chapter 47
Night was falling.
The lights in the train carriages were coming on one after another.
As evening drew closer, the Survivors grew more and more restless.
Many eyes kept sneaking glances at Jiang Li and Xia Xiaoqiang.
“Sister Jiang… why does it feel like those people keep looking at us?”
Xia Xiaoqiang covered her face with her hand, turning to Jiang Li in complaint.
She probably already had a guess about the reason.
Now, she asked on purpose, wanting to see what Jiang Li thought-and whether she had any way out.
Jiang Li kept her expression calm, quietly watching the others. “We’re at the mercy of others.”
She saw every suspicious movement around her.
Only an hour remained until 9 p.m.
At nine, the train would go dark, and this nighttime killing game would officially begin.
Jiang Li closed her eyes, tapping her index finger absentmindedly on the tabletop.
She had to come up with a way to survive the night.
Otherwise, when night fell and the lights went out… it would be too late!
A dozen seconds later, Jiang Li opened her Spare Phone, wrote two sentences, and handed it to Xia Xiaoqiang.
“Do you have a red pen?” Jiang Li wrote.
Xia Xiaoqiang blinked, looked up at Jiang Li, and nodded.
Jiang Li reached her hand under the table, signaling Xia Xiaoqiang to pass it over quietly.
Xia Xiaoqiang unzipped her backpack and, making sure the two people across weren’t paying attention, slipped the red pen into Jiang Li’s hand.
Jiang Li took the red pen, quietly opened the cap, and bent down under the table.
Before she sat up, Jiang Li patted Xia Xiaoqiang, brushed her own hair behind her ear, and pointed at her earlobe with the red pen.
There had been nothing there before, but now, there was clearly a Red Mole!
Xia Xiaoqiang took the red pen back, flashing a subtle “OK” gesture.
They waited quietly for two more seconds. Jiang Li let out a breath and sat up.
The moment Jiang Li straightened, Xia Xiaoqiang acted as if she’d discovered something horrifying.
She pointed at Jiang Li’s ear and cried out, “Sis! Why do you have a-”
“Shh! Don’t say it!”
Before Xia Xiaoqiang could finish, Jiang Li quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
Jiang Li’s flustered and guilty look only made everyone more curious.
Dining Car Rules, Article 2:
“Beware of anyone with a Red Mole on their earlobe. This person is extremely dangerous. If discovered, you must stay away!”
The Dining Car wasn’t very big to begin with.
In the otherwise silent carriage, Xia Xiaoqiang’s outburst clearly caught everyone’s attention.
Now, all the Survivors’ faces shifted.
What was she saying?
A Red Mole on the earlobe?
Could it really be such a coincidence?
The person with a Red Mole on their ear just happened to be this woman?
Then what about the plan to make a move on her tonight…
For a moment, all the Survivors felt uneasy.
After everything they’d endured to survive to this point, no one wanted to risk their life over something so small.
Across from them, Wang Qiang’s eyes were wide and round.
His gaze kept darting to Jiang Li’s earlobe, trying to see if it was real.
Jiang Li noticed Wang Qiang’s stare, her cheeks flushing a bright red.
She quickly reached up and pulled a few strands of hair over her earlobe.
Though Jiang Li moved fast, Wang Qiang still managed to get a good look.
Once he was sure it was real, Wang Qiang’s face fell. He grabbed his Kitchen Knife, scowling, and stalked off.
“…What bad luck!” Wang Qiang muttered as he left, finding an empty table far away to sit at.
The other Survivors had only half-believed it before.
But now, seeing Wang Qiang react like this, they believed it almost entirely.
It’s over… no doubt about it.
The Red Mole really is on that woman!
Looks like she can’t be touched tonight.
Once Wang Qiang left, Liang Jie couldn’t help grinning.
He could barely hide the smirk on his lips.
“Aren’t you afraid of my sister?” Xia Xiaoqiang lifted her chin, challenging Liang Jie.
Liang Jie shook his head. “She’s your sister, she’s my sister too. Why should I be afraid of my sister?”
What a smooth talker!
Liang Jie’s words, on the surface, were a reply to Xia Xiaoqiang.
But in reality, they were meant for the rest of the Survivors in the carriage.
