Chapter 140: Chapter 60: The Midnight Invitation

Over the next few hours, the attendant patrolled the train carriages with great intensity, and nothing happened until it got dark.

Jiuyue wrapped herself in a blanket and slept soundly into the night, until she was woken up by the vibration of her cell phone.

A strange woman had added her, and just seeing the profile picture made her uncomfortable.

She yawned, thought for a moment, and ultimately decided to accept the stranger’s request.

Almost instantly after the request was accepted, the stranger sent a message.

It was a photo, taken in dim light, but it vaguely showed one of the train carriages, with no one inside, and a figure could be glimpsed vaguely walking toward the camera.

It was now 3:07 AM, and even the lights in the train corridors had been extinguished.

The passenger code stipulates that passengers are not allowed to move around in the carriages after 1 AM.

Jiuyue replied with a cartoon picture of a puzzled fox.

"Look at the lower bunk across from you."

The strange woman sent another message.

Jiuyue turned around and, using the faint light from her phone screen, she could barely make out Ning Ruyue’s quilt bulging on her bed; then she leaned out and shone her phone’s light toward the lower bunk.

The blanket was flipped to the right side, and the bunk that belonged to Duan Mingyuan was empty.

"He’s here."

Another photo came through.

This time, the figure’s face was captured in the photo; the missing Duan Mingyuan appeared in the frame, along with a fair hand gesturing an inviting motion towards him.

"Your boyfriend is really charming,"

evaluated the strange woman.

"I know."

"I was attracted to him even before getting on the train, would you mind if we get it on for a bit?"

?

Jiuyue was thoughtful.

The stranger had suddenly added her as a friend at this time to send photos and speak such straightforward words; she must be deliberately trying to make her angry.

Just like in those movies where the person seeing a photo suspects betrayal by a boyfriend yet feels powerless, able only to fume and smash things around the room.

So, should she be angry?

She didn’t seem that angry, not only did Jiuyue trust Mr. Mingyuan’s character, but as a fox demon, she had innate confidence in her own charm; the only bit of annoyance she felt came from an instinctual possessiveness.

Monsters are very possessive and would love to keep their belongings in their mouths forever.

Seeing Jiuyue hadn’t replied for a while, the strange woman sent another message.

"Jealous? You don’t really need to get upset, though. Desire is natural, and few can resist the thrill of pursuit. Most men would be happy to engage in a fleeting romance with a strange, beautiful woman on a train headed to the Imperial Court. But I promise he’ll be back before dawn, and it’s unlikely our lives will cross paths again after that."

"Oh,"

Oh?

The "Empress" in another carriage was unsatisfied with Jiuyue’s reply; she felt it was dismissive.

She had messaged the other party in the middle of the night to plant a seed inside the heart of the fox demon, a seed named doubt and jealousy.

Once that seed took root, her ability would infiltrate the other’s body and brain.

The Empress believed she understood the hearts of beautiful women better than anyone. The more beautiful they were, the stronger their possessiveness over everything, and their innate confidence and pride would never allow their possessions to be taken by someone else.

But, if one were to use internet slang, then the Empress was undoubtedly a seasoned "bullfighter" enthusiast.

What she enjoyed most was the process of plundering.

To win a competition and then seize things that belonged to others, one by one, into her own hands.

There was still plenty of time before the train would reach its destination, and this journey was destined to become a memorable one.

She had never fought over something with a fox demon before; it seemed she would be adding another fine piece to her collection.

The Empress signaled Duan Mingyuan with her eyes to sit across from her, then she lit the prepared candle and opened a bottle of fine wine, and in front of him, she sent another message.

"It seems that you trust your boyfriend very much,"

This time, the Fox Demon didn’t even bother typing out words and flippantly replied with a speechless cartoon fox emoji.

The Empress was neither hurried nor slow, typing out her message.

"But it seems you don’t really know him. I sent him an invitation and he came to meet the appointment."

She skillfully took a photo to accompany the text, "Here we have candlelight and wine, along with plenty of time."

In the past, the Empress had encountered girls who pretended to be strong, but that only made the game more thrilling; when she reaped her trophies, it gave her a greater sense of achievement.

"May I ask how to address you, sir?"

The Empress smiled seductively, curving her red lips, "You can call me the Empress, that’s how those acquainted with me address me."

"Duan Mingyuan."

"Duan Mingyuan, is that your name?"

Her smile grew even more brilliant. The man before her was more innocent than she had imagined, revealing his real name during a fleeting romance.

She never doubted her allure, and she had absolute confidence in her ability to awaken desire.

With just a little bit of affection, she could fan it into a raging flame, and as for young, virile men, they could never resist desire.

The Empress looked at the cellphone on the table; she needed something more tangible than photos to gradually shatter the Fox Demon’s pride.

"This drink is specially prepared for you. Drink it quickly, and then we can do something comfortable here. Don’t worry, the steward won’t come to disturb us."

...

It was a long, dark night. In his career as a one-eyed train conductor, he had never felt any night to be as interminably long as tonight.

He couldn’t stay in the conductor’s office any longer because the steward said that someone had violated the passengers’ code.

Someone had left their cabin amidst suspicions of a Wangxu killer’s presence and had been gone for a lengthy period.

The one-eyed conductor bit his lip.

He led the stewards, rushing through the carriages, and eventually stopped in front of a VIP compartment.

The door was locked, eerily silent inside.

He hesitated, raising his hand but stopped in front of the door.

Maybe when they opened this door, they would see another strange body, missing a head.

The body would be lying on the desk, with a melted brain spilling onto the floor, blending into the crimson carpet.

The one-eyed conductor took a step forward and shouldered the door open.

However, the scene behind the door left him frozen in place for several seconds.

There was no body, no weird or horrifying sight. The scene inside the compartment was even filled with a romantic atmosphere.

The owner of the compartment had deliberately turned off the lights, using just a candle for illumination.

The candlelight illuminated the tall wine glasses, filled with clear, sparkling liquid.

And this was precisely the most terrifying aspect of the room.

There was only one person sitting at the table, yet there were four tall glasses. Upon entering, this familiar man was looking down, fiddling with his cellphone.

"This isn’t your room."

He glared sternly at the uninvited guest who didn’t belong in this carriage and demanded, "Where has the original passenger of this room gone?"

Meanwhile, he did not forget to check the beds on both sides of the room.

The quilt showed signs of being disturbed, indicating that the original occupants of the carriage had been there before nightfall, and the stewards could attest that no one had left the room.

"They left earlier."

The uninvited guest answered.

The one-eyed conductor pressed on, "Left? To where?"

"The second dimension."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read