Chapter 40: Subway

Broken lights, scattered old newspapers, and rusted ticket turnstiles. The entrance to the underground passage was dark and profound, resembling the gaping maw of a demon—terrifying yet strangely alluring.

"Give me your hand," Lu Mingfei said suddenly in a deep voice.

Liu Miaomiao was taken aback, not expecting Lu Mingfei to make such a request out of the blue.

A young girl's reserve made her instinctively hesitate and want to refuse, but the moment her gaze brushed across Lu Mingfei's profile, she realized he was entirely serious.

In Liu Miaomiao's memory, Lu Mingfei had always been a somewhat pathetic, goofy boy prone to absurd antics.

She had never seen him look this serious before. He was like a long-dormant lion finally opening its eyes, exuding an undeniable authority that brooked no argument.

Quietly, Liu Miaomiao reached out from behind and took Lu Mingfei's hand.

This was the first time she had ever held the hand of an unfamiliar boy. Despite Lu Mingfei's usual awkwardness, his hand was larger than she had imagined, and far warmer. The instant their fingers intertwined, Liu Miaomiao felt an unprecedented wave of peace wash over her.

He felt like a steadfast mountain—tall and majestic, standing resolutely before her. The terror that had gripped her moments before dissolved into nothingness.

"Remember, you must keep holding my hand tightly in this subway station. Do not let go," Lu Mingfei instructed in a stern tone.

Like an obedient young bride, Liu Miaomiao pressed her lips tightly together and nodded softly from behind him. "Mm."

Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs, as if she had just sprinted an 800-meter race.

To Lu Mingfei's recollection, this was the second time he had ever entered a Nibelungen.

The first time had been half a month ago, when he entered Odin's Nibelungen alongside Chu Zihang and his father.

The second time was in his past life, also entering this very Nibelungen within the Imperial Capital's subway system alongside Chu Zihang.

In Odin's Nibelungen, numerous wraiths lurked ahead, waiting to ambush them.

As for the Nibelungen in the Imperial Capital's subway, the journey forward seemed deceptively free of danger, save for a complex labyrinth. Deep within that maze, a dealer awaited to host a game of chance.

However, having encountered no danger previously did not mean things would be safe this time.

Wraiths... this wouldn't be the first time Lu Mingfei fought them. Naturally, facing such creatures always triggered an instinctive dread in humans, but the present Lu Mingfei was capable of facing them with absolute calm.

Liu Miaomiao, however, was just an ordinary girl. Against that kind of entity, she would be completely defenseless.

She likely possessed no Draconic bloodline and shouldn't have been able to enter a Nibelungen on her own. Therefore, this Nibelungen had most likely targeted him. He had to protect her at all costs, Lu Mingfei thought.

Feeling sweat begin to bead between their palms, and wishing to prevent Liu Miaomiao from panicking and letting go, Lu Mingfei shifted his grip from a casual hold to an interlocked clasp, fingers entwined.

Sensing this assertive change in how he held her hand, Liu Miaomiao merely flushed crimson. After a token, shy struggle, she obediently let him hold her fast.

"This place is complicated. Stay close to me," Lu Mingfei cautioned.

"Mm."

With the path behind them vanished, they had no choice but to press forward along the way ahead.

In truth, Lu Mingfei had only ever visited this Nibelungen once before, and he was hardly familiar with its layout. Yet, based on his scant experience escaping from Nibelungens, there was bound to an exit somewhere ahead.

If worst came to worst... he still had Lu Mingze.

Hand in hand, fingers tightly locked, Lu Mingfei led the way while Liu Miaomiao followed closely behind. Were it not for the bizarre atmosphere, the two of them could easily have passed for a young couple.

Leading her up to the turnstiles, Lu Mingfei crouched down. Liu Miaomiao cooperatively crouched down beside him.

"Crawl under together."

"Okay."

Both of them squeezed under the turnstile barrier. The subway station was utterly deserted, and no staff members would ever appear to question them.

For Liu Miaomiao, a model student experiencing her very first act of fare-evasion, she bit her lip nervously while feeling a faint trace of excitement and thrill.

