Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1263. Midnight Return (3)

"Snap—"

As the second shutter clicked in the darkness, Lin Xi's hand had already touched Yu Chen's arm.

The two have teamed up in dungeons before, so there's no need to elaborate.

Yu Chen immediately squatted down and followed Lin Xi's force to move towards the inside of the bunk, avoiding the area near the window where shadows might be cast.

"Who's taking pictures?" Guo Yuelang's voice was extremely low. He groped for the upper bunk railing, his feet tentatively finding the steps in the darkness. "Does the camera have a flash? Why wasn't it on before?"

No one answered.

The darkness was like cotton soaked in water, making it hard to breathe, and only Xiaoming's crying could be heard intermittently.

"My teddy bear... my teddy bear is lost..."

Huang Jingjing immediately summoned a flashlight.

In the light, you can see Xiaoming sitting slumped in the aisle, his little hands groping around on the ground. The tattered teddy bear in his arms has rolled to the window, and a button-shaped eye is facing the car window, gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

"Don't move!" Lin Xi practically lunged at him.

The flashlight beam just shone on the little bear's shadow.

The furry black shadow was pressed against the car window, and Xiaoming's hand was already stretched to the edge of the window. If he moved forward another centimeter, his palm would block his own shadow.

Lin Xi reached out and grabbed Xiao Ming's wrist, then used her other hand to precisely hook the bear's ear and pull the doll back.

Almost simultaneously, a soft "rip" sound came from the outside of the car window, like a plastic film being torn open. A faint white mark was left on the glass where the bear's shadow had just been, which disappeared in an instant.

"Thank you... thank you, sister." Xiaoming's crying gradually stopped, and his fingers, which were gripping the teddy bear, turned white.

Xiao Hong sat on the bed, staring out the car window.

"I just saw it; something was moving in the bear's shadow."

Xiao Hong's words made the air in the carriage feel even colder.

Huang Jingjing turned off the flashlight.

She originally thought that the brighter the inside of the carriage, the clearer the shadows outside the window would be, and the harder they would be to avoid.

But even after she turned off the flashlight, the shadows outside the car window were still very clear.

You can even see many pairs of eyes shining in the darkness, some filled with fear, some with vigilance, and a few with emotions that are impossible to discern.

The girl with the DSLR camera huddled in the corner of bunk number 12, clutching her bag tightly. When she noticed the light coming from her, she immediately lowered her head.

"I didn't take the picture. My camera was in my bag and I didn't turn it on."

"Who's that?" Quan Quan's voice rang out. "Wasn't the train conductor walking before the power went out? Where did he go?"

Huang Jingjing turned on her flashlight again and shone it towards the end of the carriage.

It's the same whether it's turned off or not.

Lin Xi looked in the direction of the light and saw that the door to the lounge at the end of the carriage was ajar. It was dark inside, as if something was watching them.

Just as she was about to get up, Lichun suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed to the ground.

Next to the seat where the man who had just disappeared sat, a photograph had appeared out of nowhere.

The photo was taken with an instant camera, and it appears grayish-white under fluorescent light.

Lin Xi squatted down to pick it up, and as soon as her fingertips touched the edge of the photo, she felt a chill.

The photo shows the aisle of the train carriage, with the camera pointed directly at the window. The shadow reflected in the window is not the man who disappeared earlier, but a figure wearing a black cloak.

The cloak's hood was pulled low, obscuring the face; only a pale hand rested on the windowsill, mirroring the man's earlier gesture. "This is..." Huang Jingjing murmured. "The one that was taking the picture earlier, could it be this?"

“No, that’s not right.” Yu Chen pointed to the corner of the photo. “There’s a date here.”

Lin Xi held the photo up to the fluorescent light and sure enough, she saw a line of very small text in the lower right corner.

Guo Yuelang immediately took out his phone and checked the current date.

“This photo was actually taken two years ago,” Guo Yuelang said.

—A photo from two years ago?
—What is that cloaked figure?
—A ghost?

—Was that what made the shutter sound when the power went out just now?
— Xiaoming almost hit the window just now. Luckily, 123 acted quickly, or he would have been in serious trouble too.
That was so close!

Why aren't the vegetables moving? What is he looking at?
Lin Xi glanced at the live stream and happened to see this sentence.

She immediately looked at Bai Yueming, only to see him staring at her shadow.

His shadow was cast on the wall of the bunk, and the shadow's right hand was longer than his actual hand, with blurry claw marks on the fingertips.

"Vegetables, don't move!" Lin Xi shouted immediately. "There's something wrong with your shadow!"

Bai Yueming froze. He looked down at his right hand, where all five fingers were intact.

But the shadows on the wall grew increasingly strange, the claw marks on the right hand becoming clearer and clearer, and it even began to claw at the shadow next to Quan Quan.

Quan Quan saw it too and tried to hide behind him, but he forgot that there was a window behind him. As soon as his back touched the glass, a piece of his shadow's shoulder was "whooshed" away.

"Don't move!" Lichun lunged forward, grabbed Quanquan by the back of his collar, and pulled him back to his bunk.

Almost simultaneously, another white mark appeared on the car window that Quan Quan had just leaned against, and the shoulder where his shadow was missing slowly returned.

"What happened?" Quan Quan was startled, but her mind was still relatively clear. "Why is there a piece missing from my shadow? I didn't block it!"

Lichun stared at Bai Yueming's shadow, her brows furrowed tightly.

"It's not that you're blocking it, it's that his shadow is influencing you."

He pointed to the wall.

Bai Yueming's shadow had returned to normal, and the claw marks had disappeared without a trace.

"Something may have attached itself to his shadow during the brief moment of power outage."

These words sent chills down everyone's spines.

Lin Xi handed the photo to Yu Chen, telling her to keep it safe, and also summoned a flashlight.

"Everyone, check your shadows for anything unusual. Also, from now on, everyone stay away from the windows, go back to your bunks, and don't touch anything that can block your shadow—including clothes, bags, and even your hair."

Some people did it immediately, while others hesitated and didn't move.

A man in a gray jacket stood in the middle of the aisle and sneered.

"Why should we listen to you? Who are you? Maybe you're the one behind this, trying to make us all listen to you so you can get us all killed!"

Lin Xi ignored him and just looked at his shadow.

The dark shadow was pressed against the ground, and the shadow of its feet was shorter than its actual feet.

Just as she was about to remind him, the man suddenly took two steps forward, standing right below the car window. His shadow was instantly blocked by the window frame, his knees obscured, and the shadow below his knees disappeared.

"what!"

The man let out a scream, and his legs suddenly went limp. He looked down at his legs.

The trousers were empty; the part below the knee had indeed disappeared, leaving only a bloody cut.