Chapter 299
Chapter 299: Four Seasons Train
Wu Yuan finally understood—Wang Jie had done it deliberately.
And he wasn’t the only one who saw through it.
But what could anyone do? Threatening Nan Ling was clearly simpler than dealing directly with Wang Jie.
All eyes fell on Nan Ling.
Nan Ling’s gaze flickered helplessly, forced at last into a glare at Wang Jie: “I’ll give you only one more sentence.”
Wang Jie let out a relieved sigh and smiled. Even one more sentence was enough. Certainly better than nothing.
Nan Ling spoke.
Wang Jie resumed his cultivation, and gradually, the outline of a red moon became fully visible under everyone’s gaze.
It was a crimson full moon illuminating the dark cosmos like heated copper branded onto endless blackness. No light shone upon it, but darkness itself was slowly devoured by the spreading redness. As they gazed upon that moon, the crowd felt themselves being pulled into its depths.
Within the red moon, a line of symbols slowly became clear.
Everyone subconsciously moved closer, staring intently.
“These are coordinates—coordinates in the stars.”
“What is this place?”
Suddenly, Wu Yuan shouted sharply, “Everyone, do not forget your promise.”
“All right already, we know the coordinates. Your Black White Heaven Club goes first,” said Shao Ling’er impatiently.
Without hesitation, Wu Yuan led his group swiftly toward the starry coordinates.
“Elder, will those coordinates lead us to the Nan family?” asked a disciple curiously.
Wu Yuan explained in a solemn voice, “That location marks where the Four Seasons Train emerges from the full moon.”
The Four Seasons Train was the Nan family’s dwelling place.
Wang Jie had known this before setting out.
This train was tied to the Nan family’s bridge law, known as the Four Seasons Bridge. It was an extraordinary bridge law capable of embedding different things into four separate periods—battle skills, powers, words, anything. Every generation of the Nan family’s Star Refining Realm experts, before dying, would use this bridge law to imprint their strength into the train. Over generations, this granted the train the power to traverse both time and space.
It had become an incredibly wondrous artifact.
Since an unknown generation, the Nan family had lived exclusively aboard this train, mysteriously appearing and vanishing throughout any point in the Third Nebula.
In truth, its reach wasn’t limited to the Third Nebula alone; wherever there were people, the Four Seasons Train could arrive.
Yet, due to certain taboos, it seldom left the Third Nebula, unless war broke out—such as when the Nan and Zhi families had fought. Only then would the Four Seasons Train enter even the Fourth Star Cloud.
When Wang Jie had first learned of this, he had immediately suspected that the Nan family’s destruction might be related to the train’s extraordinary powers.
He wasn’t the only one. Everyone shared this suspicion.
With such strange and potent abilities, the Four Seasons Train likely held countless secrets.
When it came to secrets, either one had the strength that no one dared provoke, or they courted death. Clearly, the Nan family had belonged to the latter.
Soon, everyone arrived at the coordinates.
“Wang Jie, continue using the Red Moon Technique.”
Wang Jie did as instructed.
As lock force gathered, it resonated with the distant red moon.
Faintly, he heard the whistle of a train.
It came closer and closer.
Suddenly, the void twisted strangely, causing a brief daze. It was as if time and space had fractured in that instant. Immediately after, a massive train, wrapped in crimson steam, roared through the stars, using the void itself as rails, powered by the flow of time.
Wu Yuan grabbed Wang Jie and rushed forward.
Others from various clubs leaped forward at the same moment.
The train was enormous, enough to shelter the entire Nan family. From main branches to side branches, servants to disciples, the Nan family was vast. This train could easily hold several hundred Star Stage cultivators.
Members of Black White Heaven Club entered first, followed closely by members of other clubs.
Yan Long and his companions moved the fastest.
Those who moved slower risked missing the train altogether.
The train screamed past, instantly disappearing into space.
The void warped once more, leaving behind a group of bewildered cultivators who had failed to board.
“Hurry, perform the Red Moon opening again!”
“It’s useless. The distant moon has vanished. Unless you bring it back again—”
“Curses! Too slow by just a moment. But why was there only one carriage? Shouldn’t it have four?”
“Who knows…”
At this moment, aboard the train, everyone wore grim expressions, gazing in shock at the scene before them.
Corpses.
Endless corpses.
All members of the Nan family—dead. The entire clan wiped out.
Countless had perished tragically.
The train was vast, and what they saw was only a portion. This group of Nan family members appeared to have been slaughtered while fleeing.
Farther in, more bodies littered the ground.
The interior stretched endlessly, bleak and shadowed. Occasionally, a brief ray of light flashed from above, illuminating the surroundings before plunging them back into darkness.
Floating in the void above were shattered land fragments, glowing faintly with various hues.
Yellow, red, white.
Weren’t these the colors of the Four Seasons Train?
The train originally had four carriages, each a different color: green at the front, followed by red, yellow, and white—symbolizing spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
As the fleeting rays of light swept across, they glimpsed all four colors. Could it mean…?
“What happened here?” someone asked Nan Ling.
Nan Ling had naturally been brought along. Seeing the tragic scene before him, his expression was mournful.
“The clan has been annihilated. When the Four Seasons Train suffers a catastrophic disaster, the other three carriages break apart automatically, merging their remains into the front carriage. This preserves the family’s resources, because the lead carriage is the true place of inheritance.”
“What about the other three carriages?”
