Chapter 111: Who are the Cultivators?
Translator: Ash Editor: Geoffrey
The red-eyed officer was stunned for a long time. Suddenly, he smacked his head and said with a laugh, "Yes, yes, I was muddleheaded. Even if we can’t kill these bastards, as long as we delay them for three minutes, it will be sufficient!"
The red-eyed officer paused and swept a glance at the huge demon clan giant, who appeared to be getting bigger and bigger the closer it approached. The red-eyed officer's eyes flickered with strong contempt as he said, "However, with just the two of us, even if we combust our own lives and shatter our souls, I'm afraid it would still not be enough to delay it for three minutes. Do you think someone will come forwards and—fight side by side with us?"
"I think they will, they definitely will." Ding Yin smiled as his eyes shone with an indomitable will.
Li Yao, who stood next to them and overheard their conversation that actually concealed a tragic meaning in between the lines, felt an ominous premonition floating in his heart. He could not help but shout, "Professor Ding, you—"
Ding Yin slightly smiled, spread his hands as he drew a sorry gesture, and calmly said, "Student Li Yao, I'm very sorry. In the waiting room, I promised you that we would discuss refining topics many times in the future, but I'm afraid I have to break my promise."
The red-eyed officer punched the mini-crystal processor a few times before a dozen or so holograms were projected simultaneously. The holograms then turned into a dozen or so monitoring screens which showed the situation inside the coaches.
A vast majority of the passenger had no idea what was happening outside. Everyone just believed that the bumps they had experienced had all been caused by the thunderstorm. There were even many people who were voicing out their complaints to the crew.
Only a few passenger sat restlessly, coming to realize the existence of the beast tide.
These people were from all ages; from old to young, with varying physique, even the clothes they wore were not the same, but there was one thing common in all of them—they all had an extremely clear pair of eyes that were flickering with a faint spiritual aura.
"We are in luck! There are many cultivators onboard!"
The red-eyed officer’s lips pursed into a smile. He started the transmission array glyph and said in a heavy tone, "Who are the cultivators? Please proceed to the back of the train—we need you here."
His voice changed into a moving and passionate telepathic thought that propagated through every coach.
"Who are the cultivators?"
"Who are the cultivators?"
"Who are the cultivators?"
Li Yao, staring at the monitoring screen, discovered some changes in a few of the passengers onboard.
In Coach No.2, a gray-haired, hale grandpa gradually stood up. From the luggage rack, he picked up a light-gold straw hat and meticulously placed it on his head. Turning to the window and straightening his appearance, he supported himself with a walking stick that had a dragon head on its handle and calmly proceeded towards the back of the train.
In Coach No.3 sat an obese man with a big head and large ears. On his thick and short fingers, there were three big rings shining in a golden light. Next to him sat a petite girl who was old enough to be his daughter.
From the beginning, the fat man had been holding the girl in his arm. On one side, he was consoling her, while on the other, his hands were moving all over her body as if no one was watching them, seemed a little arrogant.
However, when the obese man heard the summon, his fatty face fiercely trembled. In the blink of an eye, he turned incomparably solemn and showed a little dismay as well as fear.
The obese man hesitated for a long time. His facial feature turned increasingly hideous, and his molars were all about to break from clenching. Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and started to intensely kiss the girl in his arm!
He kissed so fervently that it seemed as if he had never kissed someone in this life and would also never be able to do so again. Despite how much the girl struggled, it was all for naught.
After kissing enough for half a minute to have passed, the obese man finally let go, stood up suddenly, and carrying his belly which resembled the belly of a woman who had been pregnant for a 5-6 month, started moving towards the back of the train with difficulty.
The girl wiped the saliva off her face and doubtfully asked him, seemingly asking where he was going.
Li Yao saw that obese man impatiently wave his hand and said just one word. From the motion of his mouth, it was apparently—
"Toilet!"
At the end of Coach No.6 sat a 30-40 years old husband-wife couple. They were dressed very ordinarily as if they were common office workers.
Upon hearing the call, the woman stood up without any hesitation. On the other hand, a fearful look appeared on the man's face who, after a moment of hesitation, reached out to grab the woman's hand.
The woman stared at him with wide-opened eyes. Her eyes flickered with intense shock and contempt. Pushing away her husband’s arm, she pointed at her husband’s nose and cursed a few times before walking towards the back of the train without even turning her head.
The husband flushed red. He was so ashamed that he was on the verge of crying. Finally, he mustered up his courage and slapped the table as he stood up and chased after his wife.
In the middle of Coach No.9 sat a young girl who wore a plain white long skirt. She looked very delicate and pretty, much like an orchid blooming inside a deep valley.
When everyone was sitting restlessly, she, on the other hand, was calmly reading a paperback book.
In this era where crystal processors were largely popular, someone who liked carrying paperback books would seldom be seen. Her slender arm changing the page gave the girl a fresh and refined look.
Upon hearing the summon, the girl's eyelashes slightly tremble as she took out an exquisite bookmark refined out a leaf and cautiously placed it inside the book. Leaving the paperback book on the luggage rack, she calmly walked towards the back of the train.
When they were passing the other coaches, there were several pairs of eyes that were overflowing in brilliance; it was the cultivators who had also perceived the danger.
However, these people just lowered their heads, so low that it was almost reached their crotch, as they did not dare to directly look them in the eyes.
Very quickly, five cultivators appeared in the armored coach.
The raging storm and the howling beast tide did not bring any change to their visage; on the contrary, it revealed a "so it was like this" look of relief.
