Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1262. Midnight Return (2)

Huang Jingjing, Quan Quan, and Bai Yueming were in the next room, numbers 9 and 10. Huang Jingjing was in the lower bunk, and Xiao Hong was opposite her.

"Where is Xiaoming?" Huang Jingjing asked.

"Sister, I'm here." Xiaoming peeked out from number 11 with a bright smile on his face.

People continued to board the bus, though it was unclear whether they were players or NPCs.

Some people sat on their berths, while many more sat in the opposite seats, looking out the window.

Just then, a train conductor in uniform walked over.

"Those seeing people off, please get off the train as soon as possible, as it is about to depart."

"Excuse me, where is this train going?" Lin Xi asked as the train conductor passed by.

"You'll see when we get there," the train conductor replied.

Just then, the train's public address system came on.

"Welcome aboard the Midnight Return Train. The train will depart promptly at 20:00. Please keep the windows open during nighttime travel. We wish you a pleasant journey."

The broadcast only played once before abruptly stopping, leaving behind a static-like sound.

Just then, the sound of a camera clicking came from the end of the carriage.

A girl was holding a black DSLR camera and taking pictures of the train window. Her lens was aimed at the train attendant's back. Just as she pressed the shutter, the train attendant suddenly turned around, walked over quickly, and snatched the camera away.

"You can't take pictures." He looked through the photos on his camera, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. Finally, he deleted the photo and returned the camera to the girl. "Don't take pictures at night; you might end up with something you shouldn't."

The girl bit her lip, not daring to argue, and stuffed the camera into her bag.

At exactly 8 p.m., the train slowly started moving and pulled away from the platform.

The platform lights outside the window gradually disappeared, leaving only the warm yellow light of the train reflected on the windows. Everyone's shadow was clearly pressed against the glass, swaying gently with the movement of the train.

The train moved slowly, and the platform and blurry lights outside the window rushed past, eventually being swallowed by the boundless darkness.

Inside the carriage, most people sat quietly on their berths, some with their eyes closed, others talking in hushed tones, creating an eerie and oppressive atmosphere.

Lin Xi didn't sit down immediately. Instead, she sat down in a seat by the window and scanned everyone in the carriage.

Almost everyone was glancing out the window, as if there was some exciting view to look forward to. However, apart from the occasional flash of traffic lights, there was nothing outside the window.

Just then, a man sitting in a seat yawned, stretched, and casually placed his hand on the windowsill, blocking a small section of glass.

A boy in the bunk opposite the man suddenly let out a short shout, pointed out the window, and his face turned ashen.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a long shadow cast clearly against the dark night sky outside the window.

But the instant his palm covered the car window, the arm of his shadow, starting from the wrist, disappeared silently, as if erased by an eraser.

Soft gasps rose and fell in the carriage; many people had witnessed the strange scene.

The man also sensed something was wrong, and he looked down at his arm in confusion.

The arm is intact.

He was about to let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that everyone around him was looking at him with horrified eyes, and... the car window behind him.

He turned around abruptly and saw his own incomplete shadow.

"What...what's going on?" he muttered in horror, instinctively trying to remove his hand.

However, it was too late. Outside the window, his shadow began to rapidly dissolve from the shoulders down, like a sand painting thrown into water.

The man's face froze in extreme fear; he opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

His body was becoming transparent at a visible speed, as if it were being peeled away from the world.

A few seconds later, to everyone's horror, the man's body vanished completely, as if he had never existed. Where he had just been sitting, only an empty seat and a coat lying on the floor remained.

The entire carriage fell into a deathly silence.

"The car windows must be crystal clear..." Lin Xi suddenly realized something. She lowered her voice and quickly said to Yu Chen, Guo Yuelang, and the others beside her, "It doesn't mean the windows must be clean, but that our shadows must be projected completely and clearly outside the window! Any obstruction, even your own hand, will cause the shadows to be incomplete, and then..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the chilling ending was already self-evident.

"That man's hand blocked the car window, causing his shadow arm to disappear, so he disappeared too!" Huang Jingjing raised her voice, so that everyone in the carriage could hear her.

Of course, the viewers in the live stream can also hear it.

"This is too cruel!"

Many people gasped and instinctively pulled their hands back, afraid of getting too close to the window.

Li Chun looked at the empty seat with a serious expression and slowly said, "It seems that we not only need to protect our own shadows, but also be wary of others..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.

In this carriage, everyone except themselves could be a potential threat.

If someone wants to harm others, just find a way to hide that person's shadow.

“Draw the curtains,” a woman suddenly said. “That way, we won’t be able to see our shadows.”

"The curtains are not allowed to be drawn inside the carriage." The train attendant came out of his rest room and began to walk slowly through the carriage. "Please note that unless it is bedtime, the curtains are not allowed to be drawn inside the carriage."

Just then, the lights in the carriage flickered a few times and went out completely.

Darkness instantly enveloped everything.

"What's going on? The power's out?" someone shouted in panic.

"Don't move!" Lin Xi shouted sharply. "Stay where you are and don't touch the window!"

In the darkness, people could only hear each other's heavy breathing and the pounding of their hearts.

Outside the window, the faint moonlight shone in, casting everyone's shadows onto the walls of the carriage, distorted and bizarre.

Suddenly, a piercing cry shattered the darkness.

"Mommy! Mommy, where are you?!"

It's Xiaoming!
"Xiaoming!" Huang Jingjing's heart jumped into her throat.

In the darkness, a small figure seemed to stand up out of fear. He stumbled forward a few steps, not knowing where he wanted to run.

"Don't run!" Lin Xi and Yu Chen shouted at the same time, but it was too late.

With a muffled thud, followed by a painful groan, Xiaoming seemed to have bumped into something and fallen to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Xi heard a sound that sent chills down her spine—

It was the "click" sound of a camera shutter.

In this pitch-black darkness, someone is taking pictures.