Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 774 Beginner? A Little Trick
At one end of the carriage were a woman and two men, all young people; at the other end were the bald man who had just been arguing, and a young man with an eye tattooed on his forehead.

"Hmm, five people, plus those who were unhooking and those who squeezed through the door, there are quite a few people."

"What's that thing with the eye tattooed on its forehead? Is it lost?"

"should be."

Zhou Shang and Li Qing whispered to each other for a while, Li Qing lowered his voice and said, "Putting aside that idiot who lost the package, there are probably only about eight people in this group. Hey, it looks like they are from the Thousand Gates."

Operation Thousand Doors often involves a team of eight.

The eight people also correspond to the eight generals.

The eight generals are Zheng, Ti, Fan, Tuo, Feng, Huo, Chu, and Yao.

The eight generals below are Zhuang, Liu, Tian, ​​Feng, Zhong, Ma, Yan, and Kun.

The eight generals are adept at setting up schemes, swindling, cheating, stealing, smashing, and causing trouble. They will do anything and everything, but they will not get their hands dirty unless absolutely necessary.

The lowest of the eight rely on gambling, deception, fraud, and the lure of money and sex. To make matters worse, they will kill after deceiving people for sex and money.

As for 'packet loss', it's actually a technology that has only been developed in recent years.

After the theft, he would find a stranger before each crime, give him all the dirty work, and after the crime, give him a sum of money so he could run away.

This person needs to meet the following characteristics: first, he must be a desperate criminal; second, he must have distinctive physical characteristics; and third, he must know nothing about the other eight people. His purpose is to act as a smokescreen for the police, to disrupt their tracking route, and to buy them time.

Moreover, if he is caught, everyone will unanimously accuse him of being the ringleader.

The group of people were now blocking both ends of the carriage, clearly there to cause trouble.

A young man walked out from among them, holding a newspaper in his hand. He looked no different from the other passengers. He slowly walked up to Zhou Shang and his companion, placed the newspaper on the table, and then sat down in front of them.

Then he put the folded newspaper aside, slowly spread his hands flat on the table, and suddenly pulled them inward, raising his thumbs and clenching his four fingers together to form a neat "fist-clasping" gesture.

Though he wore a smile, his eyes were like drawn swords, and he uttered a string of low but clear saliva-like words:
"What a ridiculous scheme! A business deal involving the word 'joint'? May I ask you two old friends, what are you up to? What are you involved with?"

Are you two masters, kindred spirits? May I ask which patriarch you worship? And which sect do you belong to?

Upon hearing the standard slang and observing the young man's 'inner fist' gesture, Zhou Shang grinned. Instead of answering the young man, he praised Li Qing, saying, "It's been so many years since I've seen such a precise slang. How does it compare to the grandson of the fourth brother's family?"

Li Qing thought of Xiao Ran, his eyes darted around, and he shook his head: "That kid is a scoundrel, ruthless and vicious."

After the two finished speaking, they didn't wait for Zhou Shang to speak.

Li Qing took the lead, clenching his thumb and placing his four fingers flat on the table in front of his chest.

The voice wasn't loud, but it emphasized each word like muffled thunder:
"Pshaw... You've got the word 'together' all over the place? The wind's not right, so why are you trying to pull this up? Don't waste your breath on this nonsense."

While we two old brothers were still frolicking in the sea, the fuses for your ancestral hall's opening ceremonies were probably still burning! Things change, so before you get stuck with bandages, hurry up and hoist the sails.

The young man's expression changed drastically. His eyes flickered as he stared at Li Qing's four outstretched fingers. The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the clanging sound of train wheels hitting the rails.

As the saying goes, clasping your hands inwards is a sign of respect, while pointing outwards indicates seniority.

Four fingers clearly indicate that he is four generations older than himself.

Adding to the jargon, the young man frowned, realizing that the two old men had come with ill intentions, and held the newspaper in front of him across his chest.

