Inside and outside the tunnel, two separate worlds had formed.
The villagers of Ruhua Village remained as tranquil as ever, gossiping about village matters, discussing family anecdotes, or already slipping into slumber.
They were unaware that less than 300 meters away inside the tunnel, a quaint steam train had come to a stop.
The neatly attired conductor was now clipping each passenger's ticket with small scissors.
This archaic method of ticket-checking oddly added to the train's ritualistic and rustic charm.
Li Changhe had never boarded such a train before, but he knew quite a bit about them.
The conductors possessed peculiar abilities, carefully gauging dangerous individuals among the passengers. They could even sense malevolence before the train had arrived, which allowed them to evade official encirclement.
He now noticed four new passengers and conjectured they had aroused some suspicion.
However, Li Changhe, He Feng, and the Moon God all wore the "Insect God Vest".