A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 405 Y-114
Feng Yushu returned to her residence and changed into clothes that were easier to move in.

She wore a simple, well-fitting white shirt with a corset, a velvet women's suit jacket, and high-waisted black trousers with slightly flared legs that covered her knee-high boots. From the outside, it looked like she was wearing simple black leather shoes, giving her a gentle yet capable look.

After changing her clothes, Feng Yushu hurriedly returned to the consulate, where Ning Zhe was already waiting for her.

"Sorry I'm late." Feng Yushu jogged up to Ning Zhe.

"Luckily, there's still plenty of time before the train departs." Ning Zhe glanced sideways at the consulate. "Aren't you going to see your daughter before you leave?"

“…No, forget it.” Feng Yushu shook her head, her expression somewhat conflicted: “I still don’t know how to face her.”

"Whatever you want." Ning Zhe had no particular thoughts. "Let's go."

“Okay.” Feng Yushu followed Ning Zhe and left the consulate with him.

The station marked on the ticket is Y-114, located in the old town of Yundu City, where the famous Yunzhou Museum is situated—the station is right below the museum.

“Y-114 station?” Feng Yushu glanced at the ticket in Ning Zhe’s hand and said with some surprise, “You shouldn’t be able to take the train from this station.”

"How so?" Ning Zhe asked, intrigued.

Feng Yushu took out her phone, searched, and showed him the search results, saying, "Back when the subway system in Yundu City was still under construction, an ancient tomb was suddenly unearthed under the construction site where the Y-114 station was originally planned. After preliminary investigation, experts determined that it was a tomb of a prince from the Song Dynasty."

"Therefore, Yundu immediately organized a team to conduct a protective excavation of this ancient tomb, and the construction of the subway station was temporarily suspended until the archaeological work was completed."

"After the Song Dynasty royal tombs were largely excavated, archaeologists discovered a Han Dynasty tomb beneath it, which was larger than the Song Dynasty tomb. The project team originally thought this was the last one, but soon another funerary tomb was discovered not far from the Han Dynasty tomb."

"Oh, this." Ning Zhe chuckled to himself.

"As more and more ancient tombs were unearthed underground, the project was delayed day by day. Even after the subway system of the entire Yundu City was initially completed, the Y-114 station still had not started construction. So the authorities simply abandoned the station and chose to take a detour, turning the Y-114 station into a museum on the spot."

Feng Yushu turned off her phone and put it in her pocket, saying, "We can see many ancient artifacts and archaeological sites there, but we won't see any subway stations."

"...That's not necessarily true." Ning Zhe carefully put away the train ticket and said softly, "In this strange world, aren't there plenty of supernatural and bizarre things?"

After crossing the Hanjiang Bridge, the two arrived at the old town of Yundu.

Several blocks near the Yunzhou Museum were cordoned off and designated as a restricted area, following a recent strange incident. Although the incident was quickly quelled under Lan Shiwen's prescient command, the enforcement team did not lift the cordon, and the cordon remained in place.

The new subway line, after the detour, was built on the basis of the original line, and the tunnel has a "人" (human) shaped structure.

On the left, trains pass normally, while on the right is a dead end filled with concrete. Yunzhou Museum is located directly above that abandoned railway line. Visitors can walk down the stairs to the underground site and visit some of the archaeological excavations. The museum itself is free, but you need to buy a ticket to visit the underground site for 15 yuan.

The two people, who had not bought tickets, walked directly through the main entrance into the empty museum. The museum's exhibition hall was laid out in a "回" shape, with a square pit surrounded by a railing in the very center, which was the original excavation site.

Ning Zhe descended the steps for visitors to the underground and, comparing them with the original route map of Yundu Metro, confirmed the location: "This is it, Y-114 Metro Station." Feng Yushu looked around and saw only a pit surrounded by railings and various exhibits: "It doesn't really look like a metro station."

Ning Zhe rolled up his sleeves and glanced at his watch. It was 16:07 PM, two hours before the 18:09 PM departure time on his ticket.

"Let's wait a bit. There might be some changes when it's time to leave." Ning Zhe walked to the wall and sat down on a bench for tourists. Feng Yushu unbuttoned her suit jacket and sat down next to him.

"Ning Zhe?"

"Ok?"

Can I lean on your shoulder?

Ning Zhe was somewhat surprised: "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

Feng Yushu lowered her head, not daring to look at him, and said in a very low voice, "I just suddenly really want to... is that okay?"

"Of course, if that makes you happier." Ning Zhe had no objections.

Feng Yushu smiled, shifted her hips closer to Ning Zhe, and then gently and carefully pressed her fair cheek against his shoulder. A tear slid down her nose: "Thank you, Ning Zhe. I feel like I can live again."

"Being alive is better than being dead, congratulations." Ning Zhe patted her shoulder and said nothing more.

Time passed silently, and after about twenty minutes, Feng Yushu, who was leaning on Ning Zhe's shoulder, suddenly sat up straight and took out a tissue from her pocket to wipe away the tears on her face.

"Have you had enough?" Ning Zhe asked with a smile.

“Not enough, but someone’s coming.” Feng Yushu said, her wary gaze sweeping over the steps the two had come from: “Two people have come, a man and a woman, and they seem to be carrying something in their hands… a camera.”

Ning Zhe heard footsteps coming from upstairs. He looked up and saw two young men acting suspiciously as they came down the steps.

The young man was dressed in fashionable, loose-fitting work clothes and was holding a video camera. The young woman was wearing a red plaid mini-skirt and tights. Both of them were in their early twenties and were probably still college students.

"Awei, look, there's someone down there." The girl whispered, tugging at the sleeve of the man in overalls.

The young man called 'Awei' noticed Ning Zhe's gaze and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Taking three steps at a time, Awei stepped down the stairs and gave a polite smile, saying, "Hello, my name is Ding Wei, and this is my girlfriend, Miao Miaomiao. We are both students at Yunhang University. Are you two also here to catch a bus?"

"Also?" Ning Zhe frowned slightly. "You received the letter too?"

“Yes.” The female college student named Miao Miaomiao pulled out a slightly yellowed strip of white paper from her pocket and said:
"This morning, around five or six in the morning, someone suddenly knocked on my dorm room door. I was still half asleep when I opened the door and saw the person's face. I immediately woke up. His face was as white as a ghost!"

(End of this chapter)