Players, Please Board the Train-Chapter 253: Between Two Gunshots

The iron door was slammed shut with tremendous force. Just as Xu Huo was about to approach, the three players who had been forced back by the flames returned, blocking his path one after another. "If we let you take Young Master Yang away today, how are we supposed to keep our reputations in this circle?"
Xu Huo glanced at their lower stances. "Given your bare-assed state today, your reputations are already doomed. Better step aside and save your lives."
The trench coat man from earlier wiped the black soot from his face, revealing a set of white teeth. "You think you're the only one with items?"
As he spoke, a bowling ball appeared in his hand. With a light tap on the ground, it bounced directly toward Xu Huo!
Xu Huo swung his sword to block, but the bowling ball possessed extraordinary elasticity. When struck, its center dented inward, wrapping around the blade like soft mud before sliding downward.
He immediately recalled the sword to his item slot. Losing its support, the bowling ball fell to the ground, resuming its spherical shape, and shot toward his face!
Leaning back to avoid the bowling ball's attack, Xu Huo casually opened the Adult Fairy Tale Book. As blood-red characters flowed out, the two players who had been closing in on him reflexively retreated as if they had seen something terrifying. Although the trench coat man didn't retreat, the piano wire that had been hovering nearby accurately looped around his neck, hoisting him up to the ceiling!
Gripping the Crimson Sword again, Xu Huo swiftly finished off the trench coat man, then kicked the fallen bowling ball toward the plump player on the side. The plump player instinctively raised his hands to block, was knocked to the ground by the bouncing ball, and was quickly enveloped headfirst by the softened bowling ball.
Glancing at the two—one struggling and suffocating on the ground, the other flailing wildly in the air, terrified by the fairy tale book—Xu Huo kicked open the iron door and chased after Yang Chao along the passageway.
Yang Chao and the shirtless player hadn't gone far. They had just exited the underground market. Yang Chao started the car to leave, telling the shirtless player to stay behind and help the other three players.
"Remember, capture him alive. I want to turn Xu Huo into my dog..."
Before he could finish, the suddenly enraged shirtless player grabbed his head and smashed it against the steering wheel. Dazed from the impact, Yang Chao covered his bleeding nose, about to curse, when he saw Xu Huo emerge from the underground market. Embedded in the ground not far from his car was a throwing dart, completely buried!
"Stop him!" Yang Chao screamed in terror, shoving the shirtless player out of the car before speeding away alone.
But Xu Huo wouldn't let him escape so easily. The piano wire flew out, yanking Yang Chao directly from the car. The accelerating sports car crashed into a nearby boxing arena, triggering instant screams. Dragged by his neck, Yang Chao was pulled back!
"Young Master Yang!" Knowing that directly rescuing him couldn't outpace the item's speed, the shirtless player turned to attack Xu Huo instead. Muscles nourished by ample potions bulged segment by segment, his fist smashing out like a rock!
Xu Huo took the punch head-on, retreating several steps back into the underground market. Shaking his numb hand, he assessed the shirtless player. "You don't seem like a Player-Eater."
The shirtless player sneered coldly. "I'm a Black Player. So what? Even with just my fists, I can pummel scrubs like you to death!"
"Is that so?" Xu Huo replied coldly. The moment the other stepped into the underground market, a flying arrow lurking in the darkness pierced straight through his skull!
The shirtless player's knees buckled, dropping him to the ground. His robust body toppled over stiffly.
Without even glancing at this dead man who had actually tried to defeat him with brute strength, Xu Huo walked out, dragged Yang Chao inside.
Retracting the piano wire, he waited until Yang Chao finished coughing before asking, "Talk now, or after I beat you up."
Kneeling on the ground, Yang Chao coughed and said, "Xu Huo, if you dare do anything to me, my father won't let you go! My uncle is in Capital City—"
Xu Huo slapped him across the face several times, then pinned him to the ground under his foot. "I know your uncle is an official. Don't worry, after dealing with you, I'll pay him a visit overnight."
"I'll ask you again: how did Xu Zhi die?"
"I... I don't know... Ah! Stop stepping on me!" Clutching the foot crushing his chest in pain, Yang Chao gasped, "I really don't know!"
Xu Huo increased the pressure under his foot.
"I really don't know!" Blood trickling from his mouth, Yang Chao howled, "I was lying!"
Xu Huo intensified the force, his tone icy, each word deliberate: "I don't believe you!"
"I'm not lying..." Yang Chao gritted his teeth. "It was raining that day, I never caught up to you... My car skidded on the curve and got stuck on the roadside. After the gunshot, when I ran over, Xu Zhi was already dead, and you were right beside him..."
"What else?" Xu Huo slightly eased his foot.
"I heard you shouting at someone..." Yang Chao caught his breath. "You said you were the one who lost, that you'd honor the bet... The gun fired twice... I really don't know anything else..."
In the darkness, Xu Huo slowly retreated two steps, then suddenly covered his eyes, emitting a hoarse sound: "It's different..."
No wonder Yang Chao thought he had gotten Xu Zhi killed because of a bet. But in his memory, it was completely different. Xu Zhi was indeed shot dead, but not because he was gambling with someone. Xu Zhi had come out to look for him late at night and accidentally encountered fleeing drug dealers on the mountain road, dying from a stray bullet...
There was no bet at all, and there were more than two gunshots...
"Xu Zhi is already dead. What's the point of questioning this?" Yang Chao said. "No matter who killed him, wasn't it because of you?"
"I heard he was about to earn his second doctorate that year. No wonder your parents can't stand you. If it were me, I'd rather you were the one who died too..."
Xu Huo snapped his neck.
Setting the underground market ablaze, he turned his back on the flames and the screaming crowd, randomly commandeered a car, and returned to the city at top speed.
Along the way, he ignored several calls from Team Leader Wu, raided several Yang family warehouses, took some items to Yang Chao's uncle's house, and conveniently ed it to the police. By the time the police retrieved the items and persons, the Yang family was also under investigation because a considerable amount of evolution agents not yet officially released were found in the underground market.
After doing all this, Xu Huo still didn't stop. Having grown up here, he was familiar with the city's darker side. Moving from place to place, he found two locations where Evolvers were being hidden, filmed the sites where Evolvers were being "raised," uploaded all the videos—along with those from Yang Chao's uncle's house—online, and set another fire on the spot.
"May all this evil be utterly consumed by the flames." He tossed away the phone he'd picked up, found a random hotel, and buried himself in sleep, completely ignoring the massive uproar outside.
Throughout the night, the sound of sirens never ceased in the city. More importantly, the uploaded videos, after several hours of fermentation, had spread extensively. In less than half a day, they had reached the point of being known across the entire internet.