Everyone turned their heads, finding that the snowfields and forests on either side had vanished, replaced by steep cliffs and sheer precipices. The train was now entirely traversing a narrow mountain track with no end in sight, no way to the left or right, an extremely perilous journey.
"Forget about the outside." Professor Han looked grave as he examined the two corpses inside the carriage.
Chen Yi, placed next to the wall, had a bloodstained toothbrush with its brush head snapped off underfoot. Other than the knife wound on his chest and the blood on the side of his face, there were no other injuries.
But it was different for the woman with the oval face. Her neck was twisted, her head tilted to one side, eyes bloodshot and bulging out, a ghastly sight in death.
Her shoulder and arm bore three bite wounds, irregular in shape and size, pieces of flesh were missing, and blood had covered her body.
"Why did someone degenerate again?" The female student hid behind Professor Han, tears streaming nonstop.
Professor Han sighed, a possible answer already in his mind. To avoid breaking the game's taboos, players should move as little as possible, but still, some degenerated. It wasn't that his admonishments during the day were useless, but rather, it was an inevitable outcome.
"Perhaps the train's food is useless for Evolvers who have already consumed human flesh. They will still be hungry come nightfall."
Xu Huo wiped the congealed 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 human flesh would have a voracious appetite at night, which complied with the train's unspoken rules. Once they had tasted human flesh, whether before or after boarding, they were all categorized the same.
The train's food was not enough to completely stave off hunger. By now, all the bloodthirsty players on the train must understand this, which meant they had to kill the ordinary players.
"There must be bloodthirsty players among us," the heavily made-up woman said, eyeing the square-faced man suspiciously.
"I'm injured, and everyone in our carriage has clean hands. Plus, I heard someone running out. It might not have been a player from our carriage," said the square-faced man, pointing to the nail scratches on his arm. There were some bloodstains on his hands from when he had examined the corpses yesterday.
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than Xu Huo, standing a few meters away, flicked his cigarette butt at the man's face!
"What are you doing..." the square-faced man was infuriated, but before he could react, the person who had been several meters away rushed up to him, grabbed him by the throat, and pinned him against the wall with a chilling stab.
The people inside the carriage were shocked and changed color, crying out in a chorus, "What are you doing!"
The square-faced man stared with dead eyes, utterly clueless as to why Xu Huo suddenly attacked. He tried to say something, but Xu Huo didn't give him the chance, kicking him into the corner to join the oval-faced woman.
"Xu Huo, what are you doing?!" Li Fei stepped forward and grabbed Xu Huo's shoulder. The square-faced man was also considered his ally. Was Xu Huo's murder an attack on him?
"He's a bloodthirsty player," Xu Huo shrugged off his hand, walked over to pull out the knife, and wiped it on the man's shoulder. His demeanor was calm as if he hadn't just killed someone.
Because of his actions, the carriage fell silent for a few seconds before the heavily made-up woman asked, "What's the evidence?"
"Players in Third-Class Seats can't open the rear door of the car," Xu Huo said. "Didn't you notice a doorbell outside the rear door? Unless someone from Second Class Seat opens it, those from Third-Class Seat can't come in."
"So that's how it is." Professor Han was the first to understand. "We also can't open the second-class compartment's rear door."
When he went to the restroom yesterday, he had noticed the difference between the doors. During the incident in the third-class compartment, he was only worried about people from the opposite side rushing in and completely disregarded the doorbell outside.
"You say so, but does that prove it?" Li Fei snorted coldly. "The people from Third-Class Seat can't come to testify!"
"Try going to First Class Seat," Xu Huo glanced at him.
Li Fei was at a loss for words. Who would dare go out and risk getting attacked?
"But that doesn't prove he was a bloodthirsty player," said the heavily made-up woman. "There were two guards at the door; perhaps he was deceived too?"
"Only he said someone came in from outside, and also heard footsteps," Xu Huo said. "He's the most suspicious."
Evolvers have far superior hearing than ordinary people. It's unlikely for anyone else in the carriage to approach the door without making a noise. The three individuals guarding the door are the most suspicious, especially the square-faced man who blurted out that someone was coming and later unnecessarily added that he heard footsteps leaving, practically incriminating himself.
Of course, this was because he didn't pay 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 people are not without suspicion either.
"Everyone's dead, so of course you can say whatever you want!" Li Fei said. "You just kill people without asking questions, you're not a good person either!"
"After all, Dimensional Rift is a game, and there will definitely be rewards at the end. You've been in and out since you got on the train, and it seems you know a lot about what's going on. Could it be that killing other players helps with clearing the game, so that's why you're so eager to kill?"
He said this as he stood in the middle of the players, speaking passionately: "Listen to me, everyone. He killed without evidence. If the two people who died at his hands aren't bloodthirsty players, then we've been tricked by him. What if he wants to kill again tonight? We might all end up dead! We can't just sit here and wait for death, everyone!"
"You also have no evidence to prove that they were ordinary players," Professor Han said with a somewhat complex expression. Xu Huo's words made sense, but to kill someone based solely on suspicion, especially as a fellow Evolver, his ruthlessness was frightening.
Nonetheless, he understood that this was the quickest way to eliminate future troubles.
The female student stepped forward. "I believe Xu Huo. He saved me yesterday. Otherwise, Chen Yi would have killed me too."
"Benefactor speaks the truth, Mr. Xu is a good person," Yan Jiayu, who had been silent, also spoke up for Xu Huo. "He's even willing to share food with the weak; he must be kind-hearted."
This simple logic greatly irritated Li Fei. "That's because he's not short of money! All this information is just exploiting loopholes! If I had that much money, I wouldn't care either."
"That woman had three wounds," He Yang said at that moment. "Evolver only need a bit of flesh, there's no need to bite three times. So who is left? Although Chen Yi is dead, his body is intact, however, it's you... I remember you were also at the door when we were counting."
Li Fei's face immediately darkened. "I heard someone was breaking in and kindly offered to help. If you don't believe me, fine, but don't throw dirt on me!"
"Besides, all her wounds were bites. I have no blood on me!"
The strangeness lies here; the woman with a melon-seed face only had three bite wounds, and although the man with the square face was injured, his mouth was clean.
There was no evidence of them attacking each other.
"Maybe the game helped..." The female student said softly. "Maybe the game assists the bloodthirsty players in targeting us ordinary players."
Several glances in the carriage turned towards her at the same time, and even the middle-aged woman who had been cowering in the corner raised her head, frightening the young girl who quickly hid behind Professor Han.
"Whatever you say," Li Fei was annoyed but didn't intend to have a falling out with the others, so he said, "Don't forget, there was another person guarding the door!"
"Old man, did you hear anything?" Yan Jiayu asked the elderly man sitting by the door.
The old man shook his head. "I didn't hear footsteps, but someone bit me."
He pointed to the tooth mark on his shoulder, opening his jacket collar to reveal the chewed epaulet, its star distorted by the bite. But thanks to that epaulet, he suffered only a minor wound.
"So you're a soldier," Professor Han said respectfully, quickly going to assist him.
The old man hurriedly waved his hand. "I'm just an ordinary old man."
Xu Huo went over to look. "The 'star' nearly got bitten through; that person must have broken teeth by now."