How to describe this smell?
It looks a bit like a rotten egg, a stinky ditch, or a piece of meat that has been rotting for a month. Just by smelling it, one can imagine flies and maggots crawling all over the meat.
The smell was so pungent that people with poor concentration could be overwhelmed by it in an instant.
The three high school students quickly ran away, and Ye Xiang and An Ruming retreated several meters with pale faces.
Sha Yu and Yang Leliu were actually a little overwhelmed, but they still had to be careful to guard against the appearance of monsters so that they could help Song Yang and the others in time.
Song Yang gave Li Mian a look of confirmation.
Li Mian nodded.
The girl took a step back and took out a weapon from her space bag.
This weapon made Song Yang and Xia Jing at the door raise their eyebrows.
It was a sword.
The sword body is about one meter long. Depending on the light, it glows slightly with blood at certain angles. The blade is crystal white, revealing a chill.
This is obviously a monster prop.
It is impossible for the safe house to visit all the copies, so Xia Jing does not know which copy of the monster this sword attacks.
But according to his intuition, this should be the product of a three-star copy monster.
Li Mian was obviously very skilled in using this sword.
The girl held the hilt of the sword tightly with both hands, concentrating her attention highly, her back straight, her whole body like a taut bow, her sharp spirit seemed to be integrated with the sharp sword.
——This girl should be ranked quite high.
Xia Jing and Song Yang thought at the same time.
Song Yang turned his head and focused his attention back on the axe.
The hand gripping the axe exerted a little force, and veins bulged.
Everyone held their breath quietly.
With a "click", Song Yang pulled the axe out with force. At the same time, everyone's spirits were tense to the extreme, in case the monster rushed out from the crack in the pipe in the next second!
However, the fact is that nothing appeared except the increasingly pervasive stench.
"Are there no monsters?" Sha Yu was stunned.
After hearing this, An Ruming and Ye Xiang covered their noses and moved closer.
Xia Jing couldn't help it, so he stepped into the carriage and walked in.
He crossed several pipes and came in front of Song Yang and Li Mian. He squatted down and looked up at the crack across the pipe.
This section of the carriage was already pitch black, and with only a crack in the pipe, it was even darker inside, and nothing could be seen clearly.
Li Mian was pondering, "...why not try breaking the pipe?"
Xia Jing suddenly put his finger in.
Li Mian was startled by his bold action.
——It is one thing for them to be prepared to face the monster, but it is another to put a fragile finger in when the situation is unclear.
They have no idea where the monster is lurking in the dark. If they stick their fingers in like this, aren't they afraid of becoming the monster's free dinner?!
Song Yang immediately pulled Xia Jing's hand out and said coldly, "Are you crazy? Don't you want your fingers anymore?"
Xia Jing maintained the posture of extending one index finger and clenching the other fingers into a fist.
He looked at his index finger, stood up and said, "There's a layer of grease inside the pipe."
grease?
Several people were stunned.
Sha Yu, who was standing at the door, asked, "Could this really be a fume duct?"
"How is that possible? Could the cab be a kitchen?" Ye Xiang covered his nose and sneered.
"Grease could also be a product of the pipe monster." Yang Leliu hesitated.
The three high school students also came over. The tall Ma Qiu whispered in a hopeful tone, "But haven't we found the monster yet? Could it be that you heard it wrong, Auntie?"
Yang Leliu frowned and did not answer.
Xia Jing wiped his fingers with a towel from his space bag and pondered, "Whatever the purpose of the pipe, let's assume there's a monster living inside. Now that we've split the pipe, and the monster hasn't come out to attack us, it must be that some condition hasn't been met."
Most monsters will attack if provoked by a human standing in front of them.
The premise is that they have indeed come face to face with humans without any gap.
However, in reality, the pipe monster had probably moved before Yang Leliu heard the sound and reminded them.
Certain conditions must be met before it will actually appear in front of the player.
