chapter 36

When dealing with this kind of Aberration, if you don’t find its weakness, there’s nothing you can do about it at all.

But once you’ve found its shortcoming, as long as both sides must abide by the rules, it’s put at a complete disadvantage.

Jiang Li handed the Kitchen Knife to Xia Xiaoqiang, the corners of her lips curving up. “It’s up to you now.”

Xia Xiaoqiang took the Kitchen Knife and swallowed nervously.

She gripped the handle tightly with both hands and slowly approached the middle bunk.

After steadying herself, Xia Xiaoqiang let out a slow breath, lifted her head, and looked at Xia Guofeng under the blanket.

“Dad, come down. I want to talk to you about something.”

Hiding under the covers, Xia Guofeng shook his head furiously, like a rattle drum.

She wasn’t coming to talk-she wanted to kill it!

“Dad, what’s going on with you today? You’re not usually like this with me…”

Xia Xiaoqiang spoke in a hurt tone, trying her best to make herself seem innocent.

Xia Guofeng, hiding under the blanket, broke out in a cold sweat from anxiety.

If it was detected that it had violated the rule of ‘pretending to be Xia Xiaoqiang’s father,’ it would be doomed.

After thinking for a moment, it truly had no other choice, and could only answer in a helpless tone:

“Ahem… Xia Xia, um, Dad isn’t feeling well today. If you have something to say, just say it.”

Hearing her father was unwell, Xia Xiaoqiang’s expression grew concerned and her brows tightened.

She asked, “Dad, is your old illness acting up again?”

Xia Guofeng quickly seized on this and nodded again and again, “Yes, yes! It’s my old illness!”

He gave a sheepish laugh, trying to smooth things over for himself.

It wasn’t that it couldn’t beat her; the creature was also constrained by the game’s rules.

Xia Guofeng waited on the bed for a long time, but didn’t hear Xia Xiaoqiang respond.

He thought he’d gotten away with it.

But just as he let his guard down, Xia Xiaoqiang’s chilling voice came through, as if demanding his life.

“Dad, come down. Fortunately, I’ve got your usual medicine in my bag. I specially went to get some hot water and mixed the medicine for you. Come down and drink it while it’s hot.”

Xia Xiaoqiang’s words were earnest.

She wasn’t holding a knife, but instead carried a bowl of pitch-black broth, showing no intention of attacking her “Dad.”

Xia Guofeng lifted a corner of the blanket and peeked out with one eye.

With just one look, his brow instinctively furrowed.

Was that bowl of black broth poisoned?

But then he thought again-this Xia Xiaoqiang wouldn’t dare harm her own father, and dismissed the idea.

“Dad, come down. It’s time to take your medicine. You drink it every day. After you’ve had it, I’ll massage your temples. Did you forget?”

Xia Xiaoqiang urged gently.

Xia Guofeng couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.

On the surface, the girl looked completely harmless, simply showing filial piety.

After thinking it over, Xia Guofeng finally crawled out from under the blanket.

As long as he made sure his face didn’t reflect in the train window in the tunnel, revealing his true form, Xia Xiaoqiang wouldn’t dare make a move against him.

Thinking of this, Xia Guofeng braced himself, lifted the blanket, and climbed down the ladder.

He kept his body turned sideways the whole time, avoiding the direction of the train window.

“Dad, why are you sweating so much?”

Xia Xiaoqiang pulled out a tissue and handed it to Xia Guofeng with concern.

Xia Guofeng took it, wiped the sweat from his neck, and forced a smile. “It’s… hot.”

Xia Xiaoqiang dutifully passed the medicine bowl to Xia Guofeng:

“Then quickly drink your medicine, Dad. Your health isn’t good. After you finish, I’ll massage your temples for you.”

Xia Xiaoqiang gave a sweet smile, then turned and sat back on her bed.

She looked completely harmless.

Xia Guofeng was sure she wouldn’t dare poison her own father.
So, holding the bowl of medicine, it relaxed its guard a little.

