Due to the existence of the [Gag Order] mechanism, Bai Liu was unable to directly inform Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu of the game's true nature. He could only tell them, "You will encounter some unexpected situations, but do not panic. I will help you, I will see you through this. But you must find a way to let me know what you experience and where you are—use your panel to purchase items that will reveal your location to me."
Thus, after entering the game, Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu followed Bai Liu's instructions to the letter. Upon completing their first task, they racked their brains and used their meager points to buy four of the cheapest items in succession—[Cork], [Blade], [Mini Flashlight], and [Paperweight]. Liu Fu bought a [Tuning Fork]. Together, these items spelled out: [Siren Town].
Yet fear gnawed at them. They did not know if Bai Liu would understand their message, but it was all they could do. These cheap, seldom-purchased items cost them nearly all their points, and many spectators scorned them for squandering their resources, relegating them to a desolate, unpopular section of the audience.
Fortunately, their system soon began to glitch, as if commandeered by some unseen hand. Their panels would occasionally operate on their own, automatically purchasing items for them. They used these items—flashlights, 3D projectors, alcohol—timidly, as though another presence was guiding their play. Neither Xiang Chunhua nor Liu Fu were seasoned gamers, but their will to survive was fierce. Even when they did not understand how to use the items Bai Liu had bought for them, they gritted their teeth and pressed on.
After surviving the initial chase, their progress smoothed, and, astonishingly, they cleared the game together.
Yes, even as Bai Liu himself was fighting for his life in the second-level game "Last Train to Oblivion," he still found time, in the brief intervals between life and death, to help Liu Fu and Xiang Chunhua, guiding them to victory—a feat known as "three-boxing."
Yet, despite Bai Liu's assistance, most of the time they relied on their own strength.
For Bai Liu was himself ensnared in a perilous game, and his unreliable system would often disconnect, leaving them without guidance. Bai Liu had no way of knowing their exact progress, so for the most part, Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu had to crawl and scramble their way through, clinging to survival. When they finally emerged, they were so shaken by fear that they could barely stand, supporting each other, tears streaming down their faces.
Ordinarily, confronted with such bizarre and supernatural events, most people would recoil in disbelief, desperate to escape.
But Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu, two ordinary adults who had never believed in ghosts or spirits, did not react with denial, terror, or the hysterical urge to flee that so often grips those dragged into these games.
Instead, at the exit, the couple collapsed into each other's arms, weeping with joy.
"That young man spoke the truth," Xiang Chunhua said, her trembling hand resting on Liu Fu. In the few short weeks since losing Guoguo, she seemed to have aged decades. Tears traced the deepening lines of her face as she hunched over, sobbing through gritted teeth. "Do you think… do you think Guoguo can be saved? Will that monster really be punished?"
Liu Fu, too, wiped away tears, this grown man sobbing uncontrollably. "Yes, yes, he said he would help us."
Before entering the game, on the sweltering night after the college entrance exams in June, Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu had sat across from each other in silence. On the table before them were three sets of bowls and chopsticks, and a large bowl of braised pork. Beside the extra, empty bowl lay Liu Guoguo's exam admission card. In the photo, the girl in her school uniform looked at the camera with a shy, hopeful smile, anxious yet full of dreams for the future.
Their home, close to the street, echoed with the jubilant or disappointed chatter of students discussing the exam. In that chorus of laughter and sorrow, there should have been the voice of a seventeen-year-old girl. But that voice had vanished forever in a dark alley, leaving only a sweet, monochrome image on a distant gravestone. The hand that should have held pen and paper was hacked to pieces, sold as cheap pork by Li Gou for a few yuan a pound, to be rid of the evidence.
Liu Fu had frantically searched the sewers for Guoguo's right hand, but even before the burial, he never found it. His daughter's hand, mingled with scraps of pork, had disappeared into the darkness below.
"This year's physics exam was tough, I heard from Mrs. Zhang," Xiang Chunhua murmured, dazed. "But wasn't Guoguo best at physics? Maybe this year's test would have suited her."
"Maybe… maybe she could have made it, gotten into the teachers' college she wanted…" Liu Fu's voice broke. He buried his face in his hands, his body folding in on itself as if the world had collapsed, sobbing with rage and grief. He pounded the table, careful not to touch Guoguo's admission card. "That beast! She was only seventeen! It's all my fault—I never should have let her go down there!"
