Chapter 248 Train No. 444-11

Chapter 248 Train No. 444-11

The door opened.

Xiong Li's eyes widened in surprise.

Perhaps the sight of the group in front struggling to unlock the door had left too strong an impression on him, and Xiong Li had already prepared himself for a long delay here.

"Damn," the player couldn't help but exclaim sincerely, "Cen San Ya is amazing."

It was true that only Xiao Qin could open the door.

Qin Fei didn't respond, standing silently in front of the half-opened door, gently sniffing the air.

After the first wave of rotting corpses retreated, the entire train reeked, making the faint scent of blood wafting from the driver's cabin almost unnoticeable.

Xiong Li might not have seen it clearly, but Qin Fei knew very well.

The door to the driver's cabin wasn't opened by him.

The young man's amber eyes darkened slightly, a mysterious glint flashing in his gaze: "I think this door has always been open."

Cen San Ya's words might have another interpretation.

Only Qin Fei could open the door, which meant only he was qualified to enter.

Even if others could step inside, they wouldn't have the chance to come out alive.

Xiong Li was taken aback: "What do you mean? Are you saying—"

Someone has already gone in?

Qin Fei nodded.

That fresh scent of blood was still continuously emanating.

Someone had died in the driver's cabin.

And the death occurred no more than an hour ago.

"See?" Qin Fei pointed at the rule board, "Rule number two: When the door to the driver's cabin is open, the previous rule is nullified, and everyone can freely enter the driver's cabin."

"I have reason to believe this is a false rule."

The young man spoke softly but clearly, striking straight to the heart.

Xiong Li finally began to piece things together.

The door to the driver's cabin had always been open. Before their arrival, some players had mistakenly believed the second rule and entered the cabin.

What happened inside afterward, they didn't know.

But judging from the lingering scent of blood, whoever went in certainly didn't meet a good fate.

Mi Yang frowned: "If that's the case, then those players just now..."

"They were liars," Qin Fei said casually, as if he hadn't even noticed their elaborate yet flawed performance.

Xiong Li slapped his thigh: "Right! That must be it. Someone has already died inside, so no player would dare to enter easily. They set up this trap to lure us in as stepping stones."

He stared at the dark doorway, feeling an inexplicable pull from within.

There seemed to be a voice calling:

Come in.

Come and see.

You'll get what you want.

Xiong Li shook his head hard, and the hallucination vanished. His face turned grim as he checked his attribute panel, seeing a significant drop in his sanity points.

Mi Yang pondered, looking back at the carriage.

The NPC who had been following Xiao Qin was obediently searching under the seats and overhead luggage racks row by row.

Since they entered the carriage, no new players had arrived.

This carriage seemed to have been completely emptied, reserved specifically for them.

Mi Yang felt a sudden realization.

He suddenly understood why something had felt off throughout their journey.

"Haven't we not seen anyone from Butterfly?" Mi Yang asked.

The conflict between Xiao Qin and the Butterfly Guild had become widely known. Hearing this, Xiong Li also realized: "Indeed."

This seemed abnormal.

They had walked through all the carriages, spanning the entire train. Regardless of where Butterfly and his puppets were, they should have encountered each other along the way.

Moreover, those people were always so conspicuous; there was no way they could be overlooked.

"Their absence suggests they're hiding," Mi Yang paused, glancing at the driver's cabin.

No.

The possibility of Butterfly being inside was low.

A normal person would choose a safe and advantageous location for an ambush, rather than a dangerous small room from a horror tale.

In comparison, this cockpit is very likely to be a "gift" prepared by Butterfly specifically for Qin Fei.

—To plot against him and teach him a lesson.

And, in the ongoing Guild tournament, to give Black Feather a well-deserved slap in the face.

The cockpit door opened wider, facing Qin Fei directly, as if truly waiting for his arrival, only to keep him there forever.

Xiong Li downed a bottle of mental replenishment potion and couldn't help but exclaim, "So, are we going in or not?"

Perhaps turning back now would be the safer choice?

But Qin Fei's decision once again surprised him.

The young man smiled calmly, "Go in, why not?"

His clear, light-colored eyes looked into the darkness without showing any fear or any other emotion, as if he was oblivious to the dangers lurking within.

Now that they were here, what would it mean to turn away?

Besides, this was the door guaranteed by Cen San Ya.

The door that only he had the right to open.

Cen San Ya's prophecy was incomplete, not revealing why Qin Fei could enter, but this didn't affect Qin Fei's ability to deduce the reason from the conclusion.

The reason wasn't hard to guess.

The first rule on the rule board was clearly stated:

"The cockpit is for train staff use only. Unauthorized individuals must not enter without permission."

Without permission.

—What if with permission?

If there was any difference between Qin Fei and the other players on this train, it could only be the NPCs' favor towards him.

Qin Fei was certain that, at least up until now, he was undoubtedly the most favored by the saleswoman in the horror tale.

The qualification to enter might have been obtained because of this. There might be some hidden rules on this train, such as needing to reach a certain level of NPC favor to gain access to non-public areas.

