novelraw Chapter 429: The Whale's Farewell
Chapter 429: The Whale's Farewell
A long time passed, but Tesla did not return.
A steward came to the compartment, relaying a message from Tesla that the situation had changed, and he would have to get off at the next station with the body of the “madman.”
Half an hour later, the train slowly pulled to a stop at the station of a small town called Whitefield.
After a slight jolt, the carriage fell silent. Lu Li looked out the window onto the platform. People clutching heavy luggage parted fearfully, clearing a path.
Several figures in bird-beak masks appeared outside the carriage window. They carried a simple stretcher, draped in a white sheet, and headed for the exit.
The weight of the stretcher and the shape beneath the sheet wordlessly indicated that a lifeless body lay upon it.
Tesla appeared. He put on his hat, grabbed his cane, and hastily followed the masked figures and the stretcher off the platform.
He didn’t even turn back to say goodbye to Lu Li.
“Did you sense anything?” Lu Li asked, without turning around.
JoJo, who was looking out the window on the other side of the carriage, turned around, realizing Lu Li wasn't speaking to her.“A strong aura from the In-Between, like that of a Vengeful Spirit...” Anna’s voice whispered next to Lu Li. “I hope you’re not going to get involved.”
“No, I won’t.”
After handling the Tenebrae incident single-handedly, Lu Li needed to rest.
Tesla understood that, which was why he hadn't asked Lu Li for help.
Or perhaps it was because there was nothing Lu Li could do to help.
The train remained at Whitefield for about twenty minutes as passengers settled into their seats and the engine was refueled with coal. Thick black smoke billowed from its smokestack.
With a deafening whistle, the train slowly lurched into motion.
A few minutes later, Whitefield had disappeared from view, and the pressure inside the carriage equalized as it picked up speed.
JoJo stood up, steadying herself on the seat backs as she made her way down the swaying carriage and sat down opposite Lu Li.
“What are your plans?” Lu Li asked.
JoJo, who was about to move her coffee cup, paused and hesitantly drew her hand back. “I don’t want to disappoint my brother... So I think I’ll go back to the academy.”
Lu Li turned his gaze to Frank.
“Uh... I don’t know... Tenebrae is gone. I’ll probably be sent to Roostown or some other town nearby,” Frank replied, his voice equally uncertain.
That wasn't so bad. At least they had plans.
“Did you want to tell us something?” JoJo asked suddenly. Lu Li wasn't the type to worry about others.
Perhaps that was the wrong way to put it. More accurately, Lu Li never showed his concern for others.
“A relative of Anna’s is planning to go to the Lennon Archipelago. It’s relatively...” Lu Li paused for a moment, the madman’s words from the next carriage echoing in his mind. He then continued, “...safe. If you want to get away from here, you could go with her.”
After what the madman had said, the suggestion didn't sound particularly convincing, but JoJo trusted Lu Li. She considered it for a moment before shaking her head with regret. “No, thank you. I want to fulfill my brother’s wish.”
She turned to Frank. “If you have nowhere to go, you can join me.”
JoJo was several years younger than Frank, but at that moment, she sounded like an older sister.
Frank managed a weak smile.
“What about you? Are you going to the Lennon Archipelago?” JoJo asked.
Lu Li didn't answer. He was lost in thought.
Setting aside the madman's grim prediction, the Lennon Archipelago was a good place to seek refuge, though his own shelter was nearly complete.
Each option had its pros and cons.
One could hide in the shadows of a dark and perilous forest, confronting the darkness head-on. Or, one could build a campfire and bask in its deceptively warm and safe glow.
The first option was the shelter; the second, the Lennon Archipelago.
“Perhaps,” Lu Li answered, giving her no definite reply.
JoJo glanced around Lu Li, as if searching for something, and asked quietly, “Anna... is she okay?”
“I am fine, thank you for asking,” came Anna’s dispassionate voice from beside Lu Li.
JoJo pressed her lips together and nodded. The ghost, she thought, seemed colder now.
Realizing she might be intruding, she soon got up and returned to her seat at the front of the carriage.
The gentle rocking of the carriage, the soft seat, and the nearby stove made it easy to feel drowsy. Frank soon fell asleep, his head on the table. Lu Li closed his eyes as well.
The door to their compartment slid open, and someone stepped inside.
Lu Li opened his eyes to see a stewardess holding an oil lamp. She announced that the train was about to enter a tunnel and that, while the electric lights would come on, they should light the lamp as a precaution.
Lu Li took the lamp and asked if the train would pass through Himmfast. The stewardess said it wouldn't, that the route would follow the coastline straight to Belfast. They could, however, get off at Maple Town, which was the closest station to Himmfast, only forty kilometers away.
Ten minutes after the stewardess departed, a dim electric light flickered to life in the carriage.
Lu Li struck a match, lit the lamp, and placed it on the table.
A few minutes later, the world outside the window plunged into darkness. Lu Li’s own reflection stared back at him from the glass.
A strange silence fell over the carriage. In stories, this was the moment when something terrible was bound to happen. But by the time the windows were bright again, none of JoJo’s fears had come to pass.
“Look... the sea,” Anna’s voice whispered.
Lu Li extinguished the lamp and gazed out the window.
Beyond the low hills, an endless, lead-gray sea stretched to the horizon.
The train had reached the northern coast of the Allen Peninsula.
“We were only in Tenebrae for half a day... yet so much happened,” Lu Li murmured, his gaze fixed on the window. In the reflection, he thought he could see the beautiful face of a girl.
“Lu Li... I hope you won’t take any more risks,” Anna whispered.
“Do you want to go to the Lennon Archipelago?”
“Yes.”
“Then, when we get back, get in touch with Daisy and ask if she’d like to come with us.”
“Alright.”
A hint of warmth returned to Anna’s voice.
She continued to stare at the sea. After a while, she spotted a silhouette in the distant fog—a ship, sailing on a course parallel to the train.
It gradually drew closer to the shore. Its peeling hull and broken smokestack looked familiar.
“It’s the ship we saw in the swamp...” Anna whispered.
“Yes.”
Her suspicion confirmed, Anna watched the ship in silence. It sailed upon the sea like a liberated whale.
More passengers began to notice the strange ship. They crowded at the windows, staring at the rusted vessel with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.
The exorcists on board, alerted to its presence, began to observe the vessel, but it soon pulled away from the coast and vanished back into the fog.