Xu Miaomiao propped her chin on her hand and said, “Items that represent stairways usually carry significant symbolic meaning and play a crucial role in the generation of the entire instance. If the content of the retrospection is real, then the photo hidden as evidence is the key to breaking the tragedy. The stairway is undoubtedly it.”
Yan Wei responded, “There are no delusions in this retrospection. Although the owner of the retrospection harbors resentment, the entire timeline from start to finish is very short, and the flashbacks are rapid, with no barriers for you to break. The worker has no need to deceive anyone to lure players into helping break barriers. This retrospection is a preserved record of the most resentful injustice he experienced in his life. It’s essentially a recording.”
The sleeping compartment, crowded with five people, fell into silence.
The increasingly heavy smell of rust in the air deepened the wordless atmosphere. The five who had learned the content of the retrospection knew very well that this wasn’t the rust of an old train but the growing stench of blood as Li Mao continued to kill the “workers.” Soon, the train would begin to emit a foul odor and a thick, bloody scent, and Li Mao’s killing speed would accelerate drastically—because in the retrospection, Li Mao’s fourth murder spree resulted in the deaths of all living people on the train.
“So this instance is actually in its final countdown,” Lin Qing said slowly. “The first murder was the worker in bed 1101, the second was the two workers whose bed numbers were written on the blackboard today, the third was when the worker Ding Xiao retrieved the retrospection discovered the truth, and the fourth was when Li Mao killed all the living people on the train after killing those workers who had gone to the front of the train.”
Yan Wei shook his head. “It’s indeed entering the countdown, but not four times—it’s three. The third and fourth murders happened consecutively. Once the players corresponding to the bed numbers of those workers in the third murder are all dead, Li Mao will immediately start the massacre. We need to find the stairway before the third murder begins.”
“Tomorrow is the last day,” Yan Mingguang said. Compared to the solemn expressions of the others, he remained calm, his pure black eyes like an unfathomable pool of still water, showing no extra emotional fluctuations. Instead, he exuded a sense of composure.
But he lowered his gaze, one arm draped over Yan Wei’s shoulder, half his face hidden in the shadow cast by the upper bunk. No one noticed how indifferent his eyes were.
The constant rumble of the train’s movement rhythmically pounded in everyone’s ears. This sound had been present since they boarded the train and would never cease.
Yan Wei spread his hands. “Don’t be so gloomy. The low pressure in this room makes it feel like we’re more resentful than the Ghosts/Monsters. The instance is entering its countdown, but haven’t we also reached the final step?”
The Death Oppression Instance wasn’t like those eerie and unpredictable horror or mystery instances that went all out to lay out a fog of confusion, causing players to get lost and fall into traps. On the contrary, the Death Oppression Instance was very direct when it came to the key to breaking the situation—like the photo this time. Since they had seen that photo, the item’s location at the front of the train wouldn’t be subject to much variation.
The difficulty always lay in—how to obtain that item?
In other words—where exactly is that elusive front of the train?
Xu Miaomiao naturally thought of this as well. She frowned, her mind racing with thoughts, and just as she opened her mouth to speak, “There are a few situations—”
Yan Wei spoke almost simultaneously with her: “It sounds impossible, but it’s also possible.”
Hearing her speak, Yan Wei paused, then nodded slightly, signaling for Xu Miaomiao to speak first.
But Xu Miaomiao opened her mouth, only to find that she no longer wanted to say what she had intended. When she acted with other players from Manjusaka, she was the core of the team, the one who pointed out the key points and corrected others’ mistakes. But with Yan Wei, she felt overshadowed.
She couldn’t help but feel that if she spoke, it would come off as useless showmanship.
The other party was clearly a high-level novice with far less instance experience than her.
Xu Miaomiao felt a pang of annoyance. She had just been wondering why Ding Xiao and Lin Qing seemed to revolve around Yan Wei, thinking that she should at least show her worth in front of Ding Xiao. But in the end, it was she who lost her nerve first.
She said in a low voice, “You’ve thought more thoroughly than I have. You speak.”
Yan Wei didn’t stand on ceremony and chuckled lightly. “Alright. The reason we find it difficult is that this train seems to have no end. Ding Xiao tried, other players tried, and He Dong even died on his way to the back of the train. But I remember that when we boarded the train, we saw the front of the train because it was approaching us from the distance. At that time, the front of the train wasn’t too far from us, and we were in carriage eleven…”
“But I walked forward dozens of carriages,” Ding Xiao said, “and still found no end.”
