Chapter 8: Doubt

Everyone turned their heads. The snowfields and forests that had been on both sides had vanished, replaced by steep mountain walls and cliffs. The train was traveling entirely along a narrow track hugging the mountain; there was nothing in front or behind, and no path to either side. It was incredibly perilous.

"Forget about what's outside," Professor Han said, his expression grave as he looked at the two corpses in the carriage.

Chen Yi was placed against the wall, a blood-stained toothbrush with the bristles snapped off pressed under his feet. Aside from the knife wound in his chest and the blood on the side of his face, there were no other injuries.

But the oval-faced woman was different. Her neck had been snapped, her head lolling to one side, and her bloodshot eyes were bulging out—a gruesome sight.

There were three bite marks on her shoulders and arms, the gaps jagged and of varying sizes. Chunks of flesh were missing, and she was drenched in blood.

"Why are there still people who fall into depravity?" The female student hid behind Professor Han, tears streaming down her face.

Professor Han sighed, already knowing the answer in his heart. To avoid violating the game's taboos, prospective players should keep their actions to a minimum, but the fact that some still did this showed it wasn't that his words during the day were useless, but that this was an inevitable result.

"The food on the train might be useless to Evolvers who have already eaten human flesh. They will still be hungry at night."

Xu Huo wiped the dried blood from the back of his hand and leisurely lit a cigarette, his gaze sweeping over the square-faced man, Li Fei, and the middle-aged woman.

Professor Han was right. Evolvers who had eaten humans would have a desire for gluttony at night; this aligned with the train's hidden rules. As long as they had eaten a human, whether before or after boarding, they would be classified into the same category.

The train's food could not completely satisfy their hunger. By now, all the "bloody" players on the train should be aware of this. Consequently, they had to kill the ordinary players.

"There must be a bloody player among us." The heavily made-up woman looked at the square-faced man suspiciously.

"I'm injured, and everyone in our carriage is clean. Besides, I heard someone run out; it doesn't necessarily have to be a player from our carriage." The square-faced man pointed to the bloody scratch marks from fingernails on his arm. There was some blood on his hands, left over from when he checked the bodies yesterday.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than Xu Huo, standing a few meters away, flicked his cigarette butt right into his face!

"What are you doing..." The square-faced man was shocked and furious, but before he could look up, the person who had been standing meters away was already in front of him. Before he could react, he was grabbed by the throat, slammed against the wall, and stabbed through the heart!

The people in the carriage turned pale with horror, exclaiming, "What are you doing!"

The square-faced man stared with wide eyes, completely unable to understand why Xu Huo had suddenly attacked. He opened his mouth to say something, but Xu Huo didn't give him the chance, kicking him into the corner to keep the oval-faced woman company.

"Xu Huo, what are you doing?!" Li Fei stepped forward and grabbed Xu Huo's shoulder. This square-faced man could be considered his ally; was Xu Huo killing him to target him?

"He was a bloody player." Xu Huo brushed his hand away, walked over to pull out his knife, and wiped it on the shoulder of the dead man's clothes, his expression as calm as if he hadn't just killed someone.

Because of his actions, the carriage was silent for a few seconds before the heavily made-up woman asked, "What evidence do you have?"

"Players in the third-class carriage cannot open the rear door," Xu Huo said. "Didn't you notice there's a doorbell outside the back door? Unless a second-class passenger opens it, third-class passengers can't get in."

"So that's how it is." Professor Han was the first to understand. "We can't open the rear door of the first-class carriage either."

He had noticed the difference between the doors on both sides when he went to the restroom yesterday. During the commotion in the third-class carriage, he had been too busy guarding against people rushing in from the opposite side to notice the doorbell outside the door.

"Just because you say so?" Li Fei sneered. "People from the third-class carriage can't come to testify!"

"Try going to the first-class carriage then," Xu Huo glanced at him.

Li Fei choked. Who would want to go out? What if they got attacked?

"But that doesn't prove he was a bloody player," the heavily made-up woman said. "There were two people guarding the door; what if he was tricked too?"

"He was the only one who said someone came in from outside and claimed to hear footsteps," Xu Huo said. "He is the most suspicious."

An Evolver's hearing was far superior to an ordinary person's; it was unlikely for anyone else in the carriage to approach the door without making a sound. The three people guarding the door were the most suspicious. The square-faced man, who was the first to shout that someone had come in and later added the unnecessary detail about hearing footsteps, had essentially confessed.

Of course, this was because he hadn't paid attention to the purpose of the doorbell; otherwise, he wouldn't have lost his life over such an obvious and simple mistake.

However, the other two were not without suspicion either.

"People are dead, so of course you can say whatever you want!" Li Fei said. "You killed someone without even asking; you're no saint yourself!"

"The Dimension Rift is a game at the end of the day, and there must be rewards at the end. You've been coming and going since you boarded, and you seem to know a lot of inside information. Is it because killing other players helps with clearing the game that you're so eager to kill?"

As he spoke, he stood among the players and said passionately, "Everyone, listen to me. He killed someone without evidence. If the two people who died at his hands weren't bloody players, then haven't we been tricked by him? What if he kills again tonight? We might all end up dead at his hands! We can't just sit here and wait to die, everyone!"

"You don't have evidence that they were ordinary players either." Professor Han's expression was slightly complex. What Xu Huo said made some sense, but to kill someone based on mere suspicion—as a fellow Evolver, his coldness was frightening.

However, he also understood that this was the fastest way to eliminate future trouble.

The female student stood up. "I believe Xu Huo. He saved me yesterday; otherwise, Chen Yi would have killed me along with him."

"The young lady is right, Mr. Xu is a good person," Yan Jiayu, who had been silent until now, also spoke up for Xu Huo. "He was even willing to share his food with the weak; he must be kind-hearted."

Such simple and clear logic made Li Fei furious. "That's because he's not short on money! He bought the information by exploiting loopholes! If I had that much money, I wouldn't care either."

"That woman had three wounds," He Yang said at this moment. "An Evolver only needs a little bit of meat; there was no need to bite her three times. Who was the other one? Although Chen Yi is dead, his body is intact. Instead, it's you... I remember you were also at the door when we were taking roll call."

Li Fei's face turned gloomy. "I heard someone broke in and was just trying to help. If you don't believe me, fine, but don't throw mud at me!"

"Besides, her wounds were all bites, and there's no blood on me!"

That was the strange part. The oval-faced woman only had three bite marks, and although the square-faced man was injured, his mouth was clean.

There was no evidence of them attacking each other.

"Maybe the game helped..." the female student said in a low voice. "Maybe the game helped the bloody players target us ordinary players."

Several gazes in the carriage fell on her at once, and even the middle-aged woman who had been huddled in the corner looked up, scaring the little girl into hiding behind Professor Han.

"Believe whatever you want," Li Fei said, somewhat annoyed, but he didn't intend to burn bridges with the others. "Don't forget, there was another person guarding the door!"

"Old man, did you hear anything?" Yan Jiayu asked the old man sitting against the door.

The old man shook his head. "I didn't hear any footsteps, but someone bit me."

He pointed to the tooth marks on his shoulder and flipped up his coat collar. The star on the uniform epaulet inside had been bitten out of shape, but thanks to that epaulet, he had only suffered a minor injury.

"So you are a soldier." Professor Han stood up in respect and hurried to help him.

The old man waved his hand quickly. "I'm just an ordinary old man."

Xu Huo went over to take a look. "The star was almost bitten through. This person must have shattered their teeth."