When Xiao Lou returned to carriage number 6, the two girls in row 8 were talking quietly.
Mo Jiaran said, "The broadcast is looking for medical workers. I don't know what happened. Should we go and check it out?"
Yue Xiaoquan smiled calmly and said, "Let's not go. We're just third-year students. If we can't help and something happens to that child, the family might blame us."
Mo Jiaran frowned slightly. After careful consideration, he felt that her words made sense, so he did not insist any further.
Yue Xiaoquan completely adopted a "not my problem" attitude.
To Xiao Lou's surprise, Mo Jiaran, despite her spoiled temperament, was quite kind-hearted and even wanted to help when she heard the announcement looking for someone. On the other hand, Yue Xiaoquan remained aloof and acted as if nothing was wrong.
Because his girlfriend scolded him in front of so many people, Zhou Zheng was in a bad mood and closed his eyes to rest with his arms crossed.
When Jing Weiguang returned from rescuing the person, he saw the boy sitting next to him with his eyes closed and felt a little awkward. He stood in the aisle for a few seconds, and seeing that the other person showed no signs of waking up, he scratched his head and said awkwardly, "Excuse me, could you move aside?"
Zhou Zheng, who had been pretending to be asleep, immediately opened his eyes, the whites of his eyes almost rolling to the back of his head: "Why are you so meddlesome? Always coming in and out!"
He reluctantly stepped aside to let the other person in.
Jing Weiguang gave a dry laugh: "Sorry..."
A moment later, the young couple from carriage 6 suddenly ran to carriage 4 to express their gratitude.
The woman was carrying a large bag of fruit, while the man was holding their three-year-old son. The couple's appearance quickly attracted the attention of the passengers in carriage number 4. The couple stopped in row 8, and the woman said gratefully, "Doctor, thank you so much for saving my son. I don't know how to express my gratitude, so we bought you some fruit."
The man handed him his business card and said, "Please don't hesitate to ask if you ever need anything in the future. My wife and I will definitely help you!"
The two women bowed deeply to him. The woman stroked the child's hair and said softly, "Baby, quickly thank your uncle."
The little boy said in a childish voice, "Thank you, uncle!"
Jing Weiguang, surrounded by the entire carriage, blushed deeply and hurriedly waved his hands, saying, "No need to thank me, you two are too kind. I was just helping out. I'm glad the child is alright. You can take the fruit back; I've already eaten..."
"Please accept this. It's just a small token of our appreciation. If it weren't for you, our baby might have..." The woman's eyes reddened as she spoke. The man quickly chimed in, "That's right. We went to visit relatives and didn't bring any expensive gifts. We could only bring some food to express our gratitude. Please don't refuse."
Jing Weiguang said helplessly, "Alright."
The two thanked him profusely for a while before leaving with the child in their arms.
Inside carriage number 4, little Yu Xinxin, sitting in the front row, clapped her hands and said, "Uncle saved someone, that's amazing!"
The little girl led the applause, and applause filled the carriage. The couple sitting next to Zhou Zheng and Mo Jiaran looked extremely embarrassed—they had just been disgusted and made things difficult for Jing Weiguang, but they never expected that appearances could be deceiving. This unkempt and slovenly man was actually a doctor who had saved someone's life, and everyone in the carriage was applauding him.
The applause almost turned into slaps, resounding across their faces.
Mo Jiaran looked displeased and regretted not going over earlier. She stood up and said, "I'm going to the restroom."
Zhou Zheng was so embarrassed he wanted to disappear into the ground. Many people around him were staring at him, so he had no choice but to close his eyes and pretend to be asleep. Yue Xiaoquan remained indifferent—she simply put on her headphones and continued reading her novel.
Xiao Lou glanced at the LCD screen at the front of the carriage; it was already 7:00 PM.
After dinner, the passengers were resting, and the carriage gradually quieted down.
The thick white fog outside the window was gone; instead, it was pitch black. No one knew where the train had gone. Through the window, they could see a starry night sky. Xiao Lou stood by the window, pretending to look at the scenery outside, but actually listening intently to the sounds inside the carriage.
At 8:00 PM, little Yu Xinxin suddenly wanted ice cream. Her mother said there was no ice cream on the bus, but she would buy it for her when they arrived at the station. After being coaxed for a while, the little girl fell asleep peacefully in her mother's arms.
