The World Below Surface

lso slowed down.

The carriage was so old that slowing down made it creak and squeak.
But to everyone's ears, the sound was less like an ageing vehicle and more like the popping of bones when someone stretched.

It was as if the subway was some kind of living thing …

The subway was getting slower and slower, finally letting out an unbearably long sound.
The next instant, the originally darkened windows suddenly lit up.
All the doors automatically opened to the sides.

Lu Yan looked out the door, and his pupils shrank.

Even though they had run so far, the advertising wall not far outside the door still had a huge advertisement of that female celebrity posted on it.
Although the makeup was more retro, the artist was still a brand of dazzling acenaphthene ration huanzhu

“Where is this? Should we go out?”

“After running for so long, we've finally stopped now.”

“Xiao Zhi, did you have a tracker that counts how far you've run?”

Li Fang Zhi held up her phone, “The pedometer says I ran nearly four kilometres in 26 minutes.” She was dressed in a unisex style and looked quite remarkable, but she answered the question with a flourish.

He Lou nodded and asked, “How's everyone's stamina? Can we continue?”

The oldest in the crowd was the slightly chubby middle-aged man Yu Gao Yi (余高义).

Sweating profusely, he was first to say, “I'll need to take a break.”

Some were okay, while others were equally exhausted and sat bolt-upright in their seats, panting heavily to calm their breathing.

Lu Yan saw that they had yet to bring it up.
He allowed himself to look immediately filled with a sense of dread before shivering and subconsciously taking a step backwards.

Li Fang Yu, who had been watching him, immediately asked softly, “What's wrong with you?”

Lu Yan shook his head, his voice lowered to a whisper, “Didn't you notice?” His lowered hand pointed covertly at the door.

The others looked towards the door, uncomprehending.

“What's wrong?”

“Is there anything unusual?”

They'd encountered quite a few anomalies tonight.
How could you distinguish them when there were so many of them.

“Have you …
seen that woman?”

“Which one?” He Lou was immediately alerted, “Describe it.”

“I …
the woman on the billboard …” Lu Yan's forehead seeped with sweat, and he unconsciously swallowed, “The woman on the billboard before we left.
The woman on the billboard, she's still …
staring at me.”

What?!

The others immediately turned their heads alertly but saw nothing.

Li Fang Yu said, “I don't see anything; it is pitch black.”

The rest of them nodded.

This time Lu Yan's face turned completely white.

Even though he was wearing a mask and hat, they could tell that the other man didn't look quite right, and he muttered, “She's still staring at me; she's smiling …”

“In that case, shall we go out?” The yellow-haired young man asked.

He Lou said, “Wait a little longer.” He glanced at Lu Yan, “Say in time if anything changes.”

Before Lu Yan could agree, the woman in his vision changed again.
Her face gradually turned blue, her smile slowly disappearing, her eyes fierce and resentful, full of morbid coldness.

“She …”

Lu Yan opened his mouth, “She, she disappeared …”

He was just about to open his mouth when everything outside the door had vanished into thin air, only pitch black like the giant mouth of an abyss.

“Clack.”

It sounded like a gramophone opening.

Immediately afterwards, the faint sound of singing came from all directions.
It started softly, very low, and got louder and louder, almost as if a woman was standing next to you, softly and gently singing in your ear.

The lyrics were in a dialect from somewhere, but they couldn't make out what was being sung.
They just thought it was a good tune and got lost in it for a while, wanting to listen for a bit longer.

'I want to listen to it all the time…'

'What a beautiful song.
It was so moving …'

The darkness outside the door slowly brightened as the song grew louder and louder.
As the music grew louder and louder, the soft female voice became shrill, and the daylight outside the door disappeared.
Yet the crowd remained absorbed in the song, mesmerised.

Gradually, blood poured out of their ears.

Their hands began to tremble unnaturally, and their heads tilted, catching each other on the neck of the one nearest to them.
And so, with a happy smile, each man slowly reached out and strangled the other.

Even though the backs of their hands were pushed so hard, they burst into bruises.
Their faces began to redden from lack of oxygen.
Their tongues stuck out uncontrollably…
They still wore happy and engrossed grins.

It was so wonderful …

Lu Yan had long since plugged his ears, yet he could not prevent the music from drilling into his brain.
These people were hurting each other two by two, and he was the only one left alone.
He pinched equally hard around the neck and clenched his tongue, trying to use the stinging pain to keep himself awake.

His eyes went straight to He Lou.

'No …
I can't reveal myself yet.'

The eyes immediately withdrew.
He stumbled over to him, and with an “inadvertent” fall, he used the momentum to slam into He Lou with force.

He Lou's eyes sobered for a moment.

“Everyone, move! Hurry!!!”

He Lou really lived up to his expectations, shouting out loud, waking up the crowd, and looking at each other with some panic in their eyes.

After He Lou's sentence, he took the lead and ran towards the door.
Soon, everyone ran out after him.
And as soon as they got out of the car, they were shocked by the scene outside the door.

“This, this is …”

“Wait a minute! There are still people who haven't come down!” The yellow-haired young man's jaw dropped, and he pointed at the carriage.

The two men, a middle-aged man who was slightly chubby and a man with glasses, were too tired from running all the way down.
They sat down on the subway seats directly after the car stopped.
Now the two of them were repeatedly tapping on the window and screaming at them as they couldn't stand up.

“Help me!!! Help me! I can't get up!!! Help me!!!”

“Help! Brother Lou! Help me!”

“Please! Help!!!”

However, no matter how much they shouted, no one would go up to help.
Everyone just stood there in silence, watching the situation unfold.

The carriage door slammed shut, the lights went out, and the carriage was instantly dark as the pleas turned into angry curses, which soon turned into wails.

“Aaaaahhhh-“

The screams came to an abrupt halt.

From inside came the sound of …
something being chewed.