He was letting those people know that his relationship with this ‘dangerous individual’ was anything but ordinary.
If anything happened to him, this ‘dangerous individual’ definitely wouldn’t sit back and do nothing.
After the commotion just now, all those who had been eyeing the Points of the three of them silently abandoned their plans.
After all, everyone treasured their own life-there was no need to jump into a pit of fire!
But for Jiang Li, resolving this matter was still far from enough.
As she walked over to the counter in the Dining Car to pay back the 30 Points she owed, Jiang Li mulled over the words in the rules.
Dining Car Rules, Article Eight:
[Anyone with fewer than 1000 Points before dawn will die.]
For now, Jiang Li had only managed to make others abandon the idea of killing her.
But she still hadn’t collected enough Points.
Currently, Jiang Li, Xia Xiaoqiang, and Liang Jie together only had 270 Points.
Reaching 1000 Points was not an easy task…
Night fell quickly, and by nine o’clock, the lights in the Dining Car suddenly went out with a “snap.”
Jiang Li switched on the flashlight from her Spare Phone and placed it on the table for illumination.
Aside from Jiang Li’s table, the rest of the Dining Car was plunged into darkness.
The Survivors who moved in the shadows began to make slow, rustling sounds.
On the books, there were a total of 3000 Points in the Dining Car.
Excluding the Points belonging to Jiang Li’s group of three-which couldn’t be touched-and subtracting what the other Survivors had spent on food, there were only a little more than 2000 Points left.
In other words, only two people would live to see tomorrow’s sunrise.
Jiang Li, Xia Xiaoqiang, and Liang Jie sat together at the table furthest to the side.
All three of them secretly gripped their Kitchen Knives, and no one dared to sleep.
Making it through the night alive was everyone’s shared wish.
At the far end of the Dining Car, the darkness felt truly eerie.
If one looked carefully, vague shadows could be seen shifting about.
In the pitch-black, the sounds of knives hacking at flesh, cries of pain, and shouted curses could erupt at any moment…
Among them, Wang Qiang cursed the loudest and his blade was the quickest.
From the sounds, it could be judged that Wang Qiang suffered some injuries, but in the end, he seemed to have survived.
Jiang Li and her companions forced themselves to stay awake, enduring the night all the way till dawn.
At around six twenty the next morning, the sky began to lighten.
Sunlight streamed through the windows into the Dining Car.
The entire Carriage was covered in blood-a truly horrific scene.
The Staff Members also emerged from the shadows.
Carrying Black Garbage Bags, as if they’d anticipated all of this, they numbly began clearing away the scattered limbs and body parts.
At the far end of the Dining Car, Wang Qiang stood among the pile of corpses, covered in blood.
He had one Eye cut blind, half an arm severed, and a long knife scar across the left side of his face.
Wang Qiang calmly took out a Deodorizing Spray, sprayed himself twice, and then tossed away the bottle.
He stared at Jiang Li’s group from a distance, his eyes wild, and began to laugh maniacally.
Even though he hadn’t managed to kill Jiang Li and her companions, they wouldn’t be able to escape either!
The three of them would die at the hands of the Staff Members.
Because it was impossible for Jiang Li’s group to gather 1000 Points before dawn.
Now, all the Points were in Wang Qiang’s hands.
Only Wang Qiang was the final winner!
Thinking this, Wang Qiang laughed even more frantically.
Having killed everyone else, he now seemed mentally deranged, lost to obsession.
This Instance, as envisioned by the Little Boy, was meant to select the most evil person, the one closest to a Devil.
And Wang Qiang was exactly that kind of person.
To survive, he slaughtered his own family, betrayed his companions, and showed no mercy to his enemies…
He was just the person the Little Boy needed.
Not long after,
An Administrator wearing a Red Armband came out of the Kitchen.
He carried a notebook, brushed past the Old Lady blocking his way, and went to each of the four Survivors still alive, beginning the Points calculation before dawn.
The tally took about ten minutes.
The Administrator stood in the now-cleaned Dining Car, adjusted his glasses, and began to announce the results:
“Survivors No. 32, No. 39, and No. 01: 1000 Points each. Survivor No. 13: 2460 Points.”
Jiang Li and her companions finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But Wang Qiang’s expression changed dramatically. “This… how is this possible?!”