Players, Please Board the Train

It started raining outside.

The children who had been lingering around the hotel, refusing to leave, gradually dispersed. Only the little girl remained, crouching under a utility pole with a plastic bag over her head, occasionally smearing some dirt and ash on her face. Her eyes were bright, fixed firmly on the second-floor window of the hotel, as if she would spring up the moment the curtains were pulled open.

Xu Huo pulled open the curtains, and she immediately stood up.

However, Xu Huo made no further move. He merely glanced outside and drew the curtains shut again.

His condition hadn’t worsened for now. Though the blood flowing from his cut palm was black, the mycelium had already begun to take effect. He just couldn’t move at the moment.

A non-official wanted notice began circulating online, reportedly for the player who had attacked Jiangjiang, and a nationwide manhunt was now underway.

The person in the portrait looked quite different from him. Though he didn’t understand Jiangjiang’s intention in doing this, she knew he hadn’t left Zone 009... perhaps she was waiting for him to come knocking again.

This was the first time Xu Huo had encountered someone who might have been trained by that doctor. Like the antisocial child from Seventeenth Hospital, Jiangjiang held life in equal contempt, caring nothing about the deaths of those who protected her. Even her emotions were manufactured, and her methods of killing were equally brutal.

But there were differences between them as well. Violent, cruel people tended to prefer killing with their own hands, as that allowed them to directly experience the thrill of slaughter and the sense of superiority over life itself. But Jiangjiang was somewhat contradictory in this regard.

She hadn’t killed her adoptive parents. Whether it was because there wasn’t enough time or she was unwilling, she even mentioned them when conversing with others. That was what made her unusual.The other boy had likely already left Zone 009, so why did Jiangjiang stay?

She clearly wasn’t a ”failed product,” or was she another kind of abandoned one?

”BOOM!”

Thunder rolled, and the rain grew heavier. Xu Huo lifted a corner of the curtain to look outside, and the little girl across the street stood up again.

Letting go of the curtain, he opened his game panel and searched the bounty platform for temporary passes. However, aside from basic information, no player was selling one. That wasn’t surprising—with a pass in hand, you could board any train at any time, and every player wanted one.

After that, he switched to searching for painting-related spatial items.

Based on his description of the items Jiangjiang had used, someone quickly offered relevant information for the price of three thousand White Bills.

”The items you mentioned are possibly the work of the famous Artificer Danqing. Both the paintbrush and the frame are items, but the frame must be completed by the paintbrush. The piece is called the Octagonal Art Gallery. It’s a field-type item. Once activated, it can create a small enclosed space on its own, which is highly deceptive. Moreover, the item can store other items inside it.”

”This is a pair of B-grade items. I heard they were Danqing’s final works, because he was killed right after completing these two pieces.”

Great, the lead he’d just obtained was cut off again.

But on the flip side, this confirmed that Jiangjiang was indeed connected to that doctor. An Artificer capable of crafting B-grade items couldn’t have gone unprotected. The fact that the other party had killed him meant they were undoubtedly a high-level player.

”Training disciples and throwing in free items as a bonus, how generous.” Xu Huo let out a cold laugh, closed his personal panel, and rested with his eyes shut.

After the rain stopped, he pulled open the curtain and found the little girl still there, so he waved her over.

The little girl rubbed her face and ran over. She didn’t enter the hotel, just stood downstairs looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

Xu Huo tossed her fifty White Bills. ”Buy two dishes and bring them up.”

The little girl snatched up the money in a flash, clutched it to her chest, and took off running.

The Boss was downstairs drying an umbrella and chuckled. ”This one’s fairly honest. She won’t take your money and disappear.”

In less than twenty minutes, the little girl returned, holding steaming hot food against her chest. However, fresh scratches had appeared on her arms and face. The Boss allowed her upstairs. She set the neatly packaged food on the table, placed the leftover change she’d hidden away on the table as well, then obediently stepped back.

”I’m fast, and my reflexes are quick too. The other kids can’t snatch the food I buy. From now on, I can buy for you every day!”

White Bills had no smaller denominations, so the change was given in Zone 009 currency.

Xu Huo picked out a five-yuan note and slid it toward her. ”Yours.”

The little girl looked a bit disappointed at seeing only five yuan, but she quickly took it anyway, then said, ”Uncle, let me polish your shoes. Your shoes are dirty. I don’t want any money, but if you have leftover food, could you give it to me?”

Xu Huo nodded, eating while watching her polish his shoes. ”How old are you?”

The little girl hesitated before answering, ”Eight.”

Xu Huo said nothing.

After a moment, she spoke again. ”Actually, I’m nine...”

Xu Huo didn’t say anything more, and left her a third of the remaining food.

The little girl set the shoes down neatly, bowed repeatedly in thanks, then carefully carried the food out.

Xu Huo could hear her crouching right outside the door, drinking the soup. She probably didn’t eat the rice or the dishes, and only left after a while.

He didn’t need to look to know someone had followed her—both children and adults.

A night passed. Early the next morning, the little girl was already outside the hotel again. Fresh wounds had been layered over old ones, and one eye was so swollen she couldn’t open it, yet she still tried her best to put on a fawning smile.

Two more children had appeared beside her.

”My name is Xiaoyuan!” the little girl announced loudly.

A clever kid.

”Come up.” Xu Huo drew the curtains shut.

The little girl ran fast. By the time his wheelchair had reached the door, she was already there.

Xu Huo opened the door and let her in. Looking at her wounds, he asked, ”Did adults hit you yesterday?”

Xiaoyuan shook her head. ”Adults don’t hit girls.”

Xu Huo raised his hand. The two of them were close enough that he could tell she wanted to bolt, but she forcibly held herself still. There was something else mixed in with her fear.

”Don’t be afraid.” He gave her some medicine for external injuries. ”Even if you can’t see from that eye, can you still run?”

”I can!” Xiaoyuan nodded hard. ”I’ll definitely deliver the food!”

Xu Huo gave her the money and sent her off.

This time it took a bit longer, but the food arrived safely. She said happily, ”I grew up here. I know this place like the back of my hand. I know every single road. I just took a different route, and they couldn’t block me!”

Xu Huo invited her to eat together.

Xiaoyuan froze in shock. ”You’re willing to give me food?”

Xu Huo handed her a pair of chopsticks and gestured for her to bring her own chair.

Xiaoyuan didn’t dare sit. She stood by the table, swallowing continuously but hesitating to pick up her chopsticks. ”Uncle, don’t you think I’m dirty? Everyone else thinks we carry pathogens.”

”Aside from being a bit malnourished, you’re fine.” Xu Huo said.

Her face and hands were covered in dirt and ash, but her teeth were very clean.

”When you took the food back yesterday, was there anyone else at home?”

Xiaoyuan shook her head. ”My grandma died. She hadn’t eaten a single hot meal in the two years before she passed. I wanted to bring it back to let her taste it.”

”And did she get to eat it?”

”She did!” Xiaoyuan’s eyes were remarkably bright. ”None of them could outrun me. They thought I’d eaten the food myself, so they just beat me up to vent their anger!”

Xu Huo picked up food with his chopsticks and placed it in her bowl. ”Chew slowly and carefully. Don’t eat too much.”