Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 754 - 613: Nightmare_1

There was someone on the roof of the train.

Huai Shi sensed the unusual echo from the train's faint vibrations—the stealthy, light footsteps. The skill was indeed flawless, admirable, almost as delicate as falling leaves.

But here lay the greatest flaw.

Since when do falling leaves move like a person, creeping and crawling, especially on the roof of a Shinkansen picking up speed? It must be some kind of train fanatic. This level of skill probably wasn't even up to par with the trial class at Orchard Gym.

After a glance, Huai Shi lost interest and looked away.

Then, he felt the teenage girl sitting opposite tense up and start to glance over, subtly yet deliberately. She was trying not to draw attention while watching Huai Shi.

A poor attempt at spying.

Incomprehensible.

However, to the girl sitting opposite, things didn't seem that simple.

The moment Huai Shi looked up and then promptly looked away, her heart skipped a beat, and she froze.

Ah, it seemed like the strange older sister had just rolled her eyes at me... What's going on? Did I do something rude? Did I make a mistake?

Sitting in her seat, her heart was in turmoil, and she felt an inexplicable panic. Could it be because I didn't take a shower? No, that can't be right, I showered before leaving the house!

With this thought, she quickly sniffed her collar twice and took a deep breath. There was only the scent of laundry detergent. Her hair, hands, and body bore no strange stains or odors.

Could it be because I disturbed her by making a phone call? No, that's not it either. She hung up the phone as soon as she sat down and even apologized. Such a trivial matter, surely nobody would mind... right? Could it be—

A sudden flash crossed her mind, and she realized: Was it because my outfit was too unsophisticated? Is this the legendary regional discrimination?

Subconsciously, Zhenxi looked down at her own clothes.

A plaid coat bought online from Amazon, gloves that had pilled from long wear, a long skirt bought from the local shopping street and worn for many years, thick socks from a convenience store, tasteless trainers... and her long hair that was plainly styled without any design.

Then, she looked at the person opposite—

A dark blue down jacket perfectly accentuated a slim waist, jeans that wrapped around her long legs without any embellishment, a model-level figure that towered above all the ugly ducklings, a slim neck, and a pair of plain white canvas shoes.

Enormous sunglasses covered most of her beautiful face, and enviable long hair flowed down like a stream of black water beneath her knit hat.

The deliberately androgynous attire didn't reveal many feminine features, yet it possessed the unique, bewitching allure of a beautiful woman in masculine dress, exuding a deadly charm.

This is a terrifying level of charm, enough to captivate anyone, regardless of gender! And all the brands are unknown to me; they must all be expensive...

A country girl who had lived in the sticks all her life, a legitimate seventeen-year-old high school girl, in the prime of her JK years—Zhenxi was experiencing for the first time... a sense of superiority and disdain from a person from Kyoto!

People from Kyoto are too scary.

She curled up in her seat, shivering.

Incredibly, even though she had been given the cold shoulder by a stranger, she felt no anger.

It felt as if a swan had arrogantly passed by the ugly duckling with its head held high. There was no resentment; instead, she was drawn to the extraordinary beauty.

I want to get closer. To observe carefully, to get close to the big sister...

Just thinking about this beautiful woman sitting opposite her made Zhenxi's face burn. She summoned her courage to lift her eyes from her phone screen and look over again.

Then, she saw her lift her hand slightly and lower the sunglasses from her face; a pair of black pupils looked over, meeting Zhenxi's gaze.

"What are you looking at?" she seemed to ask.

"I-I'm sorry," Zhenxi stammered.

She stiffened for a moment and dared not look again.

But inside, I couldn't help feeling regret. I should have struck up a conversation... Even a simple introduction would have been fine, right? Would she have told me her name?

She could feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

THUMP-THUMP.

Panic set in.

Disbelief flooded her mind.

Her trembling fingers opened a web page and began a search to confirm her suspicion.

Soon, she was shocked to find out.

My heart's first flutter at seventeen... was for a woman? Is there something wrong with my psyche? Don't girls usually like boys? Or did I actually harbor deviant tendencies that even I hadn't noticed? Mom, save me...

In her panic, she suddenly stood up, ramrod straight, wanting to escape to the restroom for a bit.

But her tense body hadn't adapted to the train's acceleration, and she stumbled, falling forward.

There was no time for a scream.

Immediately after, she fell into a stranger's arms, feeling the softness of down feathers.

Someone had steadied her.

When she finally looked up, she saw a face close to hers, her eyes, and a faint scent... her mind went blank.

In the midst of her frantic heartbeat, she felt a pang of sorrow and regret.

Ah, even though she's such a perfect beauty, her figure is a bit...lacking...

