Players, Please Board the Train

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much information about this online. Xu Huo searched for a while before giving up.

He then switched to looking for news about the southern part of the city.

Judging from the map, one would definitely pass through this area when going from the city center to Rose Castle. There were only a few scattered mentions online about Rose Castle, possibly related to the castle owner’s status—the castle owner was famous for charity and had received awards from Central City. Instead, it was this southern district that yielded some interesting information.

There was a post online saying that starting three years ago, every so often, a certain area of old residential buildings here would inexplicably experience rain.

The reason it was called inexplicable was because there were no rain clouds over that area, but when the time came, it would drizzle every night. And whenever it rained, people would inexplicably disappear or die.

Someone had given this place a name: Rain Alley. However, it had nothing to do with hazy, beautiful poetry, but rather represented a vague kind of fear.

Xu Huo bought some things in advance, packed them in a backpack, and took a bus here. Following the online directions, he walked deeper inside.

The further he went, the more deserted it became. Even though it wasn’t completely dark yet, no one was seen moving about. Every household’s windows were tightly shut, curtains drawn completely closed. Only a few homes secretly peeked through a crack, but as soon as they saw a stranger walking in, they immediately closed the curtains again.

Xu Huo targeted a household on the third floor and went to knock on the door.

It took a while before someone answered. The door had a chain lock, leaving only a crack. The resident looked wary and asked, ”What do you want?”Xu Huo smiled and said, ”I’m looking for a relative. I can’t get in touch with him, and I lost the address. He lives somewhere around here, surname Hu. I wonder if you know him?”

”Hu?” The person’s expression showed they knew. They sighed and said, ”Then your relative might be gone. From here, go out and past two intersections, there’s an alley. A person surnamed Hu died there, died horribly...”

Realizing this was someone else’s relative, the resident didn’t go into too much detail. Instead, they said, ”This area isn’t safe at night. You should leave as soon as possible.”

After saying that, they closed the door.

Xu Huo went downstairs and headed straight for that alley.

The sky was dim. He walked in along the uneven stone bricks. The alley was only a little over ten meters long, but the walls and ground bore several dark stains. A faint smell of blood mixed with a foul odor.

The other end of the alley led to another messy cluster of residential buildings, with small passageways branching out in all directions.

Xu Huo didn’t go deeper. Instead, he waited at the mouth of the alley.

At that moment, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky, just enough to wet the ground, though it wasn’t slippery to walk on. Holding the umbrella with his shoulder, he lit a cigarette while looking toward a cheongsam-clad woman walking out from the depths of the alley. She walked under the dim yellow streetlight holding a large white umbrella, her figure graceful.

A strong perfume scent spread through the alley. Xu Huo leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed on her.

The cheongsam woman stopped when she reached him, turned to face him, and revealed a charming smile. ”Your umbrella is quite pretty. Could you give it to me?”

Xu Huo glanced at his own large floral umbrella. ”Want it for free?”

The cheongsam woman’s delicate smile faltered for a moment, though the corners of her mouth remained upturned. ”I can buy it from you too.”

Xu Huo smiled slightly. ”Not selling. You can trade something for it.”

The cheongsam woman elegantly brushed the hair by her ear. A string of small bells tied to her wrist tinkled. ”Name your price.”

Xu Huo didn’t answer. Instead, he asked her, ”Do you smoke?”

The cheongsam woman hesitated, then nodded. A snow-white hand gently extended from under the umbrella, ready to take it from him. Unexpectedly, Xu Huo flicked his fingers, and the cigarette flew toward her face.

The cheongsam woman caught the cigarette, her expression turning somewhat cold.

Xu Huo acted as if he didn’t notice. ”Young lady, it’s not safe for a woman to walk alone at night. Dressed so beautifully, are you going to work?”

The cheongsam woman snorted with a laugh. ”You men only have dirty thoughts in your heads.”

Xu Huo tacitly agreed. Then he heard her say, ”I’m going to a banquet.”

”Rich people love to host. They always want me to accompany them. You can’t even eat your fill, so I have to find something to eat beforehand every time I go.”

”Sounds like the host is pretty stingy,” Xu Huo said, his lighter flickering on and off.

The cheongsam woman twirled the cigarette, not asking to borrow a light. She suddenly asked, ”You’re from out of town, right? Ordinary people wouldn’t dare come here at night.”

”Exactly. Just arrived today, came here to find a relative,” Xu Huo said calmly. ”Who knew I wouldn’t find them? Wasted the local specialties I specially brought.”

The cheongsam woman giggled softly. ”What’s your relative’s name?”

”I live nearby. Maybe I know them.”

Xu Huo turned his head and carefully looked at her face. ”You know what, you actually look a bit like her.”

”Her name is Huang Yue.”

The rain in the alley suddenly became heavier. As the lighter made a *ding* sound, the woman’s five fingers shot toward his throat like lightning!

Two faint *shh* sounds rang out almost simultaneously. As flames leaped up from the hem of the woman’s cheongsam, a bloody scratch from a fingernail appeared on the side of Xu Huo’s neck.

The two of them pulled three meters apart, each holding their own umbrella.

The cheongsam woman casually patted out the flame and laughed. ”Starting a fire in water. Only you could think of that.”

Xu Huo said thoughtfully, ”This rain has the ability to suppress items.”

Not only that, but that cheongsam was probably also an item.

”You’re a smart one,” the cheongsam woman said, sticking out a red tongue to lick her lips. ”I thought I’d have to go hungry today. Never expected my luck to be so good, with a player delivering themselves to my door.”

Xu Huo pulled a bottle from his backpack. ”I wonder if your rain can put out gasoline.”

The cheongsam woman’s eyes darkened. She threw her white umbrella into the air, leaped up, and stuck to the wall, crawling rapidly in a bizarre posture!

*Bang! Bang!*

Glass bottles shattered one after another in the alley, but the cheongsam woman used the two walls to bounce back and forth, avoiding the splashing gasoline. When she closed in on Xu Huo, only a few scattered droplets of oil had stained her cheongsam. The sharp, elongated fingernails she had somehow grown slashed horizontally toward his throat!

Just as it seemed his windpipe would be torn open, a glass bottle was suddenly placed vertically beside Xu Huo’s face. The fingernails that looked capable of tearing through steel merely left a faint scratch on the glass bottle before changing direction to claw toward his heart!

Xu Huo spun on the spot, turning around and smashing a bottle against her head. Gasoline drenched the cheongsam woman’s head. As the lighter flickered, flames instantly ignited her upper body!

The woman let out a scream and flattened herself against the wall. Instead of rushing to put out the fire, she charged toward Xu Huo at high speed, her figure moving so fast it left afterimages. Xu Huo dodged sideways, but his large floral umbrella was knocked away. Five fingernails aimed for his eyes!

Perhaps due to the rain’s effect, the flames on her body had already extinguished. The skin on her head showed abnormal swelling, and beneath the cracks, intact new skin was revealed.

Xu Huo frowned and kicked the woman’s hand away. ”Are you wearing human skin?”