"Since the whiteboard has fake rules, you shouldn't go in. I'll go in alone and check it out," Qin Fei said.

Out of politeness, he did not push the door open directly but symbolically knocked on the almost fully open green metal door.

Tap, tap, tap.

After three rhythmic knocks, a faint response came from inside the room:

"Come in."

Mi Yang raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Qin Fei stepped naturally into the room.

...

Although the door had been open, Qin Fei hadn't seen the room's interior until he entered.

There seemed to be an invisible fog barrier blocking the players' view.

Dim light illuminated the old wooden walls. In front of the cockpit, where the train's front glass should be, someone had nailed the same wood over it.

A rusty steering wheel was embedded alone on the control panel, and nearby was a tattered leather-backed chair.

The chair was empty.

No driver.

A moving train without a driver sounded terrifying.

But considering this was a horror tale, everything made sense.

Qin Fei blinked and couldn't help sighing softly, "What a pity."

The plan to ask the driver about the stops had fallen through.

The player, feeling regretful, walked around the room expressionlessly.

The air still reeked of blood, but Qin Fei saw no corpses anywhere.

The previous occupants were nowhere to be found, perhaps vanishing into thin air the moment they entered.

The floor and control panel of the cockpit were covered in thick dust, indicating that no one had been here for a long time. Qin Fei's steps left messy tracks on the ground.

He first went to the wall and looked at the train schedule hanging there.

The yellowed, curled paper had faded text, showing only four station markers.

Removing the starting station, three remained.

This suggested that the rule card Black Feather found, stating "the train will stop at three stations," wasn't fake.

But it was still impossible to tell which of the three stations was the "unsolvable world" and which was the "true endpoint."

Qin Fei pursed his lips, feeling a bit frustrated. He had put in so much effort to get here, only to find nothing.

Refusing to give up, he took out a flashlight and turned it to its maximum brightness, carefully examining every corner of the cockpit.

Dust particles scattered in the beam of light, causing Qin Fei to cough a few times. He turned his face away, but his pupils suddenly constricted when they inadvertently swept over a certain corner.

…Huh?

...

At the entrance of the cockpit.

"Tell me," Xiong Li looked at the half-closed green metal door, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes as he hesitated to speak, "why hasn't Xiao Qin come out yet?"

It had been almost ten minutes, and there was no sign of movement.

Mi Yang seemed somewhat agitated and did not respond, his dark eyes fixed on the door like a wolf's.

Like Xiong Li, Mi Yang was also feeling unsettled, but he didn't want to show it.

If their previous guesses were true, there might be more than one pair of eyes secretly observing them from the shadows right now.

The more panicked they appeared, the more it would boost others' morale.

"It's fine," Mi Yang muttered, almost to himself, "Didn't Cen San Ya say that Xiao Qin can enter the cockpit? He might have found some valuable clues inside, which is why he's taking so long."

"—Heh."

A sharp and short laugh suddenly came from behind, interrupting Mi Yang's words.

Mi Yang felt as if he had been pricked by a nail and turned around irritably.

What met his eyes was a somewhat familiar face.

Zhou Yong.

Mi Yang's expression instantly darkened.

Zhou Yong was one of the butterflies.

Moreover, in the previous construction site ghost story, he had directly confronted Qin Fei and Mi Yang.

At that time, Zhou Yong thought he had the upper hand, but Qin Fei had given him a harsh blow. Mi Yang still remembered how pale Zhou Yong's face turned when the ghost in the small dark room was released.

For both personal and professional reasons, this guy had quite a grudge against Xiao Qin.

Zhou Yong had somehow arrived behind the two of them without making a sound.

He looked at Mi Yang with an odd expression, a mix of pity and an indescribable sneer.

"Do you really think he'll come back out after going in?"

The muscles in Zhou Yong's cheeks trembled.

He deliberately raised his gaze and chin, showing a casual disdain.

His expression seemed to say:

Come on, ask me, beg me to tell you the truth.

Zhou Yong couldn't help but chuckle at Mi Yang's increasingly sour expression.

In fact, he hadn't expected Xiao Qin to fall for the trap so easily.

After discovering the trap in the second rule of the cockpit, they had set up this scheme, planning to use later players to test the waters.

But unexpectedly, the one who stepped into the trap was that person.

Thinking about what that damned youth had done to him in the previous ghost story, Zhou Yong's breathing became heavier.

"Stop waiting." Zhou Yong licked his teeth, as if they were stained with Qin Fei's flesh, "He won't come out, you—"

You're just wasting your time waiting.

But Zhou Yong's prepared words were cut off.

"Is that so?"

A clear voice came from behind the door, the rising tone seeming to carry a hint of pleasure, indicating the speaker's good mood.

A slender, fair hand emerged from the side of the door crack, followed by a face with exceptionally superior features.

The young man leaned against the door.

One hand was straightening the clothes he had messed up in the cockpit, while the other held something that flashed before everyone's eyes before he quickly stowed it away in his personal space.

He lifted his head and looked directly into Zhou Yong's eyes: "Who do you think won't come out, hmm?"