Chapter 80.1 Crimson Sunset Expedition
Qian Laiye finally grasped the reason behind Pei Wenwei’s odd glances. While discussing train schedules, he himself had brought up the matter of searching for a colored flag to locate their designated train.
His lips twitched slightly as he said, “I’ve seen such a flag before, with the words ‘Crimson Sunset Travel Agency’ written on it.”
Reflecting now, wasn’t that precisely the small flag frequently hold up by tour guides?
Solely the tour guides point passengers toward the correct train, signifying that it was her who had installed the colored flag. This tour guide was currently aboard the train.
Tian Shu possessed pale skin, a classic oval face, and eyes that resembled large black pearls.
These attractive qualities gathered together, yet didn’t give off the slightest beauty. At a first glance, her looks appeared commonplace. Now, as everyone continued to gaze at her, they unexpectedly felt uneasy.
If anyone had been pondering whether the tour guide was an NPC or a player with a side quest, they now strongly inclined towards the former.
Wen Shi said with conviction, “She’s an NPC.”
After the broadcast issued a reminder to the passengers, Tian Shu had asked if the broadcast was referring to the tourists who had arrived before them. From a player’s perspective, rather than using the term “tourists”, their foremost consideration would certainly be monsters or the previous batch of players who had been wiped out.
Confronting the cautious looks from everyone, Tian Shu’s eager expression faded quickly. She used one hand to remove her wig, revealing her naturally stylish and neat silver hair.
“Sorry about that,” she apologized sincerely. “This batch of tourists seem tight on money. I wanted to finish work early, so I organized a little game to liven up the atmosphere before the trip.”
“……” The expressions on the players around Tian Shu were quite a sight. Was killing tourists the way to end work?
Wen Shi had already known NPCs think differently from humans. He had one thought in his mind: she’s really good at reading people.
There was only a bit of change in his wallet, and other players probably had the same.
“Now that you’ve found me,” Tian Shu acted as if nothing had happened. She shed her timidity, and her personality turned very cheerful, “For the rest of our journey, I’ll make sure to arrange things well for all of you. By the way, please never call me by my name directly. Just call me Miss Tour Guide.”
Wen Shi suddenly asked, “Is your shadow on the opposite train?”
The tour guide smiled and patted her chest. “Only those who’ve lost their original intentions have shadows. My original intention has always been intact.”
She genuinely began to fulfill her role, actively explaining questions about original intention. “In life, we face all sorts of choices. What made you all the people you are today?”
The tour guide looked at Crew Cut Guy. “Just like you, stepping on others’ bodies to get on the platform.”
Crew Cut Guy appeared quite uneasy.
“But given the urgent situation back then, I didn’t see any problem,” she glanced up and down at Crew Cut Guy, “at your age now, you must have faced significant life choices.”
Crew Cut Guy was the oldest among everyone, twenty-eight years old, becoming only one year younger.
He grumbled, “I grew up with my grandmother since childhood. Later, she developed dementia in her old age. I took care of her. Last winter, she went missing. I struggled with whether to go look for her.”
Surviving desperately in the game was already painful enough. Crew Cut Guy had had enough of coming back only to find someone getting up in the middle of the night, nervously splashing water on the floor and claiming to be cleaning. He had had enough of endlessly dealing with problems.
“And then?” Qian Laiye couldn’t help but ask.
Crew Cut Guy ruffled his hair impatiently, “In the end, I did go look for her.”
He would do anything to save his own life, but when faced with loved ones, he couldn’t bring himself to be ruthless.
The tour guide smiled brightly, “You see, you went against your primal instinct. Clearly, your original intention was to let your grandmother freeze to death in the cold night.”
Her notion of original intention referred to the moments when humans come up with their most outrageous ideas.
“How to break free from double standards, eliminate hypocrisy, and achieve equality among all creatures in the natural world? It’s the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest! Crimson Sunset Expedition focuses on helping you rediscover your lost primal instincts.”