At 8:30 PM, the five girls in the last row suddenly started running to the restroom one after another. When they came back, they all looked slightly pale. Liu Xiaoyan, a show girl sitting by the window in 15A, said with a pained expression, "I just had diarrhea. What about you guys?"
Zhang Xiaoning, who was sitting in seat 15B, said, "I also have diarrhea. Could it be that the food we ate this afternoon wasn't fresh?"
Wu Xiaofei, who was standing next to her, immediately swore: "Damn it, there must be something wrong with that bowl of noodles! I thought the taste was weird right away, and Xiao Yu even said that it was a characteristic of fermented noodle soup... characteristic my ass, the noodles were just spoiled."
Song Xiaoyu, who was called out, said weakly, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken you guys to eat fermented noodle soup."
Finally, Cheng Xiaoli stood up, her face pale: "Make way! I need to go to the restroom..."
Five girls all got food poisoning. Clearly, they had eaten something unclean from the same restaurant before getting on the bus. Xiao Lou kept a close watch on them, worried that someone's food might have been poisoned and they might accidentally lose their lives.
However, after the five of them finished using the restroom, their complexions gradually improved.
Cheng Xiaoli, who was the last to return, took out some diarrhea medicine from her bag, gave one tablet to each person, and said, "Here you go."
Okay, I brought some medicine for diarrhea, everyone take it quickly.
Xiao Lou observed carefully—she poured out five pills directly from the same bottle, spread out her palms for everyone to take. If she wanted to poison a specific target with drugs, this approach was not advisable, because she didn't know who would get which pill.
It's unlikely that the medicine was poisoned; this girl probably just gave everyone medicine to treat diarrhea.
Xiao Lou had been observing the group of girlfriends in row 15. After this little incident, the five girls were obviously very tired. After taking their medicine, they leaned together to sleep and rest, and no one spoke.
At 9:00 PM, Xiao Lou stood at the connection between the carriages, her legs feeling numb.
Just then, an announcement came over his loudspeaker: "Attention passengers, the train is about to arrive at [Iceland]. Passengers who need to disembark, please prepare in advance, take your luggage and belongings, and exit through the right-hand door in the direction of travel. The train will stop at Iceland station for 15 minutes. Passengers who need to get off at the station, please pay close attention to the departure time on the platform in case the doors close..."
Xiao Lou was slightly taken aback—there were even stops?!
Initially, the announcement stated that this was a train traveling from " Sun City " to " Moon City," which is relevant to Card World. Xiao Lou was unaware of this and thought it was an extremely long-distance intercity line connecting the two cities under the jurisdiction of Card World, managed by Da Wang and Xiao Wang respectively.
Unexpectedly, the train stopped midway through the journey.
No wonder he felt something was wrong with the tickets when he checked them earlier. All the tickets said the departure station was " Sun City ", but the destination station was not written. The tickets only showed "full fare" and "half fare", without any specific price.
This is clearly a deliberate attempt to mislead those attempting the challenge.
The Express Train challenge has a three-day time limit. The murderer certainly won't get off midway; otherwise, if the murderer gets off on the second day, their challenge will fail. And once the destination is written on the ticket in advance, he and Yu Hanjiang can quickly eliminate a large number of passengers.
After the announcement, a dozen or so passengers in carriage number 4 stood up, took their luggage, and headed towards the carriage connection to prepare to disembark.
With a roar, the bullet train came to a smooth stop at Iceland Station.
At the same time, a prompt sounded in the flight attendants' headsets: "All flight attendants, please disembark and complete the safety check."
Xiao Lou turned and got off the train, standing at the door of carriage number 4. He glanced to the side and saw Yu Hanjiang standing at the door of carriage number 6. The two exchanged a glance and began to keep an eye on the passengers boarding midway.
The train actually stops at a station? That's ridiculous!
What if the murderer boarded the bus midway? Wouldn't we have to start the deduction all over again?!
Two people got off in carriage 6 and one person got on.
The person who got on the bus was about 175 cm tall, fully armed, wearing a black hat, a black mask, and large sunglasses, his face was completely covered, making it impossible to tell his gender.
Yu Hanjiang immediately frowned and stopped the other person: "Who are you? Take off your mask."
A low voice sounded in my ear: "Why are you taking off your mask?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "To ensure the safety of other passengers, we need to verify their identities."
The other person reluctantly took off his mask, revealing a delicate and handsome face. He was a boy, but with a somewhat androgynous appearance. He lowered his voice and said, "I ran away from here without telling the manager. I'm going to Moon City to see my goddess's concert. Don't tell anyone, thank you!"
