Welcome Aboard The Chaos Train

Chapter 1: The Train…Has Derailed (Part 2)

At this time, the train’s broadcast system suddenly turned on and a calm male voice spoke. 

“Attention all passengers, I’m the conductor of this train. Please do not be alarmed. Any passengers who are still walking around the carriage should return to their seats immediately and put your carry-on luggage away into the overhead compartments to avoid more accidents.” 

“Get to the point!” Someone had been listening for a long time but hadn’t heard the issue in question, “Why didn’t the car stop? Why is it going faster?!” 

At this point, the speed of the train was close to 380km/h. 

“Passengers who are still walking in the carriages, please return to your seats immediately…” The conductor repeated the broadcast. 

A person slammed the wall of the carriage in fear and in anger. 

“Wah—!” The child nearby who had woken up Yu Jiaoniang earlier, suddenly burst into tears. 

His mother didn’t take him into consideration when she collected the things on the tray table. The child couldn’t sit still and was hit on top by it. Blood immediately came from his mouth and in an instant, the front of his clothes were dyed red. 

The child’s mother was frightened with shock. She teared up and desperately took tissues out to wipe the blood from the corners of her child’s mouth. 

The surrounding passengers looked over and were shocked by the blood surging out from the child’s mouth. Despite the initial panic about the train accelerating, people handed the child’s mother tissues and band-aids. 

As there were often many injuries due to the risks of working in archaeological excavations, Yu Jiaoniang always carried with her a small medical bag containing various commonly used first-aid items, such as disinfectant, gauze, sterilised cotton, painkillers and cold medicine.

As she flipped through her backpack, she remembered that it wasn’t in her bag – it was in her suitcase. 

She had already mailed the bulky items back home before resigning from her job. So, she only had to bring along a suitcase and a backpack. However, as the suitcase was too big, she had to put it in the luggage locker in the middle of the carriage when she got onto the train. 

Yu Jiaoniang immediately got up.

“”Don’t move about!” Someone behind her said.

The broadcast warning was still sounding out, and the train’s speed had risen to 450km/h.

If the train pulls the brake at this speed without warning, and then accelerates as unexpectedly as before, no one can predict what could happen. 

Yu Jiaoniang paused but the child’s cry was too heartbreaking. She grit her teeth and hurried to get to her suitcase. 

Pulling the suitcase out of the locker, Yu Jiaoniang noticed a golden envelope beside the medical bag as she was about to take the medical bag out. 

That wasn’t hers!

Yu Jiaoniang was scared of any more accidents occurring, so she didn’t have time to think about it. Taking the envelope and medical bag, she quickly closed the suitcase and put it back into the locker.

Turning around, most of the passengers in carriage no. 14 were looking at her. Yu Jiaoniang felt a little embarrassed and shook the small medical bag in her hand. She walked to the boy’s side. 

“It was just a bump, right?” She was confirming the cause of the bleeding with the mother.

The mother sobbed, “Yes… All because I was careless…” 

“It’s alright. Don’t panic. The mouth has a lot of blood vessels, so it looks quite frightening.” Yu Jiaoniang said. 

The small table didn’t have sharp edges and the mother didn’t pack away anything thin nor sharp. As long as he didn’t hurt his throat, it should be alright. 

The little boy opened his mouth to cry, making it convenient for Yu Jiaoniang to see the insides of his mouth — the left side of his mouth was scraped. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” 

Yu Jiaoniang touched his head, wiped the blood around his mouth with sterilised cotton. With the help of the mother, she sprinkled panax ginseng onto the scraped area in his mouth. 

“Pain, pain, go away. I’ll give you some candy later.” Lowering herself to meet the little boy’s teary eyes, Yu Jiaoniang curled her eyebrows and spoke softly. 

“Aha,” The mother bursted into laughter, “You’re really good at coaxing a child.” 

After a while Yu Jiaoniang realised that the words she had been blurting out were very childish. 

This was actually what her mother always said. 

When she went home last year, she was cutting vegetables and accidentally cut her finger and it was only a small cut on her skin. Usually at the facility,  she would sometimes be scraped on her legs when digging pits but she didn’t not even blink twice and continued her work. 

