Changsheng Building
Chapter 650: Return
The carriage was completely silent; Wen Jianyan couldn’t hear a sound.
The ticket inspector seemed to be lingering by their seat for a long time, showing no intention of leaving immediately.
Realizing this, his body involuntarily tensed up.
Because he couldn’t see, all his senses became sharper. He could feel every slight vibration of the train’s movement and the undeniable presence of the other’s body.
But Wen Jianyan couldn’t worry about that.
Based on his last experience, the ticket inspector would immediately return a ticket after receiving the paper money. But this time… he didn’t know why it was taking so long.
Did something go wrong?
Was their attempt to evade the fare discovered, or was there something wrong with the paper money? Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan’s heart couldn’t help but pound wildly.
After all, the color of the paper money in Wu Zhu’s hand was indeed darker than any he had seen before, to the point of being blackish…
Before he could figure anything out, Wen Jianyan’s body suddenly jerked, forced out of his thoughts.
—Wait, what is Wu Zhu’s hand doing?!
He was both shocked and angry, but wary of the current situation, he couldn’t lash out. He could only make small movements in the darkness to avoid the other’s touch. However, the space was so cramped that there was obviously not much room for him to maneuver. Even though he tried hard, he ended up pressing even closer to Wu Zhu than before.
The hem of his clothes rode up due to his movement just now, and cold fingers took the opportunity to slowly slide in, stroking his skin with moderate pressure.
Wen Jianyan was so angry his vision went dark.
He didn’t care about methods now. Instinctively, he opened his mouth and fiercely bit the nearest part of him.
The tall body pressed against him shook. Whether from pain or sheer shock, he actually stopped his wandering hands.
Wen Jianyan hadn’t held back at all. As soon as he relaxed his jaw, the tip of his tongue immediately tasted the other’s blood.
However, realizing the wound didn’t heal immediately, he couldn’t help but hesitate for a second.
Only then did Wen Jianyan remember… yes, Wu Zhu’s self-healing ability was astounding, but the one acting with him now was just a fragment left in the orphanage for a long time with significantly weakened power, not the powerful complete entity trapped on the cruise ship.
Then… was his bite indeed a bit too harsh?
“…!”
Outside the darkness, Wu Zhu’s pupils contracted sharply into thin vertical lines.
The human’s warm breath sprayed against the side of his neck, and the soft tongue tip hesitantly licked over the place he had just bitten, leaving a gentle wet trace.
“—!” Wen Jianyan felt the arm across his waist suddenly tighten. His vision went black, and he could almost hear his bones creaking.
L-let go!
In fact, he regretted it as soon as he did it, but what’s done cannot be undone.
He could only struggle with all his might to avoid being strangled by the other.
However, before he could struggle much, Wen Jianyan’s body suddenly stiffened.
They were too close, almost seamlessly pressed together. In such a posture, any slight change in the other’s body could be clearly felt—and now, this change wasn’t exactly slight.
Now, he dared not struggle anymore. Sweat seeped from his nose and forehead, and his entire body tensed up, frozen in place, not moving a muscle.
Finally, a “zip” sound came from beside his ear—the sound of the ticket inspector opening its bag. It finally continued the process.
Seconds later, the footsteps that had been gone for a long time finally sounded again, walking towards the end of the carriage.
The carriage door opened and closed, and the receding footsteps were drowned out by the clatter of the train.
The shadow tightly covering his body retreated.
As soon as he gained freedom, Wen Jianyan scrambled away like a rabbit, his movements frantic, even nearly tripping over Wu Zhu’s knee.
He finally climbed to the opposite seat and sat properly, panting rapidly, his forehead covered in fine sweat. He didn’t look like someone who had stayed motionless for over ten minutes, but rather like someone who had done strenuous exercise for a long time.
Wu Zhu didn’t stop him, only raising his hand to touch the side of his neck. The skin there had already healed without a single tooth mark, but the sensation of the other’s tongue tip seemed to linger.
He slowly raised his eyes, his emotionless gaze falling on the young man opposite.