Qian Laiye said icily, “When people lose their sense of propriety, what sets them apart from beasts?”
The tour guide merely smiled as she looked at him.
Wen Shi whispered, “The tour guide isn’t really human, and this travel agency is obviously not run by humans either.”
Qian Laiye: “……”
He blamed himself for being presumptuous.
After explaining the significance of the trip, the tour guide took out a handful of melon seeds from her pocket, sat down, and started snacking. As if watching a show, she looked at the players not far away hurriedly rummaged through the bags.
“Let’s go.” Wen Shi turned around.
Since the guide wasn’t a shadow, Li Nan and Xiao Hua had left half a minute ago. The most important thing right now was still the side quest.
Suddenly, a newbie caught up. The player who had been searching a carriage alongside him, weakened by the earlier candy incident, now had his attention scattered from the task at hand.
“Hello, I’m Song Yan,” the newbie introduced himself as he caught up from behind. “You’re impressive. I’d like to learn from you for a while.”
Wen Shi: “Sure.”
He agreed too readily, catching others off guard.
Wen Shi: “My motto is to do one good deed a day.”
Back in Carriage No. 08, Wen Shi lay down directly on the lower bunk and started lounging around.
Song Yan was momentarily puzzled.
“Balancing work and rest,” he played with his phone. “I’ve already exposed the tour guide. Let someone else handle the clue-finding.”
Qian Laiye didn’t criticize him for being lazy at this crucial moment. He was preparing to search through a few bags on his own. Just then, his phone rang, causing him to halt. Another player had sent a clue: 【Shadow is male】.
Almost at the same time, Song Yan tentatively asked, “Could you teach me something?”
With half-closed eyes, Wen Shi appeared to be resting, but he was actually easing the aftermath of using the knife. “Let’s talk about the Shadow Hunt quest.”
Now Qian Laiye turned in the same manner, wanting to hear his perspective.
Wen Shi: “Which train is safer?”
Without hesitation, Song Yan replied, “The one with the shadow.”
The tour guide had mentioned it herself. Her shadow was not on the K9999 train. This meant that the shadows faced a smaller pitfall compared to the players.
Wen Shi nodded. “If you were the game, how would you balance this?”
Song Yan lowered his head, lost in thought.
Wen Shi provided a hint, “Creating several death rules without reason goes against the fairness of the game.”
The guide hadn’t lost her original intention, so she didn’t have a shadow. That was logical. Adding death rules to the shadows for no apparent reason would be rather childish.
Song Yan instinctively thought of the simplest and most direct solution, “Include an extremely powerful player among the shadows.”
After saying it, he suddenly realized, “As you said before, players who can blend in with us must be brave and cunning just like you… On this train, there’s a powerful shadow, and their original self must be exceptionally strong as well. It doesn’t make sense for them to fail boarding the train, let alone be eliminated right at the beginning.”
Qian Laiye’s eyelid twitched on the side. That’s quite a bit of flattery.
Wen Shi: “In the next round, someone might have received a different quest, to hunt down shadows on the K9999 train.”
Otherwise, even if it were himself, he wouldn’t rashly board a train full of shadows.
“The game won’t send people to their deaths directly.” Wen Shi turned over and continued staring at his phone. “So that person must be incredibly, incredibly powerful, to the point that their skills might not be entirely locked.”
Though he didn’t know what the skills were, Song Yan touched the edge of the truth, “So, we just need to select the most formidable players among us on this train.”
Reasoning out the side quest for the first time, he felt incredibly excited, looking at Wen Shi and Qian Laiye and saying, “So this is the strength of experienced players!”
Qian Laiye: “……”
Please don’t arbitrarily elevate our skills.
He gathered his thoughts. “The most powerful people here are undoubtedly the leaders of the two major guilds. After that, it’s the trusted members they brought along, Fu Zhixu from First Commandment and Xiao Hua from Second Commandment.”
