The woman kept saying sorry and then hugged the child and lay back down on the bed.

  I don't know if it's my illusion or what, but I always feel that the child is still staring at me with a strange smile when lying down.