“The train!! The train to Aurora City!!”
“They knew all along about the situation in District Two and the District Four! They knew District Three was beyond saving, so they planned to sneak off to Aurora City themselves!!”
“How could this happen… How could this happen?! Has Aurora City abandoned us?!”
“Why is there only one train here?!”
“Don’t you get it? From the very start, these enforcers never intended to take us with them! We’re the sacrificial lambs they’ve left behind!”
“I don’t want to die, I really don’t want to die… I need to get on that train! I need to get on!”
“Stop pushing, I can barely breathe…”
“…”
The crowd surged around the station, shouts of shock, curses, and pleas for help rising and falling in a chaotic cacophony. The scene had descended into utter pandemonium.
A gunshot tore through the night sky.
“Anyone who takes another step forward, I’ll kill them!!” An enforcer, shouldering a massive pack, pointed his gun at the sky, his voice dripping with menace.
The enforcers on the platform were dumbfounded. They hadn’t anticipated things spiraling this far out of control… They could only rely on their guns to threaten the crowd in front of them. But under the relentless pressure of the surging masses behind, they were still being pushed forward inch by inch.
“Brother Jing, what do we do now?” one enforcer asked, retreating step by step, his trembling hands barely gripping his gun. “If this keeps up, they’ll really storm the train.”
The enforcer called Brother Jing had bloodshot eyes. As he stared at the oncoming crowd, a glint of madness flickered in his gaze.
“…Open fire!”
“We’re enforcers! Are we really going to shoot civilians?!”
“Even if we don’t shoot, do you think they’ll survive?!” Brother Jing roared. “The Gray Realm is converging, Calamity is descending—they’re dead either way! But if they block our path to survival, we’ll just make them die sooner!”
Roar!!
A thunderous bellow erupted from a nearby street, followed by a chorus of terrified screams. In the flowing mist, a vague, colossal shadow could be seen weaving through the district.
“That Calamity from the District Four has breached District Three!”
“It’s nearby!! Quick! Get on the train!!”
“I don’t want to die… I want to go to Aurora City! I want to go to Aurora City!!”
“…”
The terror of the descending calamity ignited the crowd’s frenzy. They surged toward the platform like a tidal wave. At the same moment, the pupils of Brother Jing and the other enforcers on the platform contracted sharply.
Bang!!
Another gunshot rang out, but this time, it wasn’t aimed at the sky.
An elderly woman at the forefront of the crowd took a bullet to the forehead, collapsing to the ground. More people trampled over her body as they charged forward. Then, a barrage of gunfire erupted in unison.
Gunpowder sparked, bullets whistled.
Under the hail of more than twenty gun barrels, scores of civilians fell like stalks of wheat, their crimson blood flowing like a carpet of despair, pooling across the cold, unyielding steps.
Bullets shattered the kerosene lamps in people’s hands, flames spilling onto the ground. Fueled by the spreading oil, the fire expanded rapidly. Piercing wails rose from the inferno, igniting one figure after another.
This was a one-sided massacre. Beneath the darkened sky, justice ceased to be just. Blood and fire replaced duty and protection, becoming the only melody in this symphony of despair.
“Dad! Hold on to me!”
Zhao Yi and Uncle Zhao were caught in the crush of the crowd, frantically pushing through the masses, desperate to escape this place of chaos.
The moment they saw the station surrounded by the mob, Zhao Yi and Uncle Zhao abandoned any hope of boarding the train. But before they could turn back, the relentless wave of people rushing from behind shoved them forward.
In this suffocating tide of bodies, Zhao Yi fought with all his might to break free. No matter how hard he tried, more and more people kept appearing in front of him, pushing him ever forward.
Their madness, their fear, their despair, and the countless hands raised in struggle, it was as if they were souls writhing in a cauldron of hell, frantically vying to cross over. All Zhao Yi could do was cling to his father’s hand, refusing to let go even if it killed him.
