After hanging up the phone, Mo Chuan pinched his eyebrows, roughly figuring out what had happened:
At the beginning of the summer vacation, Wang Bao called Mo Chuan to ask if he wanted to go to Shengjing, because the three of them had been called to Shengjing to make a deal with another group of thugs.
But now it seemed that the deal had fallen through, and they were being held there.
The Wang Hu, Wang Lang, and Wang Bao brothers were only friends to Mo Chuan, but after all, they had a life-and-death connection (fighting ghost infants and blue-clothed ghosts together), so it was likely that they had no choice but to have people from Shengjing call him over.
It's just... the other side doesn't seem very smart...
"Forget it... I'll just consider it a trip to relax..." Mo Chuan bought a direct high-speed train ticket to Shengjing online, then returned to the living room and said to Mo Fei, "I'm going to Shengjing tonight, do you want to come with me?"
"Hmph!"
"Shengjing barbecue and grilled cold noodles are unlimited."
"Brother, do you need me to do anything else?"
...
At six o'clock in the evening, on the high-speed train from Jibei to Shengjing.
"Changcheng Pass Station is about to arrive, passengers getting off please prepare your personal belongings in advance and disembark in an orderly manner... Changcheng Pass Station is about to..."
After dinner, Mo Chuan held the "Great Freedom Meditation" given to him by Qing Lian Zi, with a black line across his face, thinking, "No wonder they asked me to preview it... If I had to study this for half a year in college, I'd be able to cultivate immortality!"
It was all in classical Chinese, obscure and without annotations!
Mo Chuan opened his phone and quietly used an electronic dictionary to translate the ancient text sentence by sentence, then transcribed it into his notebook.
"All freedom, is observed in my heart; all disturbances, are in the void... Huh? Did I copy the wrong line?"
Mo Chuan crossed out the line and started copying again: "All is observed in my heart; all disturbances, are fleeting clouds in the void..."
Mo Fei, sitting opposite Mo Chuan, was boredly playing with the disposable cup in his hand. After the spiritual energy revival, long-distance high-speed trains were specially made. To prevent them from being noticed by some demon beasts that were extremely sensitive to electromagnetic signals, the trains were basically unable to connect to the internet, making them no different from flight mode.
Mo Chuan had to complete his daily study tasks and couldn't play with Mo Fei, and Mo Fei had not brought anything with him except his phone, so he could only pass the time with the paper cup in his hand.
As Mo Fei played, he inadvertently looked up and saw Mo Chuan studying intently.
"So handsome!"
Mo Fei's pretty face slowly turned red. He quietly took out his phone, pretending to look at something, but in reality, he was trying to secretly take pictures of Mo Chuan.
"Hehehehehe..." Mo Fei's fingers frantically pressed the shutter button, and in a short while, he had taken over a dozen photos.
"Fei'er?"
"Ah!" Mo Fei was startled by the sudden call, and his finger exerted too much force, sending his phone flying out. The phone slipped out of his hand and directly hit the disposable paper cup on the table, knocking the coffee inside onto the table.
"..." Mo Chuan looked at his notebook, which was half-dampened, and didn't know what to say.
"I'm... I'm sorry! Brother, I was wrong!" Mo Fei quickly righted the cup and then took out tissues to wipe the table and Mo Chuan's notebook.
Seeing this, Mo Chuan quickly snatched the notebook back, but it was too late – the handwriting that was still legible had become a mess under Mo Fei's operation...
It's over, I'll have to rewrite it.
Mo Fei tidied up the tabletop like a startled little rabbit. Then he quietly watched Mo Chuan begin to re-copy the "Great Freedom Meditation."
"All freedom, is observed in my heart; all disturbances, are fleeting clouds in the..."
"Screeeech—"
"Vroooom—"
The high-speed train suddenly braked sharply, and the friction sound of the wheels against the tracks and the train's alarm instantly spread through every passenger's heart like a plague, carrying fear and panic.
The train finally stopped.
Seeing that the train was not moving, Mo Chuan first checked on Mo Fei – fortunately, he was unharmed; then he looked at his notebook – damn it, two lines were ruined.
"Brother, are you okay!?" Mo Fei tightly gripped the handles on both sides of his seat and asked in the dim light of the emergency spotlight.
"I'm fine." Mo Chuan scanned the surrounding passengers. Many people had fallen into the aisle or onto tables, some were holding window-breaking hammers ready to escape at any moment, and one unlucky fellow had even been knocked unconscious by his own luggage.
"Attention all passengers, attention all passengers, this emergency announcement will be broadcast only once: a sixth-tier Demon Owl has appeared in front of the train. In three minutes, the train will completely shut down all power. All passengers are requested to turn off all light sources and remain still in their seats, making no sound. Our train police are on their way to lure the Demon Owl away. Please remain quiet until we restart the train, and do not use window-breaking hammers, fire extinguishers, or other items to forcibly break the windows. Thank you for your cooperation..."
As the broadcast faded, the entire train fell silent.
Some people seemed to have experienced this before, silently writing a suicide note on their phones, then shutting them down, and closing their eyes to rest; some seemed a bit lost, clearly not having grasped the reality of the situation; others covered their mouths tightly, trying to minimize their cries.
Sometimes, humans still have no ability to contend with nature, and can only fend for themselves according to the rules of survival of the fittest.
Mo Chuan knew that the Demon Owl would not harm him, but he still held Mo Fei in his arms to prevent him from getting hurt.
The three minutes passed quickly.
The train plunged into darkness.
Mo Chuan closed his notebook, then squeezed Mo Fei's hand and asked softly, "Are you scared?"
"As long as big brother is here, I'm not afraid."
...
Outside the carriage.
"Damn it! Captain, that Demon Owl is seventh-tier, it's a King Owl! We misjudged!" A policeman returned to the ground from high in the air and said to a grizzled policeman.
The captain threw away his cigarette butt and said, "In three minutes, write your will and send it to headquarters."
His eyes flickered as he said, "Protecting the people, regardless of life or death, we must lure away the Demon Owl."
Then, five policemen settled their affairs and, according to the planned route, began to lure away the approaching Demon Owl.
First, a policeman fired a signal flare. The red mist instantly illuminated the entire night sky, exposing the policeman's location.
Owls are owls. Because they are nocturnal creatures, their vision and hearing are extremely acute. In this semi-darkness after sunset, strong light and noise are effective ways to attract their attention.
As one signal flare lit up, another signal flare lit up not far away.
But the Demon Owl's reaction made the policemen frown.
The Demon Owl ignored the attraction of the signal flare's strong light and continued to fly straight towards the train carriage.
"Damn it..." The captain gritted his teeth and shouted into his walkie-talkie, "Everyone abandon Plan A, activate all abilities, and return to the train to prepare for battle!"