"Let's go find something reliable to use as a weapon first."

"Something reliable?"

Before Liu Miaomiao could fully comprehend what he meant by that, she was led by the hand toward a section of iron railing near the turnstiles.

Lu Mingfei stared at the iron bars, which were a good two fingers wide, lost in thought.

"This should barely suffice," Lu Mingfei murmured.

"What are you trying to do?" Liu Miaomiao asked timidly.

"We don't know what might be waiting for us ahead. We need to find some weapons for self-defense."

No sooner had his words fallen than Liu Miaomiao saw Lu Mingfei place his free right hand against the railing, feeling up and down along the bars.

Just as the thought crossed her mind—*Surely Lu Mingfei isn't planning to rip the railing off, is he?*—she saw his fingers pause at a certain spot on the metal. His muscles suddenly tensed, and with two sharp, echoing *clangs*, a section of the iron bar was snapped clean off by sheer force.

"Your strength..."

Liu Miaomiao stared in utter astonishment. That was solid iron railing, four or five centimeters thick, yet Lu Mingfei had broken it bare-handed?

"It's not about using brute force to snap it. It's a bit complicated to explain."

Lu Mingfei weighed the iron rod in his hand, testing its heft.

"Have you ever heard of 'Prince Rupert's drops'? The head is infinitely hard, while the tail shatters at the slightest touch. Everything in the world has its own point of weakness. If you strike those precise spots with refined force, you can destroy them effortlessly. In martial arts novels, those vulnerable points are called 'soft spots' or 'meridian points'."

"You... you..." Liu Miaomiao stammered. After interacting with him over the past few days, she realized Lu Mingfei harbored countless secrets. The words *"You even know martial arts?"* ultimately stayed trapped in her throat.

Yet, for some reason, the more mysterious Lu Mingfei proved to be, the more secure her heart felt.

"Let's go catch the subway."

"Okay."

Hand in hand like a couple, they descended the staircase tunnel toward the platform. The deeper they went, the dimmer the fluorescent lights overhead became.

There were no glass screen doors typical of modern subways; instead, it resembled an old metro station built back in the previous century, with flaking, discolored directional signs.

Standing on the platform, one could look directly into the unfathomable tunnels yawning on either side, leading who-knows-where from who-knows-what origin. A wind swept through the tunnel, emitting a mournful, weeping wail.

The platform was littered with scattered scraps of newspaper, yellowed and aged beyond recognition. Glancing casually, Liu Miaomiao caught a glimpse of a fake entertainment headline on the corner of one fragment: *Andy Lau Dies Again*.

"Pfft..."

Liu Miaomiao covered her mouth with the back of her other hand, unable to suppress a sudden giggle at the absurd headline.

Her nerves were truly made of steel, Lu Mingfei couldn't help marveling silently.

She herself was somewhat surprised that she could still find it in herself to laugh in such a bizarre and eerie setting.

Yet, the moment she turned her head and saw their tightly interlocked hands, she immediately understood the true source of her sense of safety.

"Are we waiting for the train here?" Liu Miaomiao asked, turning her head toward Lu Mingfei. Unawares, she had already formed the comforting habit of deferring to him on everything. In this ghastly subway station, only this boy could grant her such absolute peace of mind.

"Yes, a train should arrive shortly," Lu Mingfei said.

No sooner had the words left his lips than the platform began to tremble slightly, as if a subway train were about to pull into the station.

The screeching friction of interlocking metal rollers rapidly approached from the depths of the tunnel. Air compressed into a violent gale roared past, and amidst a cacophony reminiscent of clashing swords and sabers, the subway train came to a steady halt right before Lu Mingfei and Liu Miaomiao, its doors grinding open with a hollow, mechanical groan.

The train was completely dark inside; not a single thing could be discerned within.

The terror in Liu Miaomiao's heart surged once more, and her body instinctively pressed tightly against Lu Mingfei's arm, youthfully firm, soft and warm as jade.

"A-are we going in?" Liu Miaomiao asked in a panicked voice.

"Don't be afraid," Lu Mingfei said. "I'll protect you."