Chapter 226 Smiling Man
The lights in the carriage were dim, and a chill spread upward along her spine.
For You Xi, she traveled through the apocalyptic world again and again, experienced various missions, and faced various dangers. Xing Min and the system have always been her last trump card.
It’s not that she relies on him that much - after all, in the previous world, he only existed as an invisible system sound and couldn’t help her.
But Xing Min’s existence has become her spiritual sustenance, just like a person who has worked hard all day outside and returns home tired, knowing that there will always be family waiting for him in the house.
She can complain to him and ask him questions when she encounters difficulties - even if he would not answer most of the time in the past.
Existence without sound and not being able to sense existence at all are two completely different feelings.
She calmed down, turned her head slightly, and quietly looked at the carriage she was in through the gap between the two seats.
When an adult sits in a seat in a normal posture, the eyes cannot see the situation in the rows in front, but the top of the head will be slightly higher than the back of the seat. Youxi only took a glance and knew the situation in the carriage.
She was not the only one here. There were other passengers in the back rows of seats, but there were not many people, scattered in groups of three or two.
Probably because it was dark outside the window, the others sat quietly in their original places. I don’t know if they fell asleep, and they didn’t make any noise.
The surroundings were temporarily safe. She looked up at the platform prompt screen in the middle of the carriage in front of her. There was no departure prompt or the location of the next stop, only a red number plate.
00:32 (23)
Within a few seconds of her looking up, the number changed to: 00:32 (19)
. This was a timer, and it was counting down.
Whatever this countdown meant, it should mean that she had thirty-two minutes from now.
Thirty-two minutes was enough for her to receive the memories of the characters in the world and sort out the current situation.
You Xi calmed down and began to perceive the memories of the characters... After a dozen seconds, she frowned, closed her eyes, and focused more on sensing.
A minute later, she opened her eyes, her face looking a little bad.
She had no memory of the background of the world, nor of the characters in the world, nothing, her mind was blank.
**
Youxi felt a little panicked. She hadn't felt this way for a long time. It seemed that she had returned to the first novice world and saw the tsunami coming.
But at that time, at least she knew the world mission and what she should do. Now, the only known information in this world is just one sentence: Endless Train (Invitation to the Unknown World).
The Endless Train probably refers to the high-speed rail she is currently in.
What about the "Invitation to the Unknown World"?
Is this an unknown world?
Was the invitation sent by the system tower to her?
Was Xing Min's connection with her cut off by the system tower?
Is the entire unknown world a trap?
If she doesn't know the type of world, she can still explore it, but if she doesn't know the world mission, how can she complete the mission and leave this world?
What she feared most was the time-limited missions. Before she knew anything, the mission had already failed. Her thoughts drifted to this point. You Xi calmed herself down again and recalled the eight mission worlds before.
It shouldn't be like this.
Most of what the system tower could affect were world types, that is, when Xing Min connected to a world, a world was forcibly pushed in. After that, relying on the game rules of the system tower itself, people who were chasing her were placed in this world.
Xing Min said that the system tower could not interfere with the details of the mission world, and the other party seemed to have to follow certain game rules.
For example, her missions were all generated by Xing Min after connecting to the mission world, and they were almost all within Xing Min's control.
If the system tower could tamper with the missions and the memories of the world characters, why did it go to so much trouble to send people to kill her, and even connect to a high-difficulty world, trying to get rid of her with a disaster in the world itself? Would
n't it be faster and easier to just do something like what is happening now?
So, there must be something she doesn't know about, but she doesn't know what it is now.
She thinks it should still be related to this mission world itself.
Thinking of this, You Xi began to check herself and her belongings.
The world character was wearing light jeans and hiking shoes, a short-sleeved T-shirt and a long black sweater cardigan on his upper body, and a backpack on his side. After opening it, there was a metal ticket and a mobile phone inside.
The phone was a normal smartphone that she knew, and the ticket was made of silver-white metal. Compared with normal tickets, it had much less information. It had the departure time gate and departure station.
Departure time gate: 3 o'clock
Previous station: Lanmore City
Next destination: Wukongcheng
The information was also pitifully little. In addition, there was not even a wallet or ID to prove her identity in the bag.
After the phone was unlocked with the face, the screen showed a bright red countdown number. The digital time gate was the same as the countdown on the compartment prompt screen. She tried several times, but could not exit the countdown state.
She estimated that this phone and ticket were both very important, and wanted to put them into the Star House Warehouse under the cover of the backpack.
However, the next second she was stunned again. The space door that had expanded to 1,314 cubic meters shrank.
She felt it and found that it was only about one-tenth of what it was before. The dazzling array of half-full supplies had also disappeared. Now there were only a few things in this 100 cubic meter space.
High-temperature perfume (full × 2), fake lipstick (1), air hair dryer (full × 1), repair foundation (full × 1), sunscreen spray (full × 2), a box of metal ice (100 bottles), a box of nutritional solution (100 tubes), and a Tang sword.
