Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 672: Avoiding Eyes

Chapter 672: Chapter 672: Avoiding Eyes

Xu Huo turned around, only to see Xiao Yun’s brother holding an axe. His gaze swept over the stone sculpture by Xu Huo’s feet, and he said, "Xiao Yun said you wanted to buy a sculpture, come with me."

Xu Huo didn’t refuse and followed him out of the woods.

The siblings lived near the station, and to get there from the woods, one had to cross the street. As the day before, many households were observing the newcomers, either blatantly or from the shadows.

Some of the players staying at the outside guesthouses were distinguishable at a glance from the lifeless local residents, even though they wore the same clothes.

When passing one household, the sound of crying and pleading emerged as an elder was kicked into the yard. Through the half-closed door, a tall man could be vaguely seen pressing a young girl onto the table.

Neighbors quickly shut their doors one after another. Xu Huo noticed Xiao Yun’s brother clutch the axe tighter. He stepped into the yard and released "Yu Yan."

The swallow-shaped black knife-blades spun and flew into the house, their continuous attacks forcing a player out. The man retreated into the yard, and on seeing Xu Huo, scoffed. With a push from his foot, he shot toward him while a curved blade in his hand swept towards Xu Huo’s throat!

Xu Huo stood still, used "Like Repels Like" to block him, then lifted "Danger Blinds." The player, who was forcibly pushed three meters away, inevitably saw his own eyes in the small mirror when he looked up and then lost the sparkle in his eyes.

Just as Xu Huo was about to finish him off, a rubber prop like a child’s sticky hand flew in from outside the yard, wrapped around the man, and yanked him out!

Xu Huo turned around to see another unfamiliar player helping his blinded companion, saying, "You won’t have the upper hand two against one."

Xu Huo wasn’t in the best shape, and he didn’t plan to entangle with them for the moment. He said, "To bully those who are old, weak, women, and children, you must be very proud. I won’t argue with you, just leave, or else I’ll make a call to the police."

In this county, there were no national institutions like administrative offices or police stations, and in the game, players preferred to resolve problems with force, never thinking about calling the police. So when Xu Huo said this, the two opposing players were both baffled.

"What are you doing!" Yi Pei came from not far away, quickly joined Xu Huo’s side, and formed a team.

The two players left grudgingly. Xu Huo turned to help the elder on the ground. The man flinched at his touch but managed to get up on his own and thanked Xu Huo dryly.

After Yi Pei had calmed the young girl inside, she came out and said helplessly, "Some people really are beasts."

In both the game and real life, the weak are often bullied, regardless of gender—it’s just that women, being physically weaker, are a convenient target for those who prey on the weak.

"With just those skills," Xu Huo said, "let them try taking on someone stronger, and they wouldn’t have the guts."

Xiao Yun’s brother, with a look of disgust, said harshly, "Are you buying the merchandise or not? If not, I’m leaving."

Of course, Xu Huo wanted to buy, so he handed a few hundred White Notes to the elder and went with Yi Pei to Xiao Yun’s house.

Xiao Yun was preparing lunch. Seeing them, she came up warmly to greet and invited them to eat fresh wild fruits.

Xiao Yun’s brother came back into the house, brought out a basket of wood carvings, and dumped them on the ground, "Pick for yourselves."

After saying this, he sat down in the yard and continued carving an unfinished wood sculpture with his carving knife.

The wood carvings in the basket were very delicate and different from those seen in other people’s homes. Xiao Yun’s brother made the eyes of his sculptures very lifelike.

This wasn’t a matter of technical difference, but because, except for Xiao Yun’s brother, the others opted for a blurred treatment of the eyes on their wood carvings.

The people in the county town were very taboo about "eyes."

"May I use the restroom?" Xu Huo asked Xiao Yun.

Xiao Yun pointed him to the location.

He stepped into the restroom, a simple squat toilet, a small sink, a towel hanging beside it, and a wooden rack nailed above the sink with toiletries on it.

After standing in the restroom for a while, Xu Huo washed his hands and walked out.

Yi Pei had already chosen the wooden carvings she wanted to buy and gestured for him to make the purchase and leave.

Xu Huo saw there were also wooden pocket mirrors inside, first reached in to touch it before flipping it open, "This craftsmanship is not bad, I have a child at home... why isn’t there a mirror inside?"

"My brother only does carpentry." Xiao Yun brought them water, "And now many young girls think that wooden makeup mirrors aren’t fashionable enough, so not many people buy them. If you want, I can give you a few for free."

"I will be staying here for a few more days. How about this, I’ll order a batch of wooden mirrors, and could you help me fit the mirror pieces?" Xu Huo said.

Xiao Yun looked at him with difficulty, "I can’t get so many mirrors in a short time, and we aren’t planning to go out anytime soon."

Xu Huo smiled and put the wooden mirror frame back down, "Then I’ll order less, and I’ll fit the mirrors myself, but you have to give me a discount on the price."

Xiao Yun happily agreed, went to get all the stock, and Xu Huo picked some other trinkets as well. Before leaving, he asked Xiao Yun which household would go out to purchase goods.

"Other people just go out to buy daily necessities, but if you really want, you can ask Brother Da Hai at the hotel, sometimes he runs errands for the guests."

After thanking her, Xu Huo left and could still see Xiao Yun standing in the doorway waving at them from afar.

"Why do you keep asking about mirrors?" Yi Pei lowered her voice, "You also went to the restroom to see if they had a mirror, didn’t you?"

"I’ve been to several households today and none have mirrors, don’t you find that to be a very strange phenomenon?" Xu Huo retorted.

Yi Pei touched the voice recorder in her pocket, "But the hotel has mirrors."

"This instance is called Shared Vision, at the very least it’s related to eyes, and the quality of the handicrafts sold in the county town is very good. Yet no effort is put into the eyes, and none of the households use mirrors. There is a bus passing through here every day, buying a few mirrors wouldn’t be difficult, there’s no need for repeated excuses."

"From these little things, it seems that the residents of the county town might be avoiding ’eyes’."

"Avoiding eyes?" Yi Pei frowned, "But they don’t seem to avoid other people’s gazes. If they are to the point of avoiding mirrors, they definitely wouldn’t be willing to look into someone else’s eyes. This is a bit contradictory."

Xu Huo glanced at her, "This is just a small detail, maybe it’s related to local customs. What have you discovered?"

"Nothing particularly noteworthy, the only odd thing is that these people don’t seem to understand the local religion well, no religious festivals, no deities worshiped at home, they’re clearly wary of outsiders, but they seem eager for guests to stay over."

After a brief exchange, the two returned to the hotel and waited for Tian Kunwen and the other two to return; they then gathered in Fu Danhong’s room to share information.

"They worship a deity," Tian Kunwen said, "In the bedroom."