Zhang Gui was indeed sorely tempted to strangle this wretch, but as Bai Liu had said, there was nothing to be gained from killing him now.
Bai Liu's personal skill had already been activated; whether Zhang Gui killed him or not, it would not be interrupted. Worse, killing Bai Liu would mean losing the clever puppet he had worked so hard to obtain.
The most pressing matter now was to seize that so-called Mermaid Amulet and thereby terminate Bai Liu's skill. Afterwards, Zhang Gui could devise a hundred torments to vent his fury at being so thoroughly played.
But to kill Bai Liu now would be a waste of all he had invested. It was not in Zhang Gui's nature to squander such a valuable asset, especially one with such formidable intellect.
Forcing himself to calmness, Zhang Gui released the puppet thread from Bai Liu's throat.
Bai Liu collapsed to the ground, clutching his battered neck, coughing and gasping for breath, his eyes brimming with involuntary tears—yet he still managed a smiling, infuriatingly grateful, "Thank you for sparing my life, Master."
That insufferable smile made Zhang Gui want to strangle him all over again.
Suppressing the urge to lose control, Zhang Gui drew a deep breath, forcing his mind to clarity. The system's warning was clear: the transaction would fail when the train started. He glanced at the LED countdown above the carriage—there was still time.
Forty seconds remained. Victory was not yet out of reach. Killing Bai Liu would take but ten seconds; if he waited until the final ten, it would not be too late to end him.
His mind racing, Zhang Gui issued his orders: "This isn't checkmate yet. If the players can't get in—Liu Huai, lure the passengers into Mu Sicheng's carriage. Set them upon him! His sanity must be nearly depleted. Let the passengers finish him off!"
Liu Huai replied, "Understood!"
Luring monsters was Liu Huai's specialty; both thief and assassin skills excelled at such tasks. In the past, he and Mu Sicheng had made a formidable team—Mu Sicheng would steal, while Liu Huai lured and assassinated monsters.
Now, Liu Huai weaved between the passengers, his twin sleeve blades flashing. Soon, the passengers' hostility was drawn to him, and they followed as he dangled upside down at the flaming carriage door. As they searched for him, they poured into the carriage, their attention inexorably drawn to Mu Sicheng's location.
Previously, the thief brother's flames could incinerate the passengers outright, but after his struggle with Mu Sicheng, his strength had clearly waned, the fire diminished. While players still could not withstand it, the passengers could now enter.
The flames in the thief brother's carriage gradually subsided, and those in the adjacent car could finally make out the scene within.
Mu Sicheng, eyes blank, clung to the monster's neck, refusing to be shaken off. The explosive passengers, drawn by the mirror shard embedded in the monster, surged into the carriage, climbing and clawing over one another, their charred bodies piling atop the giant. The monster writhed, finally flinging Mu Sicheng aside.
Mu Sicheng, utterly spent, coughed weakly, releasing his grip and tumbling backward into the mountain of scorched corpses that had accumulated atop the thief brother.
The blackened, clawing hands of the passengers seized Mu Sicheng's limbs, their charred fingers raking bloody furrows across his pallid face. More and more passengers poured in, burying him beneath a mountain of burnt flesh. Only his exhausted face remained visible, gasping for breath above the sea of corpses—until even his mouth was covered.
He was dragged into the blazing inferno, swallowed by the mountain of burning dead, vanishing from sight.
The thief brother threw back his head and roared, flames igniting upon his fists as he raised them high, poised to deliver a final, fatal blow to the buried Mu Sicheng.
Mu Sicheng lay dazed atop the heap of corpses, seemingly oblivious to all around him, his shallow breathing the only sign of life.
But such life could not last long.
The monster's fist descended.
Du Sanying, witnessing Mu Sicheng's plight, let out a desperate, piercing scream. In that critical instant, the sound seemed to rouse Mu Sicheng—he blinked with great effort, barely managing to turn his head and avoid the monster's crushing blow. Yet the force of the strike made him cough up blood, his eyelids drooping as he sank deeper into the pile of corpses.
[System Warning: Player Mu Sicheng, escape immediately! Your sanity is critically low! You are on the brink of death!]
It was clear Mu Sicheng could not hold on much longer.
"Mu Sicheng is as good as dead," Zhang Gui murmured, eyes narrowed. "Even you, Bai Liu, could not withstand this monster's power in your berserk state. Liu Huai, as soon as Mu Sicheng dies, throw me the Mermaid Amulet from his dropped items!"
"My berserk stats wouldn't suffice?" Bai Liu's thoughtful voice suddenly interjected. "But what if my berserk stats were doubled?"
"Doubled? Impossible," Zhang Gui scoffed. "Mu Sicheng must have told you about my Puppet Enhancement skill. Let me be clear, Bai Liu: to enter berserk mode, your sanity must drop below twenty. My skill requires a sacrifice of fifty sanity points, but you have less than twenty left. You cannot use Puppet Enhancement."
"And if I insist?" Bai Liu asked softly.
"You wouldn't die, but your sanity would shatter, leaving you in a fate worse than death," Zhang Gui replied, now with leisure to converse. He looked at Bai Liu with a victor's satisfaction, the triumph of one clever mind over another. "There are thirty-six seconds left on the LED countdown. Mu Sicheng won't last that long. This time, you've lost. The Mermaid Amulet will be mine—"
[System Notification: The train is departing. Player Zhang Gui has defaulted on his agreement with Player Bai Liu regarding the Mermaid Amulet. Zhang Gui is penalized by the system and becomes a soul coin in Bai Liu's old wallet.]
