mtl008 Chapter 439 [The Train] Back to 1989
Chapter 439 [The Train] Back to 1989
Looking at the clue book, Tian Qinghe frowned; there was still one question he didn't understand.
Why is it a taboo for flight attendants to not leave their seats?
The clues had already made it clear that if Wei Lan didn't return to her seat after the car started moving, she would die.
The flight attendants also kept warning them not to leave their seats.
Tian Qinghe originally thought that it should be a taboo to die suddenly, but the welder and the child's father were gone, but they did not die immediately.
Is it because of their role as flight attendants, serving other ghosts?
Tian Qinghe's eyes flickered slightly. If he wasn't mistaken, the train attendant wouldn't stop him from going to the front carriage; at most, she would give him a verbal warning.
But if you just wander around aimlessly, you might get killed on the spot.
Just then, a clear female voice broke his thoughts.
"Everyone come here, there's a timetable over here."
Wei Lan called out softly.
She was standing in front of a small blackboard, on which a few lines of words were written crookedly in chalk.
[Timetable]
【TK113 - Originating Station: ** / Destination Station: Montenegro】
Arrival time: 01:10
【TJ126 - Originating Station: ** / Destination Station: Montenegro】
Arrival time: 02:20
【TP444 - Origin: ** / Destination: Montenegro】
Arrival time: 03:30
Tian Qinghe glanced at the blackboard, swiped her phone, and realized it was almost nine o'clock, which didn't match the time of any class.
"Perhaps it's because our train shouldn't have stopped at Montenegro station at all, which is why the stop was so short."
Zhang Xuan guessed and said.
“It doesn’t seem like it…” Wei Lan hesitated.
She moved the blackboard outwards a bit, and with the help of the light, the group could finally see the line of small characters at the very bottom of the blackboard.
[Timetable creation time]
[August 1989]
"1989..." The elderly couple exchanged a glance. By this time, the original Heishan Station had already been relocated.
Perhaps, not long after the relocation, this station will be abandoned.
But Tian Qinghe's expression suddenly turned very ugly!
He reached out and touched the blackboard; the chalk dust came off with a simple scrape.
"This wasn't written for very long," Tian Qinghe murmured.
The unease that had been lingering in his heart ever since he saw the blackboard finally erupted within him.
When I turned on my phone again, it was still May 2025, but there was no signal at all, so the time on it might not be accurate.
Everyone else noticed Tian Qinghe's unusual behavior and, feeling uneasy, heard her remain silent for a few seconds before speaking:
"I suspect we've gone back to 1989."
He pointed to the railway tracks and the iron benches on the platform.
"These items show no signs of corrosion. They're not exactly new, but they certainly haven't been in use for over thirty years."
"The problem now is that our phones can't be calibrated to change the time, so we can't use that as a reference."
He turned around and looked at the small pavilion in the very center of the station.
That place was originally supposed to be a rest pavilion for the staff on duty, and it was also the brightest spot in the entire station.
They hadn't seen anyone through the window above.
"There should be an accurate clock there."
Tian Qinghe said, leading everyone toward the small pavilion.
Soon they heard the creaking sound of the electric fan turning.
This made Tian Qinghe even more certain of her guess.
He told everyone to wait where they were, then went around to the side of the pavilion and tried to pull on the metal door.
It's not open.
The door was locked from the inside.
He was a little suspicious and didn't pull the door a second time, but just then, the door suddenly opened!
Inside the cramped pavilion, a man in a railway uniform yawned, and there was a straw mat on the ground.
It was obvious that he had just been lying on the floor sleeping, which was why he couldn't be seen from the window.
"What are you doing?"
The man asked lazily.
Almost instantly, Tian Qinghe memorized the man's features: in his thirties, dark-skinned and strong, not tall.
He looks like an ordinary person...
However, considering that the station was strangely built inside the tunnel, Tian Qinghe cautiously took a few steps back.
"Are you the staff on duty here?"
He posed a question that wouldn't offend anyone.
"Or what?" The man rolled his eyes, his attitude very bad. "Didn't you even look at these points?"
"Feel sorry."
Tian Qinghe asked, "So what time is it now?"
The man glanced at him, rummaged around on the table, and took out a pocket watch.
"2:40."
Tian Qinghe's breath hitched.
really.
That would correspond to the bus they took.
They were on the second train, TJ126, while the ghost train that had sped past and taken the man in the suit was the one that arrived around 1:00 PM...
"What's the date today? What year is it?" Tian Qinghe immediately pressed.
A strange look appeared on the man's face, and he muttered, "Which mountain did you come from, you savage?"
"May 2nd, 1989!"
"..."
Tian Qinghe's thoughts were briefly thrown into disarray.
It's one thing to speculate, but quite another to actually confirm it.
He paused for a moment. Although this increased the credibility of the railway officials considerably, one problem remained:
Why is this station built inside a tunnel?
The man's expression grew increasingly suspicious.
"Black Mountain."
"You don't even know your destination, how did you buy the ticket?"
“Since it’s impossible to build a railway on the mountain, they dug a tunnel inside the mountain.” As he spoke, he pointed to the shadows at the corner of the station: “The exit is up there. You have to climb the stairs for a while, then go through the hall, and you’ll go straight into the mountain.”
"It's too dark in the mountains at night, so we usually wait until dawn before opening the exit."
Is that so...
According to the elderly couple, Heishan did indeed move to the mountainous area, so there seemed to be no loopholes in what they said. However, Tian Qinghe still felt that something was not quite right.
He didn't say much, and went back to talk to the others.
There's another bus coming up later.
Zhang Xuan frowned slightly: "If that train was also a ghost train..."
Tian Qinghe understood her concerns. The platform was closest to the tracks. They could see that the ghosts on their own train were fine, but what if the ghosts on other trains noticed them...?
Will I end up like the man in the suit, being taken to another car?
After thinking for a moment, Tian Qinghe walked towards the small pavilion and asked the station staff if they could enter the hall first.
The man impatiently agreed, pressed a few switches, and the entire platform was immediately brightly lit. Sure enough, there was a staircase leading upwards in the corner.
"Let's go."
He said, "You guys are something else. Usually, nobody comes here, but when you do, a whole bunch of you show up."
"There's no hot water upstairs, let me make that clear first."
Everyone forced a smile.
After going up the stairs, the others began to inquire about the situation in Heishan, while Tian Qinghe walked at the very back with her brows furrowed.
He still felt there was something wrong.
But staying on the platform is also dangerous...
As the scenes of her encounters with the man resurfaced in her mind, Tian Qinghe's steps grew slower and slower.
There's no problem with the words.
There were no problems inside the pavilion; there were mats, and people were indeed sleeping...
But why didn't two consecutive horn blasts wake this person up?
Before he could think it through, he suddenly heard someone calling him from ahead.
"Hey."
The man asked, "You guys are dressed quite fashionably, how come you don't know anything?"
Tian Qinghe gave a vague answer, but the man seemed dissatisfied with his answer, glanced at them suspiciously, and stopped in his tracks.
He pulled a notebook out of his pocket:
"Sorry, Montenegro is under our jurisdiction. You need to register which unit you belong to."
"......welder."
Without a second thought, Tian Qinghe lied and said, "I work alone."
There was silence.
The man didn't say anything.
A moment later, a light, airy voice came through:
"is it?"
Tian Qinghe suddenly felt something was off. He looked up and saw the man staring straight at him, grinning to reveal a set of gleaming white teeth.
"What a coincidence."
"I used to be a welder too."
----【The Train】Officially Begins-----