"It's my fault too. If I hadn't wanted to make braised pork for her, she wouldn't have…" Xiang Chunhua's eyes were ringed with dried tears. She patted Liu Fu's shoulder, her voice hollow, as if comforting herself. "Go to sleep. It will all be better when you wake up."
But when they awoke, they found themselves inside the game.
Supporting each other, Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu faced this strange new world with the wary vigilance of small animals, yet also with the streetwise adaptability of adults. The only person they trusted was Bai Liu, the young man said to have purchased their souls and aided them in the game.
When they saw someone pass by, Xiang Chunhua approached cautiously. "Excuse me, young man, do you know someone named Bai Liu?"
The man gave them a curious look. "Are you Bai Liu's fans? Head to the central hall's main screen—he just got a huge wave of likes and donations, the crowd's going wild. Looks like he's about to break into the Nightmare New Star rankings. If you want to cheer him on, you'd better hurry."
Exchanging a glance, Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu thanked him and hurried toward the central hall.
———
Central Hall, main screen.
Wang Shun stood at the very front of Bai Liu's small TV, his expression grave. Though Bai Liu had just received a surge of likes and donations for his brilliant performance, not a single spectator here looked at ease.
Because Bai Liu's HP was down to one—any attack could finish him.
"Hold on! Bai Liu absolutely cannot take a single hit now—not one!"
"Help! I need oxygen again! Every time I watch Bai Liu's videos, I end up gasping for air. It's happening again!"
Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu arrived to find the entire crowd staring tensely at the small screen. Instinctively, they looked for Bai Liu's familiar face, but before they could breathe a sigh of relief, their eyes widened in horror at the man who flashed across the corner of Bai Liu's screen.
"Li Gou! You beast!"
————————
Li Gou cowered on the ground, gasping for breath. Bai Liu, with only a sliver of life left, was shielded by Du Sanying and Mu Sicheng at the center. His lips were bloodless, but his eyes remained clear. "Let me lay out the plan for the next stop. We've gathered three hundred sixty shards—forty remain. But I doubt the next stop will let us complete the set."
"We can't finish at the next stop?" Zhang Gui asked, puzzled. "But if we don't, we'll return to the starting station, Antique City. The train explosion should happen between Antique City and the penultimate stop. If we don't finish at the next stop, we'll face the explosion head-on! We'll all die!"
Bai Liu's tone was unhurried, but weakened to a languid softness: "The reason I say we won't complete the set at the next stop is because there's still one monster in the 'Monster Manual' that hasn't appeared. So far, every monster—the Blazing Passengers, the Thief Brothers—has carried shards. I suspect this last monster will as well."
Zhang Gui quickly followed Bai Liu's logic, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That makes sense. But Bai Liu, what if the next stop is when the last monster appears? Then we could finish the collection and clear the game."
"Do you remember the minimum death rate for this game?" Bai Liu replied, answering a different question.
Everyone paused.
Bai Liu lowered his gaze. "The death rate for a level-two game ranges from fifty to eighty percent. That means, even at the lowest rate, with seven of us, about three and a half players should die. Yet none of us have died so far. That's why the system forcibly lowered Du Sanying's luck value to balance things out."
"But if the system is only maintaining the minimum death rate—Du Sanying, what's your current luck?" Bai Liu suddenly asked.
Du Sanying, caught off guard, pointed at himself in confusion. Once he realized Bai Liu wanted to see his luck, he quickly opened his panel and checked. "Eighty."
"So the system only reduced Du Sanying's luck by twenty points. If it wanted to kill three and a half of us, that's far too small a decrease," Bai Liu concluded swiftly.
"Previously, 'Siren Town' made extreme adjustments to balance things against me, but 'Last Train to Oblivion' only reduced Du Sanying's luck by twenty points and stopped. That's a very mild adjustment. The fact that we all survived the last stop proves it. But the system hasn't further reduced Du Sanying's luck—just a slight correction."
Bai Liu slowly raised his eyes. "This can only mean one thing: the system believes the death rate is already balanced with minimal intervention."
While the others were still lost in thought, Zhang Gui finally understood. A chill crept up his spine as he turned to Bai Liu, his face ashen. "You mean… there's a mandatory death stage before we clear the game? That we're likely to lose three and a half people in the next round?!"
A mandatory death stage—a level that cannot be cleared without sacrifice. In single-player games, such stages are rare, but in multiplayer horror games, they are common, designed to ensure difficulty and excitement. In short: "Sacrifice your teammates, and the magic will be boundless."