Though he said nothing, a dark hue seemed to settle in those golden eyes, giving the illusion that he would violently capture him in the next second.
Wen Jianyan leaned back, trying his best to steady his voice:
“W-what was the situation just now… why did it take so long?”
After a long few seconds, Wu Zhu finally spoke. He stared fixedly at Wen Jianyan, his voice hoarse: “Don’t know.”
After the ticket inspector took the money, it just stood by the seat without moving. Even he didn’t know why the other paused for so long.
Leaving Wu Zhu’s embrace, the high temperature lingering on his body finally dropped bit by bit. Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, never having thought he would one day miss the cold air on the train so much.
His brain finally functioned normally again.
Since the ticket inspector left normally in the end, it probably hadn’t discovered their fare evasion violation. Then the only place where a problem could arise was…
He pondered for a while, then extended his hand to Wu Zhu: “Let me see your ticket.”
Wu Zhu handed the ticket over.
Fingertips touched fingertips. Wen Jianyan’s finger trembled subtly, but the next second, he suppressed the urge to pull back. With his usual calm and composure, indistinguishable from normal, he took the ticket from Wu Zhu’s hand.
As soon as the ticket was in his hand, Wen Jianyan’s heart sank.
Just as he guessed.
The ticket they exchanged with ordinary ghost money last time was old and yellowed, but this time, the ticket handed to Wu Zhu clearly had an eerie red tint. More importantly, the text on it.
【Destination: ■■■■】
The destination indicated by the mottled, fading text wasn’t the ‘Changsheng Building’ he had seen on other tickets before, but a line of chaotic code.
Remember, the train sends fierce ghosts to Changsheng Building for their eternal sleep.
And if this rule applies universally, then what place is Wu Zhu’s destination…
Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan’s heart sank.
He looked up at Wu Zhu and said, “Just in case, I’ll keep this ticket for you first.”
“Mm.” Wu Zhu was indifferent to this.
“What about these?” He took out the remaining red paper money again. “Do you need them?”
“…”
Wen Jianyan gave Wu Zhu a complex look.
After scamming and swindling for so long, this was the first time he saw someone rushing to give him money. He wasn’t quite used to it.
He thought about it, then still took all the money from Wu Zhu:
“Yes.”
Whatever, might as well take it.
“Although the destination is different, at least this time the train won’t stop midway,” Wen Jianyan put the ticket and money into his pocket with peace of mind. “As long as we see other passengers getting off in large numbers, we just follow them down.”
The train rumbled toward the unknown ahead. Outside the window was bottomless gloom; the whole train seemed to be traveling through a boundless shadow world.
Truly an unsettling sight.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and withdrew his gaze.
As soon as he turned his head, he ran straight into Wu Zhu’s gaze. He didn’t know how long he had been looking this way. The pale golden eyes submerged in the dim light were clearly a very cold color, yet inexplicably appeared ninety percent scorching and sharp.
All at once, everything that just happened flooded back into his mind in vivid detail. Those sensations that had vanished for a long time seemed to surface on his skin again.
Wen Jianyan became restless again.
“Cough cough, by the way,” he cleared his throat, struggling to maintain his composure, “souls and memories are intimately connected, right?”
Wu Zhu: “Mm.”
“So, you having absolutely no memory of before we met, isn’t it because your soul was split too many times?” Wen Jianyan said.
Wu Zhu thought for a moment: “Perhaps.”
“But, you don’t seem to have gained more memories from becoming more complete,” Wen Jianyan frowned thoughtfully. “Just purely became stronger… is it because you were split into too many pieces?”
Because each fragment was too fragmented, even though he was now much more complete than before, it was still hard to find much information.
Wu Zhu nodded honestly: “Possible.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Truly an answer devoid of information.
Asked for half a day and absolutely no progress.
Before he could end the topic in disappointment, he heard Wu Zhu continue: “Do you want to know where my memories are?”
Wen Jianyan froze, his interest piqued again: “Yes.”
Obviously, Wu Zhu’s existence was intimately connected to Nightmare’s nature.
