Chapter 14: Sausages

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Liu Jia snapped angrily. “The professor is just injured!”

“Isn’t what I’m saying reasonable?” the middle-aged woman argued forcefully. “There are no more cannibal players in this carriage. We can safely get through the last night. But if he turns into a monster, won’t he kill us all?”

“What do you suggest we do then?” Xu Huo asked her.

The woman hesitated, choking on her words. “Maybe we should just kick him out…”

“Outside, at night, it’s full of man-eating monsters. To throw him out is to send the professor to his death!” Liu Jia shouted in anger. “The professor has been protecting us all along. If it weren’t for him, you might have already gone off alone with the third-class passengers, turning on the lights and walking to your doom!”

The first night was manageable, but yesterday, the old man suddenly transformed. Unaware of the situation, it was highly likely he would recklessly turn on the lights. Before the third-class carriage exploded, there were beast-like roars.

The middle-aged woman’s face twisted, spitting as she retorted, “And you have the nerve to talk to me? Since you saw cannibals early on, why didn’t you say anything? Were you waiting for others to die so you could look like the most capable?”

Liu Jia’s eyes reddened with anger. Wang Xiaohui tried to intervene but couldn’t get a word in. The woman kept shouting, “Anyway, I’m not staying with such a dangerous person…”

Xu Huo spoke suddenly, “Then go to another carriage.”

The woman was stunned, staring at his calm face. After a long moment, she swallowed her curse.

Xu Huo’s previous conduct had made an impression. Professor Han smiled wryly. “I’ll go to third class. The buffer carriage still works, and even if you close the door at night, I won’t be able to open it.”

“Let me treat your wound first.” Xu Huo used a small knife to scrape away the rotten flesh on his injury, squeezing out pus and blood. Only when clean blood flowed did he stop. “Once off the train, go straight to the hospital. Don’t let the wound get infected.”

Professor Han thanked him but still wanted to leave.

“But the third-class door is broken. What if those monsters get in?” Liu Jia was the first to object.

“I can watch over Professor Han,” Yan Jiayu offered.

“Can you handle it?” Xu Huo looked at her. The professor’s condition was different from the cannibal players, so no one knew how he might change.

“No problem.” Yan Jiayu patted the table. “If we block him at the back door, he definitely can’t get out.”

Her combat ability was well known. Xu Huo could tell this was different from his half-foot on the threshold. Yan Jiayu had solid martial arts skills and superhuman strength. No player here stood a chance against her.

“All right.” Feeling reassured, Xu Huo let the matter drop and went to check the front door.

The first-class window was covered, and faint bloody footprints lay beneath the door. His hand paused on the doorknob.

“Thanks for earlier,” Professor Han approached him. “And thank you for saving Liu Jia. She said it was you who had Yan Jiayu take her place at the front door.”

“It was Yan Jiayu who did the work. I didn’t help much,” Xu Huo replied politely.

The professor kept thanking him and sighed, “I’ve seen some evolvers, and they eventually lose their humanity… But I still believe in the light of human nature. If not for that old man, I’d be dead already.”

“He’s beyond saving now.” But the old man proved one thing: once a player eats human flesh, there’s no turning back. Holding out from feeding only results in becoming a monster stripped of humanity.

Xu Huo glanced at the others inside the carriage.

“You’re amazing. If it weren’t for you, I would have died yesterday!” Liu Jia was thanking Yan Jiayu.

Yan Jiayu scratched her head. “I grew up in a temple. Carrying water and chopping firewood was daily, so I’m pretty strong.”

The two girls looked at her with admiration and envy.

“Do you think we’ll return to normal after getting off the train this time?” Liu Jia asked again. “What if we get hungry again…”

Hunger could be endured for a while, but over time, anyone might fall to becoming cannibal players.

“I don’t think so,” Wang Xiaohui shook her head. “The train broadcast said this trip is to classify players. We’re not cannibals and haven’t eaten people since boarding, so we’re different. We don’t need to survive by eating our own kind.”

“Once you’ve eaten human flesh, you have to keep eating it forever. If it were me, I’d rather be dead!” Liu Jia said.

“Are you hungry? I have some food.” The middle-aged woman, who had been lurking in the corner, suddenly smiled and pulled out a few vacuum-packed sausages from under her apron.

After the earlier argument, the three girls ignored her. But the woman, acting familiar, grabbed Liu Jia’s hand. “Young lady, you’re hot-tempered. Don’t take my words to heart. Professor Han and Mr. Xu are injured, and we still need to keep watch tonight.”

She wasn’t entirely wrong. Liu Jia and Wang Xiaohui each took one. The former turned and asked, “Professor, Mr. Xu, do you want some?”

The plump, springy sausages were sealed in clear plastic, their color tempting.

Xu Huo walked over. Under the woman’s nervous gaze, he took one and sniffed it beneath his nose. Then he looked up at her. “The young lady just said a few harsh words. Is there any need to harm others for that?”

The group froze. Professor Han was the first to react, immediately pulling the three girls back.

“W-what do you mean?” The woman’s face stiffened.

Xu Huo relaxed his hand and crushed the sausage on the ground with his foot. The meat squeezed from the torn plastic was an unnatural red and soon filled the air with a bloody stench.

“What kind of meat is this?” Liu Jia stared at the woman in horror.

“What kind of meat? Of course, it’s pork! Thirty-something a pound. If you don’t want it, just leave it. Don’t waste food. Young people these days…”

“You’re the last cannibal player,” Xu Huo interrupted her rambling.

“What cannibal player? Didn’t you say yesterday there were only six?” The woman’s smile twisted slightly. “Why are you targeting me for no reason? I haven’t attacked anyone…”

“You didn’t attack others, but you’ve eaten,” Xu Huo said, now grabbing a chair. The woman’s face showed fear. She shouted at Professor Han and the others, “One moment it’s six, the next it’s seven! I think he’s the cannibal player. Don’t be fooled by him, you fools!”

“She did eat something,” Liu Jia said, her face pale. “I saw it the night before last, but I thought it was just a snack… Ugh!”

“Don’t come any closer!” Professor Han stopped the woman from approaching, his voice stern. “If you come any closer, I won’t hold back!”

The woman’s expression twisted into a snarl. Suddenly, she pulled a fruit knife from under her apron and lunged at Xu Huo, stabbing wildly. “You forced me!”

She was quick. Though Xu Huo dodged swiftly, a cut appeared on his side. Seeing her dash toward the front door, he stepped aside.

Unexpectedly, the woman veered halfway and charged at Liu Jia instead, determined to take her down with her!

“Die!”