Of course, there may be another reason why the monster is so passive - that is, it is not the main monster of the dungeon.
In terms of the difficulty of the dungeon, the pipe monster is indeed unlikely to be the main monster of the dungeon.
Song Yang and Xia Jing were thinking about similar things.
He shook his head and said, "There's no need to chop the pipe again. We've already opened up a certain area of vision with this one strike. Since the monsters haven't appeared, even if we chop the pipe and sacrifice one person to lock them up in the small dark room, there's a high probability that they won't appear."
Song Yang turned sideways, his eyes fixed on the cab: "Even if we dismantle all the pipes between the two carriages, the monster can still hide in the cab through the pipes."
Having said this, the group's expressions became solemn.
After exploring for a long time, the final clue was concentrated on the only official humanoid creature in the entire copy, the train conductor.
Will the train conductor be an NPC or a monster?
Song Yang took out a piece of cloth from the space bag and blocked the crack in the pipe.
No matter how useful it is, at least it can block some odors.
The group left the second carriage, closed the door, and gathered again in the first carriage.
They all stared at the back of the conductor's head through the small window of the cab.
At this moment, the conductor was shaking his head, as if he was driving the train with great passion.
An Ruming felt a little embarrassed because of what happened just now.
He coughed lightly, pretending nothing had happened, and politely discussed with Song Yang: "So, are we going in and killing the conductor now?"
High school student Ma Qiu interjected, "If the train conductor is an NPC, then whoever kills him will be locked up in a small dark room. Speaking of which, just now, when we were through a door, the train conductor saw us and didn't come out to attack us. Could he really be the main monster in the dungeon?"
An Ruming imitated Xia Jing's previous thinking and analyzed it in a serious manner: "Even through a door, there is still a partition. Maybe once we get in, this train conductor will start a killing spree."
The three high school students shuddered when they heard this and looked at each other.
Then who should be allowed in becomes another problem.
Of course, this question only made An Ruming and Ye Xiang feel very uncomfortable.
Song Yang, Xia Jing and the others were still thinking about other things, such as -
Even though they had analyzed it to this point, as Song Yang had just said to Li Mian, the target of "Train Conductor" was too obvious, and the identity of the main monster in the three-star copy could not be so simple.
Apart from the pipe monster and the train conductor, what else on this train could be a monster's disguise?
The other thing is...
Xia Jing glanced at the small electronic screen in front of him.
Advertisements were constantly playing on the small electronic screen, and in the upper right corner of the screen was a row of jumping times.
At this time, almost half an hour had passed since the train departed.
The total duration of the copy is 12 hours.
There will never be a lack of killing in a three-star copy, so when will the copy monsters take action and how will they do so?
Xia Jing stared straight at the back of the conductor in the cab.
——After all, it's a three-star copy. The way of killing is impossible for the train conductor to directly open the door, take out a knife and stab them in the face, right?
Xia Jing and Song Yang's brief contemplation, in the eyes of the anxious and cautious An Ruming and Ye Xiang, meant that they had already stepped forward once and were unwilling to do so a second time.
The latter two suddenly became a little stiff.
An Ruming and Ye Xiang's fighting ability seemed to be insufficient to face Song Yang and the others, but they were extremely reluctant to challenge the train conductor.
So, what should we do next?
Who should take the lead?
Ye Xiang's eyes rolled and he took a step to the side.
An Ruming looked at him and said nothing.
…
The three high school students were huddled in the back, not saying a word, when they suddenly heard Ye Xiang ask sinisterly, "Did the conductor just say hello to you?"
Cheng Jiayu subconsciously said, "Yes, that foreigner smiled at Ma Qiu."
As soon as Ye Xiang's venomous gaze fell on Ma Qiu, Ma Qiu felt something was wrong.
He became alert: "Uncle, why are you looking at me like that?"
Ye Xiang touched his chin and said with a smile, "Nothing. I remember you three kids were observing outside the cab door just now. Did the conductor only smile at Xiao Ma?"
