At 7:30 in the morning, passengers in the carriage woke up and went to wash up. This train was the same as the one encountered in 4 of Hearts and it had 9 carriages. Of these, the last carriage was the residence of the train staff.
Carriages 1-4 were hard seat carriages while 6-8 were soft sleeper carriages. The fifth carriage in the middle was the dining carriage. Xiao Lou’s group of eight were at the connection between the third and fourth carriages and could see people heading to the dining carriage for breakfast.
In order to avoid the peak time for washing up in the morning, they washed their faces and brushed their teeth before 7 o’clock. Now there were people coming and going and it wasn’t very convenient for them to stay here. Xiao Lou suggested, “We should go to the dining carriage for breakfast. We can also see if there are any suspicious people on the train.”
Everyone followed Xiao Lou to the dining carriage and simply ordered some milk, soy milk and steamed buns for breakfast. As they were eating, they saw a group of young women coming from the direction of the sixth carriage.
They were dressed very stylishly and were talking as they walked. The one walking in front had long curly hair and a bright expression. She looked to be the oldest one in the group. The girl next to her was beautiful and gentle. She wore a light blue dress, a diamond necklace around her neck and a bracelet on her arm.
They were followed by four women with different appearances. However, the clothes they wore were all blue and white. There were different styles but similar colors. They looked like a group of close female friends.
Shao Qingge’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the jade bracelet around one of the girl’s wrists. “This bracelet should be pure natural ice jade. It is very valuable. It seems this woman is quite rich.”
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged looks. The two of them had originally picked up a steamed bun to eat. Then after looking at each other, they put down the buns tacitly. Xiao Lou whispered, “Shu Xiaomeng is the one wearing the bracelet?”
Yu Hanjiang nodded. “The one with dyed burgundy hair in front should be Liu Xiaoyan.”
Xiao Lou added, “There are also Zhang Xiaozhu, Wu Xiaofei, Cheng Xiaoli and Song Xiaoyu.”
The other team members were at a loss listening to their conversation. Ye Qi was even more confused by the naming pattern of ‘X Xiao X’. He glanced at Xiao Lou in a baffled manner. “What are you talking about? Do you know these women?”
Just then, the group of six friends sat down at the dining table not far away.
Liu Xiaoyan spoke in a straightforward manner, “For today’s breakfast, is Xiaomeng treating us?”
Shu Xiaomeng nodded. “Sister, Yan, please order whatever you want.”
Next to her, the short-haired Zhang Xiaozhu joked, “Mrs Li has money. According to me, you guys are really too much. You have to take the train! How convenient is it to fly? We can get there in one day. Meanwhile, it takes three days to ride the train!”
The long-haired girl next to her spoke weakly. “This is Sister Yan’s idea. Last time when we went to the concert, Xiaomeng was unable to go due to physical reasons. Later, something happened on the train&#k2026; we didn’t expect the goddess to finally be holding a concert again in the City of the Sun. It feels like a dream comes true for everyone to take the train together.”
Shu Xiaomeng agreed. “Yes, this time no one is absent. The six of us can take the train slowly and it can be regarded as a trip to relax.”
The other teammates heard their conversation and finally reacted.
Ye Qi couldn’t believe it. “The best friends group of the Extremely Quick Train case is here again?”
Shao Qingge glanced at Shu Xiaomeng thoughtfully. “The friends group that Xiao Ye and I met had names like Cheng Xuening, Qin Xuefei and so on… are these the friends that Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao met?”
The plot of the low level secret rooms was similar but there were many alternate versions. Old Mo said that it was like an exam paper with A, B and C versions. It was randomly generated so the group of friends that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang met in the train was different from those Shao and Ye encountered.
Old Mo, Liu Qiao and the Long Qu couple also encountered different people.
Every time they entered a secret room, that secret room was just a generated instance and the NPCs also existed independently. For example, the deceased that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang met in 4 of Hearts was called Li Zhemin. This meant the one that Ye Qi met couldn’t be Li Zhemin. Li Zhemin couldn’t die twice.
Xiao Lou spoke softly, “These six are the group of best friends that Group Leader Yu and I met in 4 of Hearts. They went to the City of the Moon to watch a concert. On the way, the scumbag Zhou Quan died. However, the killer wasn’t among them. It was Cheng Mu who got on the train halfway. After arriving at the City of the Moon, they were taken by the police to give statements and probably didn’t get to see the concert.”
Ye Qi was stunned and a chill went down his spine. “So many years have passed. Now, they are realizing their dream by taking the train to the City of the Sun to watch this concert together? As a result, they met you again at a different point in time?”