"I-I'm sorry."

She got up in a flurry, felt a warmth at the tip of her nose, quickly covered her face, and then discovered she was having a nosebleed. "I, I'm going to the restroom."

It was almost like fleeing.

Without looking back, she dashed towards the end of the corridor.

Huai Shi, left behind, was completely baffled.

Her heart was racing.

Zhenxi gasped for air violently, lifted her hand, and splashed cold water onto her face, hoping to calm herself down a bit.

But every time she closed her eyes, that flawless and stunning face appeared before her—so indifferent, yet it made her heart race uncontrollably.

Calm down, calm down, Zhenxi! You're a daughter of the Wu Family; you can't act so utterly infatuated... But even telling myself that, how could I possibly calm down!

She closed her eyes in despair.

After staying in the restroom for almost half an hour, she finally calmed down a bit, or rather, mustered up the courage to go back.

Steeling herself, she pushed the door open.

She stood rooted to the spot.

She didn't know when it had started, but the world had fallen into an eerie silence; even the distant sound of the train on the tracks had vanished.

The hum of the air conditioning, the announcements on the broadcast system, and even the voices from outside.

All had disappeared without a trace.

She felt a bit cold.

A puff of white breath escaped her lips, her fingers chilling.

Has the air conditioning broken?

As she walked through the aisle, she discovered that all the passengers who had been around her were now gone without a trace.

"Um... is anyone there?" she raised her voice and asked timidly.

No response.

Just a cold and indifferent dead silence.

When she finally returned to her seat, she found that she was still there—her other self. Indeed, that other Zhenxi was sitting in the chair... having never left.

But her appearance was completely unrecognizable.

As if eons had passed in an instant, her once-intact clothes were now tattered and yellowed, and all that remained there was a pale and broken Skeleton.

Now, in her line of sight, the Zhenxi that was already dead—that Skeleton—propped up its skull. From its hollow eye sockets, putrid black blood silently flowed out, like tears.

She was paralyzed on the spot, unable to move.

Instinctively wanting to scream, she found she couldn't make a sound; she nearly suffocated in the freezing cold, collapsing to the ground.

Using all her strength, she shuffled backward, using her hands and feet, intending to run, to flee, her speed increasing more and more, faster than she had ever run even in the track and field club.

But the bone-chilling cold, like maggots feasting on decaying bones, relentlessly pursued her from behind.

And even appeared before her eyes.

When she strenuously pushed open the door to the next carriage, she saw that Skeleton, standing right before her. With black tears flowing, the Skeleton moved forward and looked down at her. With her own voice, it rasped a question.

"Where... do you think you're going?"

Zhenxi could no longer speak, unable to move.

In the otherwise eternal dead silence, a terrified sob broke through.

Outside the window, at some unknown point, the world had changed. The desolate earth was devoid of vegetation, and in the sky, a blood moon hung high, casting light on a ghastly outline.

It was a vast shadow covering both the sky and the earth.

A ferocious Spider danced within its web, its multiple compound eyes looking down as it coldly and fiercely tightened the strands—tormenting the Souls caught in the web.

In that instant, Huai Shi sighed and looked up.

Looks like I can't just leave it alone after all.

He rose abruptly, took off his sunglasses, and walked straight towards the restroom.

At the entrance to the restroom, he saw a burly man coming towards him. The man, covered in tattoos, was as enormous as a Giant Bear.

The Hell Kitchen Demon.

"Oh? It looks like you're ready to make a move?"

He paid no mind to the smoke alarm flashing endlessly above him, smoking a thick cigar, smirking as he looked at Huai Shi. Next to him, the train attendant was frantically trying to persuade him to put out his cigar.

He brushed the attendant aside nonchalantly.

Suddenly, he stepped back, a gesture of yielding.

"Then, I'll stay out of this..." the man said. "Please, be my guest. Show me the skills of the Chef Demon from Yingzhou."

He was far more sensitive than others—no, to be precise, as a Chef Demon, he inherently possessed a sensitivity thousands of times greater than that of a normal person.

Especially towards the presence of his own kind.

The moment he encountered Huai Shi, he had an instinctive recognition of each other's identities.

Huai Shi didn't bother to correct the mistakes in his words, raised his hand, and pressed it against the restroom door.

A faint SNAP.

The door opened.

With the instantaneous activation of Drummer's Strength, the lock's internal mechanism was reduced to uniform dust. The train attendant, who had just managed to get up, was also stunned in place. "Wait, what are you doing…"

"Hey, don't get in the way."

The burly Tattooed Chef Demon pressed a hand on the attendant's shoulder, holding him in place, preventing him from interfering.