At that moment, Zhao Yi’s stubbornness and defiance shone through. In this endless tide, he didn’t succumb to despair. Instead, he shoved the crowd aside with all his strength, his face contorted with ferocity.
Meanwhile, another figure was fighting against the current, frantically pushing toward the platform.
“Get out of the way… All of you, get out of my way!!!”
Zuo Tong shielded a package with one hand while gripping a gun in the other, roaring furiously in the crowd, “I have a spot! I can get into Aurora City!! Anyone who stops me, I’ll kill them!!”
With those words, he aimed at the back of the head of the person in front of him and pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang out, and a spray of blood burst from the person’s head as they collapsed into the crowd.
The gunfire startled the surrounding civilians, but there was no room to move aside. The relentless stream of people kept pouring in, trapping Zuo Tong in the middle. As he watched the enforcers board the train one by one, his eyes turned blood red.
No… he wouldn’t be left behind! He couldn’t be left behind!!
“Die!! All of you, die!!”
Bang bang bang!
Zuo Tong fired indiscriminately into the crowd ahead. More and more bodies fell, but even after emptying his magazine, he hadn’t advanced much. Gritting his teeth, he drew a short knife from his waist and began carving a path forward.
He hacked his way through the crowd, inching forward with difficulty. Directly ahead of him was a young man struggling against the current, pushing others aside.
Zuo Tong yanked his knife from another body, the blade now drenched in crimson. Seeing this, Zhao Yi, coming face-to-face with him, felt his pupils shrink in horror.
He wanted to dodge this madman, but it was too late. Zuo Tong, his eyes wild with bloodlust, lunged forward, his knife aimed straight for Zhao Yi’s body!
At that moment, a figure pushed through from the side, unflinchingly throwing themselves toward Zuo Tong’s blade.
Shunk—
“Dad!!!” Zhao Yi’s eyes widened in shock as he saw the figure with graying temples.
Uncle Zhao spread his arms wide. For decades, those arms had supported Zhao Yi’s entire life through his breakfast stall, and they were still strong and unyielding. Like steel, he locked Zuo Tong in a vice-like grip, even as the glinting blade plunged into his body.
The knife in Zuo Tong’s hand was buried deep in Uncle Zhao’s waist, crimson blood instantly staining his clothes. Yet Uncle Zhao showed no sign of letting go. In the surging crowd, he stood like an immovable nail, steadfast and unyielding.
Because behind him was Zhao Yi.
Zuo Tong stabbed once and tried to break free to continue forward, but he found himself unable to move an inch. He didn’t understand why this old man was holding him. All he knew was that he was running out of time to catch the train to Aurora City…
“Old man!! Are you looking to die?!!” Zuo Tong snarled through gritted teeth. He yanked the knife out and plunged it into Uncle Zhao’s body again.
In the roaring, chaotic crowd, Uncle Zhao held him tightly, like a silent statue. Only when the blade pierced and withdrew did he let out a faint, barely audible grunt.
Zhao Yi’s eyes turned red with fury. Roaring, he tried to charge forward, but Uncle Zhao pushed him back into the crowd with one hand. The relentless tide pulled Zhao Yi farther and farther from his father. His raised hand reached for that tall, silent figure, but it grasped only emptiness…
“Let us on the train!! I don’t want to die!! I don’t want to die!!”
“I’m going to Aurora City!! I don’t deserve to die here!!”
“That seat on the train is mine! None of you can take it!”
“…”
One stab, another, and another!!
In the frenzied crowd screaming for survival, no one seemed to notice the anomaly here.
No one noticed that, in their madness to stay alive, a gray-haired figure silently endured thirteen stabs.
“Why?! Why won’t you die already?!” Zuo Tong roared, his face twisted with rage.
As crimson blood spread across the despairing earth, as raging flames burned through the last vestiges of humanity, in this noisy purgatory of souls vying to cross over…
The old man’s silence was deafening.