Although he now knew much more about Nightmare than before, many key questions remained unknown—and regarding this part, Wu Zhu showed an unprecedentedly strong reaction—whether to the portraits on the Lucky Cruise or this train now.
If he figured out the connection between Wu Zhu and Nightmare, it would be a significant help to him.
“I think,”
Wu Zhu looked at Wen Jianyan.
“They should be in my most crucial fragment.”
“And what is tha…”
Before he could finish, Wen Jianyan stopped.
He froze, suddenly realizing. All at once, the cold object hanging below his neck seemed much heavier.
That beautiful golden heart was quietly hidden under his collar right now, pressed against his chest.
After a long pause, Wen Jianyan pulled the pendant-like heart out from his clothes, preparing to take it off and return it to Wu Zhu:
“In that case, might as well…”
“No.”
Wu Zhu stopped him without thinking.
“You should have noticed, I am far less powerful now than before. Getting it won’t give me much advantage, but you would lose your last safeguard.”
Previously, moving with Wen Jianyan was his powerful main body after absorbing multiple instance furnace cores. After regaining memories, perhaps he could do more. But accompanying Wen Jianyan now was a fragmented piece that had slept too long in the orphanage—it had even expended massive power for the instance reversal at the critical moment. Even Wu Zhu didn’t know how long this fragment of his could last.
But he didn’t care that much. If this piece was exhausted, another would appear. As long as Wen Jianyan, this anchor, remained, it was enough.
“So, you keep it. No need to return it to me.”
Wu Zhu gave Wen Jianyan a deep look.
“It is yours.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Stung by the other’s undisguised, intense, and direct gaze, he looked away somewhat awkwardly, turning to stare out the cold, dark window.
This is bad…
If he’d known this, he shouldn’t have asked that question.
The train traveled forward for who knows how long. Finally, amidst rail friction and metallic vibration, it slowly stopped.
Accompanied by a sharp, piercing friction sound, the doors slowly opened again.
Through the closed carriage door, Wen Jianyan heard orderly, stiff footsteps.
Those “passengers” hidden in darkness finally began to move, getting off the train one after another.
Wen Jianyan raised his hand to wipe the dusty glass and looked out.
It was a platform.
Looks like the terminal station arrived.
“Let’s go, time to get off.”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and stood up from his seat.
Outside the door, passenger footsteps continued to sound. The floor beneath their feet tilted and vibrated with the changing weight. Wen Jianyan carefully pulled the carriage door open a slit. The rushing terrifying darkness made his heart jump, and he took half a step back.
“What?” Wu Zhu stood behind him.
“Let’s wait a bit longer,” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and said, “too many passengers outside.”
“Not necessary.” Wu Zhu said.
…Not necessary?
Wen Jianyan froze and turned to look.
What do you mean?
A few steps behind him, Wu Zhu extended a palm to him.
Just now, they had evaded the fare in the same way.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze focused on the other’s knuckly pale fingers. His expression was hesitant, lips moving slightly.
In fact, acting after the passengers got off wasn’t impossible; there was no need to fight for a minute or two.
“…”
He took a deep breath, looking away somewhat anxiously.
Whatever, fine, it’s not the first time anyway!
The young man turned his head away and put his hand in, letting Wu Zhu interlace fingers with him.
Getting off the train, there was only boundless darkness.
Wen Jianyan carefully kept some distance from the “passengers” ahead. To prevent any mishaps, he didn’t walk with them, just followed far behind, moving slowly one after another under the dark sky.
However, unlike the orphanage before, the distance between the building and the platform wasn’t far.
They hadn’t walked forward long when the soft, cold soil underfoot gradually dissipated, replaced by packed hard ground.
Wen Jianyan seemed to sense something. He raised his head, looking ahead.
Not far away, a gray-black building appeared in his field of vision. The top disappeared high into the darkness. Below, gray glass doors were wide open, seeming to welcome new customers.
And on the wall at the entrance hung a rusted metal sign with four familiar large characters written on it.
‘Changsheng Building’.
“…” Wen Jianyan slowly took a deep breath, suppressing the subtle tremors brought up by past memories.
Yes… that’s right, back again.
