...
On the twenty-third of the month, Chunming City subway line twenty-three, Xiaojiacun Station.
Sun Hang, Wang Xiyi, Zhong Ling, and Xue Yue sat eerily on the long bench at the waiting platform, silently watching the scattered handful of passengers getting off the subway.
It was 22:26, the second-to-last train at Xiaojiacun, with eight minutes remaining until the last train.
These passengers were mostly exhausted office workers who had just finished overtime—compared to the expensive rent in the city center, Xiaojiacun on the outskirts offered much cheaper rent, making it a common choice for many young people struggling financially as they try to make their way in Chunming City.
The biggest drawback of living here was having to wake up over an hour earlier than colleagues in the city center, switching through multiple subways to get to the company, but it seemed insignificant compared to the low rent.
A young man in a wrinkled suit carrying a computer bag glanced at Sun Hang and the others, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes—Zhong Ling and Xue Yue’s appearance, even without makeup, was striking among ordinary crowds. As for Mr. Wang, though she was dressed in very concealing clothing, with a large hood and a mask that only exposed her eyes hiding her dragon horns and scaly face, her astonishing body proportions were hard to cover up. Even without seeing her face, her lengthy crossed legs would draw extra looks from passersby—regardless of gender.
The young man finally let his gaze linger on Sun Hang, his expression shifting from surprise to a mix of confusion and envy—for him, Sun Hang probably seemed like some rich kid having fun, casually surrounded by three distinct types of beauties whenever he went out.
Yet the young man ultimately said nothing, turning silently toward the exit.
As someone who had been severely beaten by society as an office worker, he knew well that his fate and theirs were on parallel lines, never intersecting.
Besides, he was already very tired, tired enough to want only to go home, take a shower, and sleep...
Sun Hang watched the young worker disappear at the end of the escalator with the corner of his eye, shrugged toward Mr. Wang, and said, "I told you not to follow, it’s too conspicuous..."
"Isn’t the issue more about having too many people following?" Wang Xiyi hooked her arm around Sun Hang’s. "Originally, it was just us two acting like a couple waiting for the subway, which wouldn’t draw much attention, but with these two here, you seem like a playboy flaunting it in public... How can it not be eye-catching?"
"Actually, I intended only to bring Xue Yue along." Sun Hang muttered.
"But Xue Yue has no combat ability, and you refuse to bring in people from Dubhe Tower; you need someone strong with you, right?" Wang Xiyi pouted, "In case, just in case, a ghost train unloads a bunch of breadman, what would you do?"
Sun Hang pursed his lips, choosing not to argue further on this topic.
Unless he could shut Mr. Wang up, she’d endlessly find reasons... And how to shut her up was a topic unsuitable for the current setting.
Eight minutes flew by, and the last train slowly pulled into the station.
The passengers on this final train were slightly more than the previous, but still limited, with a few casting puzzled glances at Sun Hang and the others—those lingering in the station clearly weren’t waiting for a train, yet these four young men and women hardly looked like the elderly here for the station’s air conditioning.
As the empty train departed, the station manager cautiously approached Sun Hang to report, "So far, nothing unusual has been found within the station, and the entire line twenty-three is operating normally. The detectors set up everywhere by the Anomaly Investigation Bureau are quiet too..."
"Hmm, I understand. You can clock out now." Sun Hang nodded, "Leave it to us here."
"Aren’t you going to leave anyone behind? What if..."
"How much do you make a month?" Sun Hang suddenly asked.
"Uh... Pretax, not including bonuses and various benefits... Just over sixteen thousand." The manager replied, evidently uncertain why Sun Hang asked this.
"It’s not worth risking your life for that." Sun Hang patted the manager’s shoulder, "What comes next might be a train full of anomalous entities."
On hearing the phrase "train full of anomalous entities," the manager shivered involuntarily.
"Just follow the usual procedures; finish your work and head home... oh, leave the doors unlocked, that’s all."
"Okay, got it." The manager nodded hurriedly.
Sun Hang was discreet in this operation, without activating any military, Hunters, or field agents at the station; the Anomaly Investigation Bureau simply claimed they were inspecting fire facilities, installed the detectors, and left.
Aside from the manager, the subway station personnel knew nothing of their identities or upcoming plans.
Such discretion was partly to avoid panic and partly to "control variables"—Sun Hang had to ensure Xiaojiacun station today was as identical as possible to every other twenty-third of the month, especially when facing rule-based anomalies; any slight change in variables could lead to vastly different outcomes.
This was known as the "butterfly effect."
The subway station employees skillfully completed pre-closing cleaning and maintenance tasks, sending curious glances at the four "lingering passengers," but it was clear the manager had notified them beforehand. Curious though they were, none tried to persuade Sun Hang and the others to leave.
At 22:55, the manager, after saying his farewells, was the last to leave the station, leaving it utterly silent.
"Aren’t they turning on the lights?" Wang Xiyi couldn’t resist whispering.
"No." Sun Hang shook his head, "A sudden light might scare the fish away."
"That makes sense..."
Time ticked away. When the reading on the wristband screen jumped to 23:23:00, everyone held their breath.
Yet nothing happened.
"Uh... That urban legend... Wouldn’t it be... just a prank?" Wang Xiyi murmured.
"What prank could bypass the mainframe’s safety system?" Sun Hang glanced at the clock again; it was now 23:23:30, a whole thirty seconds had passed, yet the rumored ghost train didn’t appear.
"I know what’s wrong!" Sun Hang threw down the sentence and dashed toward the station’s upper level.
"What’s wrong?" Wang Xiyi hurriedly asked.
"Didn’t swipe the card!" Sun Hang took large strides up the halted escalator, sprinting towards the powerless turnstile, smacking a Cairo subway card onto its sensor.
At that moment, he didn’t forget to look at the time on his wristband.
23:23:55
Upon slapping the subway card down, the sound of wheels grinding against steel rails echoed faintly from inside the tunnel, accompanied by a slight tremor of the ground.
A pair of dim headlights emerged in the tunnel, slowly approaching.