Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1327 - 1328 The Child Leading the Way

Chapter 1327: Chapter 1328 The Child Leading the Way

Qiu Ming had no choice but to leave some food and, after thinking it over, added two bottles of water, saying, "We’re all just unlucky souls."

They were merely taking a cooler route, not expecting the child to quickly return, using his slingshot to throw stones at them while shouting, "You’ve ruined our traps, who wants your stuff!"

Although the stones couldn’t hurt them, the boy kept aiming at their faces, which was somewhat annoying. Cao Qinglin threw a prop to catch him, her face stern, and said, "Let’s hang him here."

"Don’t be so rough," Qiu Ming picked him up, "just give him a beating. Here, you hold his legs, and I’ll pull down his pants."

Hearing this, the boy’s face immediately turned red as he struggled, shouting, "My big brother won’t let you get away with this!"

"Oh, and who is your big brother?" Qiu Ming pinched his cheeks and tugged hard, "Shout it out so I can see."

"If you’ve got the guts, follow me!" the boy snarled, "My big brother will definitely beat you until you’re toothless... Let me go..."

"Alright, don’t scare the kids too much." Cao Qinglin saw he wasn’t holding back and had to step in, "If his big brother were really that formidable, they wouldn’t have set up those petty traps in the passage. This kid is probably setting a trap, most likely trying to lure us in. Let’s leave him here."

Qiu Ming was a bit puzzled, "The player setting up traps shouldn’t be very strong."

"Not necessarily, those minor props might just be a ruse." Cao Qinglin looked at Xu Huo.

Xu Huo didn’t have an opinion; there were more children than just this one nearby. Whether they wanted to lure them away or there were traps set, there was no need to overthink it.

"Have you ever had candy?" Xu Huo gestured for Qiu Ming to let the boy down, handing him a small bag of fruit candies, "These and those foods earlier are not poisoned. You can take them and share with your friends. We’ll be leaving soon, so there’s no need to worry."

This time the boy didn’t throw the items away. He cautiously took them and ran off, looking back at them once at the end of the passage.

After he ran far, Xu Huo turned around to find Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin both staring at him, raising an eyebrow, "What, do you want some too?"

The two smiled and continued walking; Qiu Ming found something to say, "Didn’t expect you to have a kid so young. They say players have long lifespans, so there’s no rush to marry and have children. Of course, if you had a kid before becoming a player, that’s different."

"But who dares to marry and have children as a player? You might just leave a widow and orphans behind."

Even though Xu Huo didn’t seem like it, he was rather chatty for someone so rough around the edges.

Not that Qiu Ming needed his response, he just prattled on, occasionally getting a reply from Cao Qinglin, making it a back-and-forth conversation.

It didn’t take long to pass through the small town, the underground passage not reaching the city’s edge, so they came up early to use a prop to cover some distance.

"Hey!" That boy appeared in a nearby building, shouting to them, "Do you want to take a cooler route?"

"You know a cool route?" Xu Huo raised his voice to ask.

The boy with candy in his mouth quickly ran down, standing in the building’s shadow to say, "Not far outside the city, there’s a path in the grove that leads to the underground river. It’s dried up and walkable."

Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin exchanged glances before looking at Xu Huo. Without hesitation, Xu Huo agreed, letting the boy come under the hover umbrella, taking them to find the underground river.

"How old are you this year?" Xu Huo asked.

"Fifteen." The boy sucked on the candy.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes, but they’re all dead. Some starved, some died of illness. I’m healthy, so I survived."

"Do you want to live in other cities?"

"No, it’s fine here."

"It’s fine here?" Qiu Ming interjected, "Your siblings are all dead."

"Other places are just as hot, and players kill people there. Here, nobody will find us." The boy looked at him sincerely.

Qiu Ming felt a bit speechless, scratching his head, "It can’t be that aside from the Alien Activity Zone, the rest of the 023 is a High Temperature Zone..."

"Just move to other districts." Cao Qinglin figured it wasn’t difficult. As long as players go out, getting a few non-player tickets is still doable.

"This is my home, why should I move to another district?" the boy said, "I can’t let others take my home."

"You’re a strange kid." Cao Qinglin said; usually, such children, especially in harsh environments, would yearn for better living conditions. Places like this, which aren’t livable, with abandoned houses and barren lands, aren’t worth missing. How can you have the concept of ’home’ when you can’t even survive here?

But the boy said, "My home is my home."

He said it with such solemnity that it left Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming slightly silent.

Xu Huo noticed the boy’s features bore similarities to those players who attacked them earlier and said, "Maybe they’re particularly attached to their homeland and home."

"We’re here." The boy pointed to the grove ahead, "See that tree that hasn’t fallen? The slope past it leads to the underground river."

This grove had long since withered, but a couple of short trees still stood as a landmark.

The boy didn’t look back, continuing forward, and said, "The underground river is long; if you keep walking this direction, you can exit by night..."

Just as he was speaking, a hand pressed on his shoulder.

Xu Huo smiled, "Alright, no need for you to lead the way anymore. You can go back now."

The boy looked at him doubtfully, "Are you really going to go without me?"

Having him scout ahead would be the normal procedure.

"We just follow the underground river, right?" Xu Huo said, "It’s so simple we won’t get lost."

With that, he took out a prop dagger and placed it in the boy’s hand, "Only by living well can you have a future. It’s not worth sacrificing your life over a small issue, especially when it holds no real meaning."

The boy gripped the dagger, momentarily flustered, but soon forced a smile. Even Qiu Ming noticed something was off and grabbed him, "What’s up ahead?"

The boy kicked his legs, "It’s a dried-up river, aren’t you looking for a cool place... Let go... I can’t breathe..."

Yet Qiu Ming wasn’t as lenient this time, pinching his throat with his other hand, "You’re quite young but your heart’s as dark as night. We told you we’re just passing through, yet you repeatedly tried to kill us!"

In just a few seconds, the boy’s eyes rolled back, hands dropping, his face turning blue-purple.

"That’s enough." Xu Huo said.

"He wanted to kill us. In this game, even old folks and kids are not innocent!" Qiu Ming said with a tense face.

Xu Huo motioned for him to let go, "There should be a random instance ahead."

Entering the random instance wouldn’t necessarily mean death for them, but the boy would certainly die. Clearly, he understood this, which is why he deliberately tried to lead them there.

"I have questions for him." Seeing that Qiu Ming only eased his grip but didn’t let go, Xu Huo couldn’t help but frown.