Chapter 82.1 Crimson Sunset Expedition
Wen Shi was quite strong, but picking up a large jar with his current body was a bit challenging.
“Li Nan,” Wen Shi shouted as he stepped onto the pedal, “Catch.”
To make sure Yu Xingzhou’s shadow wouldn’t get away, Li Nan pushed the person towards the bunk next to the carriage door. He then leaned out halfway, looking directly at the bloody head in the jar.
The newbie without a tongue: “abababa…”
He was trying hard to make a sound.
Right then, Wen Shi’s head appeared from behind the jar. “Quick.”
Li Nan silently took the jar. The tour guide who had come over to see what was happening stepped back in disgust when she saw what was inside. “What’s that? What kind of grudge is this?”
Li Nan didn’t know how to reply. When he was about to find a place to set it down, the tour guide, even more disgusted, urged him, “Hurry up and throw it away!”
Following the creature’s line of thought, Li Nan calmly suggested, “Just treat it as a bonsai.”
“……”
Moving his sore wrist a bit, Wen Shi emptied the thermos and filled it with cold water. When the old lady dripped a drop of blood into it, the water instantly turned murky black.
Holding the thermos, he walked over and poured it into the jar in front of the tour guide. As he poured, he told the newbie, “If you manage to get out alive, remember to pay me back with those three vials of potion and the points from the jar.”
With no time to spare, he had to hurry. Once the water was mostly poured, he got off the train and continued his task.
The jar was moved to a small table beside the lower bunk, right next to the shadow of Yu Xingzhou, who was also tied up. Exchanging intense gazes, a tear of blood trickled down the newbie’s eye.
Unable to bear it, the shadow wanted to reach out and close the newbie’s eyes, but he was restrained. In a cold voice, he said to Li Nan, “Pull his eyelids back.”
Staring like that for so long was quite unsettling.
Li Nan paid no attention, pulling the curtain back slightly. He kept an eye on the players outside doing their tasks and the platform passengers, all while keeping a watchful eye on the tour guide.
Wen Shi was currently within his field of vision. After completing his good deed, he continued searching for survivors with his suitcase.
The group quest was for players to greet human passengers. Wen Shi hadn’t quite figured out what this world’s definition of “human” was yet.
Those worms seemed to be transformed humans. Some of the beast-faced, human-bodied beings around the platform were carrying briefcases, while others were on the phone discussing work. Ignoring appearances, they interacted with others much like humans.
While Wen Shi frowned, he pondered another matter, “How did that newbie get caught in this mess, anyway?”
A robbery would create quite a commotion, with struggling and shouting. When he heard the sound, it was an immediate scream, indicating that the newbie was caught off guard.
Lost in thought, Song Yan and Qian Laiye arrived in succession.
People tend to empathize with others’ misfortunes. Song Yan asked softly, “Is he still alive?”
Wen Shi nodded, “Yes, he’s alive. But surviving in such a way as a regular person will surely create a lot of mental stress. I’ll have my Grandma offer him some comfort when we get back.”
The old lady found the joy of living alone inside the suitcase, thinking she could share her experiences with the newbie.
Hearing this, Song Yan’s lips trembled as he forced out a couple of dry laughs.
He tried to change the topic, “What if we hide our wallets in the carriage or give them to the players left behind in the carriage? Could that prevent theft?”
“This carriage has other passengers on board, and among them, there might be thieves. As for the second option,” Wen Shi asked with a smile, “why do you think the tour guide didn’t get off?”
A tour guide, who loved to be in the center of excitement, staying in the carriage was itself an illogical thing.
Song Yan’s voice trembled slightly, “So even the tour guide might…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, suddenly realizing that anyone could handle the task of guarding the shadow. Why did they leave the currently most powerful player? Others might not be able to withstand the tour guide.
Qian Laiye added, “Li Nan’s place isn’t safe either. When it comes to quests, we have to rely on ourselves.”
Staring at the dense crowd for a moment, Wen Shi suddenly said, “Let me borrow your shoulder.”
Qian Laiye seemed to understand what he wanted to do and helped Wen Shi climb onto the top of the train carriage.
“This metal…” The train was almost baked through by the sun. Wen Shi’s palms turned bright red from the heat. He pulled down the hood of his sportswear, providing some shade from the blazing sun. Squinting, he observed from above.
His fingers didn’t stop moving, occasionally typing a sentence.
【Wolf head, human body, long face, sharp nails, hands can’t bend.】
【Double peaks on the back, thick and long neck, tall and large in size.】
Messages in the Sunflowers group chat came in one after another, forming a composition describing appearances.
After sending a dozen or so messages, Wen Shi returned to the ground. “Let’s go.”