“That’s the strange part. Where there’s anomaly, there’s something to investigate—why did the train seem to stretch infinitely after it started moving? Li Mao wanted a train that never stopped, but this train seems to have no end.”
Lin Qing leaned against the sliding door, his hands folded as he thought for a moment. “Could the starting point signify the beginning? After this train was affected by resentment, the front of the train became an abstract concept rather than a physical one. The place where we boarded, the dining carriage, is the front of the train. Instances in the Ascension often have this blend of the real and the illusory.”
Yan Wei glanced at the folder on the table, blinked, and said while thinking, “That’s possible. But it’s dinner time now, and Li Mao will be active around the dining carriage. We can’t check it now; we’ll have to wait until tomorrow. For now, we need to figure out how to allocate the sleeping compartments for the five of us tonight.”
Lin Qing said, “I’ll go check the two scenes in carriage eleven.”
After Yan Wei nodded, Lin Qing opened the sliding door and walked to the front carriage. He needed to see if the traces of the bodies were still there.
“Five people will definitely need three compartments. One person will have to be alone, while the other two pair up,” Yan Wei said. “I won’t die today. Although my Undying State will disappear after midnight, my survival probability is still much higher. I can take a compartment alone.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mao’s voice seemed to echo from outside: “Passengers, dinner is ready. Please come out and take your meals.”
The voice grew closer, accompanied by the sound of rolling wheels. Yan Wei, sitting on the bunk, slightly leaned out to look. He saw Li Mao, still dressed in his clean and tidy chef’s uniform, pushing a cart towards them with meal boxes on it.
Seeing that Li Mao had already handed a meal box to Lin Qing, who was at the front, and was approaching, Yan Mingguang immediately stood up and walked to the door.
Xu Miaomiao glanced at the folder on the small table. Hearing the cart stop, she was still worried that Li Mao might see the folder, so she reached out, took it, and temporarily hid it behind her back.
At the door, Yan Mingguang said indifferently, “Four people.”
“Four dinners,” Li Mao’s slightly hoarse voice rang out. He counted four meal boxes, stacked them, and handed them to Yan Mingguang, his tone still full of enthusiasm. “Enjoy your meal!”
He didn’t linger, pushing the cart away to find the next carriage’s passengers.
Xu Miaomiao let out a sigh of relief, took the folder from behind her back, and placed it back on the table. Outside, Yan Mingguang, holding the four meal boxes, turned around and closed the door.
Yan Wei said, “Let’s eat first.”
The meal boxes emitted the aroma of food, slightly dispersing the increasingly strong smell of rust and decay in the air. But everyone was in no mood for food at the moment. They quickly opened the boxes, ate a few bites to stay full, and finished dinner.
Not long after, Lin Qing returned.
“I’ve already had dinner,” Lin Qing said. “The two rooms in carriage eleven are now clean. Li Mao must have tidied them up. There’s still a player alive in the bunk room where 1101 was. He was originally with Cao Qun, but since Cao Qun died with us, he’s not too keen on joining us.”
Yan Wei took out the train layout Lin Qing had drawn earlier and pointed to three bunk rooms: the second and third rooms in carriage eleven and the first room in carriage twelve.
“So, currently, the rooms we have access to are these three. Five people will be distributed in a two-two-one arrangement. After tonight, tomorrow we’ll go to the dining carriage to check again. Tomorrow, we must find the ‘front of the train.'”
Yan Wei had initially planned to take a room alone, with the other two pairing up, but Yan Mingguang disagreed, citing that he had flipped through the folder. However, Yan Wei didn’t agree, and the others felt that having one person alone was more dangerous after flipping through the folder. After some negotiation, they reached a compromise.
Yan Wei and Lin Qing would share a room in the first room of carriage twelve. If anything happened, Lin Qing’s presence would ensure that they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in situations requiring physical action.
Xu Miaomiao would have a room to herself, staying in her original room—this was her own suggestion. Compared to the others, she was more balanced, not particularly strong in combat but still capable, and deduction was her strength. She was more suited to being alone than others who needed to watch out for each other.
Yan Mingguang, unexpectedly, was paired with Ding Xiao.
Yan Mingguang had no opinion on this arrangement.
Yan Wei was somewhat surprised. During their first Ascension, he and Yan Mingguang had saved Ding Xiao together. He couldn’t remember the specifics of how it happened or what occurred at the time, but he remembered that since then, Ding Xiao had always regarded him as a benefactor. Yan Mingguang, with his strong possessiveness, had therefore always treated Ding Xiao with a less-than-friendly attitude.
This distribution was actually quite good. Everyone had someone to watch out for, and Xu Miaomiao, who was alone, hadn’t been targeted yet and was staying in a bunk room where no incidents had occurred.
