Chapter 195: So What if You"ve Learned This?
A yellow piece of paper swooshed around in the air. It whirred and finally hit the old woman who was sitting all dignified in her seat. She instantly let out a painful hiss and suddenly rushed toward the person who just boarded the train. Then, she stopped right in front of his face, within a breath"s distance.
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Five minutes ago, the train had stopped at Kitty Provincial Hospital station. A pair of teenagers, a boy and a girl, boarded the train. Their cheerfulness and casual demeanor stood out like a sore thumb in this inexplicable world.
When Lin Sanjiu saw them, she slowly floated to the back of the train carriage while they were not noticing, hoping to find a chance to slip away. Even though those two people were definitely alive and living, Lin Sanjiu did not want to have anything to do with them. They didn"t seem to have any ill intentions, but...
"Bro, are you keeping it alive because you want to KISS it?" The teenage girl, with a crop of dazzling pink short hair, laughed as she punched the teenage boy teasingly. Then, she turned to the old woman and yelled, "Hehe! Sister-in-law!"
The teenage boy had a childish face. He wore a pair of baggy skate pants and a pair of sneakers that seemed too large for him. He looked less than two years older than the girl and had some pimples on his face. He was furious, "Shaddup! This page isn"t good, try yours!"
"Okay," the girl replied in a surprisingly cooperative manner. She searched through the pockets of her tulle dress, took out a pair of gloves and wore them. The old woman creepily turned her head to look at the girl and received a punch on her face while the girl shouted loudly, "Superst.i.tion is banned after the founding of our country!" Bright light exuded from both her hands and smoke started to pour out from the old woman"s head like a piece of burning paper. Soon, the old woman vanished like smoke in thin air.
Not only could the siblings see the spirits on the train, they also handled them swiftly and proficiently, without showing any fear.
"Look at them! And look at yourself!" Mrs. Manas chided Lin Sanjiu quietly.
The grayish-white brain immediately drifted to the second carriage, appearing to be remorseful. But, Lin Sanjiu didn"t hide because she wanted to go to a corner and reflect about her actions. Rather, Lin Sanjiu felt that her current predicament was like an unfortunate puppy which fell into the hands of some mischievous children.
The teenagers were about fifteen or sixteen, the youthful age where kids liked to do crazy stuff. While Lin Sanjiu slowly drifted away from them. Both of them eradicated the spirit-like duoluozhongs one after another, almost clearing half the spirits in that carriage. From the girl"s excited expression, this was pure fun for them.
Since they could see her brain form created from her higher consciousness, Lin Sanjiu had no idea how she could protect herself if they attacked her mistaking her for one of those spirits. She slowly floated to the ceiling of the train. She found the fluorescent light man in the same carriage, he was quick and had escaped to this carriage somehow. Lin Sanjiu headed in the opposite direction from him and found a crack to hide in. From this carriage, she could observe the two kids clearly through the carriage door.
The girl obliterated two spirit duoluozhongs. Noticing that she had killed more duoluozhongs than her brother, she couldn"t help bouncing happily on the spot. She wore white socks and a pair of pink Mary Janes. As she bounced, the many accessories all over her body jingled.
"Alright! Alright! You arrogant brat," the boy"s ability seemed to be out of form and he was eager to give in to her. He sat on one of the seats and said to her, "We just have to clear one carriage. Can you just calm down and take a seat?"
The girl put her hands to her waist and looked around the carriage. Her next words almost made Lin Sanjiu"s heart miss a beat—that is, if Lin Sanjiu still had a heart.
"Isn"t it odd? Where did that brain go? What supernatural story is that from?"
"Forget it. Anyway, it"s just a brain." The boy placed his legs on the opposite train seat callously. A pair of white hands grabbed his ankles, "How bothersome! There is still one more here. Give me another page!"
Once he said that, a piece of yellow paper appeared from nowhere and struck the pair of hands. The hands instantly disappeared. The teenager sneered and took back that piece of paper, "That"s more like it."
His sister showed little concern for her brother and continued searching for the brain. Lin Sanjiu tried her best to hide between the gap between the layered wall of the train, however, her brain form was too round so she couldn"t really hide properly.
"Lin Sanjiu, you are currently in a higher consciousness form. You can change your form to some extent..." Mrs. Manas hinted after seeing her struggle, "Go ahead and try..."
"I see." Lin Sanjiu imagined herself hitting her own forehead, and quickly calmed herself. When she still had her body, she could clearly feel her limbs even with her eyes closed. Yet now, when she really concentrated on herself, she could only feel herself as a light blob. Her form wasn"t even that stable. Whenever she was emotional, that brain form of hers would change a little. But, she soon found that within this blob, there was a "nucleus".
"What is that?" she asked curiously.
"This is the thing your higher consciousness retained from your brain. Your mind, your conscious, or whatever you call it. It is the thing that defines you as Lin Sanjiu and not someone else. This isn"t important. The girl is coming here!"
Hearing that, Lin Sanjiu immediately focused her attention on that "nucleus". All of a sudden, her higher consciousness transmitted a sensation to her, it was as if she was surrounded by soothing, gentle waves of water.
"If I pull that bit of higher consciousness closer, I can hide in that corner..." At that moment, Lin Sanjiu mind wasn"t on hiding from the girl, she was totally absorbed by the sensation she felt within her form.
"No wonder Buddhists scriptures refer to human"s mortal body as a sack of skin." Without her body, Lin Sanjiu executed her every thought and will quickly and gracefully. With a single command, her higher consciousness surged and circulated. The feeling was incredible.
Mrs. Manas was a little surprised to "see" the brain become thinner and thinner until it finally had a spindle shape. Lin Sanjiu managed to hide herself entirely behind the first layer of wall. Even though she gave Lin Sanjiu that idea, she didn"t expect Lin Sanjiu to become proficient so quickly even without her guidance.
But just when Lin Sanjiu thought she could relax a little, someone pried open the first layer of wall. The teenage girl narrowed her bright round eyes, "Oh? You even know how to hide?"
- This phrase used by the author, "建国后不许成精", involved from a Chinese meme which refers to animals who display human behaviors almost as if they are going to become animal spirits. China also has some censors.h.i.+p on superst.i.tious content.
- This term will be used to describe the unique ghost-like duoluozhongs in Kisaragi Station.