She counted them. If the unopened box of metal ice and the box of nutritional solution were each counted as one item, then there were exactly ten items in the space.
In addition, she found a little bit of burnt ash on the outer shell of the metal refrigerator. Because the box was dark, the ash was not conspicuous. But these supplies had been stored in the Star House warehouse since she bought them, so how could they be covered with ashes?
Now was not the time to worry about the size of the space door and the amount of supplies. Youxi quickly pulled his thoughts back. Just as he was hesitating whether to get up and check the carriage, the sensor door connected to other carriages in front suddenly opened.
A man in his forties walked in quickly from the previous carriage. He looked a little anxious and annoyed, but more of a panic was hidden behind it: "What's going on! What's going on? Why is my phone like this? What the hell is this number!" As he spoke, he looked at Youxi, and the panic in his tone was obvious.
Seeing Youxi sitting there in silence, he suddenly became more impatient: "Speak? Why aren't you talking? Are you deliberately playing a prank on me to scare me?"
The man took a few steps forward and asked other people. Perhaps because of his movements, the other people in the carriage who were originally quiet also reacted one by one.
Some people, like the man, looked around, stood up from their seats with a cry, and asked themselves where they were and why they suddenly became like this? Some people
carefully recalled what happened before, and then they found out with even more panic that they had not taken this train before they regained consciousness.
Of course, there were also people who sat in the same place from beginning to end, without moving or making a sound, but just opened their eyes and looked at those people with panicked expressions, as if they were remembering their faces.
While everyone's attention was drawn to those few people, You Xi turned around and glanced a few times.
There were a total of twelve people in this carriage, seven men and five women, of different ages, who could be roughly divided into two categories based on their clothing and expressions.
One category was calm, silent and not panicky. Most of these people wore clothes that were convenient for sports, and some even wore professional waterproof and cold-proof storm suits.
The other category was like her, wearing ordinary daily clothes, and some even wore long skirts and high heels. It was obvious that they were not prepared at all and were in a state of confusion.
If she were to describe it, the difference between the two was very much like the difference between an old hand and a novice.
When You Xi wanted to retract her gaze, she felt a gaze falling on her face. She immediately glanced away and looked towards the source of the gaze.
The man was sitting in the rightmost window seat in the third row. He was a man in his thirties with very handsome features and cold and reserved eyes. He was one of the first categories she had just analyzed.
He was wearing a black baseball cap. When he saw her eyes sweeping over him, he immediately lowered the brim of his hat and stopped looking at her.
In the aisle, someone seemed to have finally had enough of these people's endless questions. A young girl with an innocent look stood up. She said nothing, pursed her lips, and stretched out her hand expressionlessly, knocking out the two noisiest people. On
the side, several calm bystanders (experienced) all made a sound of "tsk tsk", saying that she was really cruel.
Beating someone unconscious is certainly not cruel. What is cruel is to beat someone unconscious just before the train arrives at the station, so that the person misses the message before the next station and the time of the next station. The outcome is a hundred times more miserable than being beaten.
Some of the other newbies noticed something was wrong and kept quiet and sat back, while others became angry and clamored to find the train attendant to catch the girl who beat the person.
You Xi didn't say anything, and suddenly felt that her mobile phone, which she had not put into the space door in time, vibrated.
She took it out and saw that the countdown on it had only ten minutes left. At the same time, a set of strange numbers appeared below the countdown.
"(321456987, 258) Please choose the correct door to get off"
What is this...?
Suddenly, a shrill sound of music rang out from the train speakers, followed by a burst of cheerful laughter like silver bells. However, such cheerful laughter and music in the dark train compartment with a strange atmosphere made people shudder.
After the laughter, an electronic sound rang out from the speakers. Compared with the joy of the laughter, this electronic sound was particularly dull and mechanical.
{The next station is coming: Wukongcheng, stop time is 10 minutes. }
{Passengers who have received the reminder to get off the station, please get off from the correct door of the compartment. }
{Tip: Do not get off at other people's platforms; do not get off from the wrong door. }
"What the hell is this!" The man who came from another compartment earlier was temporarily sitting in the aisle seat on the right side of the second row, staring at his mobile phone with a puzzled look on his face.
No one answered him. Those who had been quiet just now took out their phones to check. After a while, some people were still sitting there without moving, while others stood up, stretched their hands and feet to check the items in their backpacks, as if they were preparing to get off the bus.
Some people moved quickly. After staring at the screen of their mobile phone for a while, their eyes flashed, as if they had deciphered the meaning of the strange numbers, and then they stood up and walked towards the door.
The bus was still moving, and there were 9 minutes left in the countdown.
Youxi also stood up. She also received a reminder to get off at this stop. Her intuition told her that it was best not to disobey the instructions of the electronic voice. Moreover, she had to decipher the strange numbers in the remaining 9 minutes.
