Players, Please Board the Train-Chapter 29: Killing Desire

"How could anyone here have made Du Lanlan and Xia Guo die so horribly?"
"I think the Headhunter Demon is so unpredictable that he might be deliberately using misdirection to confuse us, making us kill each other first!"
"Have you forgotten? Anyone who touched the Headhunter Demon's statue would be cursed. Xia Guo just happened to die tonight—doesn't that prove it?"
Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao instinctively glanced at Xu Huo, who merely said, "Du Lanlan didn't seem to have touched it."
"So what? The Headhunter Demon just killed them both on a whim." Liu Yuanyuan fiddled with her nails, speaking carelessly. "Trying to apply logic to a murderous demon—you men really have too much time on your hands."
"Did any of you notice Du Lanlan's movements?" The Rich Kid scanned the group, his gaze finally settling on Wan Zhikang.
Wan Zhikang wiped his sweat, his face darkening when he saw everyone staring at him again. "Why are you looking at me? I'm not some creep—how would I know what she was doing?"
The others all shook their heads, and the courtyard fell silent.
"In that case, let's split up. Some of us will handle Du Lanlan and Xia Guo's bodies, while the rest fix the wiring." Huang Junjie ended the mutual suspicion by volunteering to deal with the corpses.
The other players exchanged glances, their expressions neutral but their minds calculating.
In the end, Zhang Xiong and two others, along with Wang Wei, went to repair the wiring. Xu Huo and Yuan Yao stayed behind to help, while the Rich Kid and Liu Yuanyuan left. The college student remained crouched in place, unmoving.
Since Du and Xia's bodies were missing their heads, they couldn't be buried directly, nor could they be left by the hot spring. Xu Huo and Yuan Yao lifted the mattresses, placed the bodies on wooden boards, and covered them with sheets.
Noticing the college student sitting on the doorstep wiping his tears, Xu Huo frowned. "What are you crying for?"
"Why is everyone targeting me? Am I that easy to bully?" The college student said bitterly. "I just hid a knife to survive—I didn't kill or harm anyone. Why does everyone treat me like this?"
Yuan Yao sympathetically patted his shoulder. "It's because we're weak. The game is brutal—one wrong move and you're dead. It's normal for others to be cautious."
The college student glanced fearfully at the bloodstained sheet on the bed and fell silent.
Huang Junjie called Xu Huo into the courtyard and asked bluntly, "How can you be sure it wasn't the Headhunter Demon?"
Xu Huo stared at him without answering.
His prolonged silence drew the attention of Yuan Yao and the college student, who then turned to look at Huang Junjie.
Huang Junjie suddenly realized. "You suspect me and Yuan Yao!"
"Brother Xu!" Yuan Yao exclaimed.
"Relax." Xu Huo took out a lighter but didn't retrieve a cigarette. "I trust Yuan Yao."
Yuan Yao exhaled in relief and immediately stood behind Xu Huo, glaring at Huang Junjie as if they were allies against a common enemy.
Huang Junjie gritted his teeth. "Then if you ask him, you'll know I didn't have time to kill anyone."
Xu Huo grinned and reached out to pat Huang Junjie's shoulder—right on his wound. Huang Junjie recoiled in pain, his face pale with tension.
"Just kidding." Xu Huo confirmed the injury was real and hadn't been treated with special medicine before asking, "How strong do you think the Headhunter Demon is?"
"Of course he's powerful," Huang Junjie said. "He knows this villa better than anyone, moves like a ghost, kills without a sound..."
His voice trailed off as he looked at Xu Huo with dawning realization. "So that's it."
Yuan Yao scratched his head impatiently. "Brother Xu, what does that mean? The Headhunter Demon is strong—so what?"
"If it were the Headhunter Demon, there'd be no need to touch the circuit breaker," Huang Junjie explained. "The first blackout wasn't an accident either. Everyone reacted strongly and immediately gathered in the hall."
"During the second blackout, we first assumed it was another trip. We waited a while before someone came out, then regrouped near the storage room until the noise led us here."
"Exactly," Xu Huo nodded. "The greatest danger in this dungeon is the Headhunter Demon. Dying by his hand isn't strange—there's no need to prove his existence. The blackout and toppled shelf were just to prove that a certain player was with the others."
"That's like adding legs to a snake!" Yuan Yao smacked his forehead.
"Who do you suspect?" Huang Junjie pressed.
Xu Huo turned to the college student, who had been listening intently but jumped when their eyes met. "It really wasn't me! I came back with the knife before the power went out! Ask Wang Wei—I left while he was showering, and he must have heard me return. We even left the room together!"
"Did anyone see you hiding the knife earlier?" Xu Huo asked.
The college student hesitated. "I'm not sure. Everyone was looking for food at the time. If someone saw, would they have let me take the knife?"
"You suspect Wang Wei?" Huang Junjie found the timing unlikely—the college student had already returned to his room by the time of the blackout, and Wang Wei was also in his room then.
"Not sure." Xu Huo changed tack. "But someone is killing in the Headhunter Demon's name while deliberately gathering all players together—just to divert suspicion, making others think the danger is external rather than from a player."
This method would have worked. Given the dungeon's premise, players would assume the Headhunter Demon was responsible upon seeing the bodies. Even if suspicions later turned to others, the shared experience of witnessing the corpses would temporarily patch the logical gap. Players wouldn't easily turn on each other, and by the time someone figured it out, several might already be dead. Further mutual suspicion could leave no survivors.
But if the premise shifted to the Headhunter Demon being among the players, everyone became a suspect. Players who could alibi each other would form groups, making it hard to isolate and attack anyone.
Thus, the next move would either involve the Headhunter Demon appearing with others or taking on multiple players alone. Either way, the situation would become clearer, making covert kills much harder.
"There's another issue," Xu Huo said. "Someone might guess the Headhunter Demon is among us."
"Why is that a problem?" Huang Junjie paused. "Wait—are you saying there is no Headhunter Demon?"
"That can't be," Yuan Yao said. "The dungeon intro said the Headhunter Demon's been here for decades."
The college student clutched his head, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"The Headhunter Demon is most likely a player," Xu Huo flicked his lighter. "If you knew that, how would you complete the dungeon mission?"
Huang Junjie opened his mouth but stayed silent.
"Exactly." The lighter clicked open with a sharp sound, casting light across Xu Huo's face, dividing it into light and shadow. "I'd kill every other player."