Zhao Jingchen listened to the young man’s casual words, watching him standing there clean and tidy, and suddenly felt that the traces left by the filth on his own body became even more nauseating.
Without the enhancement of his Body Index, he gasped for air like an ordinary person. The stench of decay rushed into Zhao Jingchen’s mouth along with the air, continuously causing a feeling of nausea. Yet, his physiological instincts forced him to desperately inhale oxygen. For a moment, Zhao Jingchen was so provoked by Yan Wei’s words that his blood surged, but he couldn’t speak for a while.
By the time Zhao Jingchen gradually recovered, Yan Wei had already walked up from the end of the carriage.
It took him quite a while to take those few steps. The ground was covered with scattered bloodstains and rotting flesh of unknown age. He tread carefully, wary of stepping on the traces left by the filth.
Zhao Jingchen stood up, grinding his teeth, and vigorously wiped the bloodstains off his face. Since players couldn’t kill each other, even if Yan Wei stood right in front of him, there was nothing he could do but glare fiercely.
He said, “Yes, unfortunately, I didn’t die.”
Yan Wei replied without hesitation, “Why would you think I wanted you to die?”
Zhao Jingchen was taken aback.
By now, he had mostly cleaned the filth off his face, leaving only a few black-red stains sticking to his skin.
Zhao Jingchen usually cared the most about his face. Now, disfigured by the ghost and having damaged his Legendary Item to save his life, his eyes drooped, his gaze was sinister, and he lowered his voice, “You’re only saying that because you failed. No need to hide it, I also wish you were dead.”
Yan Wei murmured, “You’re still useful.” Dying so easily would yield few clues and reduce the ghost’s targets. Better to keep him alive.
In this instance, Body Data and Perception couldn’t be used, but high-level players could still use their Legendary Items. What Yan Wei wanted was for Zhao Jingchen to lose the advantage of his item.
Since the goal was already achieved, Yan Wei didn’t care at all about Zhao Jingchen’s thoughts. He just slightly lowered his head, carefully examining the traces on the ground.
“Being cryptic! Who told you I set a trap?”
“Who do you think saw your sneaky actions?” Yan Wei scoffed. “Everyone is busy looking for ways to leave, who has time to watch you? You were too obvious.”
The deliberately placed items in the first bathroom, the deliberately left-on light, and the locked door all blatantly indicated someone was inside, luring him to the next one.
And the slightly ajar door in the next bathroom was also deliberate.
Zhao Jingchen’s setup wasn’t bad, but it was precisely this meticulous arrangement that made Yan Wei sense the deliberate design. After some thought, he could almost deduce the contents of Zhao Jingchen’s trap.
So, he didn’t fully open the door to the second bathroom. Instead, he opened it slightly, sidestepped in, covered the two mirrors in the dark with cloth, and moved them out to their original positions.
Footsteps came from the direction of the dining car. Without looking, Yan Wei knew who it was.
Seeing Yan Mingguang and Lin Qing approaching, and without his Yue Mang players by his side, Zhao Jingchen was clearly at a disadvantage. He gave Yan Wei a cold glance and prepared to walk past him.
Yan Wei happened to look up and caught a glimpse of Zhao Jingchen’s face.
Those slightly pale eyes seemed frozen, instantly crystallizing with frost-like coldness.
His gentle voice took on a low tone, “…Zhou Tian?”
Zhao Jingchen paused, his delicate face still stained with black-red blood, and smiled smugly, “This face is nice, right? I had someone bring it out from an instance for me.”
With that, Zhao Jingchen walked around the mess on the floor and quickly left the carriage. As he passed by Yan Mingguang, the latter also glanced at his face.
Yan Wei narrowed his eyes, watching Zhao Jingchen’s retreating figure, and actually chuckled softly, muttering to himself, “Then I have no use for you anymore.”
His expression didn’t change much, but those peach-blossom-like eyes slightly tilted up, glowing faintly. A moment ago, his gaze seemed like that of a lazy, indifferent cat. Now, his amber eyes reflected Zhao Jingchen’s figure growing further away, with a frosty glint, giving off an air of vigilance and hostility.
Yan Mingguang walked up beside him. Without a word, he reached out and gently patted Yan Wei’s head.
When they first met, this man’s hands had crushed a pursuing skull barehanded. Yet now, placed gently on Yan Wei’s head, they carried no force, only warmth.
Yan Wei’s gaze suddenly softened.
He looked away from Zhao Jingchen’s departing figure, hands in his pockets, fingertips brushing the edge of a coin.
Zhao Jingchen, having just narrowly escaped death, didn’t notice this ghost. Yan Wei had been standing at the end of the carriage, behind the mirror, watching the ghost attack Zhao Jingchen.
“I just saw a complete ghost, the one now reduced to pieces,” Yan Wei said to Yan Mingguang and Lin Qing. “Many blunt force wounds, doesn’t seem like a clean kill. And the corpse was full of maggots, as if hidden in something…”
Lin Qing interjected, “A damp place? Ghosts rarely have maggots, and if they do, they’re usually fresh.”
Meaning within the last few days.