In ordinary horror games, this is for fun and challenge. Here, it is only bloody and cruel.
"What do you think the mandatory death stage in a game called 'Last Train to Oblivion' would be?" Bai Liu's tone was measured.
Zhang Gui slumped back in his seat, staring up at the flickering lights on the train ceiling. "...It's the explosion. The game wants us to survive the blast. So at the penultimate stop, we probably can't finish collecting the shards."
"We must survive the explosion and reach the final stop to complete the set."
"If three and a half must die, then three and a half can live, right?" Li Gou's hoarse voice suddenly cut in. Crawling on the floor, he seized Bai Liu's ankle, desperation blazing in his eyes. "Who lives, who dies? You decide, don't you? You must have a way to save three and a half of us! Bai Liu, let me live! I'll do anything!"
Mu Sicheng snorted and kicked Li Gou away. Even then, Li Gou kept crawling closer until Mu Sicheng bared his monkey claws, finally making him stop. But the feverish, almost deranged will to survive in Li Gou's eyes made Mu Sicheng uneasy. He instinctively moved to shield Bai Liu, baring his teeth in warning.
Li Gou retreated to the corner, but his gaze never left Bai Liu.
"I do have a way to survive the explosion," Bai Liu said, his eyes unreadable as he looked at Li Gou. "But the plan requires two sacrifices."
This was why Bai Liu had insisted on saving everyone from the start—he had foreseen the mandatory death stage.
Everyone, even Mu Sicheng, involuntarily held their breath, their eyes fixed on Bai Liu.
Bai Liu lifted his eyelids and began, "I've checked: all water-based and explosive items are banned from the system shop in this game. I can't even buy a bottle of water or a firecracker. The ban on water items suggests that the Blazing Passenger monsters' greatest weakness is water. I suspect that after being incinerated, their bodies dissolve on contact with water—water is a deadly weapon against them."
He sighed, a hint of regret in his voice. "But unfortunately, there's no water on the train or in the shop. And at the next stop, we can't use Du Sanying to lure monsters again. If we do, the system will keep lowering his luck, rendering him useless. We need a large amount of water to fight the next monster."
"And water can also solve the explosion problem," Bai Liu continued clearly. "The main causes of death in an explosion are shockwaves, high temperatures, and shrapnel. If we can flood the subway tunnel with water, we can greatly reduce these lethal factors and increase our survival rate."
"But where would we get that much water?" Mu Sicheng frowned. "Even if the system sold bottled water, we'd never have enough points to flood a subway tunnel. Do you know how much water that would take, Bai Liu? Subway tunnels are eight to ten meters high, each stop is about 1.5 kilometers apart—you'd need the equivalent of over five hundred swimming pools!"
"It's not impossible," Bai Liu smiled. "The next stop has exactly what we need."
Mu Sicheng froze.
"The reservoir!" Zhang Gui exclaimed, snapping to attention. "I memorized the train map before we boarded! The penultimate stop is called Reservoir! Water is right there! It's strange to build a reservoir next to an underground subway station—this must be a clue from the game! If it's a medium-sized reservoir, it would be enough to flood the entire circular track!"
Bai Liu nodded calmly. "Exactly. The only problem is how to get the water into the station. I'm inclined to use a bomb."
"You want to blow up the reservoir?" Zhang Gui shot back, then frowned. "But the system banned all explosive items. Where would you get a bomb?"
At last, Bai Liu smiled, producing a massive, oval mirror with a single triangular gap at its center. "By using what's at hand."
"This is the mirror formed from three hundred sixty shards."
Zhang Gui stared at the fractured mirror, confused. Wasn't Bai Liu talking about bombs? Why was he showing them a mirror?
"I once discussed with a friend how the two thieves in the 'Mirror City Bombing' managed to smuggle explosives onto the train. The bombs were large enough to destroy several carriages—how did they get past security? The news said they hid them in a mirror. I always wondered what kind of mirror could conceal so much explosive…" Bai Liu spoke softly, pressing his hand to the mirror's polished surface.
Ripples spread across the glass like water, transforming it into a lake of mercury.
Bai Liu's smile widened. Before the astonished eyes of the others, he slowly plunged his hand into the silvery surface, groped for something, and drew forth a bomb several times larger than the mirror itself.
The black bomb crashed to the floor, raising a cloud of dust and a pungent scent of gunpowder.
"Now I understand," Bai Liu said, dusting off his hands. "It really was hidden in the mirror."
