Card Room (Rebirth)
chapter-89

Xiaolou and Yu Hanjiang took Cheng Mu to the 9th carriage.

Cheng Mu bowed her head and asked softly, “Can you let me stay alone for a while?”

Neither of them could ask her about the details of the murder so they put away her fruit knife and backpack before putting her in the security room of the 9th carriage. Zhao Zheng, who had been in the 9th carriage, heard the news and ran out of the sleeper room to see the situation. He pointed to Cheng Mu and roared, “They brought you here? Did you kill my brother?”

Cheng Mu replied coldly, “Yes.”

The furious Zhao Zheng was going to pounce but Yu Hanjiang grabbed him by the collar with one hand. Xiao Lou turned to him and said, “Your brother has infected her with HIV and she also lost a baby.”

Zhao Zheng was stunned. “W-What?”

Cheng Mu smiled at him. “You might be twins but you are different from him. I heard your brother mention you. Zhao Zheng, be good to your girlfriend and don’t step on N boats like your brother. If you turn over the boat, you will die without a burial place.”

Zhao Zheng stood still. He bowed his head and stopped moving. He couldn’t stand to blame this girl since it was his brother who made the mistake first. Xiao Lou whispered in his ear, “You are different from your brother. Go back to find a psychologist and receive good guidance.”

Zhao Zheng left and Xiao Lou thoughtfully gave Cheng Mu some drinks and snacks, comforting her with a few warm words.

Cheng Mu smiled at him. “Thank you. In fact, you don’t have to comfort me. I was already psychologically prepared. For me, Zhao Quan’s end is actually a type of relief.”

Her heart was the same as that of Mrs Mei. Mrs Mei had a diagnosis of cancer and could only live for half a year. Therefore, she personally grabbed Shu Ping’s syringe at the last moment and personally killed Li Zhemin.

Regarding the two cases of 4 of Hearts, the dead were damned people while the murderers were sympathetic.

Xiao Lou inwardly sighed and gently closed the door for her.

The train journey was a total of 72 hours and they had found the true culprits in just over 30 hours. Since they solved the cases ahead of time, there were more than 30 hours left until the terminal. The two men were idle and bored in the carriage so Xiao Lou proposed, “Group Leader Yu, go back to our room and rest for a while. These two days have been hard on you.”

Yu Hanjiang had made a great contribution during the investigation of this case. Xiao Lou was only responsible for the autopsy, determining the cause of death and helping to search for evidence. However, it was Group Leader Yu who was the key link in the interrogation. Group Leader Yu was a police officer and could always ask the most critical questions, breaking the suspect’s psychological line and finding the loopholes in the suspect’s testimonies, thereby locking in the real murderer.

If Xiao Lou was alone in 4 of Hearts then he would probably be dazed by the testimonies of the large number of suspects.

The two people returned to the carriage. Xiao Lou thoughtfully poured two cups of hot water and handed a cup to Yu Hanjiang.

Thinking of these girls’ experience, Xiao Lou couldn’t help feeling regret. He sighed and said, “I really don’t understand Zhao Quan’s thinking. He had a high IQ and his learning ability was strong. Why use this cleverness for a bad cause? Why harm innocent girls?”

Yu Hanjiang’s voice was cold. “Some men’s vision is too narrow. He thought it was great to cheat many girls. He doesn’t know that sleeping with girls everywhere only makes him a pig who can only think with his lower body.”

Yu Hanjiang drank the water and said, “I have also encountered many such cases in reality. Most of the causes of the cases are cheating. If two people are together and have no feelings, peacefully breaking up is the best. However, some people have to step on a few boats, capsize them and be retaliated against. I really can’t sympathize with such people.”

Xiao Lou nodded in approval. “It can be said that Zhao Quan deserved to die. It is just a pity that those girls were ruined by him.”

Yu Hanjiang told him, “Rest assured that they will be able to leave the shadows. Maybe it will make them grow and become stronger.”

Xiao Lou’s heart was slightly comforted. He bowed his head and wanted to drink water when Yu Hanjiang glanced at Xiao Lou and suddenly asked, “Professor Xiao, have you ever had a girlfriend?”

Xiao Lou almost choked and hurriedly put the cup down as he coughed.

