Chapter 1948: Chapter 1103: Shura Field (Part 2)
"Does this mean you’re exposing yourself early, and you trust me that much?" Yang Xiao asked curiously.
"You spent the effort to help those two ordinary people, don’t you think a young, beautiful, and intelligent lady like myself is worth saving?" Takagi Reina retorted.
Yang Xiao pretended to be surprised, gazing up and down at Takagi Reina, before clicking his tongue and saying, "I can only agree with half of that; you’re definitely quite clever most of the time."
Unexpectedly, Takagi Reina didn’t refute him this time; instead, she put on a rare serious expression: "I’m not in the mood to joke with you. Chu Xi, take my advice: no matter what, don’t try to catch Yandeta Chiyoda and Watanabe Gou tonight."
"I want to get rid of them too, but we can’t gamble, especially not with your life. It’s too risky."
"Your target tonight should be Sakai Misaki. It shouldn’t be hard for you to find her, of course, this is only the first step of the plan."
"More importantly, we need to seize the night to gather clues, identify suspicious targets in the other compartments, record and analyze their behavior patterns, and verify their identities as much as possible to prepare for the upcoming tasks."
"Once all the newbies are dead, that’s when the real battle begins. This train is a Shura Field, and we must be prepared in advance."
"You have a good heart, but you must understand, Xiao Lin Zhengyan and Yamamoto Chunai are unlikely to make it to the end." Takagi Reina took a deep breath, looking solemn: "In the future, there will inevitably be a fierce battle between you and me, Yandeta Chiyoda, Watanabe Gou, including Kato Shinjiro."
After saying this, Takagi Reina couldn’t help but frown, looking at Yang Xiao in confusion and asking, "Why are you looking at me like that? Am I wrong?"
"Your current feeling and your words remind me a lot of a friend of mine." Yang Xiao’s eyebrows carried a hint of admiration.
"Girlfriend, is it? I think your way of hitting on someone is a bit outdated." Takagi Reina concluded that Yang Xiao’s thought process was problematic, suspecting either he had his head stuck in a door as a child or he had been electrocuted.
From Takagi Reina’s perspective at that moment, she could already see the entrance of the Youjian Mountain Tunnel, like a giant mouth awaiting them to walk right into a trap.
"Hey, seriously, take care of yourself, don’t die on me, if you fall, I can’t handle Yandeta Chiyoda and Watanabe Gou alone." Takagi Reina sighed, uncharacteristically showing a softer side, a true expression of sentiment.
Yang Xiao withdrew his gaze, leaned back against the chair, "Don’t worry, I’m the protagonist; have you ever heard of a protagonist dying?"
The next moment, the train roared into the tunnel, enveloped in darkness except for the lights inside the train.
Not long after, the familiar scene played out again. When Yang Xiao opened his eyes again, he found himself back on the Ghost Train.
Looking at his reflection in the opposite window, even with his tenacity, he couldn’t help but be a bit dazed.
At this moment, his face was withered, looking like a ghost, with pupils that had disappeared, leaving only the eerie whites of his eyes. A pair of pale arms extended from behind to wrap around his neck.
The ticket representing his identity was still in his hand; tonight, his task was to find a Substitute Death to hand the ticket to.
Standing up, Yang Xiao looked around with his ghostly face. It was the first time he appeared as a "ghost" on this train.
He gave himself about half a minute to adapt to this body, also familiarizing himself with the changes in "vision."
With these only whites left, looking at this place through his ghost eyes was entirely different from when he boarded as a "passenger" before.
Half a minute later, the adjustment period ended. Yang Xiao began to move his steps, observing each passenger around him.
This was also a group of ghostly beings; according to the information Ogawa Haruka risked his life to transmit back, these guys were all Chang Ghosts, and the perpetrator who killed them was most likely that Water Ghost.
With stiff footsteps, Yang Xiao walked within the compartment; this was Carriage No. 3, where the basic rules hadn’t changed.
Before the train entered the tunnel, Takagi Reina was sitting beside him, and she should also be in the carriage now, but Yang Xiao couldn’t pinpoint her immediately.
This was expected; she was also hiding herself, intending to cooperate with him and help find the others that might be concealing themselves here.
Because Takagi Reina was around, Yang Xiao didn’t invest too much effort in Carriage No. 3. After a simple search, he left and headed toward Carriage No. 4.
Shortly after Yang Xiao left, a teenage boy sitting in the right corner of Carriage No. 3 seemed to be jostled by the train and discreetly lifted his head a bit.
No extra movements were made; almost no one would notice, but his peripheral vision quietly followed Yang Xiao’s departing direction.
Soon, Yang Xiao made a discovery in Carriage No. 4, where he saw a frail elderly woman leaning against the edge of the connecting door to Carriage No. 5, with her left arm unnaturally pressed against the wall.
This was a signal Yang Xiao and Xiao Lin Zhengyan and Yamamoto Chunai had agreed upon beforehand.
Even with just a brief observation, Yang Xiao confirmed the identity of this person, it should be Xiao Lin Zhengyan for sure.
The confirmation that it was Xiao Lin Zhengyan and not Yamamoto Chunai was entirely based on this person’s behavior on the scene.
Frankly speaking, this guy was hiding quite well; at least to Yang Xiao, he wasn’t the type that would be caught immediately.
After all, Yamamoto Chunai was a pure newbie and couldn’t pull off such a feat.
Moreover, the person’s actions were interesting, continuously trembling in sync with the Ghost Train’s vibrations, almost identical to the surrounding "passengers."
To survive, Xiao Lin Zhengyan had put effort into his act.
This pleased Yang Xiao somewhat, as relying on oneself is always better than relying on others. If this person were to slack off because he believed Yang Xiao wouldn’t harm him tonight, then Yang Xiao would regard him with disdain.
Only those who respect the rules and respect the Nightmare World are qualified to survive.
Since he had already guessed the person’s identity, Yang Xiao let him be. His gaze lingered on this person only briefly, also to help him remain hidden.
Leaving Carriage No. 4, Yang Xiao stepped with stiff legs into Carriage No. 5.
Here, he gained new findings and identified two suspicious targets.
A middle-aged man in a suit and tie, and a woman with a heavy scent of wind and dust.
The middle-aged man was actually quite well-hidden, yet at the moment the connecting door opened, he blinked, catching Yang Xiao’s attention.
After all, he was sitting right behind the connecting door, a rather disadvantageous position.
Yang Xiao couldn’t confirm whether he was human or ghost yet, let alone his exact identity.
Yang Xiao moved through the carriage, collecting information about this person’s behavior, patterns, etc., to gather intelligence for the future Shura Field.
Compared to the middle-aged man, the woman with the heavy dust aura was much easier to spot. Yang Xiao found her almost effortlessly and was quite certain she was a human in disguise.
The woman stood in the middle of the carriage with a peculiar stance, leaning her whole body backward against the seat, with both arms touching the seat back.