Zhang Gui, stunned, stared at the pile of explosives. "If you've already pulled the bombs out of the mirror, does that mean the train doesn't have to explode?"
Without a word, Bai Liu reached into the mirror again and pulled out another massive bomb. He shrugged. "I suspect the bombs are infinite. This train and this mirror are destined to explode."
Zhang Gui's face darkened once more.
"So the plan requires two sacrifices," Bai Liu explained, holding up two fingers. "One to deliver the bomb to the reservoir. I doubt they'll make it back in two minutes—that's the first sacrifice."
Zhang Gui's brow furrowed. "That's only one. What about the second?"
Bai Liu's lips curled. "The second must use Du Sanying's item, [False Cloth], to wrap the mirror and hold it. The cloth is, in a sense, illusory, so it won't tear and can contain the shards after the explosion, sparing us the trouble of collecting them again. But the cloth only works if held by a player, and being so close to the mirror, that person will almost certainly die in the blast."
"So the only question is—" Bai Liu slowly bent his two raised fingers, his eyes half-lidded, his smile growing enigmatic, "Which of you will be the ones to die?"
"To be honest, apart from Mu Sicheng and Du Sanying, whom I still need, the rest of you are of little value to me." Bai Liu spread his hands. "Zhang Gui, your three puppets' HP is so low that your combat power is negligible. Any two of you four could die, and I wouldn't care."
He sighed, a regretful, insincere sigh. "Because none of you are useful to me anymore."
Zhang Gui and his three puppets stared at Bai Liu, their expressions freezing as they realized how practiced he was at discarding the useless. He was utterly serious.
And Bai Liu spoke the truth. Even Zhang Gui, whose soul he had purchased and who was the strongest among them, would be of little use to Bai Liu once they left the game.
Worse than useless, in fact.
Zhang Gui was a high-ranking player in the King's Guild, and news of his being controlled by Bai Liu would be broadcast on the small TV. Bai Liu knew the guild would never allow a compromised player to remain in power, nor would they tolerate Bai Liu controlling someone privy to their secrets.
In short, Zhang Gui was a liability. It would be best if he died in the game—clean and final, with no need for the King's Guild to seek revenge, as it would be dismissed as in-game conflict.
But if Bai Liu chose Zhang Gui to die, he faced a thorny problem—
—Zhang Gui's death would free his three puppets from Bai Liu's control.
Bai Liu had considered using the [Old Wallet] skill to bargain for control of the three, but the odds were slim. First, they were all wary of him, knowing he had a control skill. The skill required mutual consent, and it was unlikely he could trick all three into a deal in a few minutes.
Second, even if he succeeded, in the chaos of the underwater scenario, Bai Liu would be unable to control anyone.
Because soul bills, like Bai Liu himself, were vulnerable to water. If his weakness was discovered, he would be in grave danger.
Moreover, Bai Liu would keep the shards on himself before clearing the game, to maximize his reward. If the others learned he couldn't use his skill underwater, he might be attacked from all sides.
Unfortunately, Bai Liu suspected Zhang Gui had already guessed this.
Zhang Gui had witnessed Bai Liu use the soul bills to save Mu Sicheng, and knew the skill required paper currency—hence Bai Liu's desire for Zhang Gui's death.
Zhang Gui likely understood the conditions, limitations, and weaknesses of Bai Liu's skill. If Bai Liu spared him, he would lose the advantage of secrecy.
In truth, Bai Liu had simply exploited an information gap. He knew Zhang Gui, backed by a major guild, had access to resources Bai Liu did not. If Zhang Gui ever broke free, he might hunt Bai Liu down, just as he had once pursued Mu Sicheng.
And Zhang Gui might even expose Bai Liu's skill. Though versatile, it was also severely limited, requiring monetary transactions. If Zhang Gui revealed it, Bai Liu's future would be fraught with peril.
Bai Liu's eyes flickered as he met Zhang Gui's shadowed gaze.
It was the look of a predator lying in wait, ready to strike at Bai Liu, who now had only a single point of life.
And Zhang Gui's moment was fast approaching.
"Zhang Gui, hold the explosive mirror," Bai Liu ordered without hesitation.
Zhang Gui's expression shifted, clearly not expecting to be chosen, but he quickly regained his composure and protested, "If I die, my three puppets will break free! Bai Liu, you can't choose me!"
Bai Liu narrowed his eyes, meeting Zhang Gui's ragged breath with a faint, surface smile. "But if I don't choose you, you'll kill me the moment my guard drops. With only one HP, you're the greatest threat to me."
