Chapter 39: Train Crisis

As Qiao Qiao drove, she turned on some music while occasionally glancing at Soo Soo who was sitting beside her.

Soo Soo was seated on the passenger seat; she wore a pair of bunny-shaped earphones on her head while she looked outside the windows with a pair of blank eyes. Together with her pleasantly small pinkish face, her appearance was one that exuded a sympathy-inducing aura.

Queen Qiao sighed and spoke in a low tone using Korean. “Just what is going on with you? What happened to you when you were on the plane? We are heading to the northwest area, a very far place. And yet, you are so insistent on not sitting on a plane again… Do you know how long it will take with the train? Soo Soo, just what was it that you encountered this time? En, did the perverted freak from the plane bully you? Is that why you dare not board a plane again? The fact it, there is no need for you to worry. This time around, I am here with you. No one will dare to bully you. Even if we end up meeting bad fellows, big sister can still break all their three legs!”

After having spoken for a long time, Qiao Qiao saw that the little girl remained indifferent as she gazed outside the windows…

Qiao Qiao extended her hand and waved it before Soo Soo. “Hello? I am talking to you.”

Soo Soo suddenly turned around, looking at Qiao Qiao with a sheepish expression. An embarrassed smile flashed across her face. “Unnie, what were you saying? I was listening to a song and did not hear you.”

“What song are you listening to? Let me listen as well,” Qiao Qiao pulled out Soo Soo’s head phone plug. Instantly, a song that every citizen in the country recognizes burst out from the PAD…

“In the spring, I stroll with you through the blooming flowers; On summer nights, I watch the stars twinkle with you; In the autumn dusk, we wander through golden fields; When snowflakes fall in the winter, you… Keep! Me! Warm! You are my little, little apple…”

Qiao Qiao’s face turned to stone as she stared incredulously at Soo Soo. “You are listening to this? Why would you listen to this kind of song?”

Soo Soo’s eyes became somewhat dazed as she thought about it. She then shook her head and answered. “I do not know either. It seemed as though I had heard of it in my dreams. It felt familiar, so I searched for it to hear it out.”

“Dre… dream?”

Soo Soo pursed her lips, an image seemingly flashing through her mind.

A comely youngster with shoulders that cannot be considered broad was standing in front. He held onto a mobile phone as he confronted a monster with a blurry silhouette.

A song could be heard from the phone: You are my little, little apple…

…

This scenery was so strange.

Soo Soo’s mind was somewhat at a loss. Last night, she had also dreamt of this scene. However, it was only a fleeting experience.

But in her dreams, she could clearly hear the lyrics of the song.

…

The Land Rover sped its way until it reached the train station’s underground parking area. Qiao Qiao stopped the vehicle and brought Soo Soo down. She then retrieved a huge trunk from the vehicle. After that, she lightly caressed Soo Soo’s nose. “You are going out on a tour with unnie, are you happy?”

Soo Soo raised up her smiling face. “Of course I am happy! Unnie, I want to eat steamed mutton!”

“But, using the train will take up one day and night,” Qiao Qiao’s face was somewhat crestfallen. “Let’s just take an airplane instead.”

“Unnie… I am really scared of airplanes… I dare not sit…” Soo Soo’s face was once again filled with that sympathy-inducing expression.

“… Very well,” Qiao Qiao sighed and brought Soo Soo with her towards the elevator.

…

“Hello Master! Didn’t you say that you are the racing winner of your company?”

Seeing the taxi faltering to a stop at the train station’s entrance where passengers exit, Chen Xiaolian could not help but utter a complaint.

“Little brother, their vehicle is a Land Rover, you know how much that vehicle is worth? Do you know how much my taxi is worth? Stop talking nonsense. Just get off quickly. Maybe you can catch up inside.”

Chen Xiaolian jumped out of the taxi and rushed into the train station hall.

Looking at the long queue outside the ticket office, Chen Xiaolian simply pulled someone from the entrance area whose face seemed to indicate a member of the logistics department. “Brother, please give me a platform ticket!”

Holding onto the platform ticket bought at a hundred yuan higher than normal, Chen Xiaolian stormed into the train station’s waiting area.

After going around in a circle, he caught sight of Soo Soo at a turnstile. Standing beside her was the long, black haired Queen Qiao. Queen Qiao was again wearing a mouth muffle. This time, she added a pair of sunglasses on her face.

He looked at the turnstile’s information board: To northwest Shaanxi City…

…

Following the flow of people boarding the train, Qiao Qiao brought Soo Soo together with her. As for Chen Xiaolian… he held on to the platform ticket and rushed into the train. However, he was stopped by a crew member.

“Adjustment fare needed!”

Chen Xiaolian felt his withered wallet. “That… if I say that I am a World Saviour, can you make it cheaper for me?”

“Young man, you should read less online novels during your free time. Fare adjustment!”

Chen Xiaolian looked at the nearby security train marshals and sighed.

Suddenly, a hand patted him on his shoulders and a stack of red bills was handed over.

Turning back… Roddy!