He shyly touched his nose and his ears were slightly red. “Cough, Group Leader Yu isn’t afraid to joke around. I have been single for many years. Don’t talk about a girlfriend. I haven’t even held a girl’s hand.”

Yu Hanjiang felt some surprise. “You should be very popular with girls? How come there was no one chasing you?”

Xiao Lou almost blurted out, “I actually…”

He actually liked men.

Xiao Lou had received love letters from girls since high school. At that time, he found that he didn’t feel anything for girls. There were no urges when he looked at girls. He only felt they were beautiful and cute, like beautiful scenery. He would only watch them from afar.

He preferred tall men and had paid attention to men on the court since he was a teenager. He had long known his sexual orientation was special but he never thought about going to a gay bar for casual sex. HE was a very introverted person and had a habit of cleanliness. He couldn’t get close to strangers easily, let alone take the initiative to embrace the other person, unless he really liked them.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t met any men who moved him over these past few years so he had stayed single. He had planned to stabilize his career before finding a good boyfriend and living a down-to-earth life. He didn’t expect an accident to force him into the Card World. In this world, the only problem was how long he could live. Wasn’t talking about feelings too luxurious?

Xiao Lou smiled slightly and quickly corrected himself. “I was busy with studying in university and then my career. I didn’t have time to fall in love. In addition, I’m in forensics. This profession isn’t very popular. They all think that forensic doctors dissect corpses every day.” He gently rubbed his temples and looked at Yu Hanjiang helplessly before changing the topic. “What about Group Leader Yu? Have you ever had a girlfriend?”

Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, “No.”

Xiao Lou wanted to ask the reason, only for Yu Hanjiang to calmly state, “The girls are scared by my stare.”

Xiao Lou, “……”

The lethal force of Group Leader Yu was truly very strong.

Xiao Lou smiled. “I imagine there was a girl who had the courage to give you a gift. Then she was caught by you and questioned like a prisoner. Thus, she was scared away?”

Yu Hanjiang touched his nose with a bit of embarrassment. “Almost.”

It seemed that Group Leader Yu really focused on his work. The two of them were almost 30 and had no love experience. Compared to Zhao Quan, the experienced scum, they were just too pure.

Still, Xiao Lou didn’t think this was a bad thing. He would rather be emotionally simple, persistently waiting for a person who could really love him. He couldn’t imagine sleeping around casually like Zhao Quan, who was infected with a disease and harmed others.

Since they were chatting about this topic, Xiao Lou asked curiously, “Group Leader Yu, what type of girl do you like?”

“I never thought about it.” Yu Hanjiang paused before adding, “My career is risky and it is easy to attract a desire for revenge from the perpetrators. I don’t want to find my other half only to make them fear for me. Plus, I don’t have the energy to take care of another person.”

Xiao Lou could see that Group Leader Yu was a very responsible person. He was worried about the other side so he hadn’t looked for a partner. Xiao Lou couldn’t help suggesting, “You don’t have the energy to take care of others so you should find a gentle and considerate person to take care of you. A criminal police officer doesn’t have to be single. I know some police officers who are married and very happy. There are quite a few people who support and understand your job.”

Yu Hanjiang gazed at Xiao Lou with deep eyes. “Do you think I can find one?”

Xiao Lou smiled and nodded. “Definitely.”

Yu Hanjiang’s cold expression slightly eased and he even smiled as he whispered, “I don’t know when it is the end in the Card World. This matter of personal feelings, let’s go back alive before talking about it.”

Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. “Indeed, going back alive is the most important thing. We just got to the fourth level. Once I think of K of Hearts and K of Spades at the end, I think my brain isn’t enough…”

Yu Hanjiang’s voice was rarely gentle. “You might not be enough but together, we will be enough.”

Xiao Lou smiled. “Yes, this time we have refreshed the world record of 4 of Hearts.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “We passed the instance too early. We can’t get off until the terminal at 18:00 tomorrow. We have more than 30 hours to spare. Why don’t we find something to do?”

Xiao Lou thought carefully. “Then let’s do our ‘attendant’ job. I’d like to go back to the 4th carriage to chat to the passengers and gain more clues about the City of the Sun and the City of the Moon.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Okay, then I will go back to the sixth carriage.”

