Chapter 173: Story Behind The Two Seat
Menloa didn’t understand what Shen Yu meant.
He assumed Shen Yu had learned something from Sandy.
After all, Sandy was the master of this place. Perhaps Shen Yu had discovered some hidden rule from her.
Whatever it was, Menloa no longer had the energy to question him.
He slowly closed his eyes and imitated Shen Yu’s posture, leaning back against the seat.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
The world outside was burning.
The carriage was collapsing.
Their bodies were already battered beyond recognition.
Yet somehow, sitting in these two seats, they felt strangely peaceful.
Menloa suddenly chuckled.
"Hey, Shen Yu."
Shen Yu glanced at him.
"If we make it out alive this time..."
Menloa paused.
"How about the three of us—Meilin, you, and me—have a drink together?"
Shen Yu’s lips curved upward.
"Sure."
"But only if we survive."
"Hahaha..."
Menloa laughed.
"Hahaha!"
Inside the burning train, the two men laughed bitterly.
There was no joy in their laughter.
Only the helplessness of two people who had reached the edge of death and could do nothing but laugh at their own situation.
The barrage continued flooding across the live broadcast.
"I’m laughing in the middle of suffering."
"The first few stations were terrifying, but this one feels like the end of the world."
"There’s really no way out, is there?"
"Even the two strongest remaining players are about to die."
"I thought Shen Yu was going to slide down the tracks and fly out of the carriage."
"I didn’t expect him to discover those two special seats."
"Fly out?"
"In that situation, flying out would be death too."
"Even if the flames didn’t kill him, falling from that height would."
No one knew what to say anymore.
The final station had transformed the entire Twilight Train into a furnace.
And the two men sitting in E05 and E06 looked like they had merely delayed their deaths.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The old man’s footsteps echoed through the carriage.
He had returned to his normal walking posture.
His body no longer twisted unnaturally.
His expression was calm.
Almost human.
But that made him even more frightening.
He was the master of this space.
Gravity didn’t matter.
Fire didn’t matter.
The burning train didn’t matter.
Everything inside belonged to him.
Step by step, he approached Shen Yu and Menloa.
His eyes gradually became clearer.
The old man stopped in front of Shen Yu.
Then he opened his mouth.
There were no teeth inside.
Only a deep, pitch-black hole.
Whoosh!
A powerful suction force erupted.
Shen Yu’s body immediately stiffened.
His muscles locked.
He couldn’t move.
The old man’s face pressed against his.
Shen Yu’s features began distorting.
His skin stretched toward that black hole.
His memories were being pulled out.
One after another.
Images flashed through his mind.
The hospital.
The dungeon.
His sister.
Meilin.
Sandy.
The Twilight Train.
Every experience he’d accumulated during this nightmare began fading.
Shen Yu gritted his teeth.
"Damn..."
He had lost too much blood.
One arm was dislocated.
His body was burned almost everywhere.
His organs were failing.
He had no strength left.
He could only watch helplessly as his memories were sucked away.
The old man continued feeding.
And the more memories he absorbed, the more energetic he became.
His dull eyes slowly gained light.
His wrinkled face gradually became less lifeless.
He was recovering.
"Stop!"
Menloa roared.
He tried to move.
But his body couldn’t respond.
The old man ignored him.
Shen Yu’s vision gradually blurred.
His memories were disappearing.
Even the reason he was fighting began to fade.
Who was he?
Why was he here?
Who was Meilin?
Who was Sandy?
What was this train?
Everything became distant.
Then—
BOOM!
A thunderous announcement suddenly echoed throughout the train.
"Annihilation Station has arrived."
"Annihilation Station has arrived."
"The train is entering annihilation."
"The train is entering annihilation."
Shen Yu’s pupils contracted.
The train shook violently.
Then—
BOOM!
The front carriage exploded.
A terrifying fireball swallowed the entire front section.
Metal twisted.
Windows shattered.
Flames surged backward like enormous snakes.
The first carriage disappeared into the crimson sky.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
One carriage after another was devoured.
The fire spread rapidly toward the rear.
Fifth.
Sixth.
Seventh.
The entire Twilight Train was being consumed.
The flames rushed toward the carriage containing Shen Yu and Menloa.
Yet the old man suddenly stopped.
His gaze fell upon the two seats.
E05.
E06.
His previously clear eyes became confused.
