Unaware of the tension hanging in the air, Grandpa chid in with a cheerful tone, "Oh, the four of you know each other? Very good, we are all acquaintances here so there’s no need for us to be formal with each other."
"Haha," Shen Nianzu laughed to dispel the awkward atmosphere, though it sounded forced even to his own ears. He subtly nudged Gu Luoxin with his elbow, trying to get him not to gawk at the erald-eyed man so blatantly. "That’s right, we were in the sa Cycle before. Isn’t that right, Noir?"
Noir nodded in affirmation. He stood alone just like a solitary pine tree amid the vast expanse of snowy landscape, still exuding an aloof and unapproachable aura. It was made even worse when his adorable black feline companion was nowhere to be seen.
However, Grandpa was unfazed at all and continued to greet the man with a warm smile, "Oh, so you are Noir! Nice to et you! You can just call Grandpa or whatever you want."
Noir put two and two together and took a guess, "...Grandpa Is The Best?"
"Aiyah, how co everyone recognizes here?" Grandpa let out a remorseful sigh. "It wasn’t like this in the previous Cycles."
"That’s because you didn’t carry around that large sword behind your back," the woman, who had been silently watching over their interaction, suddenly remarked in a blunt tone. "If you don’t want anyone to know you, put that away."
Grandpa harrumphed and grumbled under his breath, "This is just an ordinary prop, though..."
Jin Jiuchi’s eyes lit up and he offered eagerly, "Should I carry it for you, Grandpa?" He had never experienced the feeling of lugging around such a large sword. Seeing how cool this legendary player looked with it, he also wanted to give it a try! He believed he would definitely look twice or thrice cooler if he carried such a weapon around! Alas, since he lacked a sword of his own, he could only sneak envious glances at the older man once in a while.
He had made the offer under impulse, but to his surprise, Grandpa actually agreed to let him borrow the prop, thus fulfilling his lifelong wish!
Observing the man’s blissful face as he strapped the sword on his back, Shen Nianzu was slightly speechless. What did he have to be so happy about? Wasn’t it only a sword? He then turned his attention to the woman, whose identity he was still not aware of, and inquired, "The two of you know each other too, Grandpa?"
"That’s right," Grandpa replied heartily. "Just like the four of you, that young miss and I have been through a Cycle together. I forgot to ask you last ti, what’s your na again, Miss?"
The woman appeared a little taken aback, presumably because she had assud that Grandpa knew her na all along. "I am Ying."
Ying... Shen Nianzu murmured that na quietly before recalling that it was yet another powerful player. If he was not mistaken, Ying was ranked 16th, just four places below him.
"The two of you..." Gu Luoxin, who had remained silent since encountering Noir much like a mouse who had seen the cat, suddenly spoke up. He glanced at Ying and Noir back and forth, unable to contain his curiosity. "The two of you... are a team?"
It couldn’t be, right? As far as he knew, Noir was a solo player, always doing everything alone and going at his own pace, so how could such a person form a team with another person? Gu Luoxin could not explain why he was so fixated on this question, even at the risk of drawing Noir’s attention to him, but he just really, really wanted to know. He gazed at Noir, hoping to receive so kind of answer, yet the man remained silent and the one who responded was Ying,
"We’re not a team. It’s just a coincidence that we got here at almost the sa ti," she pointed her compound bow at the door. "We were actually about to break this down when you arrived."
Her words brought their attention back to the present and the six of them imdiately focused on the door ahead.
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Gu Luoxin also did not make a fuss anymore and secretly felt relieved in his heart, though he could not quite pinpoint what he should be relieved for. He didn’t even realize that a tiny smile had crept onto his face. He raised his head and his heart instantly thumped when he realized that Noir’s gaze was on him. With a whoosh, he quickly averted his gaze away. W–Why was Great God looking at him like that? Wasn’t he the one who told Gu Luoxin to stay away? And he did, didn’t he? After that one drunken night, they had not even crossed paths again!
Gu Luoxin’s attention was diverted from the turmoil in his heart when Shen Nianzu asked, "Is it locked?"
Noir finally tore his gaze away from Gu Luoxin and shook his head, "We haven’t checked yet." After saying that, he took a step forward, grabbed the handle and turned it. "...It’s not locked."
Here ca the important question — who should open the door?
They looked at each other before Grandpa stepped forward and took a more civil approach, which was knocking. "Hello, is the conductor inside? We have a little problem here that needs your help."
The six of them waited in silence, yet no response ca from within.
Except...
"Don’t you think that the sound of the clock is getting louder?" Jin Jiuchi suddenly asked, drawing everyone’s attention to him.
"The clock?"
"Uh-huh," Jin Jiuchi confird. "It’s just like on the bus."
A heavy silence descended upon him, and true to Jin Jiuchi’s words, they all beca aware of the familiar and rhythmic ’tick-tick-tick’ which they had been ignoring before. It was the sa sound they had heard on the bus. It filled the enclosed space around them, cold and unyielding, almost like a warning of the dangers that lay ahead.
Jin Jiuchi had no idea where this feeling ca from, but he began to feel uneasy. He told Shen Nianzu as much, "Nian’er, I’ve got a bad feeling about this."
"What is it?" Shen Nianzu was instantly alard. "Have you sensed sothing from the other side?"
Jin Jiuchi, however, only shook his head in response, "Nothing." Alas, it was this observation that made the situation seem worse. He could sense nothing from the other side of the door except for the sound of a ticking clock. It ant... no sign of life or the conductor they were looking for.
Ying, seemingly undeterred by the growing tension, took a decisive step forward, "I’m going to open the door. If any of you feel it’s too dangerous, feel free to step back."
How could they do so? Even if it was danger that lay before them, they still needed to challenge it no matter what. And thus, everyone nodded at Ying, prompting the woman to take a deep breath before she grasped the doorknob and pushed the door open.
Before any of them could even register what lay inside the room, a deafening explosion erupted. Crimson flas roared inside the train like a furious dragon that obliterated everything in its path. This ti, Jin Jiuchi did not even have the chance to pull Shen Nianzu into his arms before the blazing heat blasted him in the face and consud him whole.
.
.
"Local ti... bzzz bzzz... 8.03 pm! The train will be... bzzz... leaving in twelve... minutes... so make sure to board it... in ti!"
Silence hung heavy inside the bus, save for the distorted female voice making an announcent, as the trio exchanged bewildered and shocked glances. What the hell had just happened? They died... just like that? And now they were back at the starting point?
Again?!
.
.
A/N: Thank you so much Ying for letting use your na in the book >< dw I will use it well until the end ehehe *rub hands*
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