“Let’s wait for the self-exposure.” Wen Shi’s gaze remained fixed on his phone for a moment. “Given their abilities, it’s impossible for them not to find a single clue. We just need to see who hasn’t sent out the last clue, or intentionally sent misleading false clues.”
Qian Laiye suddenly asked, “Whom do you suspect?”
“What about you?”
Qian Laiye fell silent briefly, then said after a moment, “Yu Xingzhou.”
He had sensed something amiss since the grouping. Yu Xingzhou’s way of splitting seemed flawless at first glance, but it granted him the freedom to move around. Even if he destroyed or fabricated clues, no one would notice.
Wen Shi: “I think it’s him too. Yu Xingzhou has been wearing a mask all along, skipping even the subtle facial expressions. He’s the perfect fit for an undercover role.”
“……” Absurd, but strangely sensible.
When there were just five minutes left, the group chat messages increased slightly.
Song Yan went through the clues one by one and read them aloud, “Not one of the last three to board the train, fair skin, contrasting cuteness…”
His brow furrowed. “What the hell is ‘contrasting cuteness’?”
As he thought about it more, this clue seemed to subtly hint that the shadow might appeared weak but had hidden strengths. Regardless of whether it was a reference or not, this clue didn’t match their deduced candidates at all.
“You’ll know what it means when you check it out.”
Wen Shi shifted his body, got up from the bunk, and quickly messaged Li Nan, asking him to take the lead.
Yu Xingzhou’s shadow was definitely not weak. Wen Shi was also prepared to use the kitchen knife again if needed.
After sending the message, there was no reply for a while. Wen Shi raised an eyebrow, “Could they have started fighting already?”
Li Nan’s reasoning abilities were strong. He might have spotted something before Wen Shi did.
As they moved forward, the commotion grew louder, and messages were coming in the group chat:【Li Nan has made a move against Yu Xingzhou!】
A hint of relief appeared on Qian Laiye’s face. “It’s a good thing Li Nan’s shadow didn’t show up.”
Between the two major guilds, the First Commandment had slightly more overall strength, but Second Commandment was wealthier, with its industries spread throughout the virtual world.
Wen Shi didn’t quite agree with this assessment. “Yu Xingzhou must have something about him that’s better suited for dealing with shadows. The game considered various factors and placed him on the K9999 train.”
When they were getting close, Wen Shi activated the camera function on his phone and handed it to Song Yan.
Song Yan was puzzled.
Wen Shi: “Record something later.”
While searching the carriages, ‘Yu Xingzhou’ deliberately chose a spot near the front of the train. It was a strategic move, to occupy the driver’s cabin in case of danger. However, notices prohibiting entry were posted on the exterior, so he ultimately didn’t dare to trespass.
It took Wen Shi’s group several minutes just to walk to the front of the train. The cramped space wasn’t suitable for a full-on fight. Most people were blocked at the back, with Li Nan and Xiao Hua leading the assault.
“Excuse me.” Wen Shi squeezed to the very front to observe the battle.
To prevent being seen, the curtains of the first two carriages were drawn closed. The front carriage was dimly lit. They could only vaguely make out the back-and-forth movements, swift strikes like flying kicks and elbow hits.
Watching experts fight was still thrilling. Many elite players could compete for world championships in martial arts.
Wen Shi clicked his tongue, “I should have signed up for a combat class.”
Cornered, ‘Yu Xingzhou’ still had a faint gloss on his mask despite the low visibility.
“Xiao Hua,” he growled softly, “You believed in Li Nan but not me, and even helping other guild leader to gang up against me.”
Xiao Hua said helplessly, “When crazed Pei Wenwei boarded the train, you didn’t make any effort to stop him.”
At the time, Pei Wenwei wasn’t in his right mind. If he were the real guild leader, he wouldn’t have remained indifferent. Moreover, after such a long fight that hadn’t been categorized as mutual destruction, it was already enough to explain the situation.