Xiao Lou nodded. “Yes, at this time, Shu Xiaomeng is already Li Mo’s wife. Her best friend called her Mrs Li just now. The bracelet she’s wearing should’ve been bought by Li Mo.”
Shao Qingge’s expression changed and he lowered his voice. “I remember that the theme of 4 of Hearts was the train to hell.”
The hairs on Ye Qi’s body stood up. “These girls shouldn’t be doing something again? Is it a murder case to send people to hell?”
Yu Hanjiang didn’t speak. His brow was furrowed as he stared thoughtfully through the train window at the scenery passing by.
The 4 of Hearts secret room occurred when Li Mo and Shu Xiaomeng weren’t living together. Shu Xiaomeng had a miscarriage and didn’t go to the concert with her friends. Li Mo planned an elderly tour group and set up his father Li Zhemin to be killed. Among Shu Xiaomeng’s group of friends, two of them were let down by a scumbag. The seven girlfriends got together to punish the scumbag Zhao Quan who was on the train.
This was in line with what they said just now about not seeing the concert and being able to realize their dream together this time.
Not long ago, everyone encountered Li Mo in the Club’s secret room. Li Mo was 35 years old and the time flow in the main city should be the same. Therefore, the current age of Li Mo’s wife was around 32 years old.
It could be calculated that the current time was 10 years after the train case occurred. Was it just a coincidence to meet this group of friends again?
Shao Qingge took out his phone and quickly searched the news. He came to a conclusion. “There is indeed a concert in the City of the Sun. Luo Yan, the queen of singing, will be holding a concert to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her debut in the largest stadium in three days.”
Xiao Lou remembered the name. “Yes, back then, they went to the City of the Moon to see Luo Yan’s concert.”
It was originally to see the concert but due to the scumbag dying on the train, they ended up being unable to see it. This group of friends likes the queen of singing. In order to realize their dreams, they reorganized the group to go to the concert after a period of 10 years.
They met again on the same train. This feeling of time and space crossing gave Xiao Lou a sense of chaos. It was just like an 18 year old girl he saw a few days ago suddenly becoming a 30 year old woman he saw today.
Yu Hanjiang thought about it for a moment before whispering to Xiao Lou, “It is still uncertain if this is a coincidence or not. Ask Mr Tang.”
Xiao Lou took out his phone and sent a message to Tang Ci. [Mr Tang, what is going on with the concert?]
Tang Ci replied: [Luo Yan is a female singer with a strong appeal in this world. She debuted 20 years ago and has countless classic songs. She only holds a concert every five years and this happens to be the concert celebrating the 20th year since her debut. Fans are flocking to the City of the Sun from various places. When the tickets for the concert were open for sale they sold out in less than five minutes.]
It sounded normal. It was the commemorative concert of a super popular singer and it was natural for fans to come from all over to support her. Still, Xiao Lou was a bit uneasy. [Is this related to the Hunter’s League?]
[I don’t know. I am still investigating. In this way, the City of the Sun will have many consecutively. There is the large concert, award ceremonies, star signings and football games held one after another. All the hotels in the city are almost full and traffic is very serious. After you arrive, go directly to the New Century Hotel to check in. I have booked rooms for you.]
Xiao Lou answered: [I understand. I’ll stay in contact.]
He showed the phone conversation to Yu Hanjiang and shook his head. “Mr Tang also isn’t sure. Perhaps this is just a concert and we are thinking too much?”
Yu Hanjiang frowned. “I hope so.”
He raised his eyes toward the dining table not far away. Shu Xiaomeng and her friends were eating breakfast happily and the young woman’s face was filled with a warm smile. Her husband was a well-known businessman in this world and was very fond of her. She left her husband behind to go to a concert with a group of friends. It seemed the relationship between these women was as good as ever.
Did Li Mo know about this? Was it just a commemorative concert held in a stadium of the City of the Sun?
They would probably only know once they arrived at the scene.
Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and made a request. “Chief Shao, I want to find a way to buy a few concert tickets. I want to go and see it live.”
Shao Qingge searched the Internet. “The official channels have long been sold out. I can only buy high-priced scalper tickets… let’s see, the scalper’s tickets are also very popular. This goddess has too many fans.”
Ye Qi thought enviously, ‘It will be good if I have so many fans at my own concert in the future…’
Shao Qingge said, “I can only buy two tickets. It is three days later at 8:00 p.m., the VIP seats. I bought them just in time.”
Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. “I will go with Xiao Lou. The rest of you, stay in the hotel and wait for our news.”
He had a strange feeling. They met the group of friends again on the train and this time there was Shu Xiaomeng…
Things might not be so simple.
Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality
