Chapter 65: The Train
Rush hour at the subway station was always so crowded that it made Song Cheng question his very existence. The carriages were packed to the brim, making it seem as if the entire city was squeezing into the subway. If he had a choice, he would avoid taking the train at this time.
But he had no other option. The “Train” only appeared reliably on the second run during the morning peak. While there were sporadic sightings at other times, they were unpredictable.
Song Cheng, tall and broad-shouldered, wedged himself into the throng inside the carriage. As the subway departed and slowly gained speed, he felt the sway beneath his feet. All around him were office workers hurrying to their jobs, and the gaps between people were filled with a mixture of mingled scents.
It was like a cage of steel filled with compressed flesh, tunneling headlong into the concrete-supported passages underground. Roaring from one place to another, this man-made worm burrowed through the darkness. The artificial lights chased away the gloom inside the tunnel, but beyond the concrete walls, in the soil, darkness and the unknown were the true nature of the underground world.
He closed his eyes slightly, letting these thoughts swirl in his mind. He imagined this steel “flesh-carrying cage” tunneling through the dark earth, like a bizarre, blind worm. He envisioned the suffocating soil pressing in, cold and laced with the scent of decay.
With his eyes still closed, Song Cheng began to move slowly through the crowd in the carriage. Though it was still crowded, people unconsciously made way for him. Unhurriedly, he made his way to the end of the carriage and then opened his eyes to take a look.
The door indicated that this was the end of Carriage No. 2; ahead was Carriage No. 3.
Behind him, the noise in the carriage had somehow begun to fade. The occasional chatter sounded distant, as if muffled by a thick wall.
Without turning back, Song Cheng reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment, pre-soaked in ointment. He placed the paper into his mouth, chewing slowly. A sharp, intense flavor surged straight to his head. Then he stepped forward.