Players, Please Board the Train-Chapter 31: Sneak Attack

The few of them rummaged through the main hall, searching every possible place, yet still found no clues.
“Where exactly is it?” Yuan Yao punched the wall in frustration. “This lousy place isn’t that big. I even checked the decorations, and there’s no secret mechanism or hidden passage.”
Indeed, the building’s layout was shaped like the Chinese character “回” (hui). The central “口” (mouth) area occupied a decent amount of space. Compared to other parts, this was the easiest place to tamper with, but the walls on all sides—except for some decorations behind the counter—had no paintings hung, and tapping on them revealed solid walls. There couldn’t possibly be any secret rooms or passages.
“This decoration is off,” Huang Junjie circled behind the counter and pressed hard on a protruding circular solid wood piece. A “click” sounded as the round wooden panel popped open, revealing a space of about one or two square meters inside. On the floor was a movable wooden plank, which, when pulled open, revealed a staircase leading underground.
“So it was a pressure door. All that time we were poking around the decoration above for nothing,” Yuan Yao said, flushing with embarrassment.
Huang Junjie turned to Xu Huo and asked, “Wanna go down and check it out?”
The three of them went down the tunnel one after another. Just as the wooden door outside was pulled shut, the Rich Kid and Liu Yuanyuan emerged from one side.
“I knew Huang Junjie and that Xu guy were whispering about something. They probably figured out the trick,” the Rich Kid muttered quietly. After a while, he pressed the door open.
After they left, Abel came out from the side and followed them down the tunnel.
A few minutes later, Zhang Xiong and two others returned from the wooden house. After searching all around, they found no one who should have been there and started smashing things in a rage.
“There’s a sound coming from back here!” Wang Wei pressed his ear against a wooden beam decoration to listen carefully.
Zhang Xiong rushed over and kicked it hard. The round door immediately popped open. He jumped in first, excitedly saying, “No wonder we couldn’t find the Headhunter Demon anywhere! Turns out it was hiding in here. If we kill the Headhunter Demon, maybe there’ll be a reward. Let’s go!”
The three of them crawled inside as well.
*
The tunnel was more spacious than expected; two people could walk side by side comfortably. After descending the stone steps, the path branched into three directions.
Xu Huo and the others chose one branch. They found no trace of the College Student but discovered that the branch itself split again. The exit of a small branch was beneath a stone near the hot spring in a room on the left.
“It seems the Headhunter Demon uses these tunnels to move around,” Huang Junjie said. “Jia Xuyang brought so much food; he probably hid it all here. Was he really behind yesterday’s incident?”
“Let’s find him first and talk later.” Xu Huo quickly turned back into the tunnel. As he landed, he suddenly heard the sharp sound of a blade striking a stone wall.
Following the sound, he ran around a corner and collided with Abel.
“What are you doing here?” Huang Junjie drew his knife.
“Don’t misunderstand!” Abel hurriedly waved his hands. “I followed Miss Liu and the others down here. I didn’t know the tunnels connected through these branches and got lost. I only came over because I heard a noise.”
Xu Huo ignored him and went into the next branch. When his flashlight beam reached the other side, he first saw a tall shadow flash by, then spotted the College Student’s corpse leaning against the wall, his head already severed.
“There’s blood here,” Abel glanced sideways into the tunnel. Two distinct blood trails led off in another direction underground.
“Hurry and follow!” Huang Junjie took the lead.
The group followed the blood traces, turning two corners. Unexpectedly, something rolled underfoot in the dark—a spherical object bouncing forward.
Huang Junjie’s hairs stood on end.
Not just him; Yuan Yao also kicked something. “No, it can’t be…”
The flashlight beam shone on the ground, revealing three scattered human heads lying there. The bloodstains were both fresh and dried. Because of the recent kick, one of the heads struck the wall, leaving a bloody imprint.
Looking at the severed heads, Xu Huo frowned and asked, “When you came down just now, did Wang Wei and the other two come back?”
Before the question finished, he felt someone approaching from behind. Before he could react, a thin wire tightened around his throat, and he was lifted off the ground!
Abel, who was about to answer, turned his head but saw the flashlight fall. Xu Huo’s feet dangled as a tall shadow carried him backward!
He tore the cross pendant from his necklace and shot it forward, but it was deflected by an axe. Huang Junjie picked up the flashlight and illuminated the entire tunnel.
“He doesn’t have feet!” Yuan Yao clutched a human head and tried to roll on the ground, hoping the Headhunter Demon would slip, but when he looked down, he saw emptiness beneath the black cloak!
Just as Xu Huo was about to be carried out of the tunnel, he suddenly kicked off the wall with both feet. His head smashed backward into the Headhunter Demon’s mask!
The plastic mask clattered to the ground, and Xu Huo broke free from the demon’s grasp. He touched the blood on his neck and turned to face the black cloak figure floating in midair, now missing its head.
Huang Junjie and the other two caught up, staring at the black cloak holding the deadly axe motionless. Their scalps tingled!
“No head and no feet. The Headhunter Demon really isn’t human!”
“God, heavens above, ghosts really do exist!”
“What do we do now?”
The four faced off against the Headhunter Demon. Suddenly, the mask that had fallen to the ground flew back into the demon’s hands, and he put it on again. Just as he raised his hand, Xu Huo pulled out a dagger and threw it!
The metal clashed and sparked before bouncing apart. A lit lighter flew through the tunnel, immediately followed by Xu Huo flicking open a second one.
“Light it!”
The lighter skidded across the black cloak to the ground, but not a single spark ignited!
“Watch this!” Abel pushed Xu Huo aside. A huge cross appeared in his hands. His arm muscles bulged as he threw the cross at the Headhunter Demon!
The cross smashed against the axe, pushing the cloak backward a good distance. The demon’s hands holding the axe were pressed to the ground!
It worked!
The other three brightened and moved forward, but the heavy cross suddenly turned into a bubble and lost all weight. The Headhunter Demon easily flew toward another branch!
The four hesitated only a moment before chasing after it, but when they reached the branch entrance, the black cloak figure was gone. At the same time, a firelight approached from the other side.
“It’s you!” Zhang Xiong hurriedly retreated. “I saw Jia Xuyang’s corpse. Did you guys do this?”
“No!” Abel said. “We were attacked by the Headhunter Demon too, and we’re chasing it!”
The chase team grew from four to five, then winding through the tunnels, expanded to seven, then nine, but they still never saw the Headhunter Demon again.
“I think we should stop searching,” Huang Junjie panted. “That thing is so elusive, and the tunnels are so dark. We don’t even know how many there are. Searching like this isn’t effective.”
“Let’s haul the bodies up first,” Xu Huo said, deciding to stop the futile search.
The group carried Jia Xuyang’s body and the two other heads back to the surface. They placed the three together, managing to piece together a complete corpse.
“Poor Xiao Jia died so miserably,” Wang Wei said, looking at Jia Xuyang’s body with pity. He added, “You guys were too careless. You knew the Headhunter Demon was tough to deal with. Even if you found its trail, you should have waited until everyone was together before making a move.”