"Why is this? Is there something special about the pony?" Ye Xiang said in a pretentious manner.
Cheng Jiayu understood what Ye Xiang meant and kept silent.
Ma Qiu opened his eyes wide and said, "Uncle, you're not afraid to go up yourself, are you, and want us kids to be cannon fodder?!"
This was said so bluntly that Ye Xiang didn't bother to hide it, and immediately laughed in a sarcastic tone.
The movement here attracted the attention of Song Yang and others.
Sha Yu frowned and said, "We haven't sorted out the clues yet. What are you doing? Even if you want to go, you can't let the child go."
Ye Xiang sneered when he heard this.
He glanced at Song Yang and the others and said sarcastically, "Why, even in this dungeon, you still have to respect the old and love the young? If you want to be the Holy Father, go ahead and do it. I don't like being one. No matter how old he is, I'll take over when it's my turn!"
"Huh? Then why don't you go up, old man?" Ma Qiu laughed angrily and stretched out his hand to push him over.
"Wait, don't do anything. Is this the time to quarrel?" Sha Yu immediately stood between the two of them.
Ma Qiu was young, but tall and strong, so he was confident enough to shout, "Believe it or not, I will beat you to death, you old D-Mao."
Ye Xiang's original intention was actually to grab one of the three high school students and throw them out. It would be best if Song Yang and the others were willing to stand up for the children. If they didn't, then these three high school students would be unlucky today.
Who would have thought that Ma Qiu had such a bad temper, and he talked about genitals all the time.
Ye Xiang didn't even bother to pay attention to Song Yang's reaction. He just stared at Ma Qiu, his eyes gradually becoming more sinister.
After all, he has been in society for so many years and has passed several three-star copies. He has a ruffian air all over his body.
Cheng Jiayu was horrified watching from the side.
He quickly pulled his good brother back and persuaded him to calm down. With a roll of his eyes, he suddenly pulled out Wang Zhi, who had been hiding in the corner and said, "Uncle, don't get excited. The conductor just smiled at our prince!"
Wang Zhi looked at Cheng Jiayu in disbelief.
Cheng Jiayu didn't even look at him, only grinning at Ye Xiang: "Uncle, you guys really don't know, Prince has fallen into a pile of monsters several times, and he always survived in the end. He must have a lot of blood! Why not let him go and find out the details of the train conductor!"
Wang Zhi immediately shook his head and stepped back: "I don't want it—I don't want it!"
Cheng Jiayu turned around and threatened: "You said no, so you don't want it? Do you have the space to speak here?"
Sha Yu couldn't stand it any longer: "You kids, don't think we don't understand. You're so young and engaging in school violence. Do you think you're so great?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an announcement suddenly appeared in the train.
"Ding Dong!"
Everyone stopped moving and looked up.
"The train will now pass through a mountainous area. The road is very rough, so please sit tight."
Several people were stunned.
Fei Shengxiao quickly ran to the window, lay there to observe outside, and shouted, "The environment ahead has changed. There are mountains ahead. We have to pass through them!"
An Ruming's throat tightened instantly: "What does this mean? Is there going to be danger?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Cheng Jiayu and Ma Qiu, who had originally only wanted to use Wang Zhi to block the bullet, also became anxious.
The three high school students had only been in Smiley City for a month and did not have enough experience in dungeon clearance.
They originally thought that if they encountered danger, they would have Wang Zhi as a human shield to protect them, so they dared to bravely try the three-star copy.
Who would have thought that the first time I tried to get three stars, I would have the misfortune of only having a time limit of twelve hours.
The shorter the time limit, the more densely distributed the crises will naturally be.
Just thirty minutes later, the death threat appeared!
The two boys began to breathe rapidly.
Ye Xiang secretly gave Cheng Jiayu a look. Without saying a word, Cheng Jiayu immediately grabbed the back of Wang Zhi's collar and used brute force to pull him towards the driver's cab!