“Why are you here?” Chen Xiaolian stared in surprise.

“Do you have to ask?” Roddy’s face was filled with distress. “After the call, I went straight to Qiao Qiao’s house because I fear that you might do something stupid. Then, I saw you chase them from their residence all the way to the train station. While you were chasing after Qiao Qiao, I was chasing after you. I say bro, did you really fall for her? Are you planning to chase her to the ends of the Earth?”

Chen Xiaolian sighed and smiled bitterly, not a word was spoken.

“First answer my question, are you a paedophile,” Roddy’s expression suddenly turned serious. “We have been bros for years. However, if you are going down this road, I cannot allow you to continue! I must stop you no matter what!”

“I swear, I really… am not a perverted paedophile!” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth.

Roddy breathed a sigh of relief, then a smiled crept onto his face. “Then… you have truly fallen for Qiao Qiao? That beating she gave you sparked the flames in your heart?”

“Spark your sister!” Chen Xiaolian frowned. “Since you are here, help me out then. Help me find out which coach Qiao Qiao is on.”

“No need to go find anything, I already know,” Roddy grinned. “Coach number 7, 5.”

“How did you know that?” Chen Xiaolian stared with wide-open eyes.

“Tsh, I was the one who ordered the train ticket for her yesterday.”

That caused Chen Xiaolian to become dumbfounded. “How could you know all about her with so much detail? Could it be you and her…”

Roddy shrugged with spread arms. “My old man obsessively wanted to wrap me up in a sack and throw me onto Queen Qiao’s bed… if she does not object, that is. He regrets not being able to marry me into the Qiao family!”

“That cannot be! You are our school’s most powerful second generation nouveau riche.”

“Old Father Qiao’s whisker alone is thicker than my old man’s spine,” Roddy replied in a dejected manner.

“Then what were your thoughts?”

“Me?” Roddy’s face was one of decisiveness. “Ever since I saw Queen Qiao break that taekwondo instructor’s eggs with a kick… I told my old man that if he dares to force me, I will castrate myself!”

Having said that, Roddy cast a glance at Chen Xiaolian. “I am definitely not going to try courting her. However, since you insist on jumping into this pit, considering how many years of brotherhood there are between us, I will help push you in.”

“… some bro you are!” Chen Xiaolian snapped back. “Don’t worry, I have no such intention towards her. Sigh, I can’t explain with just a few words either.”

“There is no need for words between bros! Next time we go for a round, just don’t use Zhao Xin to thrust a spear up my ass.” [1]

Roddy laughed and the two of them moved forward through three coaches.

As they were passing by a hard sleeper coach, Chen Xiaolian was suddenly rendered completely shocked. His attention was all fixed onto that person lying on the hard sleeper bunk!

At that moment, Roddy found that a strange light was flickering out of Chen Xiaolian’s eyes!

Could it be a beauty?

Roddy quickly turned his gaze towards that direction…

Only to see… a male high school student in school uniform, seated upon the lower bunk of the hard sleeper.

In his hands was a mobile phone, which he used to type at a rapid pace. His face was filled with indignation and his pair of thick brush like eyebrows became intertwined together.

“Damn it! Since when can you make that kind of face when looking at a male?!” Roddy forcefully shoved Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian seemed completely oblivious to it as he continued staring at the young teenager with a pair of thick eyebrows.

“Han… Han Bi!”

…

At the same time.

In another area within the train, within a certain soft sleeper compartment in coach number three.

A longhaired man with an air of theatricality lightly stabbed a dagger into its leather sheath. He then stretched about with a bored expression on his face. “Sigh, we are out on another pointless matter. This is just a newbie Awakened. Is there any need for the two of us to make a special trip here?”

Opposite the longhaired man was a gaunt and small man who looked to be about 40 years-old. He wore a dirty looking trench coat.

This man’s eyes flashed with a cold light. “The upper echelons have said that they felt a new Awakened one. In addition… I hear that this one Awakened in a very special and new instance dungeon. That is why the Leader wants us to bring back this person. A newbie Awakened is of no importance. However… what matters is the instance dungeon that this person had experienced! The reward from that instance dungeon is something that Leader has been bitterly searching for all these years! That is why we must be sure to bring this person back!”

The longhaired man stood up and put down a bag of potato chips that he was holding. “Then let’s make our move. The earlier we finish up, the earlier we can go home. I am still on vacation. The Elder called me all the way back from the Sea of Love, now my holidays are gone.”

The middle-aged trench coat man coldly said. “When taking action later, you must be careful! Remember, when we are not in an instance dungeon, the usage of anything with strength above [B] class is not allowed! Otherwise, when the Development Team detects the abnormal data, no one will be able to save you.”

1 Xin Zhao, a character from the online game League of Legends. The Chinese community refer to him as Zhao Xin. Nickname: Daisy-Xin. Reason: His most used skill is a spear thrust. Due to the way the game is played, his spear thrust always end up going up others’ ass. And since a daisy resembles the rear part of the human anatomy, he is granted the title Daisy-Xin.↩