Using a newspaper as a knife, held horizontally in front of his chest, it was clear he wanted Li Qing's fingers.

The young man snorted coldly, his voice suddenly rising three octaves: "It's common sense to run away when the wind is strong, but today we've got a huge problem! No matter how famous you are, even the mountain temple can't suppress the thunder of a collapsing bean!"

Upon hearing the young man's words, Zhou Shang's eyes narrowed into slits.

Li Qing didn't even bother to respond, just looked at them as if they were asking for trouble, and turned his head away.

Zhou Shang smiled, a kind and approachable smile: "Tell me a method, and we'll discuss it?"

The young man lowered his head and thought for a moment; “This train is said to go to Anshun, but in reality, it will stop for half a day to repair at Xuyong North Station and will not depart until early the next morning. If you are not afraid of death, you can wait at the station until night. If you can walk out of the station alive in the early morning, I will pay for the rest of the journey, charter a carriage for you, serve you tea and water, and do everything I can for you.”

Zhou Shang glanced at Li Qing beside him and asked, "What do you think?"

Li Qing held up four fingers.

The young man was taken aback, not understanding what he meant. He then heard Li Qing say, "There are four of us brothers. You'd better take good care of us then."

"you!"

The young man stood up, said nothing, clasped his hands in a salute, and prepared to leave.

At this moment, Zhou Shang suddenly stood up and gently patted the young man's shoulder: "Young man, being too sharp and ambitious can lead to failure."

"Hmph, I've learned my lesson!"

The young man snorted coldly, turned around, and strode away.

"Brother Knife!"

As soon as the young man turned back, several people immediately surrounded him.

The young man, known as Brother Dao, waved his hand, indicating that this was not the place to talk, and quickly led his men out of the carriage.

As this guy said, the bus stopped when it reached Xuyong North Station.

"Dear passengers, the train needs to enter the station for maintenance, which will last until 8:00 AM tomorrow. The station has prepared food, hot water, and free hotel accommodation. Please disembark in an orderly manner and do not linger."

Dao Ge and his men mingled with the crowd and dispersed, guarding the entrance to the station.

After waiting for a long time, and after most of the passengers had gotten off the bus, the two old guys were still nowhere to be seen.

"Brother Dao, these two old men actually believed it."

The bald man grinned and sneered.

Since the arrival of the Lost City, this station has also been contaminated.

No matter where the train comes from, once it enters the station, it will inexplicably stop here for one night, and it can't be started no matter what.

We could only set off again at 8 a.m. the next day.

The most dangerous thing was that after six o'clock, no living person was allowed to stay at the station. It was said that the people on the train had mysteriously disappeared.

Rumor has it that the station's security guards once saw the missing passengers in the middle of the night; they were all blue-faced and fanged, like evil spirits.

Those two old guys are definitely going to die if they stay inside.

"Ah."

Brother Dao nodded and turned to the woman beside him: "Little sister, are you sure these two old men aren't beginners?"

The girl named Yaomei looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old. She was chewing bubble gum and looked thin, but she was actually the strongest among their group.

E-level beginner, Mushishi.

The little girl opened her mouth, and a red-headed centipede crawled out, waving its long, thin antennae and trembling a few times.

Seeing this, Yaomei said with certainty, "Don't worry, they are definitely not beginners. I didn't sense any incantation on them."

"Hahaha, I thought they were some great seniors, but they're not even beginners. They just look like a bunch of old slackers."

"Hey, we've seen plenty of these old thugs. If we weren't worried about attracting the company's attention, Brother Dao could have killed them with one slash in the car just now."

The group chatted and laughed, completely disregarding the two old men.

As they were laughing, they sensed something was off. Turning around, they saw Brother Dao standing to the side, a cigarette in his hand, seemingly lost in thought.

"Brother Knife!"

The bald man walked over and asked cautiously, "What are you doing here...?"