...Turns out she's a minor celebrity.
Yu Hanjiang breathed a slight sigh of relief and let him board the train. The boy immediately and furtively put on his mask and boarded carriage number 6 like a thief.
In carriage number 4, 12 passengers got off, but only 4 passengers got on. The tickets for the four passengers were far apart, and they were all individual passengers.
After several passengers boarded the bus, Xiao Lou walked over to Yu Hanjiang and said, "With people getting off, our search pool will be smaller, since 107 passengers is a very large number. It seems that anyone whose destination is not the final stop can be ruled out."
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Okay, we'll ask again from the beginning after we get in the car."
During the 15-minute break, some passengers got off the train to get some fresh air, including the couple who had just been arguing.
Zhou Zheng followed behind Mo Jiaran with a fawning smile: " Ranran, I saw someone get off in the sleeper car. I'll pay the difference to buy you a sleeper ticket right away, okay? Please don't be angry anymore."
Mo Jiaran's expression softened slightly: "Mm."
Zhou Zheng approached Xiao Lou and asked, "Hello, I'd like to pay the fare difference so my girlfriend can move to a sleeper car, is that possible?"
Xiao Lou asked the Train Conductor through his headset, and the other party replied, "There is an empty bed in car number 4, the price difference is 5000 gold coins."
He told Zhou Zheng the result, and the boy's eyes lit up: "Great, I'll pay right away! Ranran, you can sleep here tonight. I'm sorry you had to suffer this time. I promise, I'll buy tickets a month in advance next time. There must be too many people going to the concert for the tickets to sell out so quickly."
Mo Jiaran waved his hand: "Forget it, I'll just buy a plane ticket from now on."
The two had reconciled and, after wandering around the station, returned to the train. Mo Jiaran moved to carriage number 6 with his luggage. Xiao Lou gave Yu Hanjiang a wink and said, "She changed seats again. Captain Yu, please keep an eye on this girl."
Yu Hanjiang replied, "Understood."
At this point, the five girlfriends also got off the train for a stroll, breathing in the fresh air while complaining, "The smell of instant noodles in the carriage makes me want to throw up." "If it weren't for our goddess's concert, I wouldn't have to suffer like this. Sitting in a hard seat for 72 hours is going to kill me!"
Xiao Lou was slightly startled.
—Another concert.
He turned and walked up to his group of girlfriends, smiling as he asked, "Are you all traveling together to see a concert?"
The lively Wu Xiaofei laughed and said, "Yes, we're going to Moon City for a week. There's a concert by the goddess that we can see. She only holds a concert once every three years, and the tickets are so hard to buy. I tried for several days and only managed to get five tickets."
This "goddess" is obviously not on the train. She must be a singer with a huge influence on Card World. There are obviously a lot of people on this train who are going to her concert. This includes the young star who just boarded in carriage 6, the couple in carriage 4, and the group of five best friends. So many people are coming together because of the same concert. I don't know if it's a coincidence or if someone deliberately arranged it.
The 15-minute stop was almost over when the alarm rang in their ears. After catching their breath, the group of girlfriends hurriedly turned around and got back on the bus.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang also got into the car, and the two agreed to meet at the restaurant in half an hour.
Xiao Lou took paper and pen from the train attendant's office at the end of the carriage, walked to the first row, and said gently, "Hello everyone, I'm going to collect your arrival information now so that you don't miss your station."
Everyone cooperated well.
Xiao Lou quickly counted the passengers in carriage 4. Of the 75 passengers, only 12 stayed until the final stop. These included Zhou Quan, Yue Xiaoquan, Zhou Zheng, Mo Jiaran, and Jing Weiguang in the eighth row, a group of five best friends in the last row, and two individual passengers going to a concert.
Yu Xinxin and her family are getting off the train tomorrow night—clearly, this family has no direct connection to the case.
But Yu Xinxin doesn't seem like a random passerby. At that time, Jing Weiguang accidentally spilled instant noodles on Zhou Zheng's clothes, and Zhou Zheng lied and said the T-shirt was worth tens of thousands of gold coins. Yu Xinxin unintentionally exposed him. This plot must have a purpose, perhaps implying to the challengers that children don't lie.
Yu Xinxin may see something next, or inadvertently reveal an important clue.
Xiao Lou glanced at the little girl sleeping in her mother's arms and thought to herself, "I'll talk to her more before she gets off the bus tomorrow."
