Chapter 149: Targeted Response

“I remember when we were tidying up the carriage earlier, I found a newspaper,” Lucy suddenly spoke up amid the tense atmosphere.

“A newspaper? What newspaper?” Upon hearing Lucy, before anyone else could react, Yuman immediately asked, sounding somewhat urgent.

This urgency went unnoticed by everyone except Jian Qi. All eyes were drawn to the newspaper Lucy mentioned.

“What newspaper?” Rot sensed the faint yet piercing gaze from the stoic, emotionless man nearby, and a bad feeling suddenly crept over him.

That premonition quickly proved true.

Following Lucy’s glance, Jian Qi reluctantly took out the newspaper he had tucked inside his coat.

Before he could utter a word, Yuman snatched the paper from his hand. Upon reading its contents, his expression changed drastically.

“What’s wrong?” Irene noticed his sudden change and felt an inexplicable chill.

“See for yourself,” Yuman said, handing the newspaper to Irene.

When Irene saw the images and text, she could no longer maintain her usual calm demeanor. Almost immediately, she moved away from Rot.

Witnessing this, Rot’s face darkened completely.

“What does the paper say?” he asked quietly, looking around at the others.

He couldn’t understand what content could have provoked such hostility toward him.

“See for yourself,” Lucy replied calmly.

She took the newspaper from Irene’s hand and threw it to Rot.

Only then did Rot see the contents.

The moment he read it, he thought it was absurd.

“Do you actually believe what’s written here? You really believe I’m dead? Are there really ghosts in this world?” Rot looked at Lucy and the others.

“No matter if the newspaper’s content is true or not, for now, you are our prime suspect,” Lucy said.

“Damn it, why waste words with him? Let’s just tie him up together,” Yuman exclaimed.

“I used to trust you so much, but it turns out you staged all this yourself. Disgusting!” Yuman spat thick phlegm at Rot.

Though rude, no one objected at that moment.

“Can’t you see this is the other side trying to sow discord?” Rot tried to salvage the situation.

“Sowing discord?” Yuman sneered at Rot’s attempt to argue. “This newspaper could be fake, but tell me how you’d fake it on a moving train?”

“Also, you just said the killer is among us.”

“The analysis makes sense, but why are you the only one who figured it out, and not us?”

“You’re obviously crying ‘thief’ to cover your own tracks.”

“Trying to remove yourself from suspicion, but you’re not fooling anyone.”

“Rot, you’ve been exposed! Surrender now or we’ll make you.”

Yuman’s anger grew, his body trembling as if ready to attack Rot on the spot.

Yet he only spoke; he didn’t move a muscle.

In the growing chaos, Jian Qi caught a glimpse of the emotionless man beside him slipping his hand into his coat.

Seeing this, Jian Qi seemed to realize something. He wasn’t going to just watch the drama unfold and stepped forward.

“Everyone, calm down,” he said.

The moment Jian Qi intervened, the emotionless man paused, then withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened.

“Are you defending this murderer? Are you his accomplice?” Yuman turned his ire toward Jian Qi, who had just challenged him earlier. He clearly had no liking for Jian Qi.

Jian Qi, finding the noisy man tiresome, paid him no mind.

“Did you find something?” asked the emotionless man, sharing the same goal as Jian Qi but confused by his actions.

He glanced at Jian Qi, then fixed his gaze on Rot, clearly marking him as his target.

Hearing the question, Jian Qi explained to the group, “Let’s not focus on whether the newspaper is real.”

“Even if Mr. Rot is truly dead—”

“I’m not dead!” Rot interrupted indignantly.

Jian Qi shot him a glare but continued: “Let’s assume Rot has died, becoming the ghost we now see.”

“Then where’s the proof that he’s the killer? That he murdered anyone?”

“Ghosts don’t need reasons to kill! You’re just making excuses!” Yuman retorted.

Jian Qi ignored him, shrugging.

“No evidence, right?”

“So, I think our priority is to find the person on this train first.”

“I agree, but to be safe, we should restrict his movements,” Lucy finally said.

No one opposed her suggestion.

Rot was displeased but understood this was the best outcome for now.

Being tied up was better than being thrown off the train.

After settling Rot’s situation, the atmosphere grew heavy.

Three people had died at once.

No one knew if they might be next.

Because of this ordeal, though it was still dark, no one was in the mood to sleep.

At dawn, after some discussion, they gave up on the passenger carriage and moved to the private compartment.

After all, the three gruesome corpses left behind were unsettling.

“Use the bedsheets to tie Rot up,” Lucy instructed upon entering.

There were no suitable restraints in the passenger carriage, so Rot’s movements had been unrestricted until now.

“Wait a moment,” Rot suddenly called out.

But the burly man known as Ironclad paid no mind and quickly bound Rot tightly, leaving only his head free.

After finishing, the man looked down at Rot with a simple, honest smile.

“What do you want to say?”

Rot twitched his mouth, then stretched his neck.

“Look at the paintings on the wall—they’re different from yesterday.”

Neither Jian Qi nor Lucy had seen the previous paintings.

The emotionless man and Ironclad arrived at night and hadn’t noticed either.

Irene and Yuman, who had talked about it, were now asleep in separate rooms due to lack of rest.

Only after Rot’s reminder did everyone notice the paintings on the wall.

The first was a desert scene with many poisonous insects hidden in the sand—matching the view outside the train window.

The second was an unchanged starry sky.

But the third was a chilling depiction of the deaths of Lina and her companions.

Jian Qi raised an eyebrow. “These paintings change according to the situation inside the train?”

“Or perhaps they’re prophetic,” Rot, tied up like a bundle, offered another possibility.