Players, Please Board the Train

Mr. Dong and Hu Shan did not enter the music room. After Xu Huo and the other seven people went in, the door closed behind them.

”Everyone, don’t be reserved, please take a seat.”

You Qiwen and Fleischer exchanged a glance and sat down one after the other on the side closest to He Pu’s bedroom. The others took their seats in turn.

Xu Huo sat in the very center position. The Chen brothers were behind him, Fleischer was to his left, and Wei Landeng and Liu Zhengping were to his right.

Compared to the calmness of the other players, Wei Landeng and Liu Zhengping seemed restless. He Pu, standing on the stage, looked at them with a gentle smile. ”What’s the matter? Is your stomach still uncomfortable?”

Their faces stiffened. Wei Landeng was just about to speak when Xu Huo cut her off, addressing He Pu first. ”Why not invite Mr. Dong and Hu Shan in as well? With just a few of us listening, it seems a bit too monotonous.”

The other players looked at him in astonishment. Wei Landeng forced a smile and said, ”Mr. Dong and Hu Shan surely have their own duties to attend to.”

He Pu being separated from Mr. Dong and Hu Shan was a good thing for them. What was Xu Huo trying to do by gathering everyone together? Did he think the difficulty wasn’t high enough?

However, Xu Huo paid no mind to the players’ hints and signals. He leaned back in his chair and made a ”please” gesture towards He Pu.

He Pu’s smile deepened. He lightly tapped the strings of the cello with his baton, and a rich, textured string sound rippled out, reaching the door. The music room door opened in response. Hu Shan pushed the door open and entered. ”Sir, do you have any instructions?””Mr. Xu has invited you and the butler to listen to the concert together.”

Hu Shan glanced at Xu Huo in surprise, but upon receiving He Pu’s indication, she was still very happy and entered without declining. Mr. Dong, however, was very resistant to this and wasn’t even willing to step through the door.

”A guest’s request—how can a butler refuse?” He Pu said casually, then turned to face the stage, which was filled with instruments but no performers. With a wave of his baton:

”Boom!”

The bass drum sounded by itself. Everyone present was shaken by it. A tingling numbness shot up from the soles of their feet to their lower legs, then to their knees, and then to their thighs.

One instrument after another, played by no one, began to sound. The multitude of musical notes blended together, amplified as they passed through the sound system. The narrow music room was insufficient to contain this substantial sound. The entire room trembled heavily under the pressure. In just a few breaths, this small room could no longer withstand the impact of the music, pouring all the pressure doubly onto the players!

All the players sat rigidly in their seats. Whether it was an illusion or reality, a bizarre, kaleidoscopic halo of light seemed to surround them. Their eyeballs rolled chaotically, teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Hu Shan knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, gazing worshipfully at the man waving the baton on the stage. Mr. Dong stood by the door, his expression still impassive.

After about a minute, Hu Shan suddenly stood up, pulled out a finger-length knife blade from under her apron, walked behind You Qiwen, grasped his forehead with one hand, and pressed the knife blade against his throat with the other.

”Wai... wait...!” You Qiwen struggled to speak. The dizziness gave him a sense of weightlessness. His hand loosened, and a metal ball fell to the ground. The electric current it released shocked Hu Shan, along with all the surrounding players, flipping them over!

Rolling onto the ground, the players barely managed to regain their senses from the deafening music. Wei Landeng, half-leaning on a chair, barely managed to raise a rocket launcher and fired a shot at He Pu. However, the shot went wide. The viscous liquid splattered onto a violin, and the still-vibrating strings immediately changed their tune.

Amidst the bombardment of chaotic and aesthetically unpleasing music, the change in the timbre of one instrument couldn’t really change much. But Hu Shan became extremely furious. Abandoning You Qiwen, she kicked Wei Landeng to the wall, then chased after her, punching and kicking, roaring, ”What kind of thing are you! How dare you disturb the master’s concert!”

”Draw the Ground as a Prison!” Chen Tu crawled over and slapped the ground. Hu Shan’s feet were immediately fixed to the spot, unable to kick. She slowly straightened up, but instead of using the knife blade from before, she pulled out that enormous square hammer.

Seeing this, Chen Nan immediately tried to take out the Substitute Mirror. At that moment, Fleischer from behind shouted ”Intimate Distance,” and Hu Shan’s entire body was yanked from her position, pulling her close to Xu Huo, who was half-lying on the ground.

Seeing her, Xu Huo forced himself up and with difficulty rolled towards the stage to avoid her.

Hu Shan sneered and immediately raised the square hammer. But at that moment, the music emanating from the stage suddenly decreased in volume. The sounds of several instruments abruptly vanished completely.

”Master...” She opened her mouth to say something. You Qiwen, who had regained his mobility beside her, suddenly erupted. The electric current he unleashed instantly trapped her securely. He yanked her up and slammed her towards the door, then swiftly threw out a small glass casket resembling a coffin. The casket flew out and enlarged, just in time to catch Hu Shan. The lid snapped shut, and the casket, along with Hu Shan inside, was frozen into a block of ice.

The ice casket crashed against the wall. Mr. Dong, standing just a step away, not only didn’t rescue her but instead moved aside to make way.

Seeing this, You Qiwen turned towards the stage. His electric whip transformed into an electric blade. He flew through the air, slashing at He Pu!

At the same time, Fleischer also stood up. A steel bow materialized in his hands. He drew the bowstring without an arrow, aiming it at the stage!

You Qiwen, who had been attacking He Pu, suddenly turned around and ruthlessly slashed at Fleischer!

”What are you doing...” Fleischer dodged the electric blade, but his hands were affected by the current. The steel bow fell to the ground. Before he could even pick it up, another electric whip swept towards him. He retreated swiftly, shouting angrily at the same time, ”You Qiwen, have you gone mad?”

The other players were also stunned by You Qiwen’s move. The Chen brothers, who had just taken out the mirror covered with cloth, were shocked and instinctively moved further away from the two. Seeing Xu Huo, who was propping himself up on his legs to stand, nod, they pulled off the cloth. First, they reflected themselves and him in the mirror, then raised the mirror to capture He Pu’s back figure.

Once done, they retreated to the corner farthest from the stage, guarding the mirror.

Liu Zhengping staggered to his feet, looking at You Qiwen in disbelief. ”Could it be that you are a non-mission player?”

”He’s not. Fleischer is.” Xu Huo patted his pants, used the piano wire to pull the steel bow over, and directly stored it in his luggage compartment.

Seeing this, Fleischer sneered. ”I don’t understand what you’re saying. You Qiwen ambushed me. Are you all in an alliance?”

Xu Huo pointed at Fleischer’s slightly raised hand. ”I advise you to save your energy. Your ’Face-to-Face Negotiation’ requires two people to be face-to-face and cannot be used on multiple people simultaneously. You can guard against one, but not two.”

Fleischer’s expression remained unchanged. ”You observed quite carefully.”

”Of course, I had to be careful, especially since it was you who incited us to kill Mr. Dong.” You Qiwen slowly retreated towards the wall, his eyes shifting between Fleischer and He Pu.

He Pu had now turned around. He didn’t look at Xu Huo, who was close at hand and had his back to him. Instead, he watched You Qiwen with a smile. With a tap of his baton, an arc-shaped shockwave struck the pile of chair debris under the stage.

An inconspicuous figurine doll was dragged out just before the chairs were blasted away. Tethered by a thin thread, it returned to Xu Huo’s hand.