Chapter 21: The Teacher

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As the light suddenly dimmed, Chen Sixuan immediately crawled into the driver’s cabin. Using Lin Xian’s phone flashlight, she checked how far the train had traveled.

Then she returned to the corner, took out her notebook, and, though trembling all over, carefully began to write:

“Day One. Departed from Jiang City. Travel time: fifty minutes. Distance traveled: fifty-four kilometers. Daylight began at 4:00 p.m. Night fell at 6:45 p.m.”

Chen Sixuan’s eyes trembled incessantly. She was on the verge of breaking down, almost as if possessed, deliberately forcing herself not to think about what was happening outside.

Not Lin Xian. Not that family of three. Not the darkness beyond the train. Not the death she was about to face…

At that moment, the door to the driver’s cabin opened automatically, and the corridor lights came on. Chen Sixuan was so startled that she dropped heavily to the floor.

Lin Xian, covered in blood and clutching a short knife, leaped into the cabin through the open doorway. Overjoyed, Chen Sixuan hurried to her feet and shut the large door, locking it tightly. Then, not wanting the corridor light to reveal their position in the darkness, she rose again and closed the small door leading into the driver’s cabin.

“Lin… are you all right?” Chen Sixuan knelt in the carriage, staring in shock at Lin Xian, who was covered in wounds.

“I’m not dead yet.” Lin Xian reached behind him and took out a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap and gulped down half of it before finally letting out a long breath.

Seeing him drenched in blood, Chen Sixuan immediately took out a towel to wipe him down, but Lin Xian seized her by the wrist.

“Ah… what is it?” Chen Sixuan raised her head in surprise. She saw him staring directly at her, his eyes cold and severe, as he demanded:

“Why didn’t you open the door just now?”

Lin Xian had actually climbed up some time earlier. Wounded, he knew that Big Fei’s group would certainly leave before nightfall, so he had hidden on the hillside for a while and searched for his short knife.

Chen Sixuan looked up at him. Seeing how serious he was, she bit her lower lip, lowered her eyes, and remained silent for a moment before saying:

“If I had opened the door, would you have thrown me out too?”

“Yes.”

Lin Xian’s voice was cold as ice.

Chen Sixuan’s expression dimmed. At his answer, she seemed to lose all strength and leaned against the wall. Her eyes filled with pain as she closed them, and clear tears slowly trickled down her cheeks.

Lin Xian gave a quiet sigh. Watching her cry, he said:

“I understand that you couldn’t bear to do it.”

“We’re all human. If someone still has even a little compassion, they’ll suffer when forced to stand by and let others die.”

At his words, Chen Sixuan finally broke down. She threw herself into Lin Xian’s arms, her delicate shoulders shaking as her sobs gradually turned into loud, heartbroken cries.

She wept without the slightest concern for her appearance, like a child who had done something wrong.

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“I really don’t know what to do…”

Lin Xian gently held her in his arms and said solemnly, “There’s a saying in Buddhism: before saving others, save yourself; before saving yourself, save your heart. If Heaven will not save you, you must save yourself. If you can’t even protect yourself, you can’t possibly protect anyone else. If you had opened that door, not only would the three of them have died—you would have died too. And I would have died with you.”

“I know…” Chen Sixuan wept bitterly, her eyes full of remorse and guilt. “But I heard a child crying. The baby sounded only a few months old…”

Women were born with a maternal instinct. At that moment, Chen Sixuan felt as though she had become a demon.

Lin Xian remained expressionless as he looked at her nearly shattered face. Then he sighed softly.

“What would you think if I told you that all of it was fake?”

Chen Sixuan was still buried in his arms, sobbing continuously. At his words, her crying stopped. She slowly raised her head and looked at him through tear-filled eyes.

“What… what did you say?”

Lin Xian’s gaze sharpened slightly as he explained:

“Yushan Station is right behind us. Even without the train, the best choice would be to hide inside the station. Yet that group had barely left when this family of three came running over to knock on the door. Their purpose was far too obvious. Besides… I’ve never seen a mother so ruthless that she could squeeze a child until it cried like that.”

Chen Sixuan’s pupils trembled violently. Tears glimmered in her eyes, and her face was filled with disbelief.

“You mean… they were lying?”

Lin Xian gave a helpless smile.

“Teacher Chen, you’ve heard the story of the boy who cried wolf, haven’t you? If I’m not mistaken, that ‘family of three’ is simply a trick this group uses to get people to open their doors.”

In the apocalypse, everyone was struggling to survive. Exploiting other people’s sympathy was indeed an effective tactic.

Moreover, Lin Xian had encountered the same situation only yesterday…

Hearing his explanation, Chen Sixuan covered her mouth in disbelief.

She could hardly imagine that human nature could become so vile.

She thought again of Director Liang and immediately felt a chill run through her body. She realized how terribly naïve she had been. At last, she had seen what true human evil looked like.

The blow to her worldview was so great that Chen Sixuan sat helplessly where she was, her eyes vacant.

Lin Xian glanced at her. He had to admit that her reaction reassured him.

He knew all too well how dangerous human nature could become in the apocalypse. If Chen Sixuan had been the sort of sanctimonious do-gooder who insisted that he open the door and help those people, he would have abandoned her without hesitation.

How could he feel safe leaving the train in the hands of a companion like that?

But after what had happened, his view of Chen Sixuan had subtly changed.

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In such a short time, she had grown from a wealthy campus beauty who was the center of attention into someone capable of this kind of courage. It showed that she was not only extraordinarily intelligent, but possessed an exceptional character as well. To be honest, Lin Xian felt a measure of admiration for her.

“Was I being too foolish?”

After a long silence, Chen Sixuan suddenly spoke.

Lin Xian shifted his position and replied with a smile, “Very foolish—and very naïve.”

Hearing his assessment, Chen Sixuan gave a self-mocking smile.

Lin Xian had just endured a life-and-death battle and was in pain all over. He glanced toward the corner where their supplies were stored and asked, “Aren’t you hungry? Why haven’t you taken anything to eat?”

Chen Sixuan widened her eyes and answered with complete seriousness:

“You… you never said I could eat.”

Lin Xian gave her a strange look, unable to tell whether he was amused or astonished.

“Teacher Chen, you’re really adorable.”

“What do you mean?” Chen Sixuan asked, bewildered.

“I mean, Teacher Chen, I want to sleep with you now.”

“Ah…?”

The remark caught Chen Sixuan completely off guard. Before she could react, Lin Xian pulled her into his arms.

She immediately panicked like a rabbit and stammered:

“W-wait, Lin, aren’t you injured?”

“Ah, does it have to be now…?”

“Wait, you’re covered in blood…”

“Lin Xian, I… I don’t have any experience…”

“Ah… wait, wait. There’s… there’s something in my bag…”

The night was as black as ink, and snow drifted through the air.

Yet at that moment, the young woman sleeping on the sofa nearby had her eyes tightly closed, while her pale, delicate brows slowly drew together…

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