The World Below Surface - Chapter 2

Lu Yan maintained his expression and leaned further towards the small group, making an appearance of fear. He did not say what he had found but let the group observe for themselves.

The subway swayed, and with a long “creak, “the doors closed and departed slowly.

On the advertising wall, the resentful eyes of the actress had disappeared, never to be seen again.

The six passengers were slightly relieved, and a few were bold enough to ask the small group across what was going on. Still, they were invariably met with a few sharp stares.

However, Lu Yan did not put his mind at ease as he glanced up at the rear carriage and the faintly diffused blood mist.

The thing had not entered the subway, and the blood mist had likewise coalesced in the front portion of the carriage. Either the subway went backwards, where the so-called “sanctuary” was, or there was something even more terrifying than them back there.

He still looked frightened, and the group pulled him away from the other passengers, and then together, they lowered their voices to discuss.

“Now, do we just wait here until the station? I still have a bit of an uneasy feeling.” The person who said this was a short-haired girl with a delicate face. She had a short haircut like a man, red lips and studded eyebrows.

She was Lai Li Fang Zhi (黎芳芷), the twin sister of Li Fang Yu.

Li Fang Yu followed and said, “One of the passengers just now is likely to have carried a curse on him, so we should stay away from them.”

Everyone in the crowd, except He Lou, believed in Li Fang Yu. Yet when he heard her say this, He Lou nodded likewise and went further in.

The biggest group member clicked his fingers at the passengers who were about to follow with a fierce look on his face: “I’m warning you, don’t follow us.”

Lu Yan followed the fat middle-aged man and chatted with him. He glanced a little worriedly at the passengers behind him who wanted to follow but were afraid to do so, sighed quietly, and did not persuade.

‘I don’t know how many of them will “survive.” Will they be enough to save me from death?’

In the eyes of others, this was a sign that he had good intentions but did not dare to do anything.

Many people have some disdain for this.

Those who have survived horrific psychic events have long given up their so-called compassion and kindness. If it wasn’t for the mission requiring Lu Yan to provide clues, he would have been among those who were left.

The subway moved forward in silence. The windows were dark outside, and the heavy night air completely enveloped the subway. The atmosphere in the interior carriage grew colder and eerier.

It was as if something were coming out …

“AH!!!”

A scream broke the silence, and the few people who had just been whispering in hushed voices were abruptly startled.

“Something’s wrong!”

“Run!”

They ran towards the back of the carriage with extreme caution, intentionally or unintentionally pinning Lu Yan in the middle with the big fierce man padding behind. Lu Yan looked back as he ran.

Expecting to see nothing, Lu Yan still saw a passenger leaping high above the big man’s shoulder.

His face was blue. A large portion of his neck had been bitten off by something, revealing a bowl-sized, blackened wound, with a bit of flesh remaining wrapped around the skeleton. It made one worry that the head would fall off.

As the man behind him was too tall, Lu Yan could only see one head. He took a quick glance and immediately showed an expression of horror as he turned around and continued to run after him.

Over the chaotic footsteps, one could hear a mixed “thud, thud, thud” as something jumped up and down.

When the big man behind him saw Lu Yan’s reaction, he immediately understood there must be something behind him. Still, he didn’t dare to turn around and could only run as fast as he could.

Lu Yan pondered as he ran.

The interior of the subway was small, yet as they rushed all the way forward, they didn’t find anyone. He wondered where these people went.

Also, among passengers, the big guy was definitely the tallest in the group. Yet, he could see the monster’s head from behind the big guy. Once again, when you think about the regular thumping sound you heard, Lu Yan guessed that maybe it was something like a Chinese zombie, or else the other side only had one leg and had to jump.

Unfortunately, the six men had stalled for some time, but none were left.

Thinking of this, Lu Yan shouted as he ran, “Faster, everyone! There’s something following behind us!”

At the moment, he still had use to them, so the gang would try to protect him. When he had given out all the information, then, when running away like today, the one at the back would definitely be him.

But for now, everyone hadn’t torn their faces off yet. So he reminded them not to stop, earning goodwill points from the group.

At those words, the escape brigade immediately increased its speed.

For some reason, the subway was particularly long, and they had been running for a long, long time, but it felt like they couldn’t reach the end.

There was only the messy sound of footsteps and ragged panting.

Moreover, they don’t know if it was an illusion, but the further they ran, the more outdated the carriages became.

Lu Yan dodged a few pieces of debris that had fallen from the roof of the dilapidated car and then looked around, which had somehow become an old Shanghai tram, and was sure of it.

When he looked back again, the thing he had been following was gone, and all the lights in the carriage behind them were dimmed, and it was pitch black. Only the carriage they were in and the area ahead of them that hadn’t run away were brightly lit.

“But … it’s okay … there’s nothing left.”

With the large man still following behind him, he had to call the man to a halt before slowly coming to a halt himself. He glanced at the crowd, slowly stopping because of his shout, and gradually calmed his breathing in front of them.

The mask had long since been half removed in his escape, covering only his chin. After running for so long, it would have been easy to arouse their suspicion if he hadn’t been out of breath.

When they stopped, the subway also slowed down.

The carriage was so old that slowing down made it creak and squeak. But to everyone’s ears, the sound was less like an ageing vehicle and more like the popping of bones when someone stretched.

It was as if the subway was some kind of living thing …

The subway was getting slower and slower, finally letting out an unbearably long sound. The next instant, the originally darkened windows suddenly lit up. All the doors automatically opened to the sides.