"I am a cultivator," the meticulous old man said.
"I am a cultivator," the heavy-jowled and potbellied obese man said while gasping for breath.
"We, husband and wife, are both cultivators." The middle-aged husband-wife couple gazed at each other with a smile. Hand in hand, their fingers entwined with each other's, much like a deep-rooted twin lotus on a stalk[1].
"I am also a cultivator," the elegant as an orchid girl gave a slight smile and calmly said.
Ding Yin and the red-eyed officer looked at the each other before simultaneously bursting into laughter.
"The two of us are also cultivator. We never thought that five fellows would actually stand up and fight side by side with us today. We are truly happy!"
Ding Yin, from his ring, took out a fist-sized, circular magical equipment and placed it on his forehead. Suddenly, the circular magical equipment started shining as if he had grown a third eye.
"Whiz!"
The magical equipment abruptly shot out five red spirit threads which pierced the foreheads of the five cultivators.
"Telepathic Thought Exchanger?" Li Yao's eyes lit up.
Every high-level cultivator had powerful psychic power. It was possible for them to converse with just their telepathic thoughts without any restriction. With just the move of their thoughts, they could make the others understand their intentions.
A Building Foundation Stage cultivator like Ding Yin, apparently, still could not practice such psychic powers. However, by relying on the "Telepathic Thought Exchanger", he could transmit a large amount of information in a single breath, achieving the "hearts linked as one" effect.
With the telepathic thought exchange, the amount of information transmitted could reach an astronomical figure. After three seconds, a look of pondering appeared on the faces of all five cultivators.
Ding Yin withdrew the spirit threads and fervently swept a gaze. "So the situation is like this. Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think?"
The meticulous old men stepped forward. Like an ancient tree that was burning, he solemnly and fanatically nodded his head and said:
"Yes, I agree with Fellow Ding's analysis. Only by sacrificing us few could we buy those valuable three minutes. This decrypt is Zhuang Zhonghai, a 13th-level Refinement Stage cultivator. However, as I am a research-type cultivator, my spiritual energy is limited. Even if I crush my soul, I'm afraid I could only fire the Taiyi Lightning Railgun no more than twice."
The obese man wiped the rain off his face and said with a laugh:
"I am Gao Dakang, an 11th-level Refinement Stage admin-type cultivator. I have my own company, and what I'm most afraid of is not being able to eat. Hahaha, I'm young and strong. Although my cultivation is not as deep and vigorous as Old Zhuang’s, if this fatty goes all out, I can also fire the Taiyi Lightning Railgun twice!"
The middle-aged husband-wife couple looked at each other as the female smiled and said:
"I am Yan Xiaodie, and my husband is called Zhang Meng. Both of us are 6th-level Refinement Stage cultivator; however, we are cultivating a rather peculiar, secret dual cultivation law, so we together can struggle to fire twice!"
The orchid of a deep valley-like girl said:
"I am Wei Qingqing. I have just graduated from the Sky Fantasia Academy this year and was going to a small village in the Wasteland to be a village teacher. My level is the lowest, and I am only in the 5th-level of the Refinement Stage. I am a culture-type cultivator and an Illusionist. Unfortunately, facing the beast tide, it can not be used. If I go all out, I can struggle to fire once."
"Alright! I and Old Ding are both Building Foundation Stage cultivators. If we burn our spiritual energy, we can fire the Taiyi Lightning Railgun 3-5 times. Even if we can not kill these bastards, we together have to at least hold on for three minutes!" the red-eyed officer gallantly said.
Everyone finished introducing themselves, and then cast their gaze at Jiang Tao, who was in the corner.
Only now did Li Yao remember that the cuddled up Jiang Tao in the corner was also a "Cultivator".
Jiang Tao looked like he had been dead for three days and three nights; his complexion was pale. He stammered, "I-I am only a 3rd-level Refinement Stage Cultivator. I'm afraid I can't even fire the Taiyi Lightning Railgun once. I, I..."
Stammering "I" for a while, he suddenly stood up and pointed at the seven cultivators as he shouted madly, "You, you are all crazy! Why would you sacrifice yourselves to save a train of irrelevant people!?"
The seven cultivators looked at him without speaking a word. The look in their eyes was full of complete indifference.
In the light drizzle, they were like seven bronze statues.
Jiang Tao, more and more, could not endure. He shouted at the top of his lungs:
"We are all powerful cultivators. We can live for at least a hundred years and enjoy a good life, so why do you wish to die in this kind of place? Why!?"
The obese man sneered:
"It is because we are powerful cultivators that we have to come forward in times of crisis. In the world of cultivation, there is a certain saying. Presumably, you have also heard it—the blood of the strong must flow for the weak!"
Wei Qingqing said:
"Moreover, haven't you seen with your own eyes how terrifying the beast tide outbreak is? Even if we don't come forward, the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes would catch up in a few minutes. By then, we would all be dead."
Zhuang Zhonghai, the old man, calmly said:
"You are also a cultivator and possess an extraordinary computing power. You can draw your own analysis and check whether or not we have a second road."
Jiang Tao rolled his eyes and screamed:
"Of course I know this! The Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes will take some time to kill the passengers. Since we are all cultivators, in that time, we can run several dozen li and meet up with the reinforcement. We would be able to escape with our lives!"
Zhuang Zhonghai narrowed his eyes as he spoke, enunciating word by word:
"Young man, you’re saying, we should let the entire train of ordinary people become our shield, aren’t you?"
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TLN:
[1] Twin lotus on a stalk means a devoted married couple.