Lin Qing then squatted down in front of the mess.
Even Yan Wei, who was fastidious, found this disgusting. Zhao Jingchen had also avoided such nauseating traces earlier. But Lin Qing showed no disgust, aversion, or hesitation. Without even a frown, he reached into the mess and pulled out a piece of torn fabric.
“…” Yan Wei took a step back, away from Lin Qing’s hand, and said, “This is from the ghost’s clothes, all bloody, can’t see the style.”
Lin Qing didn’t care, his fingertips brushing over the palm-sized fabric fragment. “The fabric is coarse, highly absorbent, so it’s soaked with blood.”
He concluded, “It’s burlap.”
Lin Qing tossed the piece aside and fished out several more from the ground.
After a moment, he said, “All burlap.”
Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang exchanged glances. This time, Yan Mingguang spoke first, “Workers.”
Workers on the train.
If burlap was used entirely for clothing, it would hardly be comfortable. Wearing such fabric head-to-toe on an old train suggested it was more likely the uniform of train staff or workers.
The information stopped there.
The smell was unbearable, and there was nothing else of note. The three exchanged glances and decided to return to their sleeping compartment.
As for the mess on the floor… the train attendants would presumably handle the cleaning.
Back in carriage 11, the three entered the sleeping compartment one after another. Yan Mingguang sat beside Yan Wei as usual, while Lin Qing locked the door and sat on the other side.
“Although the Death Oppression Instance has many elements without origin or logic, unlike other instances with complete cause-and-effect stories to reason through, we need to find an item symbolizing the Stairway, which is definitely on the train. Our goals are twofold: find the Stairway and survive. Whether it’s figuring out what that item is or uncovering more death rules and conditions, knowing the ghost types and possible causes of death is essential.”
“Two possibilities,” Yan Wei raised a hand, gesturing “1.” “All the ghosts on this train are train staff or workers.”
He extended another finger, gesturing “2,” and continued, “Second possibility, both workers and passengers.”
Lin Qing pondered for a moment, “Seems unrelated to the bed numbers on the dining car’s blackboard, or why you were chosen.”
“Related, yet unrelated.”
“?”
“These things seem unrelated because, apart from the first person to arrive, the rest of us sixteen missed the most crucial information.”
Yan Mingguang picked up a bottle of mineral water they had prepared beforehand from the small table. He unscrewed the cap, took a sip, waited a moment, then handed it to Yan Wei, saying, “No problem.”
This was something they had done countless times during their first Ascension.
Yan Wei’s memory was suddenly triggered by this action. He and Yan Mingguang had once had a mild argument over this—he thought Yan Mingguang was taking too much risk. Since he had a day of invincibility to test things, he could fully handle potentially dangerous tasks, whether eating, drinking, or provoking NPCs. At the very least, he wouldn’t die that day.
But Yan Mingguang believed some dangers could be delayed, and he too would have his invincible day, so he always took the initiative to test things.
They had their first disagreement over this, and Yan Wei even lost his temper in the instance.
Later, he seemed to have relented, allowing Yan Mingguang to shield him. Fortunately, they had always been cautious, and such minor details never caused issues.
Yan Wei suddenly didn’t understand his past self. Why had he relented on something so dangerous? How had Yan Mingguang convinced him back then?
He couldn’t quite remember.
Although the memories returned, occasional recollections of these minor details seemed to have faded with time, and he couldn’t recall many of them clearly.
The opened water bottle was handed to him, and Yan Wei naturally took it, drinking a few sips to wash away the metallic taste in his throat.
Lin Qing glanced at the bottle’s mouth that both had drunk from: “…”
“What? Are you thirsty too?”
As if fearing Yan Wei might directly hand him the bottle, Yan Mingguang quickly grabbed a new bottle of water and tossed it to Lin Qing.
Lin Qing: “…”
Yan Wei looked at Yan Mingguang, “I think you must have noticed something in the dining car earlier?”
Yan Mingguang nodded almost imperceptibly, “I checked. The cigarette ash traces on the floor—Cao Qun stayed there for over twenty minutes.”
But when they arrived at the dining car, it had only been dawn for twenty minutes. Before dawn, even high-level players wouldn’t leave their resting areas unless something happened.
Meaning Cao Qun had gone to the dining car as soon as it was light.
Lin Qing’s solemn eyes shifted, “Cao Qun was the first to arrive at the dining car.”
“What bed number is Cao Qun?”
“Checked on the way, 1101,” Yan Mingguang said.
Yan Wei snapped his fingers, “The first target wasn’t me, it was Cao Qun.”
In front of the live projection of the eighty-ninth floor’s Gambling Tower Instance.
This type of instance projection was located deep within the Gambling Tower District, where ordinary players rarely ventured. Few high-level players came to watch—most no longer participated in Gambling Towers, choosing instead to wait for the instance to end and view the complete record on the Endless Stone Tablet.
Unlike the lively discussions in front of lower-floor instance projections, only a few players stood here, the atmosphere quiet.
Lin Zhen rubbed his forehead, his voice particularly loud in the silence, “Why?!!”