Zhang Gui's eyes widened in disbelief. He glanced instinctively at the LED countdown. "How can the train be starting? There were still thirty-six seconds—"
The train lurched into motion. Liu Huai, too, halted in shock.
Du Sanying, who had been running for his life, finally collapsed in a corner, sobbing with relief as he pulled away a translucent cloth draped over the LED screen, revealing the true countdown: [0 seconds. The train is departing. Passengers, please prepare.]
Zhang Gui, face dark as thunder, tossed a scouting item onto the fallen cloth.
[Scouting Result: Player Du Sanying used the item "Disguised Cloth" to alter the LED screen's timer.]
"Du Sanying!!" Zhang Gui lost all composure, screaming, "When did you use that item? I have no memory—"
He broke off, suddenly recalling how Du Sanying had frantically thrown items to delay them during the chase—one of which had been a piece of cloth that landed on the screen.
But at the time, Zhang Gui had been blinded by the euphoria of impending victory. His plan had gone so smoothly, he never suspected that Du Sanying's tearful panic was an act.
Though, in truth, it was not entirely an act—Du Sanying had been genuinely terrified by Bai Liu's performance as the villain, convinced he and Mu Sicheng were truly being sacrificed. His curses at Bai Liu's inhumanity were heartfelt.
Realization dawning, Zhang Gui staggered back, staring at Bai Liu in disbelief. "Impossible… Your intelligence is eighty-nine, mine is ninety-three. How could you outwit me, anticipate my every move…?"
"Perhaps mine is simply innate?" Bai Liu shrugged, his expression calm as he swiftly drew a pristine soul coin—Zhang Gui's—from his old wallet and pressed it to his system panel.
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu uses Zhang Gui's soul coin to access his system. Cutting into Zhang Gui's system panel…]
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu has successfully accessed Zhang Gui's system panel and may now operate it.]
In an instant, Bai Liu's system panel shifted to Zhang Gui's. Seeing this, Zhang Gui realized he was utterly defeated. He gave a hollow laugh, turning away and closing his eyes to his own ruin.
The hunter, at last, had become the hunted. He had controlled so many, yet never before had he been controlled.
Bai Liu—ah, Bai Liu.
He must have known all along that Zhang Gui sought to capture and drain his intellect, which was why he had been so fearless, so certain he would not be killed.
And so it was—Zhang Gui's own greed had given Bai Liu his opening.
The clever are always greedy; Zhang Gui did not think his greed a fault, only that he had lost to someone whose greed surpassed his own a hundredfold.
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu uses the soul coin to access Zhang Gui's system panel. Player Bai Liu uses Zhang Gui's personal skill, "Puppet Strings," to command Zhang Gui to control Liu Huai and attack himself.]
Suddenly, Zhang Gui's fingers moved of their own accord, tightening around Liu Huai's heart. Liu Huai gasped, his heart constricting.
Both Liu Huai and Zhang Gui looked up in shock at Bai Liu, who issued his command with chilling calm: "Attack me, Liu Huai. Use the method that drains your sanity the fastest."
Zhang Gui cried out in horror, "You've already won, Bai Liu! What more do you want? The doors are about to close!"
Indeed, the train had begun to move. The "Explosive Passengers" and "Thief Brother" were preparing to disembark, dragging their spoils—a barely struggling Mu Sicheng—toward the exit.
Mu Sicheng seemed utterly insensible, his eyeless gaze vacant, blood trickling from his lips and eyes. The only sign of life was—
—He had never once used the escape item, the Mermaid Amulet.
[Bai Liu, I cannot guarantee I won't use the Mermaid Amulet if my sanity drops below ten. The will to survive can drive people to do strange things, even betray their allies.]
[But if… I truly never use it, then it means, as you demanded, I have maintained my reason even with sanity below ten.]
[Mu Sicheng, if you do not use the Mermaid Amulet, I swear as long as I live, I will save you.]
[Hope, Bai Liu. Someone once said the same to me. I agreed to work with you not out of trust, but because I had no other choice. I would rather die than be controlled by Zhang Gui. To be controlled by you, I can still accept—for now.]
[You are my most valuable card, Mu Sicheng. I will not let you die.]
"I will save Mu Sicheng," Bai Liu repeated, his tone flat and unwavering. "Liu Huai, use the weapon that drains your sanity the fastest. Attack me."
Liu Huai's hand, beyond his control, drove both sleeve blades into Bai Liu's chest and abdomen. Bai Liu merely frowned, blood seeping from his lips as Liu Huai, trembling, released his grip.
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu has been attacked by Liu Huai's Night Blades. Sanity -30. Current sanity: 39. Warning! Danger zone!]
Bai Liu exhaled, pressing a hand to his bleeding chest. He glanced at the still-struggling Mu Sicheng and said to Liu Huai, almost impatiently, "Not enough. Again."
Liu Huai's hand, shaking uncontrollably, stabbed Bai Liu again and again. By the end, he was trembling all over, staring at Bai Liu's bloodied lips in shock and incomprehension. "Why… why go this far for Mu Sicheng…?"
Bai Liu wiped the blood from his mouth, casting Liu Huai a cool glance. "I promised him. I will save him."
"This is our deal, our cooperation. And to honor a deal is the fundamental morality of a wanderer."