What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C44.2

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Chp44. part2

In the adjacent carriage where they had been, progress was also being made.

Under the flashlight’s beam, Ning Ge saw that the other group had noticed the light and found a flashlight too. However, without Pei Han and Wei Jue, none of them dared approach the Giant Snail to deal with it.

Although there were still occasional casualties, having the flashlights on made the situation slightly better than before.

The thirty minutes passed quickly.

Ning Ge watched as the Giant Snail in the next carriage slowly crawled off the train by itself.

Immediately, the overhead lights in the carriage came back on, the display lit up, and the bracelets returned to normal.

The train closed its doors and started moving again.

Wei Jue led the way to the door between carriages, and Ning Ge and the others followed, ready to enter the next carriage.

Pei Han suddenly asked, “Guess what the next station is called?”

Owen looked puzzled. “How could we guess that?”

Ning Ge answered calmly, “It’s called Ping’an Gate.”

Before she finished speaking, the female announcer’s voice came over the intercom: “This train’s terminal station is Loop Line Station. Next stop: Ping’an Gate.”

Ning Ge and Pei Han exchanged knowing smiles.

Owen was bewildered. “What does that mean? How do you know the station names? Is there a pattern?”

He began to rack his brain. “What were the names of the previous stations? The first was Ping’an Street, the second was Yongning Road, the third was something like Xingwangli… What was the fourth one again…?”

Wei Jue stood at the front and laughed. “Passerby, the next stop is Jipingmen.”

Ning Ge wasn’t listening to Owen announce the station names. She looked at the new scrolling message on the display screen.

The line of station names was still followed by two dots, but this time they were arranged vertically on the left side—exactly the Braille digits “two” that Pei Han had written.

Ning Ge and Pei Han exchanged glances.

The countdown was nearing its end.

Though they didn’t know what the countdown was for, it still made them anxious.

As soon as the station announcement ended, the familiar static crackle returned, and Lu Juan’s voice finally came through.

“We couldn’t broadcast during the power outage. I hope you can all reach your destinations safely, just like the station names.”

Ning Ge was now certain that Lu Juan’s words were meant for them.

But something was strange. The train had just left the station, and the next mission hadn’t been announced yet. If he was broadcasting now, how would he give them the clue for the next stop?

Lu Juan continued, but he wasn’t giving mission instructions.

“Too slow,” he said. “You must hurry, speed up. You won’t make it in time.”

The other passengers in the carriage must have been utterly confused, but Ning Ge and the others understood exactly what he meant.

It had to be related to the countdown that was about to reach zero.

Ning Ge thought, He’s rushing us to the back of the train.

Wei Jue chuckled, “Who is this guy? I’ve never met such a kind person in my life. Is he trying to make us hurry to go to the back of the train?”

The problem was that the doors between carriages only opened for a few seconds at a time, allowing them to advance only one carriage at a time.

“Is it possible to move two carriages at once?” Owen asked.

Pei Han glanced at the length of the carriage, then at Ning Ge, and remained silent.

Ning Ge also realized that to cover two carriages, they would need to sprint through the entire length of the first carriage within those few seconds to reach the next door. Pei Han and the others might be able to manage it, but Ning Ge wasn’t so sure she could.

“Let’s give it a try? Maybe it’ll work,” Ning Ge suggested.

Pei Han nodded. “You run as fast as you can at the front, and we’ll follow behind you.”

Just as they were speaking, the inter-carriage door swung open.

“Run!” Pei Han shouted.

Ning Ge bolted.

Pei Han and Owen followed close behind, but Wei Jue didn’t even wait for her. He had already been standing in front of Ning Ge and, the moment the door opened, he shot out, running ahead of her.

The few remaining people in the carriage stared in astonishment as they watched the trio sprint through the compartment, completely bewildered by their actions.

Ning Ge had no time to pay them any mind; she focused on keeping up with Wei Jue, running for her life.

The carriage was only about twenty meters long, and with Wei Jue leading the way, Ning Ge managed to keep up a decent pace.

Incredibly, she reached the door while it was still open.

But the moment she was about to pass through, Ning Ge felt Wei Jue, who was running ahead of her, suddenly slow down, blocking her path.

This slight delay was enough for the inter-carriage door behind her to slam shut.

Pei Han, right behind Ning Ge, saw the door closing and lunged to grab the edge.

But the door’s force was immense; even Pei Han couldn’t budge it. As his fingers were about to be crushed, he had no choice but to pull his hand away.

He and Owen were too late. Ning Ge was trapped in the next carriage.

Through the glass door, Ning Ge watched Pei Han punch the glass once, then pull a wrench from his shoulder bag and start hammering furiously at the door.

Of course it was useless; they had already tried it.

Ning Ge could see that he was so anxious he had lost his head. Otherwise, such a rational person wouldn’t be making such a futile effort.

Pei Han kicked and smashed at the door, making it clang loudly, but the door remained stubbornly solid, utterly unresponsive.

He calmed down and began to meticulously inspect the door frame, as if searching for a way to dismantle it, but found nothing.

Finally, he leaned against the door, his hand pressed against the glass, and looked across at Ning Ge with a look of utter frustration.

Ning Ge smiled through the glass, wanting to comfort him and tell him it wasn’t a big deal—he could come over once the next station opened.

Wei Jue suddenly spoke from behind her, “Little Bird, separated from your guardian angel?”

Ning Ge turned to look at him.

He was still smiling, appearing cheerful, just like when he’d mischievously peeled off the snail shell earlier.

His beautiful eyes were brimming with innocent, pure malice.

The slight delay he’d had in passing through the connecting door had definitely been intentional, allowing Ning Ge to slip through while leaving Pei Han and Owen behind in the previous carriage.

Whether he’d run to the door and suddenly decided to do this on a whim, or whether he’d been plotting all along, deliberately blocking Ning Ge from the start to achieve this outcome, remained unclear.

If this was all meticulously planned, his timing and control over the situation were terrifyingly precise.

According to him, he had also been moving forward through the doors, and having passed through so many such barriers, this possibility wasn’t entirely impossible.

She couldn’t fathom what schemes he was plotting in his mind.

Ning Ge remained motionless, standing before the door, while Pei Han stood equally still, separated from her by the intervening door.

Wei Jue clicked his tongue. “No matter how close you stand, he can’t help you. Are you seeking utterly useless psychological comfort?”

Ning Ge ignored him, leaning against the door in silence.

The train’s announcement system called out the station name, and the train began to brake, gradually coming to a halt at Ping’an Gate.

This was the first station since entering the dungeon where Pei Han wasn’t at her side.

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