Qian Laiye had left a couple of minutes earlier, holding the information and comparing it in the crowd. Song Yan watched this scene from a distance and muttered, “Aren’t we supposed to find someone?”
Why are we comparing animals?
Keeping his eyes on all directions while walking, Wen Shi explained, “If we set up an evolutionary system, it would encompass humans, beastkin, and monsters disguised as humans. If the players followed the will of the worms for survival while in the train carriage, they would gradually undergo a transformation into these creatures. However, the process of transformation cannot happen overnight.”
Song Yan quickly caught on, “So we’re looking for passengers who are still in the process of transformation.”
Wen Shi nodded. “These kinds of passengers should still count as humans, and even if they don’t, the punishment for greeting them will be much lighter compared to encountering monsters.”
Although the train station was crowded, there were only a few fixed types of passengers with animal heads and human bodies, each with distinct physical features.
“Found one.” Wen Shi strode over with his suitcase and stopped a passenger with a wolf head. The person was holding a sausage, and his hands could bend like a human’s. Unlike others of the same type, his neck wasn’t covered by longer fur.
“Hello.” Wen Shi stopped and greeted as required by the quest.
The wolf passenger chewed on the sausage, revealing long and narrow fangs, and mumbled in response, “Hello.”
From the moment Wen Shi appeared to when he greeted, the passenger took deep sniffs a few times, and focused intently on the elongated neck while tearing into the grilled sausage with a fierce bite, as if he were eating the other person’s flesh. However, there was no further aggressive action.
After the greeting, Wen Shi stepped back cautiously. Both parties were once again blocked by the continuous flow of people. Once he was sure he couldn’t see the wolf passenger, the tension in his shoulders finally eased.
Song Yan wiped the sweat off his forehead, feeling a hint of tension even when watching from the sidelines.
The design of this platform was quite unique, without any shaded areas. Being tightly wound up and squeezed in the crowd, he felt dizzy just looking around. It was a sign of heatstroke.
Song Yan shook his head vigorously, trying to focus his mind.
Nothing was more alerting than screams. As he continued to rub his temples, two screams came, one after the other.
They exchanged a glance and hurried over.
Within the guidelines for game publication, it was explicitly stated that once disguises were revealed, engaging in taboo acts of deception was prohibited. As the focus shifted to completing quests, players naturally dropped the pretense of disguise, though they remained cautious of potential ambushes by those in their vicinity.
Wen Shi managed to squeeze in smoothly.
Among the onlookers, there were both players and shadows. A few took a glance and prepared to leave. This newly afflicted person was just like the previous one—no limbs or tongue, losing the ability to communicate. Staying here would only waste time.
The unlucky newbie, who fell victim first, had dropped his phone on the ground. With the Sunflowers group chat interface still on display, he was easy to identify. At this moment, the phone and the severed arm of the fallen person lay under the platform. Before Wen Shi could ask whether it was a shadow or a player, Song Yan suddenly said, “It doesn’t matter.”
Being tall, he just squeezed his way to the location from where another scream had come, only to discover that the two victims in distress looked alike.
Both the shadow and the real body were in trouble.
The person, who was coughing up blood, saw Wen Shi, and his howls suddenly grew quieter.
Wen Shi knew what the person was thinking and said, “You don’t need to be afraid. I haven’t decided whether to help yet.”
He wasn’t a philanthropist, ready to front points for their jar purchases.
Some struggled fiercely when chosen. But upon hearing that Wen Shi seemed hesitant to help, the person’s face turned pleading. Ignoring the pain at his severed wound, he moved his body forward like a worm.
Wen Shi wasn’t swayed by the submissive attitude. He turned to the old lady with the suitcase first and asked, “Grandma, would it affect you if we save them?”
The old lady shook her head and softly said, “It’s not exactly saving. It’s more like soaking and fermenting with voodoo to prolong life by an additional forty-nine days.”
“Fine then.” Only now did Wen Shi turn around and glance at the man. “Remember to pay back the money for the jar.”
Tears mixed with blood, the man nodded vigorously.
Song Yan whispered, “How do we distinguish between the two?”
“Distinguishing is too troublesome.”
Wen Shi clearly wasn’t planning to expend that energy, so he also carried over the other person with broken limbs, aiming to save trouble and put both the person and his shadow into one jar.
“Saving even the enemies,” Wen Shi praised himself, “I truly am selflessly compassionate.”
With only eight minutes left, he and Song Yan quickly carried the jar back.
Under the tour guide’s incredulous gaze, Wen Shi instructed Li Nan to fill the jar with water and place it on the ground. Then, like a gust of wind, he dashed away.
After finishing moving the items, Song Yan had barely leaped out of the car when his body swayed heavily. Instantly, his dizziness worsened, and the sunlight’s heat made him feel queasy. As Song Yan was preparing to take a step towards a specific spot, Wen Shi unexpectedly said, “It’s a textual trap.”