Because one of the two key points of the electronic voice reminder was not to get off from the wrong door.
She looked around the carriage. Each carriage had two doors on the left and right, at the front and back, for a total of four doors. A normal train would only open one door at a time, but this was obviously not a normal train.
The carriage number was marked at the front of the carriage, and the carriage she was in was No. 5.
You Xi looked at the numbers on the screen of her mobile phone again, thinking for a moment, and she had a rough idea of the direction, but she still needed to verify it.
She looked around and was studying the numbers on her mobile phone. Among the people who were about to get off at this station, seven were veterans, including the man who had glanced at her before, and there were two novices, including the man in his forties who came from the front carriage.
In addition, the two people who were knocked unconscious on the ground were still dazed and had not taken out their mobile phones, so it was impossible to judge.
Not all of the seven veterans were able to crack the numbers right away. Some of them gritted their teeth and cursed, seeming to be very disgusted with these brain-intensive tasks. Some had already passed through the automatic doors and stood by the carriage door, quietly waiting to get off the train.
You Xi looked around and finally walked to the side of the man in his forties who had come from the front carriage. He was staring at the numbers on his mobile phone and cursing. When she stood next to him, he was not on guard. She glanced down and found that the numbers on his mobile phone were particularly long.
(1456258, 123456789369)
"Did you come from the front carriage No. 4?" You Xi asked him softly.
The man raised his head and glared at her: "Aren't you talking nonsense? You were looking at me just now!"
In this way, You Xi determined the method to crack the numbers.
"Then the door you get off from shouldn't be here. This is Carriage No. 5." You Xi said this very softly, and then lightly tapped the first string of numbers on his phone screen with her finger.
Her hint only stopped here. She didn't want to cause trouble for herself as the situation was unclear.
And this hint would not be too abrupt because the other party came from the No. 4 car in front.
The man looked at her again, obviously not understanding: "What do you know, little girl!"
Little girl?
Youxi looked at her reflection in the window again. Because the lights in the train were dim, she could only get a rough idea of her reflection.
It was indeed very young, but this face was a little strange. It was not like before. Even if the age changed, she could recognize it as herself at a glance - herself at different ages.
This was a rather gorgeous face, with black hair, red lips, and a straight nose.
Suddenly, Youxi was stunned looking at her reflection in the window. Just now, a miserable face flashed outside the train window.
From the speed at which the face appeared and disappeared, it could be judged that the train was indeed running at high speed. But how could someone stand so close to a train running at such a high speed, almost sticking to the train.
And, if she was not mistaken, the pale face was smiling.
**
When the countdown reached 1 minute, the train slowed down and the electronic voice sounded again, still with the same content as before.
At this time, the seven veterans seemed to have cracked the meaning of the numbers on the mobile phone and went to different doors. Youxi also passed the automatic door and came to the door on the left side of the front of Carriage No. 5.
Next to the door, there is a number marked with 1, indicating that this is Door No. 1 of Carriage No. 5.
(321456987, 258)
Using the Nine Palaces to crack it, it was easy to get the answer: 5, 1.
After comparing the number 1456258 of the person in Car No. 4, she confirmed this answer.
In addition to her, there were two other people waiting at Door No. 1 of Car No. 5: the handsome man in his thirties and the innocent-looking girl who knocked out the two people.
The train was about to arrive at the station, and the speed became slower. The originally dark window suddenly had a dim light, which was the platform light.
Youxi looked out the window and found that this was a very small platform with only one railroad track and two platforms on the left and right, just enough for people on the left and right sides of the car to get off.
There seemed to be quite a few passengers waiting to get on the platform. They stood there motionless, almost woodenly silent. It was not
until the train pulled into the station and the faces of the passengers on the platform appeared outside the window that Youxi noticed something was wrong with them.
They all stood quietly, not speaking, their faces pale, their eyes fixed on the train or the people on the train, their lips curled up, revealing a neat smile. The angle of everyone's smile was exactly the same, which was very permeable.
The door of the train opened after it stopped, and at the same time, the numbers on Youxi's mobile phone screen started a 10-minute countdown again. This was the time for the train to stop.
A man and a woman in front got off the train, quickly walked past the motionless and smiling passengers, and walked into the station exit hall in front of the platform.
You Xi put the hand holding the mobile phone into the pocket of her sweater, used the pocket as a cover to take out the [High Temperature Perfume] from the space door, and then walked out of the train.
She walked past several smiling men without anything unusual happening, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to continue to the exit hall in front, she suddenly heard a creepy scream not far away.
She turned around and saw that on the platform outside the door of another carriage, the smiling men who had been motionless were surrounding a person getting off the train. They were jumping around him on all fours like monkeys, surrounding him, and seemed to be enjoying his panicked expression.
One of the smiling men jumped the highest and knocked him down heavily, opening his grinning mouth, which was bright red and huge, and suddenly split to his ears.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