Yu’s mother would make a fuss, and she said, “Pain, pain, go away.”

Yu Jiaoniang got goosebumps, “Mum, your daughter is twenty-six years old.” 

“But you’re still mummy’s little baby. Pain, pain, go away. I’ll get you some candy later.” Yu’s mother looked for band-aids. 

“Alright,” Yu Jiaoniang felt amused, “Mum, hurry up! There’s only thirty seconds until the wound heals.” 

Remembering back to that moment, Yu Jiaoniang smiled, handed the sterilised cotton to the child’s mother, and returned back to her seat. 

She opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of blank paper that was folded four times inside. 

Yu Jiaoniang opened up the paper and  flipped  the paper around several times but she didn’t find anything.

Who put that in her suitcase?

Yu Jiaoniang was very confused. 

She took out her mobile phone, and Senior had sent several messages a few minutes ago.

[Yu Jiaoniang, you’re so selfish and cold to leave us.]

[Despite knowing how much the facility has spent on you, you still disregarded everyone’s interests for your own selfish desires.]

[You’re not worthy to be my friend.]

The smile on Yu Jiaoniang’s face instantly turned sad, and suddenly her heart was flooded with the feeling of injustice. 

What right do you have to say that to me? Do you even understand my situation?

Are you the unfilial child who is unable to attend to your hospitalised mother’s needs?

Are you the one who has to pretend to look happy every time you face your parents, no matter how terrible you feel on the inside? 

Wouldn’t it also be painful for me to be forced to give up the path I chose since I was a child? Is it wrong for me to repay my parents’ kindness after they’ve raised me for more than 20 years of my life? 

What are you trying to accuse me of?

Yu Jiaoniang had enough of holding back her anger and made a phone call to him in order to berate this dumb Senior goose to death.

Suddenly, the sound of the bullet train’s speed roared a little louder, and Yu Jiaoniang fell backwards to her seat. 

Someone behind her exclaimed, “The speed is…598?!”

Yu Jiaoniang looked forward, surprised. The bright red number was shocking to see.

The view outside the window turned blurry; it wasn’t clear whether it was the mountains or a forest anymore.

The broadcast sounded out again. It was still a calm male’s voice.

“Dear passengers, I am sorry to inform you that the speed has exceeded beyond control so the train is uncontrollable, so accidents can happen at any time. Please quickly clean up scattered items on the tray table and make all preparations.”

Everyone in the carriage was dumbfounded.

“What do you mean uncontrollable? Preparations… What kind of preparations!”

No one could answer this question.

At the front of the train, the train driver was also at a loss.

He looked at the control console that no longer worked. At this moment, the speed of the vehicle had soared to 600km/h, and  the maximum speed of the ‘Chaos’ train under normal conditions was 300km/h.

The speed was exactly twice of what it usually was, but the train was intact. How was this possible!

The main control room had already received the abnormal signals of the ‘Chaos’ train, and kept sending messages.

“G1HD1 train, please report the current situation.”

“G1HD1 train, there is a train 200 kilometers ahead. Please stop moving immediately or else you will collide with it.”

“G1HD1 train, please answer if you’re receiving this.”

‘Chaos’ was shaking violently. The driver could hear the screams coming from the carriages behind.

Suddenly, the train seemed to be pushed abruptly by a force so strong that it was akin to moving mountains and seas, and a huge roar exploded outside the train.

The driver was thrown into the air and landed heavily on the console again. He looked towards the front of the car in shock.

There was no track ahead!

“G1HD1 train, please answer this when you receive it!” The voice from the main control room was extremely worried.

The driver endured the pain in his whole body, and moved to press the button on the console with all his strength.

 “G1HD1 train reporting the current situation, the train… has derailed.”

TL/NOTES:
G1HD1 – This is the abbreviation of the High Speed Bullet Train Yu Jiaoniang is on. G stands for Gao Tie (高铁) which means High-speed. HD stands for Hun Dun which refers to the part of the title of this web novel, ‘Chaos’. According to Wikipedia, Hun Dun is both a “legendary faceless being” in Chinese mythology and the “primordial and central chaos” in Chinese cosmogony, comparable with the world egg.