Chapter 166: The Call Bell — Five Senses Stolen
The live-stream comments changed direction almost instantly.
What had begun as criticism of Shen Yu was rapidly turning into admiration.
"Knowledge."
Sandy leaned casually against the carriage door, her eyes filled with amusement as she looked at Shen Yu.
"Ha! Is that really what you think?"
Only Meilin and a few others seemed genuinely stunned by Shen Yu’s reasoning.
Sandy, however, appeared particularly interested.
She tilted her head.
"Then guess what this Twilight Station symbolizes?"
Shen Yu frowned slightly.
"After fiction comes twilight?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"I don’t think it represents twilight itself."
His gaze became thoughtful.
"I think it represents confusion."
"Confusion between truth and falsehood."
Sandy’s smile widened.
Shen Yu continued.
"Once someone realizes that the memories they’ve been given are false, they’ll begin questioning everything they’ve experienced."
"They’ll no longer be able to distinguish reality from illusion."
"At that point, they’ll start doubting everyone and everything."
He glanced toward the darkened windows.
"That’s why there are two Twilight Stations."
"You have to distinguish the real memories from the false ones before you can continue."
Sandy’s lips curved upward.
"You guessed right."
She reached into her clothing.
"This is your reward."
Shen Yu’s eyebrows rose.
Sandy pulled out a small object.
It looked like an old brass bell.
Shen Yu accepted it and instinctively raised his hand to strike it.
"Hey!"
Sandy immediately stopped him.
"That’s the crew’s emergency call bell."
"You only have one chance to use it."
"Don’t waste it."
Shen Yu looked down at the bell.
"I see."
He carefully put it away.
Sandy stared at him for another moment.
"Think carefully."
"In the last two stations..."
"How are you going to survive?"
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Sandy turned and walked toward the end of the pink carriage.
Her plump figure swayed slightly as she opened the connecting door.
Then she stepped into the next carriage.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
The Twilight Express continued racing through the darkness.
But this time, the scenery outside the windows had completely changed.
The fog was gone.
The twilight was gone.
Even the beautiful flower fields were gone.
There was only darkness.
Absolute midnight darkness.
Although the lights inside the carriage were still bright, the darkness outside seemed to swallow everything beyond the glass.
"Shen Yu."
Matsumoto Kika approached him.
"Let’s save that bell for the final station."
"As long as we survive the next one, we can use it and pass, right?"
Shen Yu glanced at her.
He didn’t answer.
He had already realized something.
The bell was extremely important.
But that didn’t mean it should be saved until the end.
In fact...
It might be the opposite.
He simply didn’t know whether he could trust Matsumoto Kika.
From the moment he’d met her, something about her attitude had made him uneasy.
Perhaps it was because his memories were incomplete.
Perhaps it was because she behaved as though she knew him far better than he knew her.
Either way, he wasn’t willing to casually hand over control of the emergency bell.
"Shen Yu."
Meilin’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"What do you think the test in this carriage will be?"
She looked toward the dark windows.
"Every time we leave a station, something unusual happens inside the train."
"And every abnormality seems to correspond to one of the seven spirits."
Shen Yu nodded.
"You’re right."
He thought for a moment before answering.
"Then the next three possibilities are obvious."
"Problems with excretion."
"Problems with the five senses."
"Or problems with breathing."
Menloa frowned.
"Why those three?"
Matsumoto Kika also looked doubtful.
"How can you be so certain?"
Meilin, however, simply watched Shen Yu.
She seemed to already know he had an explanation.
Shen Yu leaned back slightly.
"It’s based on the theory of the three souls and seven spirits."
"Let’s forget about the three souls for now."
"The seven spirits are easier to understand."
"Think of them as seven control systems governing the human body."
"Every abnormal phenomenon we’ve encountered corresponds to a change in one of those systems."
His eyes narrowed.
"If we treat this train as a living human body, the previous four stations make the pattern obvious."
"First, the temperature suddenly dropped."
"Then our digestive systems were affected."
"After that, our injuries stopped healing."
"And finally..."
His expression became slightly awkward.
"Lust."
Matsumoto Kika’s expression darkened.
Shen Yu continued as though he hadn’t noticed.
"Those correspond to different functions of the seven spirits."
"Temperature regulation."
"Digestion."
"Injury recovery."
"Reproductive control."
"Four have already appeared."
"And there are seven stations."
"So the remaining three should correspond to the remaining three functions."
"Excretion."
"Respiration."
"And the five senses."
The carriage fell silent.
Everyone stared at Shen Yu.
Even the viewers watching the live stream were stunned.
The deduction was almost too clean.
Live-stream comments exploded.
"He already figured it out?"
"Shen Yu isn’t just a lucky survivor!"
"He’s actually analyzing the dungeon’s structure!"