——No matter whether we can get any results from the test, we should use Wang Zhi to pave the way for them first!
Wang Zhi struggled and shouted for help!
The others were shocked. They didn't expect that Cheng Jiayu, who was so young, could be so cruel to his classmates.
The next second, an arm suddenly stretched out and pulled Wang Zhi back from Cheng Jiayu's hand.
Ye Xiang's eyes flashed in the corner.
Cheng Jiayu's hand missed, and he turned around and glared fiercely at the person who snatched Wang Zhi away, but ended up meeting Song Yang's condescending gaze.
He flinched.
Song Yang helped Wang Zhi steady himself and said calmly, "I would never hide behind and let a kid charge into battle, but I still want to ask—"
"There's no distinction between the three of you, right? If you want to deal with the monster so badly, why don't you go up yourself?"
Cheng Jiayu's face turned red and white. He gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Uncle, this is none of your business, right?"
After hearing what Cheng Jiayu said, Song Yang chuckled softly.
He raised his chin and said coldly, "If you have the guts to say this, wait until he dies and don't beg for anyone's protection."
This sentence was simply a blatant call for Cheng Jiayu to be a coward, and it could be said to be a fatal blow.
Cheng Jiayu's face turned pale as if he had been slapped.
Sha Yu said, "You can't do anything by letting your classmates go in and die. Come back quickly!"
Song Yang said expressionlessly, "Also, before you push others into battle in the future, at least think about whether some people will ally with you just because you please them once. If you encounter the same thing next time, will they use you as a scapegoat?"
Cheng Jiayu clenched his fists.
Ye Xiang hid in the corner, pretending not to hear these words.
At this moment, Yang Leliu shouted, "I seem to hear the sound of rolling stones!"
An Ruming and the others took a step back nervously.
Ma Qiu's attention was now focused on his brother, and he cursed subconsciously: "Auntie is trying to be mysterious again."
But then, Fei Shengxiao pointed diagonally ahead and shouted, "A star suddenly appeared in the sky ahead!"
"What's up with the stars?"
"Something is definitely coming!"
The scene began to fall into chaos, and Song Yang stopped talking nonsense.
In any case, the only route they can try now is the cab.
He suddenly pulled Wang Zhi behind him and strode towards Cheng Jiayu: "Get out of the way!"
Cheng Jiayu shuddered.
The boy lowered his head, clenched his teeth, his face was blue and red, and his chest heaved.
Just when Song Yang walked in front of him, to everyone's surprise, he suddenly looked up and pushed Song Yang!
Everyone was shocked!
Cheng Jiayu is calmer than Ma Qiu, but he is only slightly calmer in comparison.
He was at the age of full of vigor and vitality, and was used to bullying others in school. Song Yang's words hurt his self-esteem and made him lose face, and his blood rushed to his head.
He stiffened his neck and said, "...Who I ally with is none of your business. I didn't ask for your protection. Why are you pretending to know everything?"
Song Yang finally decided to step forward, but Cheng Jiayu started acting like a child. Ye Xiang glared at him and yelled, "What are you doing? Don't forget your business! Get out of here, idiot!"
An Ruming also said anxiously: "Xiao Cheng, don't be so ignorant!"
Ma Qiu also thought it was not good and wanted to persuade him: "Cheng Jiayu..."
Cheng Jiayu's face turned red enough to bleed. He didn't expect that Ye Xiang, who had just been giving him a secret signal, would now turn against him and call him an idiot.
It was at this moment that he fully realized his own stupidity, but he couldn't lose face. He roared in shame, "I won't give in, you guys only know how to bully the weak—"
Before he could finish his words, a sound like muffled thunder came from the right side of the train, startling everyone!
The moment the huge rock outside the window hit the train window, Song Yang's face sank. He immediately took out a protective prop and wanted to pull Cheng Jiayu over the moment he unfolded the prop, but the latter flushed and reflexively shook off his hand.