It kept hinting to itself: as long as I don’t look at the Train window, I won’t be exposed and killed for revealing my true form…

Thinking this, “Xia Guofeng” brought the bowl to its lips, preparing to drink the black liquid.

But as soon as it lowered its head, the originally inky-black soup suddenly reflected a clear image of his face, like a watery Mirror.

The light shimmered slightly on the rippling surface, and “Xia Guofeng”‘s features were reflected with uncanny clarity in the ink.

“Xia Guofeng” shuddered in fright, his pupils contracting sharply, and the medicine bowl slipped from his hand, crashing to the floor.

There was no time to dodge-a pain like being skinned alive swept over its entire body.

“Ah!… Ahhh-!!”

The Ghoul clutched its own face, its gaze involuntarily shifting toward the Train window.

There, its own reflection: features twisted and torn.

Skin flaked off bit by bit, revealing the ugly, bloody face beneath.

Losing control, the Ghoul lunged at Xia Xiaoqiang.

It opened its bloody maw, its vocal cords sounding as if slashed by knives.

“It was you!! You harmed me, you did it on purpose!!”

The Ghoul, unwilling to accept its fate, grabbed Xia Xiaoqiang by the collar.

Its blood-soaked, sticky face was almost pressed against Xia Xiaoqiang’s.

Xia Xiaoqiang’s face was tense.

She said in a low voice, “If you want to look in a Mirror, I have plenty of ways.”

Xia Xiaoqiang reached out and threw a black glass square Ink Bottle to the ground.

It was an emptied Ink Bottle.

Seeing it, the Ghoul froze for a split second.

The next second, there was a “pfft” at its chest-a sharp pain.

A sharp weapon, Scissors, stabbed straight into its chest.

“You lost.”

Xia Xiaoqiang gritted her teeth, both hands gripping the handle of the Scissors, pushing the tip in another half inch.

The Ghoul let out a piercing, shrill howl.

After a wail of agony, its form gradually shrank, turning into a shriveled black corpse, collapsing to the floor…

Having finished all this, Xia Xiaoqiang broke out in a cold sweat, her legs weak and trembling uncontrollably.

“Dead, it’s dead… finally dead.”

Her legs unsteady, Xia Xiaoqiang braced herself on the edge of the bed and sat back down, still shaken.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to use the Kitchen Knife earlier-she just didn’t dare.

Killing with Scissors was already the limit of her courage.

Xia Xiaoqiang took a few trembling sips of water.

She glanced at the time-less than ten minutes left before the Train would exit the tunnel.

Once out of the tunnel, the Train window, this natural Mirror, would disappear.

Xia Xiaoqiang looked up at Jiang Li.

“Sister Jiang, I… I want to tell the other passengers about this method, so their families won’t be harmed.”

Jiang Li raised her eyebrows slightly. “As you wish.”

Xia Xiaoqiang’s gaze was resolute. Forcing her weak legs to move, she got up from the bed.

Jiang Li, meanwhile, lay calmly back down.

In truth, Jiang Li didn’t believe that, when faced with absolute life and death, many people would be like Xia Xiaoqiang-willing to die themselves just to protect their families.

She feared that, by now, everyone on the Train who understood the rules had already acted against their “family members.”

In the apocalypse, there is no such thing as morality.

Sure enough, after Xia Xiaoqiang made a round outside and returned, her lips were white from biting them.

“How did it go?” Jiang Li asked.

Xia Xiaoqiang glanced at Jiang Li and shook her head.

Jiang Li noticed Xia Xiaoqiang’s fingertips trembling slightly.

Xia Xiaoqiang tried to compose herself, clenching her fists tightly to suppress her shaking.

But the visual shock just now had been too intense-she simply couldn’t control her instinctive reaction.

She had seen… those passengers, taking advantage of their “family members” hiding under the covers in fear of the tunnel, raise their Kitchen Knives and hack their “family members” to death.

The entire scene was a bloody, gruesome mess-horrifying to behold…