Train Survival: Can I get a treasure chest by touching my goddess?

The horns on the city wall gradually faded, and the dark, colossal figures in the distance blurred into a surging undercurrent in the twilight before slowly receding.

Su Qingxuan stood on the city wall, her hands braced against the cold stone wall, her gaze fixed on the gray-brown wasteland in the distance.

The wind blew from the open field, carrying the smell of blood and dust, and ruffled the stray hairs that fell across her forehead.

"Why aren't you back yet?" Jiang Youchu stood beside her.

Lydia held the three-tailed fox spirit in her arms, her long silver hair blowing backward in the wind, and whispered something.

Su Qingxuan's gaze kept sweeping across the horizon, from east to west and back again.

The adjutant stood not far away, holding a long spear in his hand, glancing occasionally at the outside of the city and then at the backs of Su Qingxuan and the others.

Xu Jiucheng walked over from the other side of the city wall, his battle axe hanging at his waist, and his armor plates still stained with blood that hadn't been wiped clean.

He stood beside Su Qingxuan, following the direction she was looking. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Wait a little longer."

With the Zhu Yan beast dead, the giant beasts were thrown into disarray and unable to mount a second charge in the short term.

Su Qingxuan did not respond.

"Captain!" The adjutant's voice suddenly boomed from the other side, brimming with excitement, "Over there! Something's coming back!"

Su Qingxuan turned her head abruptly.

In the distance, on the horizon where twilight meets the wasteland, a black figure is moving swiftly.

It moved extremely fast, leaving a faint trail of dust on the gray-brown ground.

Jiang Youchu stood on tiptoe, put her hand on her forehead to shield herself from the last bit of blinding twilight, squinted and strained to see, and then her eyes lit up.

"It's the Star of Greed!"

The wolf, entirely black, ran across the wasteland, its hooves barely touching the ground, the dark red flames in its eye sockets standing out starkly in the twilight.

Two people were sitting on the wolf's back.

Shen Wen rode behind her, his arms wrapped around Su Mu's waist, his face buried in the side of her neck, making it impossible to tell whether he was awake or asleep.

Su Mu sat in front, his back ramrod straight, one hand holding the reins, his long hair blowing back in the wind, hitting Shen Wen's face, but he remained motionless.

Jiang Youchu stared at the scene for two seconds, then her lips twitched: "Xiao Mu is playing the hero again."

Su Qingxuan's lips curved slightly, her tone tinged with helplessness: "Well, there's nothing we can do about it, we don't have any mounts."

She paused, her gaze falling on the dust kicked up by the wolf's hooves, and added, "Anyone can ride that wolf, but it will automatically disappear if it gets too far away from Xiao Mu."

Only she can go back and get them.

Jiang Youchu snorted and muttered under her breath, "She did it on purpose."

Lydia stood to the side, holding the three-tailed fox, listening to the two bickering. She pursed her lips and didn't say anything, but her eyes were fixed on the giant black wolf that was getting closer and closer outside the city. The tension in her eyes slowly dissipated.

Greedy Wolf Star rushed to the side gate, stopped steadily on all four hooves, and dug several deep grooves in the ground.

Su Mu jumped off the wolf's back, his boots making a dull thud as they hit the sandy ground.

She turned around, reached out and grabbed Shen Wen's arm, pulling him off the wolf's back.

Shen Wen's body swayed slightly as soon as his feet touched the ground. He hadn't felt anything during the battle, but he started to feel tired as soon as he sat on the wolf's back.

The side door opens.

Shen Wen and Su Mu entered the city.

Lydia had already trotted over, slamming her priest's staff on the ground. Pale golden holy light surged from the tip of the staff, enveloping Shen Wen's entire body.

Behind them, the Thousand-Limbed Demon Spider crawled in, its eight legs tapping softly on the stone floor. Four miniature versions of the Zhu Yan Beast's limbs hung from its side, making it look like a deformed ornament.

The three-tailed fox lay on its back, its three tails hanging down and swaying gently with the rhythm of its crawling.

Jiang Youchu and Su Qingxuan ran down from the city wall and looked Shen Wen up and down to make sure he had no obvious wounds before they breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death," she said, her tone fierce, but her eyes were a little red.

Shen Wen glanced at her: "I told you it's nothing."

"What about the monkey?"

Su Mu took things out of the bronze backpack.

A massive body was thrown out and slammed onto the stone floor with a dull thud.

The Zhu Yan beast, now without legs and feet, had its torso and head attached, its long, grayish-white fur stained with dark red blood.

The knife wound on his chest had congealed, but the edges of the wound were still curled up, revealing the dark red muscle tissue inside.

Its eyes were half-open, its pupils were unfocused, and its mouth was slightly open, revealing a mouthful of fangs.

Xu Jiucheng strode down from the city wall, his battle axe jingling as it swung at his waist.

He walked up to the corpse, squatted down, reached out and touched the edge of the knife wound on the Zhu Yan beast's chest, then flipped open the fur on the side of its neck to take a look.

The wound inflicted by the Thousand-Limbed Demon Spider is still there; the venom-corroded tissue has turned black, and a dark purple pattern spreads outward from the edge of the wound.

Xu Jiucheng stood up, his tone surprised: "It really is the Zhu Yan Beast."

Jiang Youchu chimed in from the side, "It's that monkey."

He stared at Shen Wen for a long time, going over the intelligence he had gathered earlier in his mind several times.

A single person and a spider blocked a 15-meter-tall, top-tier bronze Zhu Yan beast and even killed it.

The reason this battlefront has been deadlocked for so long is because the Zhu Yan beast is too difficult to kill. Every time it appears, it is protected by a horde of beasts. He led three elite squads to encircle and annihilate it, but all three times he returned empty-handed and lost many men.

