Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1264. Midnight Return (4)

Screams echoed throughout the carriage.

The man fell to the ground, writhing in agony, his blood quickly soaking the floor.

"Not only can't you use your body to block it, you can't even use external shields," Yu Chen said.

"The window frame! I was right next to the window just now, and my shadow was blocked by the window frame, covering my shoulder. Luckily, the Spring Equinox came quickly," Guo Yuelang said.

Li Chun reacted quickly; he didn't even have time to use teleportation.

So that's what "clear car windows" means...

—Even the window frame can't block the shadow?
—So when the train conductor said, "Please keep the windows clear while traveling at night," did he mean that everyone should stay away from the windows?
—That man in the gray jacket…so pitiful!

—Damn, I haven't checked for a while and forty live streams have disappeared.

—Has a player been eliminated?
How many carriages are there in total?
—I don't even know if the eliminated items in this carriage are players or NPCs.

The man was still screaming, his voice growing weaker and weaker. His upper body began to become transparent, and it was clear that the part of his shadow that had been blocked was spreading.

The train conductor suddenly came out of the rest room, carrying a black cloth bag.

The train conductor's footsteps were very light, making no sound on the floor.

He walked over to the man, bent down, and put the cloth bag over the man's head. The screams stopped immediately.

A few seconds later, he picked up the bag, which was empty. The man's body had completely disappeared, leaving only bloodstains on the ground.

"Rules are prohibited on the train." The train conductor's voice was flat and monotone, like a synthesized electronic voice. He glanced at Lin Xi. "I already reminded everyone to stay away from the windows."

"Did you remind me? Would it kill you to just remind me?" Bai Yueming said lazily.

The train conductor did not answer, but simply turned and walked to the end of the carriage.

When he reached berth number 11, he paused, glanced at the teddy bear in Xiaoming's arms, and then continued walking forward, disappearing into the darkness of the connecting area between the carriages.

Xiao Hong suddenly tugged at Huang Jingjing's clothes.

"Sister, I've seen him before."

"Who have you seen? The train conductor?" Huang Jingjing asked.

Xiao Hong nodded and pointed in the direction where the train conductor disappeared.

"Before I got on the train, I saw him talking to a person in a black cloak on the platform. The person in the cloak was holding a camera, and he looked just like the person in the photo you picked up earlier."

Lin Xi's heart skipped a beat.

Xiao Hong's words confirmed her guess.

The person taking the photo wasn't a player or an ordinary NPC, but the "shadow man" in the black cloak, and the train conductor was likely in camouflage with him.

"What else did you see?" Lin Xi asked softly. "Did the cloaked figure say anything?"

Xiao Hong frowned, thought for a moment, and then shook her head.

"I was too far away to hear clearly. But I saw the cloaked man hand the camera to the train conductor."

“Camera…” Yu Chen looked at the old photo. “This photo is from two years ago. Maybe the camera the train conductor is holding is the one that took this photo.”

Guo Yuelang pointed to the cloaked figure in the photo.

“Look, its hand—doesn’t it look just like the hand of the man who disappeared earlier? They were both resting on the windowsill, in the exact same posture.”

This is true.

The cloaked figure's hand in the photo was pale and slender, resting at an angle almost identical to the man's earlier gesture, as if mimicking him. "Could it be... that this cloaked figure is taking photos to record every time someone breaks the rules?" Huang Jingjing frowned. "Then why does it take photos? What's the use of these pictures?"

“Perhaps they are collecting shadows,” Lichun said. “I’ve seen similar things before. They survive by devouring shadows, and photographs are their containers for storing shadows.”

Although Lichun didn't say it explicitly, everyone knew he was referring to the instance they had entered before.

—Surviving by devouring shadows?

—He's seen Lichun before, so does he have a way to deal with it?

—Xiao Ming's teddy bear seems to have moved! Did its ears twitch just now?
Lin Xi saw it too.

Xiao Ming was tightly hugging the toy with the broken corner. One of its button eyes was loose, and it was crookedly facing the car window. The toy's shadow was pressed against Xiao Ming's clothes, and it looked a size bigger than the toy itself, like a tiny person.

"Xiaoming, can I take a look at the teddy bear?" Lin Xi tried to keep her voice gentle.

Xiao Ming hesitated for a moment, then handed over the teddy bear.

Lin Xi took the doll and immediately sensed something was wrong.

There seemed to be something hard inside the doll's belly, not cotton.

She gently squeezed it and felt a square object with sharp edges, like a card.

"There's something in here," Lin Xi said to Yu Chen. "Could you get me a flashlight?"

Yu Chen took the glow stick and lit up the bear's belly.

Lin Xi carefully unstitched the seams on the doll's belly.

The thread was old and broke easily. The cotton inside fell out, revealing a card and a folded piece of paper.

The card was a train ticket, exactly the same as the tickets they had in their hands, but it didn't have a departure station or destination, only the departure time: 20:00.

But there was an extra line of text on the back of the ticket: "Shadow Owner: Su Xiao".

The folded paper was a diary; the paper was yellowed, and the writing was somewhat blurred.

Lin Xi unfolded the paper.

"On October 15th, I boarded this train. The train conductor said that as long as the windows were kept clear, I could go home. But I saw a person in a black cloak in the carriage taking pictures, and every time a picture was taken, someone would disappear."

"On October 16th, I hid my train ticket inside my teddy bear. My mom gave it to me; it can protect me. The person who disappeared yesterday—his shadow was captured by the cloaked man. I saw many shadows moving in the cloaked man's camera."

"On October 17th, the train conductor came to me. He said I knew too much. I hid my diary under my seat, hoping someone would see it. If anyone sees this diary, please remember not to let the cloaked man see your shadow, and don't believe the train conductor—he's not human."

The diary ends here; the last few words are written very hastily, as if it was written in a hurry.

Su Xiao has likely already been killed by the cloaked man or the train conductor.

"Su Xiao?" Yu Chen said in a low voice.

“Su Xiao…” Xiao Hong began. “I’ve heard that name before. My mom said she had a friend named Su Xiao who disappeared two years ago, while she was on a train.”

Everyone was stunned.

Quan Quan asked softly, "Xiao Hong, are you traveling alone?"

Xiao Hong's eyes reddened.

“I don’t know. My mom and I were on the platform, but then she disappeared. All I found was this backpack and this ticket.”

As she spoke, she took out her train ticket from her jeans pocket, on the back of which was also marked with a line of text.

“Shadow Owner: Jin Hong”