Players, Please Board the Train

Probably feeling his hand hurting more and more, the lead player couldn’t help but look down, but the moment he shifted his gaze, Xu Huo attacked from the opposite side, swinging his long sword toward the man’s other hand!

The lead player blocked the strike with an item, but Xu Huo maintained his slashing posture and moved his foot—the entire corridor floor instantly gave way beneath them!

Both of them plummeted rapidly, the light on the walls growing farther and farther away. The lead player, probably realizing he’d fallen into a trap too, stopped caring about the black spots on his hand, grabbed a dagger, and stabbed at Xu Huo!

But at that moment, a frame appeared between them. It was indeed a frame, yet when the lead player thrust his dagger into it, a figure identical to him emerged from inside the frame, also stabbing forward with a dagger.

The frame was like a mirror—the person inside and out struck each other without any hindrance. Wounds appeared on both of the lead player’s shoulders, while Xu Huo had vanished into thin air!

Other than the ”himself” across the frame, everything around was pitch black. The lead player felt himself still falling, and his expression quickly wavered as he shouted, ”Come out if you’ve got guts! What kind of skill is stalling for time?”

Unfortunately, no one answered him. Gradually, wind began to whistle in the darkness, and his clothes and pants flapped violently, as if he truly was plummeting in an open space.

This was a sign of deepening mental interference—everything around would only grow more real.

Xu Huo watched coldly, ready to finish him off at any moment.

The lead player was anxious too, trying his items one by one, but the more he tried to escape, the deeper he seemed to sink. However, as time passed, he calmed down gradually when he realized he wasn’t under attack.Both sides were waiting for an opportunity to strike. Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded behind them. Xu Huo frowned, quickly retreating from the corridor into a nearby room. When he looked at the lead player again—the man was gone!

Under normal circumstances, Xu Huo would immediately sense someone approaching his Mental World, but these footsteps were too close, appearing abruptly within it, yet he couldn’t pinpoint them in an instant. And in the brief moment he changed position, the trapped player had vanished along with him!

For a moment, he even wondered if he himself had fallen into someone else’s Mental World.

But he dismissed the thought as soon as it came. He’d known the Corpse Hotel wasn’t normal, and if it were another player, there’d be some trace left at least.

Since the man was already gone, Xu Huo withdrew his Mental World. Back in the room, Xiao Ling and Long Aotian had killed one player together, while another had escaped through the window. The two were just coming out.

”Did you take care of yours?” Long Aotian raised an illumination item. ”The corridor’s too dark... Why don’t I see a corpse?”

”He disappeared,” Xu Huo said. ”Right before my eyes. I didn’t see how he vanished.”

Xiao Ling and Long Aotian exchanged a glance. ”Isn’t this the same as with Yu Guangnan?”

”Then we’d better get out of here quickly,” Long Aotian said. ”I don’t want to get trapped again like in the Wax Figure Hall.”

”Take a look outside—can we even leave?” Xu Huo stepped aside, letting them see the window behind him.

In just over ten minutes, the Museum City had been soaked in thick darkness, no daylight visible. Nothing could be seen a few meters away, not even a shadow.

Given the skeletons that had emerged from the Beheaded Cemetery, going out might be worse than staying inside the venue—because inside, you might only face one kind of danger, but outside, it was anyone’s guess. This situation was even worse than last night.

”I wonder if the players guarding the hotel’s front and back doors are still there.” Long Aotian looked around, but even with items, he couldn’t see clearly now.

Of the three players who had chased them into the Corpse Hotel, one had escaped through the window, one was dead, and one had vanished. Now, at least they could move freely inside the hotel.

But staying in the hotel wasn’t safe either, and even searching for clues would be better done during the day. The three decided to head straight for the top floor.

They climbed the stairs, but before long, a fourth set of footsteps echoed on the stairway, seemingly following close behind them.

They’d encountered this situation in the Wax Figure Hall too, but when they turned around, there was nothing behind them.

This happened three times in a row, forcing Xu Huo and the others to stop. But when they halted, the sound behind them stopped too.

The hotel’s stairs were carpeted, with a thick layer of dust. After walking, faint footprints were left behind. They went back to check the steps they’d climbed—only their own prints were there, no one else’s.

”That sound was clearly right on our heels,” Long Aotian said, his face turning grim.

”It might just be the sound,” Xiao Ling said. ”Though who knows if it has some other trick to it.”

Xu Huo thought of the player who had vanished out of thin air. He was about to speak when he looked up—and Xiao Ling, standing behind him, had disappeared too!

Long Aotian, catching Xu Huo’s expression, immediately turned around. He couldn’t believe Xiao Ling had vanished just two or three steps away!

They quickly checked the nearest exits and the stairs below. There was no one, not even a shadow.

Xu Huo drew his sword and demolished the adjacent wall. The room next door was also empty, and only darkness pressed in.

A living person had vanished right before their eyes—this was as intense as a horror thriller. And with no clues whatsoever, they didn’t even know how to guard against it.

After racking his brain, Long Aotian suggested, ”How about we tie ourselves together? One faces forward, the other backward. That way, whenever we turn around, the sound will disappear.”

You sound like an idiot.

Xu Huo glanced at him. ”Did you forget the clue Xu Ruosi found? ‘The person behind you’—it matches the situation in the Corpse Hotel.”

Long Aotian was incredulous but instinctively looked around at the nearby rooms again. ”Can’t we just wait until daytime to deal with this... Yu Huo?!”

But the moment his gaze shifted, Xu Huo, who had been standing on the stairs just a second ago, was gone too!

Xu Huo himself didn’t know how he’d left the stairs. He only felt something seize him, and in the next second, Long Aotian’s voice vanished. It was as if he had instantly crossed through space, ending up in an empty room.

Judging by the decor, he was still inside the hotel, but he couldn’t tell what floor or where he was from the view outside the window.

He opened the door and stepped out, only to find the room number was reversed, as if seen in a mirror. The corridor’s layout had also changed—doors that once protruded were now recessed, and everything involving text was flipped backward.

The door across from him was wide open. In the living room opposite lay a mutilated corpse on the floor, looking like leftovers.

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