These days, this young man goes out and takes care of one of them without even having to.

After a long while, Xu Cheng took a deep breath, suppressing his complex emotions, and his voice returned to the crispness of a soldier: "Go and rest first."

We'll talk about other things later.

Shen Wen nodded, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings. The garrison soldiers were coming down from the city wall; some were carrying crossbows, some were dragging spears, and some were leaning against the wall, panting heavily.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to this side, looking at the corpse of the Zhu Yan beast, and then at Shen Wen.

Shen Wen glanced at the time panel.

The stopover will last for more than four hours.

Shen Wen frowned.

Four hours or so, not too long, not too short. If I could go out one more time and farm the last few dozen black iron for the upgrade quest, this trip would be perfect.

He looked at Xu Jiucheng: "Is it still possible to get out?"

Xu Jiucheng was directing the soldiers to carry away the corpse of Zhu Yanshou when he heard this. He turned his head and his brows furrowed.

"Are you going out again?"

"Almost there." Shen Wen didn't elaborate. "We have enough time. Let's finish this quickly."

Xu Jiucheng shook his head, his tone leaving no room for negotiation: "No."

The Zhu Yan Beast is dead, and the giant beasts must have already realized what's happening. Going out now won't just get you a scattered herd of beasts, but a combined attack from the remaining Zhu Yan Beasts and a massive horde.

He paused, looked into Shen Wen's eyes, and added, "That's too dangerous. If two Zhu Yan beasts attack you, you might not even be able to pull it out."

Shen Wen was silent for two seconds, then nodded.

He's not the kind of person who won't listen to advice, so it seems we'll just have to wait and see.

"OK."

After a long while, Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and waved to his adjutant: "Take them to rest."

The adjutant jogged over and gestured to Shen Wen, "Gentlemen, this way please."

Shen Wen followed his adjutant into the city.

Su Qingxuan walked at the very back, took two steps and then stopped, turning back to look at the soldiers on the city wall who were still peering in their direction.

When the soldiers met her gaze, they immediately turned their heads away, pretending to wipe the crossbow bolts in their hands.

Su Qingxuan withdrew her gaze and followed the group.

……

Inside the room, Shen Wen took out a large bucket from his spatial backpack, which contained some water.

Shen Wen disregarded the four women, took off his clothes, and soaked in the bathwater.

The four women acted as if nothing had happened, but their eyes kept glancing at Shen Wen, lingering on him.

Shen Wengang had just changed his clothes.

Waaaaah—waaaah—waaaah—

"The sound of horns?!"

Su Qingxuan said, "This is the sound of the horn when the beast tide came before."

The adjutant's voice came from outside the door, and even through the wooden door, one could hear the panic in his voice: "My lords! The beast tide is coming again!"

This time is different. The general requests that you immediately ascend the city wall!

Shen Wen opened the door.

The adjutant stood at the door, his helmet askew, his face covered in dust, and his breathing rapid, as if he had just finished an 800-meter sprint.

He swallowed hard, his voice dry: "This isn't the scattered pursuit we had before, it's a full-scale offensive."

The behemoths have committed all their forces to this part of the defensive line.

Shen Wen glanced at him, said nothing, and turned to leave.

The four women followed, and the spider army rustled out from the corner of the courtyard, following behind the group, their eight legs making a dense sound as they tapped on the stone floor.

The moment Shen Wen climbed onto the city wall, he saw the dark tide.

It stretched out from one end of the horizon to the other, like a huge gray-black blanket slowly advancing across the ground.

Armored bulls, saber-toothed tigers, mountain-splitting bulls, earth-shaking rhinoceroses, and other unnamed behemoths huddled together, treading on the sandy ground and emitting a continuous roar.

The ground trembled, the city walls trembled.

Xu Jiucheng stood at the very front of the city wall, his left hand on the battlements and his right hand gripping a battle axe. His expression changed from solemn to ashen.

He heard footsteps, turned around, and pleaded, "The behemoth has launched a full-scale attack, contrary to its usual behavior."

We earnestly request your help in guarding the city walls.

"If you really can't hold out, you can leave directly. The Empire won't pursue the matter."

Shen Wen nodded, his gaze sweeping over the guards on the city wall, then looking at the dark tide in the distance, a thought flashing through his mind.

Things have taken a turn for the better.

I was worried about where to find those dozens of black irons before, but now that this business is being offered to me, I might as well take it.

On the other side of the city wall, Huo Mengjiao stood there, Han Wu stood beside her, and behind them were the members of the White Tower.

There were also guards going out around the perimeter, but there were far fewer of them than before.

"It seems the casualties have been heavy!"

A thought flashed through Shen Wen's mind.

An ordinary black iron beast can hold its own against three or four black iron behemoths, but if it is attacked by two bronze beasts at the same time, it will be easy prey.

Staff reductions are normal; it would be abnormal not to reduce staff.

"If we really can't hold them off, just run back to the train! With the Beast God's protection, these guys won't come near!"

Shen Wen reminded the four women that they had already completed their mission and there was no need for them to stay here to the death.

Just then, Xu Jiucheng's expression changed drastically.

With a whoosh, everything turned white. Shen Wen followed his gaze.

In the distance, right in the center of that dark tide, a huge figure was slowly rising.

The moment it stood up, the giant beasts several meters tall around it were pushed aside like toys, and some were even trampled under its feet.

Xu Jiucheng's voice squeezed out from his throat: "The Silver Beast King... that guy is here!"

Shen Wen frowned deeply.

silver.

If it were silver, they would definitely run away.

He had already sparred with a top-tier bronze-level opponent and only managed to kill him after using all his strength.

He wasn't confident he could kill someone at the Silver level.