In the three-way battle, with two against one, ‘Yu Xingzhou’ didn’t have the upper hand at all.
Wen Shi spoke in a timely manner, “Don’t kill him. In case the real Guild Leader Yu is discovered over there, we can use this as leverage for a hostage exchange. Ensuring Guild Leader Yu’s safety is more important than letting him return freely. ”
After speaking, he glanced back at Song Yan, who nodded, indicating he had recorded it.
Taking the phone back, Wen Shi checked the recording and said, “When doing good deeds, always leave a trace.”
Song Yan took a deep breath. “If we get discovered, we probably won’t even have time for a hostage exchange. We’ll be killed first.”
Wen Shi shook his head. “If it were me, I’d choose to severely injure Yu Xingzhou for the exchange, trading one Yu Xingzhou for two players. Xiao Hua will definitely agree to save their guild leader, and might even capture him herself. Regardless of the outcome, this plan will sow discord within our team.”
Song Yan’s heart skipped a beat. If the original self was acting this way, it was hard to imagine how deranged his shadow could be.
“Surrender and don’t resist,” Wen Shi was close to making a broadcast announcement, “Mr. Shadow, if you persist, I’ll have to bring out the kitchen knife. I can maintain my short-term sanity.”
Continuing to fight would only lead to receiving several unnecessary cuts.
The shadow was well aware of this point. Its desperate resistance was simply a bid to drag everyone down with it. Upon hearing that the other side had no intention of killing, it quickly began to weigh its options.
Wen Shi said, “Given the current situation, giving it your all might not even guarantee killing one. You might as well take a chance on this last glimmer of hope.”
Unfortunately, trust was not part of the shadow’s makeup. It struggled for a moment, then continued its assault. The prospect of the final slaughter held more appeal for it.
Wen Shi couldn’t convince it alone. He needed someone to back him up.
A faint voice soon emerged from the crowd, tinged with a hint of relief, “Yu Xingzhou’s shadow lacks his rationality. So it seems his shadow isn’t as formidable as we imagined.”
There was a deliberate undertone to this statement, but it wasn’t baseless.
For example, in Wen Shi’s case, his current physical state was from his youth. Even if his shadow inherited all his later memories and abilities, it couldn’t completely discard the rebelliousness of his teenage years.
Ultimately, the shadow was a set of data generated by the game based on the player’s information. While their thinking might be similar, it was impossible for them to completely align.
Uncontrolled sparks flickered in the eyes of Yu Xingzhou’s shadow.
Not measuring up to the original self felt like a direct jab at a vulnerable spot. He couldn’t help but wonder what the original Yu Xingzhou would do in this situation. Reluctantly, he had to admit that not only would his original self, but he might even voluntarily propose a hostage exchange to save his life.
The mask concealed his expression, but it couldn’t hide the clearly intensified breaths and the raised veins on the back of his hand.
Li Nan and Xiao Hua didn’t chase after their victory. They waited silently as the shadow went through its internal struggle.
Taking three steps back, the shadow finally chose to cease its attacks.
Wen Shi turned his head slightly, “This is what they call winning without fighting.”
Witnessing the entire ordeal, Song Yan’s eyes lit up, “They say you’re the most skilled among the newbies, but the top players on the train are even more skilled than you. If the top five aren’t god-tier players, then who is?”
He still remembered what Qian Laiye said about the rankings of skilled players earlier.
Another newbie gazed at Li Nan and Xiao Hua with admiration upon hearing Song Yan’s words.
The god-tier players: “……”
Please do not randomly look for references.
Xiao Hua twisted a bedsheet into a rope and approached, securely binding ‘Yu Xingzhou’. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. Everyone has the desire to conquer. Binding the most authoritative boss, even if it was just a shadow, made her feel strangely excited.
Wen Shi cleared his throat and reminded her, “Your eyes…”
Xiao Hua quickly restrained herself.
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