Nan Ling raised his head and spoke softly: “The second carriage held Starsea Stones, Rare Star Stones, coordinates, and other treasures.”
“The third carriage stored cultivation methods and battle techniques.”
“The fourth carriage was filled with pills, star artifacts, and various external items.”
Lady Candle Shadow’s eyes brightened: “So, you mean that since the Nan family was annihilated, if the murderer didn’t take away their treasures, everything from the other three carriages might still remain within this head carriage?”
Nan Ling did not deny it.
At once, everyone’s breathing quickened. How precious were the Nan family’s treasures? To obtain even one would be priceless.
They lifted their heads, gazing at the colorful fragments floating inside the head carriage. If they could follow these colors, they could find the items they sought.
[Hopefully, the murderer took nothing.]
[Someone capable of destroying the Nan family probably disdained these treasures anyway.]
“It was sword technique,” Chen Song suddenly said, eyes landing heavily on the members of the Nine Swords Club, “The one who killed the Nan family used swordsmanship. Moreover,” he paused solemnly, “only a single kind of sword technique.”
The others also began examining the bodies.
Though external treasures were alluring, their true goal was finding out who had killed the Nan family, and why.
Wang Jie, too, studied a corpse closely.
Though seemingly unharmed, the body had already been completely severed by sword qi too swift to leave visible wounds. The same was true of every body around.
He couldn’t tell if the same person had killed them all.
Only someone at the Hundred-Star Realm had eyes sharp enough to discern such things clearly.
And any lingering qi traces had vanished long ago.
Yuan Qiao Qiao met the suspicious gazes around her calmly: “Does wielding a sword imply this crime was committed by my Ancient Sword Pillar Keeper? There are others here skilled in swordsmanship as well.” She turned pointedly toward Wang Jie: “Even this Lock Force cultivator’s sword skills are no weaker than our Sword Court’s true disciples.”
The surrounding crowd had already lost interest in Wang Jie.
He had served his purpose by bringing them here.
Wu Yuan spoke clearly: “Everyone, do you still remember your promise?”
In the distance, members of other clubs waited cautiously, silent and nervous. Yan Long and the others were among them.
They were waiting until the front clubs dispersed before making their move. Right now wasn’t their time.
Su Ji Kong nodded: “The Black White Heaven Club may choose the direction first.”
Lady Candle Shadow laughed gently: “Choose freely; after all, there are so many options.”
As rays of light swept past, countless colorful lands floated overhead—fragments of the other three carriages. Any of these fragments could hold rare treasures, or perhaps nothing at all.
Wu Yuan looked toward Wang Jie: “This promise was obtained by you. You choose.”
Wang Jie raised his head toward the sky. Here was not true space, just the inside of a carriage, so whether they were at Wandering Star Realm or not meant little.
No one knew anything about this place, except perhaps Nan Ling.
Yet Wang Jie knew this Nan Ling was fake.
The others, however, did not.
Han Ling suddenly interjected: “Let this member of the Nan family choose for us.”
“No,” Yuan Qiao Qiao quickly countered. “He wasn’t captured by your Black White Heaven.”
“Then he was caught by your Nine Swords Club?” Yu Zhi retorted sharply.
Ke Mu Sheng intervened calmly: “Nan Ling must not serve any side. Since we entered together, let everyone rely solely upon their abilities.”
Chen Song nodded approvingly: “Indeed, that is how it should be.”
Nan Ling laughed bitterly, face full of despair: “Now that you’ve captured me, I have nothing left to live for. My only wish was to return home one last time. Even if you want me to lead you, it’s impossible.”
“Let me warn you—this place is filled with formation dao traps.”
“You’ll all die. Every one of you. Ha ha ha ha!” Laughing madly, Nan Ling struck his own forehead and instantly fell dead.
Everyone stared in shock, never expecting him to commit suicide.
Unease spread among them. [If he was brave enough to take his life here, why didn’t he do so earlier? Did he deliberately lure us inside? For what purpose?] Doubt stirred in their hearts.
Wang Jie gazed silently at Nan Ling’s lifeless body, feeling quiet admiration.
This suicide was meant to give the real Nan family heir a chance. That person surely had their own goals.
He subtly glanced around, then pointed decisively in one direction: “Let’s pick that way.”
Immediately, the Black White Heaven Club members moved swiftly toward that location.
With Black White Heaven in motion, everyone else soon followed, scattering outward, each group cautiously staying close to its own.
Only afterward did Yan Long and his group begin their movement.
From high above, Wang Jie spoke, confused: “I spotted people from Ornate Jade Gate. Why not eliminate them first?”
Yu Zhi answered calmly: “Someone must clear the way for us. Besides, even if they stumble upon something good, they won’t be able to keep it.”
Wang Jie nodded in understanding.
Activities involving the clubs were always dangerous. They wouldn’t risk their own people unnecessarily. Those who dared enter knew the risks and fully understood their role. Whatever they gained here would truly be earned by risking their lives.
From below, the colorful fragments of floating land looked small, yet each fragment spanned tens of millions of square kilometers—an area comparable to all Hua Xia on Blue Star. And these were just the smaller pieces.
That’s why they were visible within the carriage.
After all, the space inside this train was vast enough to hold hundreds of Hundred-Star cultivators. Without such scale, nothing would be visible at all.
Wang Jie and the others landed gently upon a piece of fiery red earth. This land radiated scorching heat, as if the high temperature itself had been sealed deep into its soil—a striking contrast to the head carriage’s lands they’d visited earlier.