185 Jump Track

◎Hand◎

[There are six players entering this dungeon. We've detected that all six players have obtained two S ratings. As long as they obtain one more S rating, they can unlock the final dungeon.]

This dungeon presents both an opportunity and a challenge for all players. We hope you will focus and work hard to complete the mission as soon as possible, successfully clear the level, and achieve excellent results.

[If you have no other questions, please proceed to the ticket gate to check in and start your journey home.]

While Qi Qiuxue was communicating with the system, new words popped up on the old electronic screen, reminding her that the train she was about to take was about to start checking tickets.

Qi Qiuxue looked around and didn't find any other players for the time being, but it didn't matter. Since they had already signed the contract using the accompanying talisman, they would eventually meet in the dungeon. She held the ticket tightly in her hand and without wasting any time, she took a few quick steps and stood at the end of the team.

The time in the dungeon right now is winter, or to be more specific, it's probably the twelfth lunar month, during the Spring Festival travel rush. The old train station is filled with people, and the sounds of children crying, adults chatting, footsteps, and the friction between the wheels of suitcases being dragged and the ground are endless.

The atmosphere was originally very lively, but for some reason, Qi Qiuxue felt a genuine chill.

A man staggered over from behind the team.

The man was holding a train ticket in his hand, and had no other luggage on him except a black backpack. His hair and clothes looked very shabby, and when he passed by Qi Qiuxue, she could even smell a foul odor emanating from him.

He stopped not far in front of Qi Qiuxue, looked around slowly, and finally stopped in front of a thin man with long hair.

"?"

The long-haired man was first choked by the smell on his body, and then realized that he had been cut in line. He immediately became angry and scolded: "What are you doing..."

Before he could utter the word "me", the man suddenly turned around and looked at him silently.

His eyes were strange, empty and lifeless, without any light in them, like a pool of stagnant water that had been silent for many years. The long-haired man felt his whole body goosebumps when he saw him like that, and his arrogance weakened in an instant.

"Let me go." The man said in a low voice, "I'm in a hurry."

"In a hurry?" The long-haired man replied reflexively, his voice stuttering, "W-What are you going to do?"

After he finished speaking, the man did not answer his question, but continued to repeat in a deep voice: "I am very anxious, I am very anxious."

"..." The long-haired man was silent for a moment, then turned away and muttered softly, "Forget it, I'll let you go."

"Thank you." The man grinned and slowly turned back.

The long-haired man was annoyed by his breath and waved his hands to fan himself speechlessly.

Qi Qiuxue, who was behind the team, witnessed the whole process. She had a feeling that the man was a little strange. She paused, opened the camera in her hand, and took a picture of his back.

Afterwards, she checked the photo taken by the camera. It was a very ordinary casual shot and there didn't seem to be anything special about it. Qi Qiuxue then tried taking pictures in other places, and the results were the same.

It is worth mentioning that the camera's video recording function is damaged, and only the photo function is still intact.

Soon, the train began to check tickets, and the team gradually moved forward at a slow and regular pace. After a short wait, Qi Qiuxue finally arrived at the station. She looked up and saw that the strange man was not far in front of her. The further he walked, the faster his steps became, as if there was really something he had to accomplish, and he was concentrating on heading towards that goal.

So Qi Qiuxue quickly followed him, walked through the crowd, and arrived at the platform.

Just at this moment, the train entered the station, speeding towards us from a distance.

The moment he saw the train, the man's eyes suddenly became fanatical. He followed the direction of the train and started running forward again. Then, he pushed away the passengers around him who were waiting to get on the train and jumped down without hesitation.

With a "bang", the front of the train collided with the man's body with a loud noise. The man's body was lifted into the air and twisted by the violent impact, and was knocked back to the platform again, flying in the opposite direction.

The world seemed to have pressed the pause button at this moment, and the noise around them disappeared in an instant. Everyone watched in horror as the bloody man fell to the platform, twitching in pain and strangely, unable to utter a word, and could only make helpless "hehe" sounds from his throat.

After a few seconds, the struggle stopped and the "hehe" sound disappeared, replaced by the exclamations of the passengers around.

“…”

Before the man jumped out of the car, Qi Qiuxue and some passengers anticipated his behavior and raised their hands to grab the corner of his clothes, trying to stop his actions and pull him back.

But he failed. Apart from the man's own fierce struggle, there seemed to be another force dragging the man in the opposite direction. It was a stronger and more powerful force. If Qi Qiuxue had not let go in time, he would even be dragged off the platform.

Afterwards, the man broke free from everyone's restraints and jumped.

Realizing that everything was irreversible, Qi Qiuxue took a photo with the camera in her hand at the moment the man jumped off the tracks.

But unlike before, this time she didn't capture anything, and the photo in front of her was completely black.

The ticket in the man's hand circled in the air like a fallen leaf for a few times, and finally landed at Qi Qiuxue's feet. The final destination was written on it: xx City.

——It’s the same place Qi Qiuxue is going to, which is where Chigu Village is located.

-

Due to the accident, the train operation was suspended and professionals quickly rushed to the scene to check the condition of the train and the tracks.

At the same time, the police and railway security department quickly intervened to investigate and collect evidence. Having witnessed the man's death, many passengers present were frightened to varying degrees, especially the long-haired man who had been cut in line by the man. He was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, trembling all over.

Qi Qiuxue and several other people who tried to stop the man and witnesses were questioned by the police. They testified to each other, proving that the man did jump off the tracks spontaneously, and described the scene of the incident in detail to the police.

Then, the police walked away. When Qi Qiuxue looked into the distance, Li Yiqing and the other four players came together.

"Are you okay, Axue?!" Li Yiqing walked to Qi Qiuxue's side first and asked about her condition.

"I'm fine." Qi Qiuxue shook her head and then asked, "When did you two meet?"

"On the train," Li Yiqing said, "I was teleported into the dungeon while the train was already moving. My initial location was in carriage number one, while the others were in different places. I searched all the way there and happened to find them."

"Besides Axue, we didn't find you on the bus, so we guessed you might not have boarded yet. Then we checked each other's tickets and found that although we started from different places, our destination was the same city."

"You all received anonymous packages, right?" Qi Qiuxue looked at the file bags in their hands.

"Yes." Li Yiqing nodded. "Each of us has a letter and a train ticket in our file bags. The writers are all village party secretaries. The contents of each letter are similar, advising us that we have been wandering around for too long and that it is the end of the year and we should go home."

After she finished speaking, she noticed the camera in Qi Qiuxue's hand: "Axue, where did you get this camera?"

"I took it out of my file bag," Qi Qiuxue said. "There's also a voice recorder. I checked it before getting on the bus. The camera can't record, but it can still take photos. The voice recorder is intact, and the recorded sound quality is relatively clear. It can play forward and reverse."

"Before I meet you again, I took some photos." As she said this, she played the photos she had just taken from the beginning for everyone to see, one after another, recording the entire process from waiting for the bus to entering the station.

There is nothing unusual except the last one.

When she played the last picture, she suddenly found that the photo with a black screen had changed, just like a Polaroid that gradually developed after being left alone. The black disappeared, and the original content slowly appeared before everyone's eyes.

First it was the front of the car, then the man's twisted legs and hands, followed by his messy hair and flying clothes.

Then, everyone saw an extremely thin and pale hand tightly grasping the man's neck.

That hand didn't look like a normal person's at all, it looked more like... a paper man's hand.

【Author’s words】

I am here. I am too busy today. I am sorry for being too late. There is a red envelope in the comment section of this chapter. I will post it before the next chapter is updated.

Thank you for your Bawang tickets and nutrient solution, thank you for leaving comments and reading!