The two of them returned to their carriages and started chatting with the passengers.

The City of the Sun and City of the Moon were the two largest and most prosperous cities in the world, with a population of more than 50 million. According to the passengers, 50% of the population of the City of the Moon and City of the Sun were indigenous people who had lived there for generations while 50% were foreigners.

Xiao Lou remembered the mysterious organization they encountered in 3 of Spades. The ‘foreigners’ they mentioned were actually the challengers.

For the people of this world, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were really from another place and their habits were different. Besides, they could catch spells (that were actually cards). The passengers thought of foreigners as a mysterious group.

The two of them continued to chat with the passengers but they said they weren’t sure where the ‘foreigners’ came from and didn’t give any more information.

The 30 hours passed quickly until 18:00 the next afternoon when the train arrived at the terminal.

The police were notified and were already waiting at the station. Cheng Mu and the six other girls were all taken away. Zhao Quan’s body was covered with a white cloth and was also carried away. The police thanked the two attendants and drove off immediately.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang got off the 4th carriage and were finally able to leave 4 of Hearts.

The terminal station was in the City of the Moon. Xiao Lou looked around and saw a huge curved moon hanging high in the sky. The entire railway station was full of lights as pedestrians came and went in a hurry. It wasn’t much different from the stations in the real world. It was just that the moon was too big. It was around 10 metres long and covered almost a quarter of the sky. It was like a beautiful poster a child painted on the dark sky.

Before he could think about it, he was sucked out of the secret room world by a great force. The two of them appeared in their personal space and met A of Hearts.

The beauty smiled. “Congratulations for once again setting a world record. Many challengers scrambled to find the killers on the last day as the train approached the station and not all the clues were found. As a result, you found them in more than 30 hours.”

Yu Hanjiang’s voice was large. “Isn’t the difficulty of 4 of Hearts too big? There were two unrelated cases successively. There are also five suspects in Li Zhemin’s death and seven suspects in Zhao Quan’s death.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “They even protected each other! There were so many lies during the questioning that I thought our heads were going to blow up.”

A of Hearts smiled. “It is normal for 4 of Hearts to be difficult because after the four level, you will officially be out of the novice zone. Don’t worry, the next 4o f Spades will be very, very difficult.”

Xiao Lou couldn’t believe it. “4 of Spades will be very difficult?” Was this not giving challengers a way to live?

A of Hearts shrugged. “There is no way. The boss gave us the rules. The fourth level’s elimination rate must be controlled at more than 80%. We can’t let too many bad challengers go to the main city.”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “The main city? You mean, we can go to the main city after passing the fourth level?”

Xiao Lou then asked, “Is it the City of the Sun and the City of the Moon?”

A of Hearts nodded, “You will know once you look at the clearance reward.”

There was a gentle swing of her right hand and a brand-new card appeared in front of both men.

[Tool Card: Travel Ticket]

Rarity: A

Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 4 of Hearts secret room.

Effect: This is the Card World’s universal travel ticket. You can take the train, plane, ship and other means of transport free of charge. It is limited to the City of the Moon and the City of the Sun.

Number of times available: 5/5.

A of Hearts told them, “This travel ticket means you can go back and forth between several cities in the Card World. The bus between the City of the Moon and the City of the Sun also includes two small cities, Ice Island and Cangzhou. It is free five times, whether you are travelling idly or visiting family and friends. The value of this ticket is at least one million and I’m being very generous to you.”

Xiao Lou smiled and put away the card. “Thank you.”

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “After reaching the main city, do we have to keep breaking through like this?”

A of Hearts shook her head. “It is a normal world. Work Monday to Friday and have a break on weekends. However, it is different for challengers. You can find a job Monday to Friday to make money or you can play freely. The weekend is the fixed time to clear instances.”

The two men were slightly relieved. They were still in the closed phase, just like military training before the start of school. After passing the fourth level, they could enter the main city and have a regular life resting from Monday to Friday, breaking through on the weekends.”

A of Hearts clapped her hands together and smiled. “There is an unexpected surprise. Since two cards have occurred in 4 of Hearts, you will have two chances to draw a card after receiving a perfect clearance!”