“A midnight trip, this tour group is really something,” a black-haired, black-eyed girl grumbled to herself, leaning against the light pink, flesh-like wall of the train car and watching the heavy snow outside.
This was a moth-worm train with its final destination in the Far North.
Moth-worms are common transportation on Mercury and are also a relatively rare type of Phantom Spirit that can connect well with the human world.
Phantom Spirits are Mercury’s miraculous creatures.
They are found all over Mercury and possess extraordinary abilities.
Most of them are registered and either utilized or avoided by people according to their danger level.
Those that haven’t been recorded are mostly found in places humans haven’t explored yet, or in extremely dangerous areas.
These places are collectively known as Miracle Lands.
The black-haired girl, Su Xing, was headed to one of these Miracle Lands—the Far North Snowfield.
Don’t misunderstand, as an ordinary person, she wasn’t going there to die. Instead, Su Xing had won a three-day tour voucher for the Far North Snowfield, just to admire the scenery from the outskirts.
The outer parts of Miracle Lands have generally been explored by humans, and the Far North Snowfield is one of the most thoroughly explored.
As long as you follow the tour guide’s instructions, there’s basically no danger.
Although Su Xing wasn’t particularly interested in traveling, a free trip was still a good deal.
As an orphan who had to be careful with every penny, she couldn’t waste this valuable ticket.
Of course, Su Xing initially planned to sell the ticket, but it was the awakening period for most wealthy children, and she couldn’t sell the ticket no matter what.
With the travel time approaching, she had no choice but to go herself and experience her first trip.
Speaking of awakening, this brings us to a special profession on Mercury—Phantom Spirit Masters.
Everyone can awaken a Phantom Spirit when they turn fifteen.
Once successfully awakened, they can become a Phantom Spirit Master and receive corresponding education.
However, this awakening isn’t easy.
Ordinary people need professional instruments to assist in the awakening process.
Those instruments are expensive, something Su Xing couldn’t even dream of with her current financial situation.
This is also why, despite being fifteen, Su Xing had the leisure to travel.
To allow students to awaken peacefully, this summer vacation started a month earlier than usual.
It was July, and she still had plenty of time to work and earn living expenses.
However, one thing was bothering Su Xing.
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she vaguely saw a ghost in the train car.
That’s right, the kind of ghost that looks like it’s covered with a white sheet, about the size of a human head.
Su Xing didn’t believe in real ghosts in this world.
If she wasn’t too tired and seeing things, then what she saw was most likely some kind of Phantom Spirit causing mischief.
It turned out she wasn’t seeing things; she wasn’t the only one who saw it.
“Ah!”
The brown-haired curly-headed boy in front of Su Xing suddenly stood up excitedly, shouting, “I just saw a ghost!”
Su Xing wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but there was no fear in his voice, only excitement and thrill.
Indeed, the curly-headed boy turned around, his amber eyes incredibly bright, filled with excitement, “I actually saw a ghost!”
A quick glance confirmed it: a passionate, chuunibyou-type teenager.
The other person had a rare baby face, making him look very young, more like an eleven or twelve-year-old child.
His appearance wasn’t particularly striking, just clean-cut.
But his bright, sparkling eyes made him seem full of spirit.
However, his hands were large and not deformed.
His bone age should be around fourteen or fifteen.
Before he could finish speaking, the dim yellow lights suddenly began to flicker eerily, going on and off as if confirming what the boy had just said—there was a ghost in the train car.
The next second, all the lights on the entire train suddenly went out, plunging Su Xing into complete darkness.
At the same time, Su Xing acutely noticed that the doors on both sides of the car had been shut.
Along with the darkness came the panic of the crowd; everyone immediately became agitated, and many people called out, asking what was happening.
Soon, someone screamed in horror, “Who closed the car doors?”
Su Xing remained calm, quickly analyzing the situation.
Moth-worm trains usually have some luminous insects prepared, so if no one was interfering, the car should quickly return to light.
However, judging by the ghost just now, it’s impossible that no one’s causing trouble.
The sudden disappearance of the lights was likely the work of a Phantom Spirit Master.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before she heard the clash of weapons.
Years of mingling with all sorts of people had made Su Xing very sensitive to the sounds of combat.
With her vision gone, her hearing was magnified infinitely.
She unexpectedly discovered that there must be more than two factions fighting in the train car.
First, there was the most obvious sound of a weapon, likely a killer with a dagger.
But there was only the sound of a dagger cutting through flesh in the air, no clashing of weapons.
This indicated that only one person carried a dagger, and the other parties had no weapons.
In addition, Su Xing also heard the cries of two Phantom Spirits.
One, sounding like bubbling, came from the curly-haired boy in front of her who had just spotted the ghost.
He was actually a Phantom Spirit Master, and judging by his age, he must be a newly awakened novice.
The train car was still noisy, but smart people had already shut their mouths discreetly.
Su Xing considered herself a poor, ordinary person, and of course, wouldn’t get involved in such dangerous excitement.
She huddled meekly in her seat, terrified of attracting any trouble.
However, trouble always seems to find its way to you.
Suddenly, something slimy was thrown at Su Xing, landing directly in her arms.
Before Su Xing could throw this hot potato away, she heard a whooshing sound.
Clearly, something dangerous was heading straight for her.
