Chapter 203

"A long time ago," he spoke, his voice sounding especially clear and transparent in the night wind, "there was a girl who lived in a tall tower."

Su Mian turned her head to look at him, his profile outlined by starlight into a gentle contour.

"That tower had no door, no stairs, only a Xiaoxiao window; outside the window there was nothing, only darkness could be seen."

"But inside the tower there was everything: food, a warm bed, and familiar people appearing in the strange environment."

"She tried to leave, but she couldn't find an exit; the walls were too smooth to climb, and the window was so small she couldn't even stretch her arm out."

"She cried out, pounding the walls until her hands bled."

"Then the next morning she woke up, her hands intact as before, the walls smooth as new, she began to realize something was wrong, began to feel she was in a dream, a strange nightmare."

Gai Yin withdrew his hand, turned his head to look at Su Mian.

"Later, she stopped struggling, she began to feel maybe this wasn't bad, at least this place was safe, at least this place wasn't cold, at least..."

He paused, then pulled the cape up to cover the girl's upper body.

"At least, someone will come to tell her a story."

The night wind blew, Su Mian strained to keep her eyes open.

Gravity made her slowly close her eyes, and in any case she fell asleep.

The cape on her was warm like a blanket, and a hand gently patted her back.

"Good night, Su Mian."

After a night without dreams, when she woke in the morning, Su Mian found herself lying in the third Hard Seat Carriage.

Gai Yin was the one who carried her into this carriage when it opened in the morning, but she truly didn't know when the person left.

Last night Su Mian already knew the whole truth; now she needs to verify something.

She got up, went to Zhou Yunfeng's room, opened his luggage, and as expected, a knife was hidden at the bottom of the pile of clothes.

She then went to Ye Shuheng and Jiang Hong's rooms; Ye Shuheng's luggage also contained a knife.

So the system's warning to Su Mian not to let others rummage through her luggage wasn't just a hint for her alone; it applied to everyone.

Ye Shuheng perhaps originally intended to frame the Murderer's identity on Jiang Hong, so he looked through his luggage in the dark.

But unexpectedly he actually found a knife, placed it plainly on top, causing everyone to mistake him; he then came out to explain for others.

Ruan Ruan used her mission to directly and easily kill Lü Meng, killing two birds with one stone.

In this Instance, every player is deeply scheming; the most unexpected to Su Mian was Wang Yan.

She played the role of a 'Fool', making everyone Disgust her while also making them think she had no talent, instinctively lowering their guard against her.

And regarding the carriage Assessment that day, Su Mian only later realized that the first person who applied Holy Water to her forehead might have been Wang Yan.

Listening to the wind to discern position, she didn't even make a sound, directly and precisely finding her forehead and spreading the Plague to her.

Su Mian felt shocked; she had indeed underestimated them, lumping these people together and thinking about the matter too superficially.

But saying more is pointless; after all, now it is her decisive battle with Wang Yan.

When Su Mian looked up, she saw Wang Yan standing at the carriage's connection point, hands in pockets, looking at her.

Wang Yan smiled at her.

"Worthy opponent," she said, "I haven't felt this feeling in a long time."

Wang Yan stepped step by step toward Su Mian, "Too bad if you had realized it later, now only I and Ruan Ruan remain."

She had searched from the twelfth carriage forward, car by car, last night, never finding it, even checking the highest storage rack.

I don't know what method this player used to escape disaster, but today it's time to end everything.

After finishing her wash-up, Ruan Ruan came out and saw this scene, standing in the preceding carriage, not knowing what to do.

What's happening? What conflict have these two gotten into?

But for her it's a good thing; anyway she's the Murderer, as long as no one suspects her, then later she can just vote for one of them and she'll win.

She even sat down silently, her gaze shifting between the two, thinking about who was more worth eliminating.

"The medicine's effect has worn off; I can't do anything now, unless..."

She pulled out a knife, "Hand-to-hand combat?"

Su Mian frowned.

If it were hand-to-hand combat, her chances of winning weren't high, but she couldn't refuse; just as she was about to take out the knife she had just retrieved from Zhou Yunfeng's luggage, the train announcement sounded again.

"Please pay attention, passengers, please pay attention—"

"Please complete the Hard Seat Carriage trial, only then can the Dining Car and Sleeping Berth Carriage be unlocked; on the fifth day you may go to the front of the train to vote."

【Next stop, Benmu Yizhong】

The carriage went dark once again; Su Mian felt that person lunge forward, she stepped back to the side to dodge.

For Su Mian, an ordinary person's speed was easily dodged, and moreover thanks to someone's... Cure.

Ruan Ruan heard the commotion; just now she was still watching the play, now she is completely panicked.

"Stop fighting, the Assessment has begun!"

Wang Yan kept attacking Su Mian like a madwoman, she was determined to kill Su Mian directly with a knife.

And Su Mian, due to constantly being at a disadvantage, dodged too many times, leading to exhaustion.

Suddenly, a sky‑covering stack of exam papers flew from above downwards, a blank white expanse, blocking the view of several people; Su Mian took a brief breath, then lifted her eyes to the monitor.

Benmu Yizhong, without surprise, is the fourth Instance Su Mian has experienced.

The light was too dim, she could not make out what was written on the paper at all; she flung the exam paper away, Wang Yan also lost her direction, blankly looking around.

【Welcome to Benmu Yizhong Knowledge Quiz】

【Rule: three people take turns answering; a wrong answer will increase the Water Level Rise Speed】

【Please, the first examinee, prepare to answer】

"What water level???"

Ruan Ruan hid behind the chair; the car window suddenly shattered, she jumped in fright and let out a scream, dodging to the side.

Every window burst open, glass shards scattered across the floor, a sourceless flood poured in through the car windows, dyeing the bright red carpet dark.

The water cups on the table and all electronic equipment were swept into the water; the car interior instantly became a scene of disaster.

The main point is, players can't see it, they can only judge water depth by touch; this feeling actually makes people panic more than if they could see it.

At first it only submerged the soles of the shoes, then quickly reached the ankles, rising so fast it left people flustered.

"First question, Chinese."

A mechanical sound rang out.

"Please recite the sentence from the Preface to Tengwang Pavilion that describes the passage of time."

"In the ninth month, the season is late autumn." Ruan Ruan blurted out, afraid she wouldn't know the next question.

"Answer correct."

"Second question, math."

"Given the function f(x)=x²−4x+3, find its minimum value."

"Negative one!"

The water had reached the calves; Wang Yan didn't have time to attend to Su Mian, quickly stepping onto the seat.

"Answer correct."