"If someone understands the theory, the previous four abnormalities make this deduction possible."
"No wonder he has the presence of a leader."
"But don’t underestimate the remaining three stations. Each one could be deadly."
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
The train suddenly accelerated.
A cold mechanical announcement echoed through the carriage.
"The train is entering high-speed mode."
"To ensure sufficient power, all lighting facilities will be temporarily deactivated."
Click.
The lights went out.
Instantly—
Darkness swallowed the carriage.
Not ordinary darkness.
It was so complete that Shen Yu couldn’t see his own hand even when he held it directly in front of his face.
"Something’s wrong."
Shen Yu’s voice was tense.
"Everyone, be careful."
The others immediately stiffened.
The sound of the train rushing along the tracks filled their ears.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The darkness seemed endless.
Meilin instinctively moved closer to Shen Yu.
Her body pressed against his side, and she quietly grabbed his arm.
Then—
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
The lights suddenly flickered back on.
Everyone blinked.
The carriage was brightly illuminated once again.
Warm yellow light filled the seats.
Yet nobody relaxed.
Something was wrong.
Shen Yu’s muscles remained tense.
Menloa’s breathing became increasingly hurried.
Even Meilin seemed uneasy.
"What is going on?"
The viewers were confused.
"Didn’t the lights come back on?"
"Why are they still acting like they’re in danger?"
"Look carefully!"
Then someone noticed.
"Shen Yu’s pupils!"
"They’re gray!"
"Wait..."
"All of their pupils are gray!"
Another comment appeared.
"They’re blind."
The realization spread rapidly.
The lights had returned.
But their vision hadn’t.
To Shen Yu and the others...
The carriage was still completely dark.
The dungeon had simply tricked them into believing the danger had ended.
"Corpse Dog."
Someone in the live stream immediately recognized it.
"The seven spirits..."
"This is the five-senses trial."
"And the first sense they’ve lost is sight."
The audience suddenly became nervous.
Losing one sense was already dangerous.
But what happened if they lost all five?
Sight.
Hearing.
Touch.
Smell.
Taste.
Without them, even the simplest action could become deadly.
Shen Yu remained motionless.
He could see nothing.
He could still hear the train.
He could still feel the others moving around him.
At least...
He thought he could.
Then Menloa’s heavy breathing suddenly stopped.
"Menloa?"
Shen Yu called out.
No response.
"Menloa?"
He spoke louder.
Still nothing.
Shen Yu froze.
Something was wrong.
He could feel his own throat vibrating as he spoke.
But no sound reached his ears.
His eyes widened.
No.
Hearing.
His hearing had disappeared.
"Deaf..."
The realization struck him like lightning.
"This is it."
"The five senses."
Shen Yu’s thoughts raced.
If hearing is gone, what about the others?
The first thing he tested was touch.
He pinched his own thigh.
Hard.
Nothing.
His expression instantly changed.
No pain.
No pressure.
No sensation.
Nothing.
He grabbed his arm.
Still nothing.
His fingers closed around something, but he couldn’t tell what it was.
He couldn’t even tell whether his hand was touching his own body.
Shen Yu’s face darkened.
Touch is gone too.
And now he understood just how terrifying this trial truly was.
People often imagined losing touch as a blessing.
No pain.
No discomfort.
But that was precisely what made it horrifying.
Without touch, a knife could pierce your chest and you wouldn’t know it.
A cut could open a vein.
Blood could pour from your body.
And you might never realize you were injured.
You could die...
Without ever knowing why.
Shen Yu’s breathing became heavier.
Damn it.
The bell.
Suddenly, everything became clear.
The emergency bell wasn’t meant to be saved for the final station.
It was meant to be used the moment the five-senses trial began.
He had made a mistake.
I should have called Sandy immediately.
But now...
It might already be too late.
Shen Yu forced himself to stand.
He couldn’t feel his legs.
He couldn’t even tell whether his feet were properly touching the floor.
His body felt like an empty shell.
He reached into his pocket.
His fingers searched frantically.
Something was there.
The bell.
He grabbed it.
But he couldn’t feel its shape.
Was it really the bell?
Or was his hand simply pressing against his own chest?
He couldn’t tell.
He desperately moved his fingers across the object.
Nothing.
No sensation.
No texture.
No pressure.
His heart sank.
This is the true horror of losing touch.
Even though the bell was in his hand...
He couldn’t determine whether he was actually holding it.
Shen Yu gritted his teeth.
He had only one chance.
And he didn’t even know whether his fingers were pressing the bell...
Or his own flesh.
The darkness around him seemed to deepen.
For the first time, Shen Yu truly understood—
The five senses weren’t merely being taken away one by one.
The dungeon was stripping away his ability to determine whether he was still alive.