***
Cursing under her breath, Su Xing swiftly slid down, then slipped, directly sliding under the seat with the thing in her arms.
“Boom!”
The next second, her original spot was covered by a spiderweb.
Su Xing quickly let go, wanting to release the thing in her arms.
However, perhaps sensing that Su Xing could protect it, the slimy creature in her arms actually extended two tentacles and clung tightly to Su Xing, refusing to let go.
What the heck is this thing?! Su Xing quickly realized it must be a Phantom Spirit.
After all, it was alive and not human; in her understanding, only Phantom Spirits fit that description.
Seeing that she couldn’t shake off this trouble quickly, Su Xing felt even more irritated.
Suppressing her discomfort, she planned to slide out from under the seat and then get rid of it.
However, she had obviously forgotten that there was someone above this seat.
After she made a commotion, the curly-haired boy called out in surprise, “Who? Who’s under my seat?”
Su Xing panicked, exerted force with her hand, grabbed the edge of the chair, and forcibly pulled herself out from under the ground.
Then, with quick reflexes, she covered the curly-haired boy’s mouth with one hand.
“Mmmph mmmph!”
The curly-haired boy struggled, trying to swat Su Xing’s hand away.
He was quite strong and almost broke free from Su Xing’s restraint.
Anxious, Su Xing whispered in his ear, “Shh, don’t move.”
The curly-haired boy actually quieted down and nodded obediently.
Su Xing tentatively loosened her hand, and the other party indeed remained silent.
She looked down, and two pairs of bright eyes were staring at her.
One pair belonged to the curly-haired boy, the other to the unknown Phantom Spirit in her arms.
Seeing the Phantom Spirit, Su Xing’s teeth itched with annoyance, and she decisively let go, signaling it to roll away.
Probably because it was temporarily out of danger, the Phantom Spirit didn’t cling to her this time and obediently dropped into the darkness.
She thought she was safe now, but who knew that the next second, the familiar whooshing sound returned.
This sound was sharper than the previous one, like the sound of some weapon being thrown.
Su Xing quickly ducked, and at the same time, used force with her hand to push the curly-haired boy’s head down with hers.
“Clang!”
The sound of a hidden weapon hitting the iron-plate-like inner wall of the moth-worm train rang out. Su Xing looked up; the deadly crescent-shaped hidden weapon was above her head, deeply embedded in the moth-worm’s fleshy wall, almost like skewering two things.
She looked at the curly-haired boy with a terrible expression.
The curly-haired boy clearly also realized what had almost happened and was deathly pale, his lips slightly parted towards Su Xing, wanting to say something but not daring to.
Su Xing inwardly lamented her bad luck.
What’s it called, jumping out of the tiger’s den into the wolf’s lair?
That crescent-shaped hidden weapon was clearly aimed at this curly-haired boy; she was just caught in the crossfire.
The owner of the hidden weapon and the one who was just capturing the Phantom Spirit were clearly not the same group of people.
They were probably attracted by the curly-haired boy’s voice just now.
Su Xing pulled out the hidden weapon and held it in her hand.
She naturally carried a dagger as a weapon herself.
But a killer’s item must be more powerful; at worst, she could sell it later.
It was free anyway, so why not take it?
This spot was no longer safe.
After pulling out the hidden weapon, Su Xing ignored the curly-haired boy and skillfully slid down, returning under the seat.
Unexpectedly, the curly-haired boy also tried to follow her down.
This was unacceptable!
That killer had already discovered the curly-haired boy.
Now this guy was a moving target; whoever was with him would die.
Su Xing immediately slid out from under the seat and sat back in her original spot.
As soon as she sat down, she found something strange on the seat.
It was probably an attack released by the guy who was capturing the Phantom Spirit earlier.
This time, the curly-haired boy didn’t follow, and Su Xing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon, she heard hurried footsteps outside.
The staff on the moth-worm train had finally realized something was wrong and rushed over to check.
The moment the door opened, the sounds of fighting vanished without a trace, leaving only the panicked voices of the passengers.
The newcomers brought luminous insects, and in no time, the train car was bathed in light again.
Su Xing looked, and wow, the once smooth interior of the moth-worm was now scarred.
Anyone could imagine how fierce the fight just now had been.
However, no one seemed to be seriously injured, otherwise, they would have been shouting by now.
Of course, it’s also possible that those who were truly injured simply didn’t speak.
Su Xing quickly observed the passengers in the train car.
Most had expressions of fear and bewilderment.
Only one boy in a black outfit, his face obscured by a black baseball cap, had an expression she couldn’t discern.
The curly-haired boy in front of her climbed out from under the chair in a disheveled state, sat back in his seat, and let out a long sigh of relief.
Then he turned to Su Xing and thanked her gratefully, “Thank you for earlier! If you hadn’t helped, I might have been hit.”
Su Xing’s face showed no trace of the panic she’d felt while dodging.
She rubbed her fingers with a playful smile, “If you want to thank me, send money. Verbal thanks are unacceptable to me. As long as the money’s there, everything’s negotiable.”
She expected the curly-haired boy to be displeased, but to her surprise, his eyes lit up, and he immediately pulled out something.
Su Xing looked at it and was stunned.
She seemed to understand why the curly-haired boy was being pursued.
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