Dao Ge stood under the dim platform lights, his brows furrowed, the cigarette between his fingers flickering.

The bald man, the little girl, and the others had completely stopped laughing and joking. They gathered around him, and the only sounds in the air were the occasional metallic hiss of the train and the faint announcements from the station in the distance.

Dao Ge took a deep drag on his cigarette, the embers briefly illuminating the surprise and doubt in his eyes. He slowly raised his head, his gaze returning to the eerily silent green train carriage, his voice low and strained, as if squeezed from his chest:

"Nanfeng, didn't you guys notice that these two old men... look a lot like my master?"

Nanfeng was taken aback, and subconsciously repeated, "Is it Grandpa Duan?"

"Ah."

Dao Ge nodded, his mind unconsciously turning to his master.

That old man, aged and frail, was someone he had raised single-handedly. It is said that the old man was a famous lone bandit in the entire Sichuan region, and all the errand runners in the martial arts world respected him greatly.

When he excitedly told the old man that he had become a beginner and demonstrated the beginner's methods to him.

Unexpectedly, the old man simply lay on the bed and smiled calmly, saying softly, "Just a little trick."

It seems that these mysterious and miraculous abilities in their eyes are, in the eyes of this old man, things that are not worth mentioning.

Some say it's because people get old and can't keep up with the times.

But Brother Dao clearly remembered the disdain in the old man's eyes; it was not an act, but genuine disdain.

If it weren't for the old man's physical limitations, perhaps this would have been the best era for people like him.

Thinking of this, and recalling the nonchalant expressions of the two old men just now.

Dao Ge couldn't help but start to panic.

I had a vague feeling that I had kicked a steel plate.

Could it be that they are like our master?
Thinking of this, Brother Dao's heart began to race.

"The station is now closed. Please leave as soon as possible."

At this moment, the announcer's voice came from the loudspeaker, and the station security guards came out one after another and began to forcibly disperse the pedestrians sitting around the station.

"Brother Dao, they've started clearing the area."

Seeing this, the bald man shouted for Brother Dao to leave as soon as possible, as no one was allowed to approach the station after it was closed.

Dao Ge threw down his cigarette butt, and the group quickly left the station with the crowd.

They were all repeat offenders on this bus, and they knew the way well, heading straight to a beef noodle restaurant in town.

"Boss! Same as always."

"okay!"

The boss recognized Brother Dao and his group, responded, and called out to the kitchen, "Nine bowls, beef offal noodles, extra beef offal, extra spicy!"

The group sat around the round table, seemingly having forgotten about the two old men, because subconsciously they didn't think the two old fellows would make it out of the station alive, so they naturally didn't care.

"This trip was pretty good, six wallets, a total of 3458."

The young man in charge of removing the paper money took out all the money from his wallet, counted it, and handed it all to Brother Dao, clicking his tongue and saying, "It's a pity there's no ghost money."

Be content; it'll last you a while.

The youngest sister rolled her eyes at him: "Ghost money is too dangerous. You can only get it in contaminated areas. There aren't many contaminated areas around here, but I've never seen anyone come out with all their limbs intact."

"Hey, that's true."

The young man grinned as he collected all the money. It was only because the pollution was relatively mild in their area that the old money was still usable. In some places, it's said that money is no longer worth anything.

All transactions required ghost money. As they were talking, Brother Dao suddenly stood up and, to everyone's surprise, turned and walked out.

"Hey, Brother Dao, Brother Dao!!"

Everyone was taken aback when they saw this, and immediately stood up to chase after them.

But Brother Dao turned around and yelled at them: "Don't come over, don't worry about me, just do what you're supposed to do, little sister. If I don't come back, take care of everyone and take care of my master."

Upon hearing this, the youngest sister immediately realized what he was about to do and turned to chase after him.

Although he is an E-level beginner, his attributes are biased towards spirit.

They can't catch up with Brother Dao at all.

