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

It got completely dark.

Shen Wen stood by the window, looking out through the gap in the window paper.

The courtyard was empty, except for the large vat used to grow lotus flowers, which made a soft whistling sound in the night wind.

None of the four people spoke.

Although they had done their analysis, it was the first time they had faced a spirit head-on, and no one dared to make any definitive statements.

Then--

A shrill whistle rang out.

Not one sound, but countless sounds, exploding simultaneously from all directions, sharp and piercing, like countless claws scraping against glass at the same time.

Jiang Youchu instinctively covered her ears, her face turning pale.

Immediately afterwards, golden light shone.

A pale golden light rose from around the courtyard walls, instantly enveloping the entire courtyard. Runes flowed across the light, particularly dazzling in the night.

Mayor Jiang stumbled in, his face deathly pale, his voice trembling violently: "A ghost...a ghost is here!"

The words had barely left his mouth—

"Bang!"

The courtyard gate was slammed hard.

"Bang!"

one more time.

"Bang bang bang bang——"

The banging on the door came from all directions, as dense as a downpour hitting a sheet of metal.

Shen Wen frowned, quickly walked to the courtyard gate, and looked out through the crack in the door.

The bluestone path outside was crowded with people.

They mechanically pounded on the doors around them, one pound after another, like puppets controlled by something.

Shen Wen turned around, looked at Mayor Jiang, and his gaze turned cold: "Your ghosts can knock on the door?"

Mayor Jiang shuddered, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

"Those bodies, killed by sharp weapons," Shen Wen said, emphasizing each word. "They were murdered. What are you hiding?"

Mayor Jiang knelt on the ground with a thud, his forehead hitting the bluestone slab, his voice filled with fear: "My lord, please forgive me! My lord, please forgive me! It wasn't that I deliberately concealed anything, it was...it was—"

He swallowed hard, stammering, "Those ghosts, they can possess people! They can possess living people!"

The possessed person is like a madman, hacking at anyone they see! After hacking, they die, then get up again and continue hacking!

"I...I'm afraid that you gentlemen might slaughter the entire town just to complete your mission!"

Shen Wen stared at him for two seconds, then said nothing more.

He turned around and placed his hand on the door latch.

"Open the door," he said.

Mayor Jiang looked up abruptly, his face ashen: "Sir! It's all outside—"

Shen Wen ignored him.

The latch was pulled open.

The courtyard gate was opened a crack.

The night wind, carrying a stench, swept in, and the twisted figures turned their heads at the same time, their empty, crazed, inhuman eyes staring at him.

Shen Wen stood at the door, his hand on the hilt of his knife, his gaze sweeping over the objects.

The one at the front was a middle-aged man holding a rusty kitchen knife. His face was covered in blood and mud, his eyes were rolled back so that only the whites of his eyes were visible, and drool was dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Shen Wen didn't turn around: "Youchu, fire a shot."

Jiang Youchu paused for a second, but didn't stop moving.

The rifle was raised, the muzzle pressed against the crack in the door, aimed at the man's head—

"Bang!"

Gunshots rang out in the night.

A bloody hole exploded in the back of the man's head; he swayed and fell forward.

Then, he got up.

Blood was still flowing from the hole in the back of his head, but he got up.

Holding the kitchen knife, he took a step forward and continued walking this way.

Shen Wen stared at the bloody hole, his pupils slightly contracting.

It's dead, but it's still moving.

He slowly closed the door and bolted it shut.

Turning around, he looked at Mayor Jiang kneeling on the ground and asked softly, "How can those who are possessed be completely killed?"

"Unkillable!"

Shen Wen stared at Mayor Jiang, his hand still on the hilt of his knife.

"Can't be killed?" His voice was soft, but it made Mayor Jiang tremble.

"Kill them...you can't kill them..." Mayor Jiang knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the bluestone slab. "Those things, even if you cut off their heads, they can still move; even if you stab their hearts, they can still get up...I've tried it, I've tried everything! Only when it's dawn, they all fall down, like they're dead...but as soon as night falls, they get up again!"

Shen Wen didn't speak, his gaze sweeping over the distorted figures still banging on the gate outside the courtyard.

The one who had been shot in the back of the head was currently mingling in the crowd, gripping a cleaver and repeatedly pounding on the door next door. Blood was still flowing, smeared all over his face, but he was completely unaware.

"How long can the talisman and water bowl last?" Su Qingxuan asked.

"One, all night!" Mayor Jiang exclaimed hastily. "That master said that as long as the talisman isn't torn and the water bowl isn't broken, those things can't get in!"

Shen Wen looked at Su Qingxuan.

Su Qingxuan was also looking at him.

Their eyes met, and they both understood what the other was thinking.

Soul-Eating Doll.

That thing can devour spirits.

If those things controlling the townspeople are themselves spirits—

Shen Wenchong and Su Qingxuan nodded.

Without hesitation, Su Qingxuan took out the palm-sized rag doll from her spatial backpack.

Button eyes, red-lined lips—in the dim light of the oil lamp, that eerie smiling face seemed to be mocking something.

She walked to the gate and unlatched it.

Mayor Jiang's face turned deathly pale: "Sir! Outside—"

Su Qingxuan ignored him.

She opened the door a crack, and with a flick of her wrist, the Soul-Devouring Doll flew out, landing on the bluestone pavement, rolling twice, and then lying on its back.

Then--

A scream rang out.

It was neither a human scream nor an animal scream, but a piercing shriek that went straight into the brain.

Everyone saw it.

Transparent, twisted, half-human, half-ghost-like things were torn from the townspeople, as if being pulled by an invisible hand, screaming and struggling, and were sucked into the mouth of the Soul-Eating Doll, which was sewn with red thread.

One, two, three—

The Soul-Eating Doll's belly swelled up, its button eyes glowed with an eerie red light, and its smiling face cracked even wider.

The townspeople, as if their bones had been removed, collapsed in unison.

The banging on the door stopped.

The cobblestone path was littered with people lying haphazardly.

The night wind carried the raindrops by, and the fishy smell faded.

Mayor Jiang stared wide-eyed out the window, then after a long while, he knelt down again with a thud, his forehead pounding loudly against the ground: "Your Excellency has divine power! Your Excellency has divine power!"

Shen Wen glanced at him but didn't reply.

He stepped out of the courtyard gate, walked to the nearest town resident, squatted down, and checked his breathing.

Live.

There's still air.

He just fainted.

But the townsman who was shot in the head by Jiang Youchu is truly gone.

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the bodies scattered on the ground, then fixed on the Soul-Devouring Doll.

The doll was still lying on the ground, its belly swollen like a ball, the red light in its button eyes flashing on and off, and its smiling face seemed even more satisfied than before.

Su Mu walked over and stood beside him, holding a spear in her hand, her gaze sweeping over the surroundings.

"The spirit was swallowed," Shen Wen said. "The person didn't die."

Su Qingxuan also came out, bent down to pick up the Soul-Devouring Doll, weighed it in her hand, and frowned slightly: "It's gotten quite heavy."

Jiang Youchu leaned closer, staring at the doll with a complicated expression: "This thing... it really can eat ghosts."