Yan Wei was worried that Yan Mingguang, while appearing calm, might turn around and make things difficult for Ding Xiao. Before they dispersed, he sat on the bunk and grabbed Yan Mingguang’s hand.
Warmth passed through their palms as the man turned to look at him, his gaze lowering. Yan Wei whispered, “Take care of Ding Xiao—but of course, you’re the most important.”
Xu Miaomiao, who hadn’t gone far yet: “…???” Who’s taking care of whom??
Yan Mingguang patted the back of his hand with his other hand, as if soothing a nervous cat.
“Hmm.”
Yan Wei paused. Lin Qing was sitting across from him, and Ding Xiao and Xu Miaomiao had already gone to their respective rooms. The overcast sky that had persisted all day finally let in a few rays of warm, yellow evening sunlight, which filtered through the curtains, casting the striped patterns of the curtains onto the walls. In the dappled light, darkness and light intertwined.
He suddenly wanted to ask Yan Mingguang—is there anything else you haven’t told me?
But after a pause, he simply looked up and smiled at Yan Mingguang. “It’s up to you to find a way to return the folder.”
They couldn’t keep the folder with them for too long. Since it had been stolen from Li Mao’s room, once Li Mao discovered it was missing, their fate would undoubtedly be death—this was also why the other two players had been so quick to trade information for it.
It was a clue, but also a hot potato.
Yan Mingguang picked up the folder from the table and nodded slightly. “Be careful tonight. Call me if anything happens.”
Lin Qing, who had been a background presence all along, finally spoke up in a low voice. “If anything happens tonight, I’m also here beside Yan Wei.”
Yan Wei: “…”
Yan Mingguang: “…”
Sorry, we really forgot.
After Yan Mingguang closed the sliding door from the outside, the room was left with only Yan Wei and Lin Qing sitting across from each other on the bunks. The dappled, warm yellow light grew dimmer, and a damp chill seeped in from all sides, bitingly cold.
Yan Wei was still smiling, the corners of his lips slightly raised, the tips of his peach-blossom-like eyes gently upturned. But the moment the sliding door fully closed, the smile in his eyes faded along with the sound of the door closing.
Lin Qing, expressionless, was lowering his head, organizing the clues they had gathered that day, untangling the messy logic, just as he had done the previous day.
Yan Wei’s gaze followed the dim light to the tightly closed sliding door. He subconsciously raised his hand, touched the collar of his loose outer garment, and inhaled the lingering scent of Yan Mingguang on it.
He said, “Lin Qing.”
Lin Qing looked up at him.
Yan Wei leaned back against the pillow, his entire body buried in the shadows. His tone was casual. “If a person is kept in the dark about many things by the person they trust the most, but still unconditionally trusts and relies on them—is that person a fool?”
Lin Qing’s brain, devoid of negative emotions, seemed to stall for a moment. His eyes shifted as he seriously considered the question. His eyes, the same color as Yan Mingguang’s, were filled with a lifeless, unshakable seriousness, now layered with thoughtful contemplation.
All his impulsive, curious, and doubtful emotions were reserved for Lin Zhen. Even if his “younger brother” was scratching his head in front of a projection, eager to know what Yan Wei was thinking, Lin Qing, sitting across from Yan Wei, remained utterly uninterested.
After a moment, Lin Qing answered, “From the perspectives of behavior and psychology, rather than calling that person a fool, I think it’s more accurate to say they’re pretending to be one.”
“Boom—”
A low rumble of thunder came from the distant horizon, like an ancient bell marking the countdown to the instance, hanging the sword of death over the heads of every still-living player.
Yan Wei yawned, glanced at the window completely covered by the curtains, and complained, “It’s going to rain again… it’s cold.”
After Yan Mingguang secretly returned the folder to Li Mao’s room, Ding Xiao was sitting on the bed, watching him.
She seemed hesitant to speak.
Seeing that Yan Mingguang had calmly checked every corner of the bunk room, the atmosphere in the room eerily quiet, she finally asked, “Did you suggest sharing a room with me for a reason?”
Yan Mingguang paused.
“I touched the folder. Tonight won’t be peaceful, and I didn’t want Yan Wei to see it,” he said. The content of his words was cold, but when speaking of Yan Wei, Yan Mingguang’s tone always softened slightly.
Encouraged, Ding Xiao ventured another question. “Does he not remember who you are?”
Yan Mingguang seemed reluctant to say more, merely stating lightly, “He remembers some.”
Ding Xiao understood.
Remembering some meant he still forgot some.
