Chapter 167: Premeditation
"Where?"
"Where is it?"
Shen Yu’s breathing became increasingly frantic.
He remembered clearly.
The crew’s call bell was hidden somewhere inside his chest pocket.
But with his sense of touch gone, even finding his own pocket had become nearly impossible.
"Come on..."
"Hurry..."
Under the bright carriage lights, Shen Yu stood in place, his gray, lifeless eyes staring straight ahead.
His hands moved wildly over his body.
His chest.
His stomach.
His waist.
His pockets.
Nothing.
He couldn’t tell whether his fingers were touching fabric, skin, or empty air.
Beside him, the remaining survivors were in an equally miserable state.
Menloa could no longer feel his own breathing.
The absence of that familiar sensation made him subconsciously open his mouth and breathe harder.
"Shen Yu!"
"Shen Yu, can you hear me?"
"Hey!"
"I think..."
"I think I can’t hear anything either!"
Menloa tried to locate Shen Yu through his voice, but the moment he moved, his tall body slammed directly into the seat in front of him.
Bang!
Because he couldn’t feel the impact, he didn’t even realize what had happened.
His body simply collapsed backward.
Yet from Menloa’s perspective, he had already moved away from his seat.
He stretched out his hands, desperately feeling around the space before him.
"Shen Yu!"
"Where are you?"
"Why aren’t you answering?"
"Shen Yu, you can’t be in trouble, right?"
His hands repeatedly struck the seat.
His expression became increasingly anxious.
At the same time, Matsumoto Kika had already realized something was wrong.
She had lost her hearing.
Her fox-like eyes narrowed.
She immediately shouted toward Shen Yu.
"Shen Yu!"
"Use the bell!"
"If we lose our other senses—"
Her voice abruptly stopped.
Her mouth continued moving.
But no sound reached her ears.
Matsumoto Kika’s expression changed.
"Damn it."
"My hearing is gone too."
"Shen Yu probably can’t hear me."
She remembered the bell.
He had hidden it somewhere near his chest.
And she was only a few steps away from him.
If she could reach him...
Maybe she could press it herself.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Matsumoto Kika cautiously stepped away from her seat.
But without touch, she had no way to determine where she was going.
Her hands stretched forward.
She groped through the darkness that existed only in her mind.
Finally—
Her fingers touched something.
She leaned against it instinctively.
Her hands slowly moved across the surface.
A strange thought suddenly entered her mind.
So Shen Yu’s chest is this broad?
No wonder Meilin always likes getting close to him.
She continued feeling around.
"Where is the bell?"
Her fingers moved lower.
Then sideways.
Then back again.
Matsumoto Kika’s face gradually flushed.
"Wow..."
"What is this?"
She loosened her grip.
Then touched it again.
But she had made a fundamental mistake.
She wasn’t touching Shen Yu.
She wasn’t even near him.
Her sense of touch had disappeared completely.
She had somehow wandered all the way to the rear door of the carriage.
Her hands were wrapped around the door handle.
She was pressing herself against the door while desperately trying to locate what she believed was Shen Yu’s chest.
She couldn’t distinguish front from back.
She couldn’t determine distance.
She couldn’t even tell the size of the object beneath her hands.
To her, the door had become Shen Yu.
Meanwhile, Meilin was in an equally absurd situation.
She had initially been nestled against Shen Yu.
When the sound of breathing disappeared, she moved even closer.
She pressed her ear against his chest.
Nothing.
No heartbeat.
No breathing.
Nothing.
Her eyes widened.
Shen Yu’s heart isn’t beating?
Then another possibility occurred to her.
No.
I’m deaf.
I’ve lost one of my senses.
Meilin’s expression changed.
If her five senses were gradually disappearing...
That should have been terrifying.
But strangely, a mischievous smile slowly appeared on her face.
If I lose my sense of touch...
Then whatever I do to Shen Yu, he won’t feel it.
Her lips curved upward.
Even in the middle of a terrifying supernatural crisis, the succubus in her couldn’t help but think of something inappropriate.
Her fingers slowly reached toward Shen Yu.
At that exact moment, Shen Yu suddenly stood up.
His hands frantically searched his stomach and chest.
Meilin smiled.
"Shen Yu..."
Her hands moved forward.
But she had no idea what she was touching.
In reality, she had wrapped both arms around a small table.
Her lips repeatedly pressed against its surface.
Mwah.
Mwah.
Mwah.
The audience watching the live stream fell into complete chaos.
"What are they doing?!"
"Matsumoto Kika, why are you lifting your kimono against the door?!"
"Menloa, why are you hugging the seat and crying?!"
"Meilin! Stop kissing the table!"