Dao Ge moved with the agility of a monkey, nimbly scaling the town's walls, turning and stepping on the roadside barbed wire, before leaping onto the rooftop in a single bound.

He wanted to go back and take a look.

Let's see who these two old guys really are.

Could he really be someone like his master?

They're not even beginners, so why are they so calm?

Because his master's body no longer allowed him to get out of bed, he couldn't understand where his master's disdain came from.

I asked my master, but he just sighed and said nothing.

The answer is right in front of him, and Brother Dao wants to see it; he doesn't want to remain here, a nobody.

The station was inaccessible, but that didn't stop Brother Dao, a local tough guy. After crossing the woods, the tracks were right behind him.

After climbing over the outer barbed wire fence, Brother Dao walked along the tracks towards the station.

After walking only a few steps, the already dim sky quickly darkened.

At the same time, a pungent, fishy smell began to waft through the air.

The smell immediately made Brother Dao feel uneasy, and he quickly took out two throwing knives from his waist.

Both of these throwing knives are F-grade cursed items.

This is probably the most valuable piece of equipment that Brother Dao has.

The station ahead was eerily quiet; there were no lights and no staff.

The only sounds were my own footsteps and the pounding of my heart.

However, after Brother Dao climbed onto the train station...

Take a closer look.

"Huh??? Where's the car???"

The train that was originally parked at the station has disappeared.

After taking another careful look around and confirming that there was no sign of a train, Dao Ge suddenly felt uneasy.

"go!"

At this moment, he dared not linger any longer. Reason had overwhelmed the impulse in his heart, and he turned around to leave.

But unexpectedly, in the instant he turned around...

The once empty waiting platform was now densely packed with people.

when!
The sudden appearance of so many people gave Brother Dao goosebumps all over his body.

"Dong Dong Dong!!!"

At the other end of the station, a gong was struck, and the dimly lit platform was illuminated by a warm, yellow light.

"Woo!"

Dao Ge turned around and saw a train of unknown age approaching from the shadows in the distance, billowing white smoke.

As soon as the train pulled into the station, it made a "whoosh" sound as the valve opened, and one by one, the figures behind them surged into the carriage.

Dao Ge instinctively wanted to back away, but every time these people jumped past him, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Then his consciousness began to blur.

In a daze, Brother Dao saw a familiar figure walk past him. He rubbed his eyes and saw that Yao Mei and the others were sitting in the carriage at some point.

Inside the carriage, several people were chatting and laughing, with a table full of food and a birthday cake in front of them.

"Little sister... what are you doing here? Get out quickly, something's wrong with this car."

Dao Ge stared wide-eyed as he walked to the car window and pounded on it, trying to tell them to get out.

But no matter how much he shouted, the people in the car seemed not to hear him, and no one even glanced at him.

Just then, two figures appeared in front of Brother Dao.

The familiar face sent a chill down Dao Ge's spine.

The youngest sister and the others stood up and went to help their master, and...

another me.

Yes, another version of myself, a face exactly like mine.

Both their appearance and demeanor were exactly the same as mine.

"How could this be? How could there be two of me?? No, that's fake, fake!! Little sister, he's fake!"

Brother Dao slammed his fist into the car window.

The banging noises didn't draw his attention to anyone in the car.

Seeing this, Brother Dao hurriedly glanced left and right. When he saw the bus stop next to him, he didn't care about anything else. He jumped up and shoved aside the shadow blocking his way.

However, just as he was about to step into the carriage, his neck was suddenly tightened, and a hand yanked Brother Dao, who was already leaping into the air, back down.

The sudden force caused Brother Dao to lose his balance and stumble to the ground.

He looked up and saw the two old people standing with their hands behind their backs, smiling at him.

"Second brother, this kid is not bad, he actually came back on his own."

Li Qing grinned and joked.

Zhou Shang snorted coldly: "It may not be a sudden change of heart."

Zhou Shang bent down and stared at Brother Dao in front of him: "Kid, let me ask you a question, who is Duan Rui to you?"