Lu Yan looked out the door, and his pupils shrank.

Even though they had run so far, the advertising wall not far outside the door still had a huge advertisement of that female celebrity posted on it. Although the makeup was more retro, the artist was still a brand of dazzling acenaphthene ration huanzhu

“Where is this? Should we go out?”

“After running for so long, we’ve finally stopped now.”

“Xiao Zhi, did you have a tracker that counts how far you’ve run?”

Li Fang Zhi held up her phone, “The pedometer says I ran nearly four kilometres in 26 minutes.” She was dressed in a unisex style and looked quite remarkable, but she answered the question with a flourish.

He Lou nodded and asked, “How’s everyone’s stamina? Can we continue?”

The oldest in the crowd was the slightly chubby middle-aged man Yu Gao Yi (余高义).

Sweating profusely, he was first to say, “I’ll need to take a break.”

Some were okay, while others were equally exhausted and sat bolt-upright in their seats, panting heavily to calm their breathing.

Lu Yan saw that they had yet to bring it up. He allowed himself to look immediately filled with a sense of dread before shivering and subconsciously taking a step backwards.

Li Fang Yu, who had been watching him, immediately asked softly, “What’s wrong with you?”

Lu Yan shook his head, his voice lowered to a whisper, “Didn’t you notice?” His lowered hand pointed covertly at the door.

The others looked towards the door, uncomprehending.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is there anything unusual?”

They’d encountered quite a few anomalies tonight. How could you distinguish them when there were so many of them.

“Have you … seen that woman?”

“Which one?” He Lou was immediately alerted, “Describe it.”

“I … the woman on the billboard …” Lu Yan’s forehead seeped with sweat, and he unconsciously swallowed, “The woman on the billboard before we left. The woman on the billboard, she’s still … staring at me.”

What?!

The others immediately turned their heads alertly but saw nothing.

Li Fang Yu said, “I don’t see anything; it is pitch black.”

The rest of them nodded.

This time Lu Yan’s face turned completely white.

Even though he was wearing a mask and hat, they could tell that the other man didn’t look quite right, and he muttered, “She’s still staring at me; she’s smiling …”

“In that case, shall we go out?” The yellow-haired young man asked.

He Lou said, “Wait a little longer.” He glanced at Lu Yan, “Say in time if anything changes.”

Before Lu Yan could agree, the woman in his vision changed again. Her face gradually turned blue, her smile slowly disappearing, her eyes fierce and resentful, full of morbid coldness.

“She …”

Lu Yan opened his mouth, “She, she disappeared …”

He was just about to open his mouth when everything outside the door had vanished into thin air, only pitch black like the giant mouth of an abyss.

“Clack.”

It sounded like a gramophone opening.

Immediately afterwards, the faint sound of singing came from all directions. It started softly, very low, and got louder and louder, almost as if a woman was standing next to you, softly and gently singing in your ear.

The lyrics were in a dialect from somewhere, but they couldn’t make out what was being sung. They just thought it was a good tune and got lost in it for a while, wanting to listen for a bit longer.

‘I want to listen to it all the time…’

‘What a beautiful song. It was so moving …’

The darkness outside the door slowly brightened as the song grew louder and louder. As the music grew louder and louder, the soft female voice became shrill, and the daylight outside the door disappeared. Yet the crowd remained absorbed in the song, mesmerised.

Gradually, blood poured out of their ears.

Their hands began to tremble unnaturally, and their heads tilted, catching each other on the neck of the one nearest to them. And so, with a happy smile, each man slowly reached out and strangled the other.

Even though the backs of their hands were pushed so hard, they burst into bruises. Their faces began to redden from lack of oxygen. Their tongues stuck out uncontrollably… They still wore happy and engrossed grins.

It was so wonderful …

Lu Yan had long since plugged his ears, yet he could not prevent the music from drilling into his brain. These people were hurting each other two by two, and he was the only one left alone. He pinched equally hard around the neck and clenched his tongue, trying to use the stinging pain to keep himself awake.

His eyes went straight to He Lou.

‘No … I can’t reveal myself yet.’

The eyes immediately withdrew. He stumbled over to him, and with an “inadvertent” fall, he used the momentum to slam into He Lou with force.

He Lou’s eyes sobered for a moment.

“Everyone, move! Hurry!!!”

He Lou really lived up to his expectations, shouting out loud, waking up the crowd, and looking at each other with some panic in their eyes.

After He Lou’s sentence, he took the lead and ran towards the door. Soon, everyone ran out after him. And as soon as they got out of the car, they were shocked by the scene outside the door.

“This, this is …”

“Wait a minute! There are still people who haven’t come down!” The yellow-haired young man’s jaw dropped, and he pointed at the carriage.

The two men, a middle-aged man who was slightly chubby and a man with glasses, were too tired from running all the way down. They sat down on the subway seats directly after the car stopped. Now the two of them were repeatedly tapping on the window and screaming at them as they couldn’t stand up.

“Help me!!! Help me! I can’t get up!!! Help me!!!”

“Help! Brother Lou! Help me!”

“Please! Help!!!”

However, no matter how much they shouted, no one would go up to help. Everyone just stood there in silence, watching the situation unfold.

The carriage door slammed shut, the lights went out, and the carriage was instantly dark as the pleas turned into angry curses, which soon turned into wails.

“Aaaaahhhh-”

The screams came to an abrupt halt.

From inside came the sound of … something being chewed.