It was with this swing that he completely lost the opportunity.
When Cheng Jiayu realized that he had done something stupid out of anger, his expression became confused.
The entire train shook violently, and the right train window near the driver's cab was suddenly shattered, and glass fragments flew like bullets!
The group quickly retreated, and amidst the violent shaking, they saw with their own eyes that the outer shell of the train in front of them was easily crushed and deformed like a cardboard shell, making a terrifying cracking sound. Then, countless huge rocks appeared in their sight, crashing into them mercilessly.
It's the fallen rocks rolling down from the mountains on the right!
The train was pushed by the falling rocks and was about to roll off the track, making a harsh friction sound!
Ye Xiang and An Ruming fell directly onto the door connecting to the second carriage, and their backs hit the door heavily, making them dizzy!
When the car tilted for the first time, Fei Shengxiao rolled from the window to the other side. Li Mian pulled her over at the right time and turned over to protect her under him!
The couple Sha Yu and Yang Leliu deployed a protective prop and only had time to pull Ma Qiu into the protection range of the prop.
And Xia Jing——
After watching the fire from afar for a long time, he subconsciously moved his feet when he saw Song Yang's figure about to be buried by the huge rock.
But soon, he stopped.
Looking down at his toes that had moved out, Xia Jing tilted his head.
It was also a moment of pause.
With a "whoosh", a piece of glass shard shot through the middle of his chest.
The entire train was drowned by the loud noise and screams.
…
…
It is unknown how long this chaos lasted.
Amidst groans and bursts of tinnitus, everyone gradually regained consciousness.
They opened their eyes, and the pale light from the train pierced their eyes.
Their vision was still spinning, and there was a hint of confusion in their eyes.
The train clattered steadily forward in the night.
The boulder...disappeared.
The carriage... was intact.
All the iron sheets that should be there are all there on the top, bottom, left and right of the train. There is no deformation, cracks or breaks.
Only the persistent feeling of dizziness and the lingering fear remained in everyone's heart.
They shook their heads, thinking they had just had a nightmare of a landslide, cracking earth, and crashing rocks. But when they supported each other to stand up and looked forward—
They all froze.
Ahead, large amounts of blood were sprayed on the left side of the train.
Closely clinging to the corner of the side wall was a bloody figure.
His limbs were twisted, and his entire body was almost squeezed into a piece of skin, with blood splattered all over his internal organs.
From the crooked and distorted face, one could barely tell that it was Cheng Jiayu.
Song Yang and Wang Zhi were not far from Cheng Jiayu.
Song Yang held his forehead with his hand and stood up listlessly; Wang Zhi knelt on the ground and vomited continuously; Ma Qiu, who was a few steps away, stared at Cheng Jiayu's corpse, trembling all over, muttering "How could this happen?"
There was dead silence for a few seconds.
Several people closed their eyes. Sha Yu took a deep breath and asked, "...Are the others all right?"
When the accident happened, glass shattered everywhere and everyone in the group was injured to varying degrees.
An Ruming and Ye Xiang both had scratches on their faces, and their bones seemed to be shattered. After they stood up, they could not move a step and could only lean against the wall to breathe.
There were several scars on Li Mian's back, her clothes were torn, and her skin was exposed. Fei Shengxiao's hands were shaking. She took out medical supplies from the space bag and bandaged her.
Sha Yu and his wife and Ma Qiu were relatively safe thanks to the protective gear.
…
Xia Jing slowly stood up from the chair alone.
There was a small spot of blood on his chest and a drop of blood splattered on his face.
Song Yang's gaze slowly swept across the interior of the carriage and suddenly stopped on Xia Jing.
He asked in a low voice: "...Are you injured too?"
The young man raised his hand and casually wiped the blood off his face. He responded, "Hmm?"
He looked down at his chest.
Then, the young man raised his eyes and smiled at Song Yang:
"Ah, it's okay. It must have been splashed with someone's blood."