When Dao Ge saw the two of them, a thousand words welled up in his heart, but they were all silenced by Zhou Shang's words. He stared blankly at the two of them and swallowed hard: "That's my master."

After saying that, Brother Dao realized something: "How do you know my master's name?"

"Hmph, there are plenty of people with the surname Duan in this place, but not many can train a small-time martial arts master. I saw that you just took out a throwing knife. After thinking about it, only that kid Duan Rui can handle throwing knives properly."

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Shang created a thin paper figure that appeared on Dao Ge's shoulder.

Zhou Shang had overheard everything they said after they left through the paper figure.

"If you don't mention your master even once, heh."

Zhou Shang narrowed his eyes and beckoned with his finger. Suddenly, the paper figure on Dao Ge's shoulder stuck to Dao Ge's neck.

Suddenly, Brother Dao felt a tightness around his neck, as if something was stuck in his throat. No matter how hard he tried to scratch, he couldn't get anything out.

Just moments later, Brother Dao began to have difficulty breathing.

"Alright, alright, since he's Duan Rui's apprentice, stop criticizing him."

Fortunately, Li Qing spoke up at this moment.

Zhou Shang loosened his grip, and Dao Ge gasped for breath before coughing violently. When he reached up to touch his neck, he discovered a small paper figure stuck to it.

"You...cough cough cough...you...cough."

He gasped for breath a few times before he could catch his breath, and looked up at Zhou Shang: "Are you beginners?"

This method of killing was unheard of for Brother Dao. Just now, it seemed as if he could have been strangled to death by this insignificant little paper doll with just a flick of the other's finger.

"A beginner?"

Zhou Shang and Li Qing exchanged a glance, and Zhou Shang's smile became even more benevolent: "Your master taught you so many rules, but why didn't he ever tell you about the Zhou family's name?"

"Paper Doll Zhou?"

After thinking about it carefully, Brother Dao felt that the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it before.

Suddenly remembering something, he looked up in horror and exclaimed, "Luo Du, Yang the Musical Instruments, Zhou the Paper Dolls, you are from the Zhou family of Yin Xing!"

"Hey, you're not completely stupid. Remember to put the paper doll Zhou in front next time."

Zhou Shang proudly raised his head.

"Alright, let's talk about this later. Let's take the kids and get out of this awful place first. My old legs are starting to ache from staying here!"

Li Qing urged him on.

Dao Ge then remembered something, hurriedly looked at the train in front of him, and grabbed Zhou Shang's arm: "Master Zhou, my... my brothers, friends, and my grandfather are all on the train."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shang raised his hand and slapped Dao Ge hard across the face, making Dao Ge's face sting with pain: "Idiot, open your eyes and look at what that is!"

When Dao Ge was slapped, he felt his blood surging. When he looked at the train again, he could finally see the scene on the train in front of him.

The train was dilapidated and covered in rust. Inside, it was filled with highly decomposed corpses, and green flies and maggots crawled everywhere.

Even Brother Dao was startled by this scene.

Zhou Shang, with his hands behind his back, said, "If I hadn't pulled you up just now, you might have caused your master to bury his son."

"Yes, thank you... thank you, Master Zhou."

Dao Ge felt a chill run through his body, and his back was soaked with cold sweat.

But when he looked back, he saw a dark mass of figures surging toward him from afar. This time he could see clearly that those blurry figures were not living people at all; they were rotting faces, and their bodies were emanating a visible black aura.

"Ugh!!"

Seeing this, Li Qing sighed, unpacked his backpack, and found two jars inside.

Yes, it's similar to the jar for pickled vegetables.

Each of the two jars had a name written on it: Zhao Qingming on the left and Xiao Zhenye on the right.

Li Qing placed his hand on the jar: "Big brother, fourth brother, it's time for you two to come out and get moving."

With that, he squeezed the jar open with both hands.

(End of this chapter)