Doomsday Train, I went crazy by hoarding billions of items.

Chapter 29 Scoundrels Always Appear in Groups
Yu Jie's sudden shout startled the other two, including Jiang Ran who was eavesdropping!
Lei Ge even pulled out a dagger, looked warily towards the door, and whispered to Yu Jie, "Where is she?"

Jiang Ran blinked, looking at Sister Yu who was looking around on the screen, wondering if she had some kind of prop.

Can pinhole cameras be detected?

She decided to play dead and observe the situation. Since she was currently disguised as Little Spinning Top, if Sister Yu really had any special investigative methods, let her hold a grudge against Little Spinning Top.

But to Jiang Ran's surprise, a fourth person's voice suddenly appeared in the room that originally housed only three people.

"As expected of the person I've chosen, Vivi, you're really perceptive."

Yuwei said coldly, "Yan Zikai, what do you mean by this? Are you spying on me?"

The young woman followed Yuwei's gaze and looked her over, but found no trace of any props. She could only roar, "This is the cooperation you're talking about? What do you take Sister Yu for, your prisoner?!"

Yan Zikai chuckled twice, his voice gentle: "I'm sorry, Weiwei, I used this prop without discussing it with you... I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

"This is a B-grade item called 'Red Thread' that I finally managed to get, and it cost me 100 health points. Don't worry, its only effect is that I can chat with you and know your location, which will put my mind at ease."

"We've known each other for so many years, don't you know what kind of person I am? I have supplies, weapons, and henchmen. You can suffer much less if you follow me. I don't even mind if you bring those two good-for-nothings along. Aren't I sincere enough towards you?"

Yuwei scoffed at this: "Yan Zikai, it's one thing to fool me with these words, but don't fool yourself too. We all know why you used this prop on me, what are you trying to prove with this Casanova act?"

"If you want what I have, you have to give me half of your supplies and weapons first, cash on delivery. Also, get rid of this damn red line!"

Yan Zikai wasn't angry at being told that, but his tone was somewhat meaningful: "Weiwei, you've never suffered any hardship, that's why you have such a bad temper. Besides me, who else would spoil you like this?"
"It's okay, I can wait for you to figure it out slowly. Sooner or later you'll realize that for a woman like you, there's no better path than to be with me. You don't want to end up in the last class, do you?"

"Sweetie, tell me when you've thought it through. Just call me by my name. But before that, don't even think about secretly trading with others, or I'll get jealous. You know, I have quite a few items."

After that, there was silence on the other end.

"Sister Yu!" the young woman called out urgently, but then, as if remembering something, she swallowed her words with frustration: "What should we do now? This... Zhu Lei, say something!"

Zhu Lei lowered his head and said dejectedly, "Sister Yu, I'm sorry, we've dragged you into this... Don't worry about us, you're better off on your own!"

Yuwei pinched the bridge of her nose, her voice sounding tired: "Don't talk nonsense. It has nothing to do with you. What he wanted from the beginning was this 'puppet' in my hand."

"Never mind all that, let's gather supplies first. We'll be stuck in this freezing weather for half a month, so we need to stock up on food. Besides, I'm a little worried... Never mind, we'll deal with that later."

"Let's split up and see if there are any warm items, especially blankets, in those empty houses."

Extremely cold nights can freeze people to death.

Having overheard the whole thing from the corner of the wall, Jiang Ran couldn't help but roll her eyes as she walked toward a mud-brick house in the southwest of the village.

That's why they say scoundrels always appear in groups.
She was quite familiar with the name Yan Zikai, because this guy later got involved with Xu Yunxuan as well.

But is the "puppet" that Yuwei mentioned a prop card?
*
The footprints on the snow were too conspicuous, but Jiang Ran didn't bother to hide them. She found an empty house near the target location, set up traps, and waited for the target to appear. While waiting, she unconsciously recalled her previous life.

Back then, Xu Yunxuan would often harass her with messages, mostly boasting and mocking her, and sometimes making brainless statements like "If you beg me, maybe I can make your life better"—a classic case of left-right brain conflict.

He probably wanted to see resentment and impotent rage in Jiang Ran.

But every time they chatted, he was always the one who broke down first after only a couple of sentences.

Jiang Ran was exhausted from just trying to survive and didn't have much energy left to give to Xu Yunxuan.

So every time Xu Yunxuan rambled on and on about a bunch of random things, Jiang Ran would just say "Oh".

She never blocked Xu Yunxuan, purely because Jiang Ran could occasionally learn some information from his unfiltered remarks that she wouldn't normally know, including Yan Zikai's existence and some special skills.

Whenever Yan Zikai was mentioned, Xu Yunxuan's attitude was always a bit strange. It was a mixture of subtle jealousy and fear, yet he couldn't help but feel smug because Yan Zikai had gained the upper hand through his resources.

Having overheard Yan Zikai and Yuwei's conversation today, Jiang Ran roughly guessed the reason.

As for the "puppet" in Yuwei's hands, it is highly likely that it has fallen into Yan Zikai's hands. After all, with the short-haired woman and Zhu Lei around, her weaknesses are quite obvious.

Although it's somewhat disheartening that good people seem to suffer more because of their higher moral standards, it doesn't stop Jiang Ran from being attracted to what's in Yuwei.

Regardless of the outcome, it's better to give it to her than to Yan Zikai.

Jiang Ran stared at the long trail of footprints through the simple window, her mind racing: Once I've finished what I'm doing, I'll go meet Yuwei. If it's on the condition of killing Yan Zikai, she'd probably be very willing to make a deal with me, right?
*
Forty minutes later, snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

A man slowly walked over from a distance.

He was unaware that someone was secretly watching his every move. He simply followed the footprints on the ground, which clearly showed only one person, and looked with a gloomy gaze toward the house where Jiang Ran was hiding.

He walked for a long time in the snow, and was now cold and hungry, only wanting to find something to warm him up or some food.

Although they couldn't afford to offend the three men guarding the middle of the village, there was only one house where one person was hiding...

The man slowly put his hands into his pockets and called out to the house in front of him, "Hello, is anyone home? My ID is 'Terrifying Whale'. I mean no harm, I just want to trade you some cold-weather supplies for some food."

finally come!

Jiang Ran stood up by the window, a knife in her hand, her voice filled with panic: "Stand there, don't come any closer! I have no food, get out of here! Go somewhere else!"

The terrifying whale suddenly raised its head, looked at Jiang Ran's overly young face, and a look of surprise flashed in its eyes.

His voice softened further: "Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person. You'll see..."

(End of this chapter)