Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1218: Perhaps an Old Acquaintance

Chapter 1218: Chapter 1218: Perhaps an Old Acquaintance

The narrow blade emitted a chilling glow, slicing briefly through the air before separating the bald-headed player’s body from his head.

As soon as the man died, Xu Huo frowned instead, his gaze shifting to the buzz-cut player who had emerged from the labyrinth wall. "That guy didn’t even try to save you all."

The buzz-cut player knew Xu Huo was a troublesome opponent. He sneered coldly and replied, "You also said we’re under someone else’s thumb. Since when have kidnappers cared about the feelings of the people footing the bill?"

Xu Huo instantly lost interest. Taking one step into the spatial passage, he walked directly up to the buzz-cut player and said, "Looks like you don’t have a reason to stay alive either."

"A touching goodbye!" the buzz-cut player suddenly shouted. In the instant Xu Huo’s movement faltered due to his special ability, a whirlwind surged beneath his feet, and he vanished on the spot!

"He’s fast at running," Xu Huo said indifferently as he sheathed his blade and returned to the earlier maze passage.

The battle over there was far more intense. The entire pathway floor and even parts of the labyrinth walls had been reduced to wreckage. Of the remaining three players, the female player responsible for long-range support was already dead, leaving two players locked in a tangle with Jiang Zifeng. All three had injuries, though none seemed critical.

Noticing Xu Huo’s return, Jiang Zifeng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth without looking back and said, "Old Xu, stay out of this. Today, I want to personally kill these two bastards!"

Upon hearing his words, the two opposing players’ faces turned grim. The confidence they had earlier was gone, and their attacks lost their casualness—they’d clearly suffered setbacks.

Dealing with one Jiang Zifeng was already troublesome, and now Xu Huo returned unharmed...

The two exchanged glances, and one said only a single word: "Leave." Without hesitation, they used teleportation props to flee.

"You can run, but the monastery won’t escape! As long as you haven’t completed the game, I’ll find you sooner or later!" Jiang Zifeng shouted.

"They can’t hear you, even if you shout," Xu Huo said. "They’re not in the vicinity anymore."

"I know. I just needed to express my emotions," Jiang Zifeng said casually before continuing, "These people clearly came for us. They should be part of the same group as that guy from last night."

"Most likely," Xu Huo noted, finding the situation rather peculiar.

Jiang Zifeng, perceptive despite his rough outward demeanor, noticed Xu Huo’s expression and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"I just think that the player from last night didn’t have a motive to target us," Xu Huo replied.

Encounters in an instance were normal; it wasn’t as if there were only a dozen people who had to fight to the death. Players continually crossed paths in the labyrinth. Without appearing and without concerns behind them, anyone wouldn’t solely focus on them after just one indirect clash, let alone specifically hire others to intercept them.

"I also find that odd," Jiang Zifeng said. "Usually, there are only two possibilities: either they know one of us, or they’re pure madmen who just find us annoying."

"Since they deliberately lured us to engage with their companions, it was likely to gauge our level. I’m guessing the second possibility is greater—maybe next time they’ll act personally."

"Don’t worry. People like that won’t give up until they achieve their goals—they’ll come looking for us eventually."

Xu Huo nodded slightly, then turned to Jiang Zifeng with a serious expression. "Could it be someone you’ve offended in the past?"

Jiang Zifeng choked on his words, falling silent for a second before replying, "That’s unavoidable... I’ve offended so many people. But no one should recognize me; I was wearing a mask."

Xu Huo wasn’t wearing a mask this time.

If it wasn’t someone who recognized Jiang Zifeng, then it was someone who recognized him.

That ruled out the second possibility for Xu Huo.

If it was someone who knew him, Xu Huo quickly filtered through players he’d encountered since joining the game who were still alive. The number wasn’t large, so eliminating possibilities came easily and swiftly.

Maybe it was an old acquaintance from the past—or perhaps someone from Zone 014.

This thought flickered by, but Xu Huo didn’t dwell on it. As Jiang Zifeng had said, as long as they remained in this instance, the opposing party would come again sooner or later, and they’d deal with it then.

After confirming the direction, Xu Huo said, "We’ve veered off quite a bit."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry," Jiang Zifeng said. "What a waste of time."

The two spent some time navigating the maze before getting back on track. But just after a short walk, Jiang Zifeng triggered a labyrinth wall with a special effect. Accompanied by "bang bang bang" fireworks exploding, the labyrinth wall quickly split open a door while announcing "Congratulations, you’ve drawn a Random Teleportation Gate!" It immediately engulfed Jiang Zifeng—his half-finished cry of "Shit!" lingered while his presence vanished entirely.

No way to retrieve him anytime soon.

Xu Huo returned to traveling alone.

After walking for another ten minutes, he turned his head toward the rear and said, "How long do you plan to keep following me?"

The female player they encountered last night slowly emerged from the passage corner, awkwardly stammering, "I didn’t mean to follow you. I just happened to run into you—and we’re heading in the same direction."

When Xu Huo and Jiang Zifeng chased after others earlier, the female player couldn’t keep up and gave up. She continued forward in her own way and coincidentally ran into the two of them retracing their path; in fact, she had been present when Jiang Zifeng disappeared.

"Traveling alone is inconvenient. Why not team up?" Xu Huo suggested. "You can use plants to identify the correct pathways."

The female player quickened her pace, stepping forward gratefully. "If you’re interested in any mutant plants, feel free to ask me. I know a bit about them."

"I’m Mu Yan. That other guy called you Old Xu; why don’t I call you Brother Xu? Thanks for helping me earlier."

The two hadn’t walked far when a new clue appeared on the wall:

"The Nullification Card can negate the player’s first card."

"The first card?" Mu Yan repeated, puzzled. "Isn’t the first card a faction card? Why can it be negated?"

"This clue is probably false," Xu Huo replied. He already possessed a Nullification Card, which explicitly stated it could negate any card besides the first one.

Still, "Faction cards aren’t necessarily unchangeable."

There were exactly six colored cards in each faction. The maximum number of cards a player could hold was also six. This shouldn’t be purely coincidental.

If the first card were a number card, and it couldn’t be swapped out, then it would be impossible to ever obtain six colored cards—making an alternative, more challenging completion method unfeasible. Other approaches, such as forming a straight flush as Jiang Zifeng mentioned, held intrigue, but the colored cards offered greater difficulty.

Besides, this maze seemed to be missing a card.

Mu Yan understood his implication and said, "Collecting six colored cards must be almost impossible. Forget same-color cards—even different-colored ones might not appear six at a time in the maze’s latter half, given the number of players throughout."

"Never say never. Someone might already have six colored cards, just waiting to assemble all of one color."