"Shen Yu! Why are you still patting your stomach?!"
The barrage exploded with anxious comments.
Unfortunately, the four people inside the carriage couldn’t see any of it.
They were trapped inside a world where sight, hearing, and touch had already disappeared.
They didn’t even know how ridiculous their movements looked from the outside.
The train continued racing through the darkness.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Suddenly—
The entire carriage shook violently.
The force threw the four survivors off balance.
They crashed onto the floor.
Yet none of them reacted properly.
Without touch, they couldn’t feel the impact.
Without sight, they couldn’t see the danger.
Without hearing, they couldn’t hear the terrifying sounds coming from the train.
They were effectively trapped inside a living nightmare.
Then—
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The door to the front compartment slowly opened.
Sandy appeared.
She stood at the entrance of the carriage, quietly observing the four people.
Her expression was playful.
"I already told you."
"The station behind this one cannot be passed."
"No one has ever made it through."
"Not even you, my dear."
She smiled.
"You are simply too endearing."
"So you’ll die here."
"Right in front of reality."
"Then you’ll become part of the memories."
"And you’ll stay with me and my father forever."
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Her heels struck the floor as she slowly walked through the pink carriage.
Behind her—
The train suddenly began to tremble violently.
The dozen or so compartments connected behind the pink carriage started shaking.
Cracks appeared around the connecting section.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
The gaps widened.
The entire rear portion of the train was beginning to separate.
The pink carriage continued accelerating.
The compartments behind it shook harder and harder.
Inside the brightly lit carriage, the four survivors were thrown around by the violent movement.
But they still couldn’t understand what was happening.
Their bodies had become almost completely disconnected from reality.
Sandy stopped at the door.
Her expression gradually turned cold.
"Goodbye."
"This station ends here."
She turned around.
At that moment—
CLUNK!
The remaining compartments completely disconnected from the pink carriage.
The rear section of the train was violently pulled away.
The distance between the two sections rapidly increased.
The darkness swallowed the separated carriages.
The live-stream barrage erupted.
"No!"
"Shen Yu!"
"How can this be happening?!"
"How are they supposed to clear this level?!"
"Unless they use the bell immediately, this stage is impossible!"
"Is this really the end?"
Sandy slowly turned away.
The remaining carriage disappeared farther into the darkness.
Then—
Shen Yu stopped moving.
He lay motionless on the floor.
His gray pupils suddenly flashed.
A strange clarity appeared in his eyes.
He had been thinking.
Observing.
Waiting.
And now—
He finally understood.
"Sandy."
His voice was calm.
"I want you to save all of us."
Sandy’s footsteps stopped.
She turned around.
Her beautiful face showed confusion.
"Darling?"
"You didn’t press the bell."
"Your words have no effect."
She turned away again.
But Shen Yu repeated himself.
"Sandy."
"I want you to save all of us."
Sandy stopped again.
Her expression darkened.
"Darling..."
"Don’t test my patience."
Yet Shen Yu simply repeated the same sentence.
"Sandy, I want you to save all of us."
Again.
"Sandy, I want you to save all of us."
Again.
"Sandy, I want you to save all of us."
His voice remained steady.
He didn’t struggle to find the bell.
He didn’t desperately search his pockets anymore.
He simply repeated the same command.
The live-stream audience was baffled.
"What is Shen Yu doing?"
"Has he gone insane?"
"Is he still trying to find the bell?"
"If he found it, why doesn’t he just press it?"
"Does he think saying the command is enough?"
"If he already pressed it, why does he keep repeating himself?"
Sandy’s expression grew increasingly irritated.
She stared toward the ruined train.
Then—
Her eyes narrowed.
Something wasn’t right.
Shen Yu wasn’t panicking.
He wasn’t begging.
He wasn’t struggling.
He was waiting.
But waiting for what?
The train shook violently.
Shen Yu’s body was thrown across the floor.
It crashed into Meilin.
Meilin, who had been desperately kissing what she believed was Shen Yu, lost her balance.
Her body rolled directly into his arms.
Mwah!
Her lips accidentally struck his chest.
More precisely—
They struck the hidden bell beneath his clothing.
Ding!
A crisp metallic sound rang through the darkness.
Shen Yu froze.
He couldn’t hear it.
He couldn’t feel it.
He couldn’t see it.
He didn’t even know that Meilin had accidentally activated the bell.
But the bell had been pressed.
And that was enough.
Shen Yu’s lips moved again.
"Sandy."
"I want you to save all of us."
This time—
The sound of the bell and Shen Yu’s command resonated together through the darkness.
Dingling...
Dingling...
Dingling...
The mysterious bell echoed endlessly through the night.
Sandy’s expression changed completely.