The Train's Liuyun Station (2)

Second Part: The Nameless Ticket Stub Su Yue's heart suddenly pounded faster, feeling like it would burst out of his chest. He abruptly stood up, a chilling numbness shooting down his spine. He didn't dare to look at the paper doll-like passenger any longer and quickly backed away. Just then, the conductor slowly emerged from the thick fog at the other end of the carriage. The conductor wore an old-fashioned dark blue railway uniform, his cap brim pulled so low it almost covered the upper half of his face, revealing only a pale, bloodless corner of his mouth. "Tickets..." the conductor's voice was hoarse, like two rough stones grinding against each other, each word carrying a grating metallic sound. Su Yue trembled as he fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a regular ticket he had purchased earlier. The conductor took the ticket with a withered, claw-like hand, dotted with blackish-blue spots, and made a crisp "clack" sound with the iron puncher in his hand. He then handed Su Yue back a yellowed, black paper stub imprinted with strange blood-red symbols. Su Yue took the stub. It had no date or train number printed on it, only four cold characters written in pitch-black ink, emitting a faint musty odor: Liuyun Station. To be continued...