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

Shen Wen turned and walked back into the courtyard.

Mayor Jiang was still kneeling on the ground. Seeing him return, he quickly kowtowed again: "Sir! Sir, please save us! Sir—"

"The talisman and water bowl," Shen Wen interrupted him. "We're taking them."

Mayor Jiang was stunned.

Shen Wen looked at him, without explaining or urging him.

He simply placed his hand on the handle of the knife.

Mayor Jiang's face turned pale, his lips trembled a few times, and he finally nodded: "Yes, yes... Your Excellency can take it..."

Shen Wen didn't move.

"We'll talk about this after we've dealt with this," he said. "Now lead the way to that house in the north of town."

Mayor Jiang was taken aback again, then nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes! I'll lead the way! I'll lead the way right away!"

He got up and staggered outside.

Shen Wen followed behind, and as he walked out of the courtyard gate, he glanced back at Su Qingxuan.

Su Qingxuan understood, put the Soul-Devouring Doll back into his backpack, and picked up his submachine gun.

The four walked across the cobblestone path strewn with bodies and headed north of the town.

Jiang Youchu followed at the back, took a few steps, and muttered softly, "It's nothing, it'll be resolved in no time."

Su Qingxuan turned around and glared at her.

"That's because of the Soul-Eating Dolls," she said. "Otherwise, you'd be facing dozens of weapon-wielding, painless, and immortal beings. You wouldn't even be able to escape."

Jiang Youchu choked.

Su Mu didn't speak, but simply gripped the spear in his hand tighter.

The four of them, along with Mayor Jiang and several young men following behind, slowly walked to the house in the north of the town.

The house occupies a vast area, with blue bricks and gray tiles, flying eaves and brackets, resembling a crouching giant beast in the night.

Two white lanterns hung above the door, swaying in the wind, their pale light casting a bleak glow on the stone steps in front of the door.

A cold wind seeped in from under the door, whimpering and sobbing, like someone was crying.

Without saying a word, Shen Wen stepped forward and kicked the door.

"Bang--!"

The two large doors burst open with a loud crash, slamming against the walls on either side, causing the tiles on the eaves to fall down with a clatter.

Inside the gate was a spacious courtyard paved with bluestone. In the center stood an offering table with incense, candles, paper money, and half-rotten fruits.

Behind the offering table, a black lacquered coffin sat quietly, with yellow paper talismans pasted on the lid, rustling in the wind.

The strangest thing was those ribbons.

White strips of cloth hung down from all directions, from the eaves, from the treetops, from the pillars, densely packed and layered, fluttering in the night wind like countless pale hands beckoning.

Funeral.

Shen Wen frowned.

Mayor Jiang shrank behind him, his teeth chattering, his voice trembling violently: "Sir... a month ago, Lin Fu, the eldest son of the wealthy Lin family in this town, died suddenly... his death was suspicious, and the haunting started on the seventh day after his death..."

"Lin Fu?" Shen Wen stared at the black lacquered coffin. "Is this ghost Lin Fu?"

"I...I don't know..." Mayor Jiang shrank back. "The entire Lin family is dead. Nobody knows what happened inside..."

Before he could finish speaking, a shrill voice came from deep within the house.

"Someone else is looking for death?!"

The sound was sharp and thin, like a fingernail scraping against porcelain, piercing the eardrums painfully.

Immediately afterwards, a figure floated out from the main house, passed through layers of ribbons, and landed lightly on the offering table, looking down at the people at the courtyard gate.

It's a woman.

To be precise, it was a female ghost.

She wore a bright red wedding dress, but her hair was disheveled, her face was as pale as paper, and her lips were painted blood red.

His eyes were sunken, and inside them were two eerie green flames that flickered in the darkness.

She stood on the offering table, looking down at Shen Wen, and suddenly paused.

Then, a strange expression appeared on that pale face.

happy.

"Oh my—" her voice became sweet and delicate, trailing off with a long, drawn-out tone, "and he's a handsome young man! Much better looking than that old man with the ox-nose!"

She crouched down, tilted her head, and scrutinized Shen Wen. The eerie green flames swept across his face, and she became more and more satisfied with what she saw.

"Guards!" she shouted, her voice suddenly rising, "Bring him back! I want to consummate our marriage tonight!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the house erupted in chaos.

One after another, figures rushed out from the main house, side rooms, and ear rooms, densely packed, at least twenty or thirty in number.

They were the townspeople who had been possessed.

They were dressed in tattered clothes, holding machetes, hoes, and sticks, their eyes rolled back, drool dripping from their mouths, as they surged toward the courtyard gate.

Mayor Jiang cried out "Oh my god!" and scrambled away. The young men ran even faster and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.

Shen Wen ignored them.

He stood still, his hand on the hilt of his knife, his gaze sweeping over the surging figures before turning to the female ghost on the altar.

"Su Mu." His voice was steady. "Be vigilant about your surroundings. If any spirit attacks, warn us immediately."

Su Mu gripped the spear tightly, took a step closer to him, turned her back to him, and faced another direction.

"Youchu, you support me," Shen Wen continued. "Take out those who rush in quickly from a distance, don't be stingy with your bullets."

Jiang Youchu picked up the gun, pointed the muzzle at the entrance of the courtyard, took a deep breath, her face turned pale, but her finger on the trigger did not tremble.

"Sister Qingxuan," Shen Wen said to Su Qingxuan, "Don't rush to throw away the Soul-Devouring Doll."

That female ghost is at least at the Iron level; the doll needs to be saved to deal with her.

Su Qingxuan nodded and held the Soul-Devouring Doll in her hand.

Everything is arranged properly.

Shen Wen then raised his head and looked at the female ghost on the offering table.

She was staring at him with a smile, the eerie green flames lingering on his body. The more she looked, the more satisfied she became, and she even stuck out her tongue to lick her lips.

Shen Wen stared at her, expressionless.

Then he spoke—

"You're too ugly."

The female ghost's smile froze on her face.

The figures that had surged forward paused for a moment.

Shen Wen continued, enunciating each word clearly: "Someone like you dares to call yourself a female ghost? Who would you scare to death if you came out in the middle of the night? You'd be laughing your head off."

The female ghost's face began to contort.

Beneath her pale skin, the will-o'-the-wisps flickered wildly in her eye sockets, and her wedding dress moved and fluttered without wind.

"What did you say?!"

She screamed, her voice so sharp it almost pierced eardrums.

The possessed townspeople simultaneously roared to the sky, the last shred of reason in their eyes vanishing completely, and surged towards the courtyard gate like a tide.

Shen Wen drew his sword.

The blade flashed coldly in the night, and the butcher's instincts screamed alarm bells in his head.

There are three on the left, five in front, and four on the right. The fastest one is the one on the right holding the machete.

He turned to the side, his blade slashing diagonally, striking the figure holding the woodcutter's knife squarely in the chest.

His expertise with knives told him that this cut severed three ribs, cleaved open a lung lobe, and revealed itself through his back.

But the figure only staggered slightly before continuing to charge forward, raising the machete high.

Shen Wen didn't panic.

He knew these things couldn't be killed by cutting them down unless their spirits were devoured.

His target was never these puppets.

With a sudden turn of his blade, Shen Wen did not sheath his sword. Instead, he took advantage of the momentum to step forward, crashing into the figure's arms. His shoulder pressed against the other's chest, and he exerted force.

The power from 25 points of physique sent the figure flying, knocking down three or four people behind him.

Shen Wen broke free from the battle, his gaze passing over the surging figures, and fixed intently on the female ghost on the altar.

Catch the thief first to catch the king.