Chapter 1244: Actually Wanted to Hide Too
Before the Cripple could walk over, new passengers arrived in the compartment where Wang An and his two companions were staying.
The new arrivals were a middle-aged woman in her 40s and a young woman in her 20s. One look at their attire and the aura they radiated made it clear that the middle-aged woman was someone who worked in an office year-round, while Wang An couldn't quite figure out the deal with the young woman.
Mainly, the young woman looked rather androgynous, possessing a certain masculine air.
Wang An and his two companions glanced at the two women—one older, one younger—and then went back to playing poker. After all, people getting on and off a train was perfectly normal. The fact that they had been in this compartment for so long without anyone else joining them was already considered very lucky.
Seeing three young men playing poker in the compartment, the two women were momentarily stunned. Then, the young woman asked Wang An and his group
"Excuse me, we have an upper berth and a middle berth. Would you be willing to swap one for a lower berth?"
Clearly, the young woman was trying to swap berths on behalf of the middle-aged woman. Middle and upper berths on a train were truly unfriendly to older people or those with mobility issues, as the ladder design was genuinely flawed.
Wang An checked his watch; it was already past 3 PM, meaning they had about five hours left until they reached their station. Thus, Wang An gathered the cards in his hand and smiled, neither agreeing nor refusing
"Swapping is fine, but we're getting off at Bingcheng. There's plenty of room on these two lower berths; you're welcome to sit here or even lie down, haha."
The main point was that Wang An and his group still wanted to play poker. If they moved to the upper or middle berths, they wouldn't be able to play. Since they didn't know each other and Wang An wasn't some sort of saint, there was no way he would inconvenience his own party for the sake of strangers.
Crucially, being forty or fifty years old wasn't exactly "old," and the middle-aged woman didn't look like she had mobility issues.
The young woman wanted to say something more, but the middle-aged woman pulled her back and said to Wang An
"Then thank you, young man."
Wang An replied casually
"No problem. Just make yourselves at home; don't mind us."
After a pause, Wang An looked at the poker cards in his hand and felt that not inviting them would be a bit impolite, so he spoke up again
"Do you play poker? If you want, we can play together."
This sentence clearly caught the two women off guard. They were stunned for a moment, and before the younger one could react, the middle-aged woman said with a smile
"We don't play. You guys go ahead, you go ahead."
Wang An gave them a polite smile and stopped paying them any mind.
However, after simply organizing their belongings, the two women took the initiative to start chatting with Wang An and his group.
After just a few sentences, Wang An realized that these two—especially the middle-aged woman—were actually trying to "feel out the road." In plain terms, they wanted to fish for information about Wang An and his companions' backgrounds.
Such things were very common in this era, so Wang An didn't hide everything. He told a half-truth, saying the three of them were Public Security officers on official business to Bingcheng.
At the same time, the middle-aged woman told them that they were heading to SFH City, as they were also there on official business.
The train they were on was destined for SFH City, but it needed to stop at Bingcheng to change locomotives and replenish supplies.
The journey to SFH City was quite long, essentially traveling from the west of Heilongjiang Province all the way to the far east.
And so, Wang An and his group continued playing poker while engaging in sporadic conversation with the two women. Wang An kept an eye on the doorway as the sky gradually darkened.
Though it was dark outside, the lights inside the train had not yet been turned on. Just as the three of them were planning to pack up the cards and wait for the lights to come on before playing again, Wang An faintly heard several gunshots.
Since Wang An could hear them, Mu Xueli and Wang Li naturally could too. People who spent years hunting in the mountains were incredibly sensitive to gunshots and various other sounds.
The three of them suddenly looked up and locked eyes with one another.
The looks in Mu Xueli and Wang Li's eyes were clearly asking Wang An what to do.
While Wang An was still thinking, two more shots rang out. Simultaneously, the sound of passengers' footsteps could be heard from the neighboring compartment.
Wang An hesitated no longer. His left hand immediately reached into the inner pocket on the right side of his chest.
The reason the gun was placed there was that when wearing a heavy cotton coat, placing the gun at the small of the back or in the inner pockets of the underclothes made drawing the weapon very inconvenient.
Seeing Wang An's movement, Wang Li and Mu Xueli performed almost identical actions.
However, these two used their right hands to reach into the inner pockets on the left side of their chests.
Although Wang An normally held a gun, used chopsticks, and wrote with his right hand, he was actually left-handed.
To put it simply, the strength and dexterity of Wang An's left hand were superior to his right.
After drawing their guns, without time to inspect them, the three quickly racked the slides to chamber rounds.
Because Wang An had already told the two women that they were Public Security officers, the act of drawing guns and chambering rounds didn't frighten them.
Of course, it was also evident that these two had seen their fair share of the world.
Even so, the middle-aged woman hurriedly asked Wang An
"Young man, what's happening? What are you doing?"
Wang An explained quickly
"Auntie, and you, comrade—it seems some bad people have entered the train. Don't go out; climb up to the upper berths and hide for a bit."
But as Wang An spoke, the gunshots outside became much clearer than before. It was obvious that two, or perhaps multiple, groups of people were engaged in a shootout.
This time, even the two women heard it. In other words, the gunfire was getting closer.
To be perfectly honest, Wang An actually wanted to hide right now—he wanted to hide very, very much. It would be best if he could stay hidden until the gunfire completely stopped before coming out.
Mainly, bullets were terrifying things. If you got "nipped" by one, you were either dead or severely injured.
Therefore, Wang An really didn't want to get involved in this chaotic gunfight. It would be far too unfair to be killed by a stray bullet.
Unfortunately, the space on the train was tiny. Not only was there nowhere to hide, but if he hid, what would happen to his two "younger brothers," Wang Li and Mu Xueli?