Players, Please Board the Train

But the evolution rate had indeed increased, and just like last time, it had gone up by a full 10 percentage points in one go. It couldn’t possibly be that Dr. Wu had actually done something else to the potion, could it?

Of course, it didn’t necessarily have to be the potion’s fault. The Holy Sword Society player had left a mark on him before, and that person was also a Super Evolution user. There might be other hidden threads left behind.

Xu Huo raised his head and glanced at the Severed-Finger Player ahead. He was also resting.

Xu Jinfeng, on the other hand, dozed off for a while before suddenly jolting awake. Seeing that Xu Huo was also still awake, he shifted his body slightly to avoid facing him directly.

Xu Huo dozed for a bit more until it was time. The players in the carriage took turns resting.

He got up, stretched his body, and walked to the back of the carriage to light a cigarette.

The rising smoke blurred his vision slightly. He looked over each person in the carriage one by one and noticed that the player who was never without a cigarette earlier was staring at him, so he handed over the remaining half pack.

The man reached out and took it, then simply walked to the back to stand side by side with him and smoke. He introduced himself, ”You Si.”

The two didn’t exchange much conversation. After finishing their cigarettes, they each returned to their seats.

Before the lights went out, the players in the carriage began taking their potions.”I can’t hold out anyway. Can’t sleep during the day either, might as well pop some pills.” Xiao Xianglin said cheerfully to Xu Huo, ”Brother, don’t worry. If you accidentally fall asleep, I’ll definitely wake you up.”

The sky outside darkened quickly. Within just a few breaths, it plunged into complete darkness.

Xu Huo had swapped positions with Xiao Xianglin during the day and was now sitting by the window. In the darkness, he observed the other players. Apart from the Raincoat Man, everyone else was just as vigilant.

”...So Wang Sen had just escaped from the mass grave, and without a moment’s pause, he hopped onto the last bus that happened to be stopped at the bus stop. He fumbled out two yuan and stuffed it into the fare box. Just as he was about to find a seat and massage his trembling legs, he heard the driver say: ’Young man, your money won’t work.’”

Click.

The Female Player pressed the stop button on her watch.

After a moment, Xiao Xianglin asked, ”Why did you stop it?”

”I’m afraid of disturbing everyone’s rest.” The Female Player said softly.

”Why don’t you just keep playing it?” Xiao Xianglin said curiously, ”Why won’t his money work?”

The Female Player restarted the recording. ”Two yuan, how could it be counterfeit? If you’re going to fake it, you’d fake a hundred! Wang Sen was about to argue when he heard the driver say again: ’If you don’t have money, get off the bus.’”

”How could Wang Sen be willing to get off? Gazing into the distance, he saw ghostly fires flickering deep in the woods, seemingly drawing closer. He immediately hugged the seat, shamelessly insisting: ’I’ll give you a hundred later. I’m not getting off this bus even if it kills me!’”

”The bus started moving. Seeing the mass grave growing farther and farther away, Wang Sen let out a sigh of relief. He turned to look at the fare box, only to see that besides the two paper bills he had thrown in, everything else was actually spirit money!”

”Looking again at the driver’s seat, the driver sat there as stiff as a mannequin, arms completely motionless, yet the bus could turn on its own. And up ahead, there were several people waving to hail the bus. What they were waving in their hands was also spirit money!”

”Wang Sen’s legs trembled violently. He didn’t dare scream, only reached out to open the car window. But the dozen or so passengers sitting behind him all stretched their necks forward at the same time. A ghastly pale hand reached over from the back seat and grabbed his shoulder: ’Hey, there’s still a living person here!’”

The story came to an abrupt halt right there. The Female Player clapped appreciatively, ”Brilliant!”

Pulling the tension to its peak and then suddenly stopping, leaving the rest to infinite imagination.

”This ghost story is really dull. It doesn’t land anywhere, what’s the point.” Xiao Xianglin muttered.

”Everyone can guess the ending. Saying it outright would be boring.” The Female Player was in a talkative mood. ”It’s like reading a novel. Compared to the protagonist’s ending, the process leading up to that ending is what makes people more curious. Anyway, I know he’s going to die.”

”No...” Xu Jinfeng suddenly spoke up. ”Is it my eyes playing tricks on me? I just saw someone waving outside.”

”How could anyone be waving near the tracks?” Even though they knew it was impossible, the others instinctively looked in his direction. Beyond the tracks was pitch black, and the scenery didn’t look much different from what they’d passed during the day.

”I really did see it just now. Two people, holding spirit money.” Xu Jinfeng suddenly stood up, pointing at the Female Player, ”It was you who pulled something!”

”Use your brain. I played the ghost story in front of everyone.” The Female Player said warily, looking around, ”After the sleeping spell, now it’s an illusion?”

”Ah...” A miserable scream suddenly came from up ahead. Then the sealed carriage door in front was forced open. A player covered in blood lunged at the front door of Xu Huo’s carriage, pounding desperately on the window, ”Open the door! Help!”

The Female Player and the Burly Player sitting up front immediately retreated backward. A locked door wasn’t necessarily reliable, but at a time like this, no one would actually step forward to block it.

But the next second, the person at the front door seemed to be dragged away by something, suddenly disappearing downward. The Burly Player, standing closest, moved in to take a look, then said, ”He’s dead.”

The person had already stopped breathing when he was dragged down. It wasn’t clear what exactly had dragged him away, but the skin on his back, from his shoulders all the way down to his buttocks, was completely gone.

After that, the front went silent again. To be safe, Xu Huo and the Burly Player moved two tables together to block the door.

”What use are two iron slabs?” The Female Player said.

”Better than doing nothing at all.” Xu Huo responded.

Xiao Xianglin and Xu Jinfeng also thought he had a point and came over to use their items to nail the tables to the Carriage Walls.

They decided not to sit anymore and stood guard at the front door until dawn.

Once the light came up, Xu Huo immediately went to check the carriage ahead.

The carriage door hadn’t been properly closed last night. As soon as he pulled it open, a player appeared at the front door of the carriage. It was the one who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation earlier. The two exchanged a glance, then each checked their respective sections of the carriage at the doorway.

All the players in this carriage were dead.

The corpses from the first night were piled in the corner, covered with white cloth. They had all died from sharp weapons, their deaths not too gruesome, nor were they dismembered.

But the ones who died last night were a bit more tragic, hard to look at directly. Bloodstains covered the floor everywhere. One body had been dragged a long distance, and the cause of death was actually excessive blood loss.