Brain buzzing, Song Yan couldn’t quite catch what he said. His lips felt dry, and he managed to say, “I…”
However, Wen Shi was ahead of him, already walking.
The train station’s cleaning staff worked efficiently, quickly tidying up the blood and flesh from the ground.
Peddler carts selling goods were back in business in this area.
In such hot weather, navigating through the crowd for an extended period had more than Song Yan feeling lightheaded and overwhelmed.
“A bottle of cold water.”
As he spoke, a young man casually tossed the tissue he used to wipe his sweat onto the ground.
The peddler at the mobile cart took out an ice-cold bottled water from the freezer and smiled, “Two yuan.”
As the young man reached out with a banknote, his arm was halted in mid-air by Wen Shi’s firm grip. With a rapid flicker in his eyes, he weighed the options of taking direct action or biding his time.
This young man was a shadow, and was aware that the other was the original person. The shadow Pei Wenwei held a steel pipe, making him easily recognizable.
“I know you’re a shadow,” Wen Shi cut to the chase.
This was the shadow of Xiao Min from the Deep Space Guild. They had entered together as a team. Before setting off, the original Xiao Min finished a chocolate bar at the virtual world plaza and didn’t have the habit of littering.
The peddler urged, “Do you still want the water?”
Since they were in a hostile position, if the intent was to kill him, the method of ambush should change.
Unconcerned about the peddler’s impatience, the Shadow Xiao Min pondered the purpose of Wen Shi’s approach. Suddenly, he keenly felt a change in the wind velocity and heard a whooshing sound behind him. He instinctively turned to the side, narrowly avoiding a steel pipe that hit the wall next to him.
The steel pipe wasn’t aimed at him. The assailant didn’t doubt the Shadow Xiao Min’s ability to evade.
“Aaach!” The peddler’s hand was solidly struck by the steel pipe, causing him to pull back in pain.
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Shadow Xiao Min cursed.
The damn game was playing a word game, warning them to guard their wallets from being stolen. However, this was an organ thief. It didn’t mean they couldn’t do business.
The quest mentioned money being a medium. These cunning thieves sold cold water in the scorching heat, pushing carts around, enticing customers to take the bait.
The teenager walked over to retrieve the steel pipe. Shadow Xiao Min’s gaze remained fixed on Wen Shi. As fellow shadows, it was normal for the teenager to save him. Why did this person feel the need to interfere?
“You didn’t use your brain…”
Realizing that it could also be taken as a scolding, after all, the thought process of the shadow and the original self wasn’t too different, the words that were going to be said later were swallowed back.
Wen Shi calmly responded, “Brain is healthy, and no other issues.”
The next sentence directly explained the reason for intervening, “In a way, shadows are like the primal instincts we’ve abandoned.”
Everyone who had interacted with Wen Shi deeply understood that he was most terrifying when he was candid.
Shadow Xiao Min hadn’t yet realized this, continuing to listen.
Although the teenager and Wen Shi shared many thoughts, he didn’t have the subconscious notion of rescuing an enemy without cause. Thus, he didn’t understand Wen Shi’s intention when saving people.
“Everyone has shadows. It’s a fundamental trait. Killing shadows, that action itself is absurd,” Wen Shi spoke cautiously, “The more a game guides you towards doing something, the more careful you should be.”
The initial quest of hunting shadows framed them as adversaries. But as the train journey progressed, the game’s quests deviated from self-destruction. That was when things got intricate.
Speaking to this extent, the two shadows couldn’t be unaware of his intent. This was an attempt to shake their resolve to kill.
Such intention was deserving of condemnation!
“That’s all I have to say. You can figure it out yourselves.” Wen Shi’s peach blossom eyes squinted, a charming curve forming at the corner of his eyes, like a fox refusing to be disciplined. He was even more cunning than the organ thief.
He picked up the dropped mineral water from the ground and casually handed it to Song Yan, who followed behind.
After realizing the peddler’s scheme, Song Yan didn’t dare to accept the water. He hastily waved his hands.
Wen Shi directly slipped it into his arms, one hand pulling the luggage as he continued walking forward, “Drink it, don’t be stubborn. It’s not against the rules if you haven’t paid.”
Some free lunches were meant to be enjoyed.
Song Yan blinked, staring at the water in his arms. Had he noticed that he wasn’t feeling well?
The teenager coldly watched this scene and warned Shadow Xiao Min, “Don’t be fooled by him. His specialty is playing with emotions.”
Shadow Xiao Min nodded. There couldn’t be two identical people in the world. If they wanted to perpetually walk in the light, they had to replace the original person.
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