Something had awakened inside him.
Something buried deeper than the memories Sandy had forced into his mind.
"Dad!"
Sandy’s distorted face appeared across his features.
"Dad!"
"Get off the train!"
"Hurry!"
"This is the final station!"
"Once you get off, you’ll recover your memories!"
"We..."
"We can leave together!"
Her voice became increasingly frantic.
But the old man didn’t move.
Sandy screamed.
"Dad!"
"Get off!"
"Take all the memories with you!"
"Then we’ll be together forever!"
Yet the old man continued staring at E05 and E06.
Something about those seats...
Something about those two places...
Was pulling at the deepest part of his mind.
The Twilight Train was his body.
The memories inside it were his life.
At Annihilation Station, no one could leave.
No one—
Except the old man.
If he gathered all the memories and carried them with him, he could leave together with the train.
That was Sandy’s plan.
But now...
The memories that had just been restored began colliding with something much older.
Something real.
The fire snakes surged closer.
BOOM!
The seventh carriage erupted.
Flames swallowed everything.
The old man suddenly moved.
He lunged forward.
And instead of escaping—
He wrapped both arms around Shen Yu and Menloa.
Sizzle!
The firestorm struck his body.
Flames instantly engulfed him.
His skin cracked.
His flesh began decaying.
White fragments of light peeled away from his body.
His entire figure trembled violently.
Yet his arms remained tightly wrapped around the two men.
More importantly—
He was protecting E05 and E06.
"Dad!"
Sandy’s voice trembled.
"What are you doing?"
The old man didn’t answer.
His body continued burning.
His memories continued collapsing.
But he refused to move.
Then—
A flickering light appeared.
Inside that light...
A memory emerged.
"Excuse me."
A young man’s voice.
"That’s my seat."
A young woman sitting beside the window immediately stood.
"Oh."
"I’m sorry."
She stepped aside.
The young man blushed awkwardly.
"Thank you."
The scene dissolved.
Another memory appeared.
The same carriage.
The same two seats.
The young woman looked surprised.
"What a coincidence."
"You’re here again today."
The young man smiled shyly.
"I work nearby."
"I take the subway every day."
"I always reserve this seat in advance."
The girl laughed.
"Ah..."
"So that’s why."
"I’m also interning nearby."
"Maybe we’ll see each other often in the future."
The memory flickered.
The two continued meeting.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Always in those seats.
E05.
E06.
The same journey.
The same train.
The same two people.
Until one day—
The young woman smiled.
"You’re really here again."
The young man looked embarrassed.
"Let me in."
"I’ll sit by the window."
She moved aside.
"You bought the window seat again."
"Ah..."
He scratched his head.
"Hey."
"We’ve met so many times."
"You still haven’t told me your name."
The young woman hesitated.
Then softly answered.
"Luo..."
"Luomei."
The young man repeated it.
"Luomei?"
"Can I call you Meimei?"
She smiled.
"Sure."
"I’m Judy."
"Judy Liana."
The girl laughed.
"Okay."
"Sure."
The light flickered again.
Another memory.
Another day.
Another journey.
The Twilight Train was no longer a nightmare.
It was a place where two strangers had met.
Where they had slowly become familiar with each other.
Where friendship had turned into affection.
Where affection had become love.
The carriage announcement suddenly sounded.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
"Friends..."
"Today, in Car 07, the most romantic story is about to happen."
The passengers turned toward the young man.
He stood nervously in front of the woman.
His hands trembled.
The conductor’s voice rang through the carriage.
"Mr. Meisi is about to propose to his girlfriend, Liana, right here."
Cheers erupted.
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
"This is the first proposal on the Twilight Train!"
"We hope everyone will give these two their greatest blessings!"
The young man took a deep breath.
Then slowly knelt.
The woman covered her mouth.
Tears immediately appeared in her eyes.
The carriage erupted in cheers.
The announcement continued.
"Passengers and friends..."
"Today is perhaps the most precious day this train has ever witnessed."
"The Twilight Train probably never imagined that one day it would become a wedding carriage."
The passengers laughed and applauded.
"Mr. Meisi and Miss Liana met, became acquainted, and fell in love on this train."
"Today, Car 07 will become their wedding venue."
"Let us give them our best wishes!"
The passengers began passing wedding candies from one seat to another.
One by one.
Hand to hand.
Until the entire carriage was filled with laughter.