When Captain Yu arrived at the restaurant, he had finished checking and said in a low voice, "Only the elderly tour group and that third-rate celebrity who just boarded the train are going to the final stop in carriage 6. Everyone else is arriving tomorrow night."
Xiao Lou also explained the situation in carriage number 4: "In this way, we can exclude all those who get off midway, which will greatly narrow down our focus."
Initially, we needed to focus on 107 passengers, but now we've excluded most of them, leaving fewer than 25 people who are related to the case.
Yu Hanjiang said, "In addition, I got the train timetable from the attendant in the next carriage."
He unfolded a form in front of Xiao Lou.
Upon closer inspection, Xiao Lou discovered that the train only made two stops along the way, arriving at 21:30 on the first night and 21:30 on the second night, with the final stop, Moon City, arriving at 18:00 on the fourth day.
We departed at 18:00 on the first day and arrived at the station at 18:00 on the fourth day, which is exactly 3 days and 72 hours.
If new passengers board at the two major stops, attention should be paid, but at present, the focus should still be on three groups: the elderly, couples, and groups of close friends.
The time had already reached 10:00 PM, and the announcement came over the loudspeaker again: "It's already 10:00 PM, passengers. The lights in the carriages will soon be turned off. Please get some rest. Sweet dreams, good night."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the lights on the roof of the carriage went out instantly, leaving only two footlights at the connection between the carriages to guide the way.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang simultaneously received the instruction through their earpieces: "Attendants of all carriages, please return to carriage 9 to rest as soon as possible, thank you."
The two exchanged a glance and had no choice but to turn around and return to carriage number 9.
Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang's ear, "I wonder if the Invisibility Cloak will work. Should we go back to the carriage to check it out in the middle of the night? Maybe something will happen tonight."
As they were talking, the door to carriage number 9 suddenly locked, and a warning rang out: "The passengers are all sleeping. Please do not move around and disturb their rest."
Yu Hanjiang frowned: "Movement is restricted; we can't get out."
The carriage was dimly lit, making it difficult to even see the other person's face. Yu Hanjiang's voice was unusually gentle in the darkness. He said, "Don't worry, what's meant to happen will happen. Get a good night's sleep tonight; you've been tired these past few days."
Xiao Lou smiled helplessly: "Looks like this is the only way." He paused, then asked, " Captain Yu, do you prefer the top bunk or the bottom bunk?"
Yu Hanjiang said indifferently, "Whatever."
Xiao Lou said, "Can I sleep on the lower bunk? I have bad sleeping habits; I fell off the upper bunk once when I was in college."
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
Xiao Lou, who fell from the top bunk, sounds pretty terrible.
Yu Hanjiang asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
Xiao Lou awkwardly touched his nose: "No, but I did wake up my roommates."
Yu Hanjiang chuckled softly: "Okay, then you can sleep in the lower bunk."
The two opened the door and entered the room. There were no lights inside, so they had to feel their way around. Yu Hanjiang was already tall, so he grabbed the bed railing with both hands and climbed up directly, without even needing to use the footrests next to him.
Xiao Lou secretly praised: Captain Yu has great skills.
The two took off their coats and lay down to sleep. The carriage was quiet, and Xiao Lou was really tired from the past few days, so he fell asleep quickly.
***
Red Heart 4, the second day, 7:00 AM.
The alarm clock that rang in the headset woke everyone up at the same time.
The train attendants began lining up to wash up at the washbasins in carriage 9, and breakfast—eggs, milk, and bread—was distributed to each room. After breakfast, carriage 9 opened its doors; it was already 7:30.
The two quickly returned to their carriage.
Xiao Lou glanced around carriage number 4—everyone was there, some were sleeping, and some early risers were queuing to wash their faces and use the toilet; there was nothing unusual about it.
However, just as Yu Hanjiang reached the door of compartment number 2 in carriage number 6, he suddenly heard an exclamation from inside: "Old Li, Old Li, what's wrong with you?! Your body is ice cold..." "Oh my god, it seems like he's not breathing!"
Yu Hanjiang, with a stern face, yanked open the door.
2A, lower bunk. The old man who was full of energy and showing off his son yesterday is now closing his eyes tightly.
His face was serene, and there was even a slight smile on his lips.
However, his pale face and cold body temperature told those around him that he was dead.
Li Zhemin died without any struggle; he died in his most beautiful dream.