Zhang Gui hesitated, then spoke again. "Bai Liu, we've worked together until now. I really don't want to betray you. I even risked my life to protect you, didn't I?"
He raised his hands in surrender, striving for sincerity. "I know you still doubt me. I'll give you everything I have. I just want to clear the game. I'm ranked around two hundred, and you already control me. Keeping me alive is more useful than killing me, isn't it?"
He bowed deeply, exposing the back of his neck and shoulders, his voice hoarse. "Bai Liu… master, I swear I won't harm you. You can have Mu Sicheng use [Judge's Scales] to test my honesty. You may not trust me, but you can trust the item, can't you?"
It was a posture of utter submission.
Bai Liu smiled, bending down to peer at Zhang Gui's face, his tone amused. "Zhang Gui, such gestures and psychological tricks don't work on me. I've already played this game with you."
His gaze drifted lazily. "Do you know why I never tried to negotiate with you, but controlled you from the start?"
Zhang Gui froze, hearing Bai Liu's ambiguous, low chuckle.
Bai Liu's smile remained, but his eyes turned cold enough to pierce through Zhang Gui. His tone was almost approving: "Because you're like me—or rather, anyone who seeks to maximize their gain thinks the same way. We're both greedy. From the start, I wanted to extract the most from you, just as you wanted from me."
"There are only two ways to get the most: trade or steal. You disdain trading with me, and what you want is in my hands. No matter how you pretend to cooperate, the only way for you to get it is to kill me and take it, isn't it?"
Bai Liu's smile was faint. "So I never considered cooperation. For people like us, it's too weak a bond—easily broken. You already betrayed me once, and I only managed to control you because of it. Now that I have, why would I let you go?"
To trust another ambitious mind to submit completely is sheer folly. Bai Liu agreed with this wholeheartedly—use, then discard.
Even when playing hard games with Lu Yizhan, Bai Liu would, at the critical moment, kill him without hesitation to secure the greatest benefit, knowing Lu Yizhan would do the same.
"And as for using [Judge's Scales] to test your honesty?" Bai Liu scoffed, lowering his gaze. "Let me correct you on one point."
He leaned in, whispering to the stunned Zhang Gui, "[Judge's Scales] isn't Mu Sicheng's item. It used to be yours, didn't it? Mu Sicheng stole it from you. You want me to trust an item you know inside and out? I'm not that foolish, master."
Zhang Gui's breath caught as he met Bai Liu's gaze. He glanced instinctively at Mu Sicheng, thinking he must have told Bai Liu, but quickly realized—Mu Sicheng would never reveal the source of his loot. It was a matter of professional pride.
But Mu Sicheng was equally shocked. He had never told Bai Liu that [Judge's Scales] was stolen from Zhang Gui. "How did you know I stole it from him?" he blurted.
"Because he's used the same trick on you before—with Liu Huai," Bai Liu replied, leaning back against the wall, eyes closed, one hand draped lazily over the chair. "People only trust what they know. They use it again and again."
"In a life-or-death moment, Zhang Gui didn't reach for his own item, but tried to get me to trust yours, even though you were enemies. Does that make sense? Given your skill, it's the only explanation."
A chill of exposure swept through Zhang Gui. Sweat soaked his palms, dripping from his jaw as he stared at Bai Liu in terror.
This man… had planned his death from the moment he was controlled.
Was he really a newcomer?
How could he kill so easily in only his second game? What was he in real life?
"All right, now to choose one of you three to deliver the bomb," Bai Liu said, turning his gaze to the three huddled in the corner. Exhaustion from blood loss made his head spin, and he swayed until Mu Sicheng caught him.
Mu Sicheng looked at Bai Liu, a strange expression on his face. "You really want Zhang Gui to hold the mirror? You've already controlled him—he should still be useful to you. Why not spare him?"
"He is useful, but only because you're too weak to protect me. So I have to get rid of him," Bai Liu replied offhandedly, wiping blood from his mouth.
But he shook the blood from his hand, unconcerned, and continued, "I chose Zhang Gui because, once I'm in the water, my control will likely fail. If Zhang Gui turns on me, you can't handle him. But the others, Mu Sicheng, you can deal with. So it doesn't matter if they break free."
"At the next stop, I'll control them to quickly gather the shards. Once we have them, we run. They can't match your speed, and with Du Sanying's eighty luck points, the three of us will be enough to clear the game."