Chapter 1: The Strange Case of Subway Line 5

  "Alright, alright, I know. I'm already at the subway station. Don't worry, I'll be right back. Okay, okay, I'll be careful. I'll make it on time. Ah, never mind, bye, see you later."

  Hanging up the phone, Zhao Guo, who was nearly forty years old, hastily tucked the document bag under his arm and passed through security.

  This was the last subway train, and he didn't want to miss it again. Especially after those two incidents earlier, this Line 5 seemed ominous.

  Zhao Guo couldn't help but think of the recent news that had been circulating wildly - two strong and healthy men had died on this subway line in a row, both by lying on the tracks and killing themselves.

  However, Zhao thought about it and suddenly felt a chill in his heart. The subway tunnels were all closed, so how did those two people get in if they really wanted to commit suicide by lying on the tracks?

  "Drip, drip, drip... Please go to the customer service center for processing... Please go to the customer service center for processing..." Zhao Guo furrowed his brow, retrieved his bus card, and reluctantly returned to the service counter.

  The staff who were preparing to get off work frowned and took it over with some impatience, looked at it and said: "Sorry sir, your card balance is insufficient."

  Zhao Guo was worried and didn't want to delay, so he directly bought a one-way ticket and entered the waiting room. Little did he know, this one-way ticket became his life's true one-way ticket with no return.

  As soon as I entered the waiting hall, the last subway train just closed its doors and took away the passengers in twos and threes.

  "Hey! Hey!" Zhao Guo rushed up and slammed his hand against the safety door, but it was in vain.

  He glanced at his watch and kicked the safety door open, hastily unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, and flung his briefcase to the ground.

  Bang!

  The fluorescent lights around went out.

  Zhao Guo lifted his head in a daze, and suddenly saw a faint light at the end of the dark corridor. His phone lit up again, with the words "wife" flashing on the screen non-stop.

  But Zhao Guo's soul seemed to have been taken away by that light, and he was deaf to the mobile phone ringtone. Unknowingly, he had already stood up, stretched out his hand and stuck it on the safety door.

  The safety door vibrated with the vibration of the track, a cold wind swept from the end of the passage, and another subway train came whizzing in, slowing down to a stop.

  The next day, another morning news swept through the city again.

  "A report from our station, according to a reliable eyewitness, the subway line 5 where two cases of suicidal rail-lying have occurred, has found another male corpse this morning. The section where the body was found is between Qiaomen Station and Yongfeng Road Station, with unknown cause of death. Police have intervened for investigation. With three cases in four days, whether it's intentional murder or coincidence, our reporter will continue to follow up on the investigation. Next, let's look at the second piece of news..."

  A crowd had already gathered outside Metro Line 5, and the police cordon seemed to be ineffective. More than a dozen riot police rushed over to maintain order.

  A middle-aged woman rushed over and pulled a special police officer's hand, saying: "Let me in, it's my husband inside, it's my husband!"

  The special police officer reported to his superior and then let the woman go in.

  Before long, the crowd heard heart-wrenching wails coming from inside the palace: "My emperor! My emperor!"

  Someone whispered: "Four people died in four days, how could such a coincidence happen."

  "Yes, if I had to say, there must be something unclean." A middle-aged woman next to her chimed in.

  "Hah, after this subway incident, who dares to ride it again!"