Players, Please Board the Train

Zhou Ning, her face gripped, showed an expression of humiliation as she glared hatefully at her.

”Let Sister Ning go!” The thin man beside her lunged forward.

”Take one more step and I’ll crush her,” Xu Huo said, lifting her off the ground with one hand.

The thin man looked at him with apprehension. ”What do you want to know? I’ll tell you!”

”We’ve never heard of this Holy Sword Society you mentioned. We came looking for Sister Ning’s younger brother. I followed you because you carried Ah Xiao’s scent.”

”Scent?” Xu Huo thought of that wallet. ”How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

”I’m not lying!” The thin man pulled out his phone, scrolled through it, and tossed it to Xu Huo’s feet. ”I have backup chat records! Ah Xiao arranged to meet someone to trade train tickets, then he disappeared!”

Xu Huo glanced down—the address shown was near that hotel in the old city district.

”I picked up a wallet there a couple days ago. Turned it in to the police station today.”

”Wh-what?!” Zhou Ning’s face flushed red as she struggled to speak. Xu Huo released her, and after landing, she quickly pulled up a picture. ”Was it like this?””Same style, brown color.” Seeing how foolish these two looked, Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. ”You dared to ambush me without even clarifying the situation?”

”Come inside.”

Yuan Yao and Painting Woman had been watching the excitement from the doorway. When they saw the fight was over, they immediately rushed out to surround Xu Huo.

”Brother Xu, you’re amazing! How did you know that snake was fake? It scared me to death when it first appeared!”

”The image had no physical form, and there were no marks on the ground,” Xu Huo said calmly. ”The scent, wind direction—everything was wrong. I even spotted someone inside. How could it possibly be a real snake?”

Zhou Ning, who had been holding her phone and still doubting Xu Huo’s words, stared in shock at his retreating back. Her special ability was more realistic than 3D movies! Yet he had detected so many flaws at first glance!

A player with such skills—would he really kill someone for just one bottle of P0 Evolution Serum?

”Sister Ning?” the thin man called to her.

”Let’s go!” Zhou Ning gritted her teeth and followed.

The hall lights were turned back on, bright and clear. Zhou Ning and the thin man—who had already reattached his arm—sat on the sofa. Painting Woman served them tea and snacks, acting as warmly as if entertaining guests.

Noticing the thin man’s eyes unconsciously scanning Painting Woman’s torn top, Xu Huo pointed his chin at her. ”Change your clothes and come out. They’re prisoners, no need for special treatment.”

Painting Woman immediately pulled a long face, taking away all the tea and snacks and giving them to Yuan Yao instead.

Yuan Yao took a bite of pastry and glared at the thin man. ”If you’re going to fight, fight properly. Why tear clothes? And if you’re going to tear clothes, why tear a woman’s clothes? Are you here to kill or to assault?”

The thin man’s face flushed red then pale—he had no idea when he’d torn Painting Woman’s clothes.

Painting Woman instantly got into character, wiping away tears as she went to change.

The thin man squirmed uncomfortably. ”I-I... I didn’t mean to!”

”Enough,” Xu Huo cut them off. ”If your brother is also a player, he might have entered a dungeon. There are random dungeons that don’t require train tickets. Didn’t you know?”

Zhou Ning remained silent for two seconds. ”With how fast news spreads online, of course we know. But I still believe he was tricked. About five or six days ago, he went to the old city district and never returned. His phone’s been unreachable. It doesn’t make sense that he’d just arranged to meet someone for a ticket trade and then immediately entered a random dungeon.”

”What’s his account name on Forum X?” Xu Huo asked.

Zhou Ning looked surprised as she gave the account name, then added, ”How did you know he has a forum account? Have you seen him?”

Seeing the two looking at Xu Huo with suspicion, Yuan Yao said disdainfully, ”You haven’t seen my Brother Xu displaying his mighty power in a dungeon. With his skills, does he look like someone short on potions?”

He turned his laptop around. ”See? It was this player who just joined the Holy Sword Society who lured your brother out. His last post before joining had your brother’s reply. Probably used your brother as his Proof of Loyalty.”

Zhou Ning immediately rushed to the computer, carefully examining the chat records. Her fists slowly clenched, especially when she saw the final reply from the Holy Sword Society accepting the potion and approving membership. Stimulated to the point of red-eyed fury, she gritted her teeth. ”Holy Sword Society!”

”What kind of organization is this?” the thin man exclaimed urgently. ”Daring to target Ah Xiao? I’ll slaughter these inhuman bastards!”

”With what ability?” Yuan Yao rolled his eyes.

Zhou Ning took a deep breath and looked calmly at Xu Huo. ”Mr. Xu, thank you for telling us this clue. Today’s incident was our mistake. We can compensate for any damages.”

”You’re also looking for the Holy Sword Society, right? We can cooperate.”

Xu Huo raised his hand to stop her. ”I only accidentally discovered that the Holy Sword Society is hunting players. I thought I was being targeted by them. Since we’re not interfering with each other, I have no need to provoke them.”

”But if this Holy Sword Society is active in Ting City, they’ll eventually threaten you too,” the thin man said, puzzled. ”If we wait until they collect enough potions and items to cultivate high-level players, won’t we ordinary players be in even greater danger?”

”That kind of thing should be the government’s concern,” Xu Huo said with a smile.

”You...” The thin man wanted to say more, but Zhou Ning cut him off. ”Hu Zi!”

Hu Zi glanced at her, then stepped back in frustration.

”Mr. Xu, since you were willing to tell us about the Holy Sword Society, there must be a reason,” Zhou Ning said with certainty.

”If it’s just a simple transaction, Holy Sword Society members might not show up. But if I reveal intentions to rescue someone, the Holy Sword Society will definitely try to capture me and Hu Zi. At that time, many players will definitely appear.”

”I can serve as bait. As long as we rescue my brother, all the items and potions we obtain will go to you. How about that?”

Xu Huo gave her an appreciative look. ”You’re a smart person.”

Zhou Ning slightly relaxed.

”How many people do you have on your side?” Xu Huo asked.

Zhou Ning hesitated briefly. ”Including me and Hu Zi, four people total.”

Xu Huo nodded. ”Your special ability is quite interesting.”

Zhou Ning smiled bitterly. ”As you saw, my ability isn’t very useful in actual combat. It might scare someone encountering it for the first time, but it can’t cause substantive harm.”

The giant python was just an illusion. The small snakes could move but couldn’t injure anyone.

”Medusa should have the ability to turn people to stone,” Xu Huo remarked with raised eyebrow.

”Unfortunately, my ability is called Elderly Medusa. If there’s any connection to Medusa, at most my hair can turn into snakes.” Zhou Ning touched her long braid.

Xu Huo thought for a moment, then took out the hair growth potion and tossed it to her. ”Go back and find a spacious place to test it.”

”For today, you should head back first. Don’t contact the person from the phishing thread for now. I’ll find some people to help. I’ll notify you with specifics tomorrow.”

Zhou Ning looked surprised, but when she saw the potion description, her almond eyes widened. ”You’re really giving this to me? Aren’t afraid I’ll take it and run?”

”If I dared to give it to you, I’m not afraid you’ll run.” Xu Huo casually told her the police station’s location. ”You’ll know I’m telling the truth when you go there. Pleasant cooperation.”

Zhou Ning shook his hand, then left the villa in a daze.