Card Room

Chapter 361 - The Purpose of the Sofa

Hearing Yu Hanjiang’s words, the team members immediately went to pack their things. They brought only one change of clothes, their mobile phones and their identity cards. Each of them soon assembled downstairs with a backpack.

The car couldn’t hold eight people so Old Mo simply drove the tour bus they had bought previously. His team members got on the bus one by one and sat down. Old Mo started the vehicle and drove all the way to the train station of the City of the Moon.

On the road, Shao Qingge looked at Yu Hanjiang’s serious face and asked suspiciously, “What is so urgent that you want to rush to the City of the Sun overnight?”

“I don’t know the specific situation either.” Yu Hanjiang explained, “Mr Tang from the Intelligence Bureau gave the news that the hunters will make a big move in the City of the Sun in the next few days. He asked us to go and meet him.”

“Intelligence Bureau?” Liu Qiao heard this and couldn’t help clenching her fists tightly. At the beginning, when she first arrived at the City of the Moon, she asked the Intelligence Bureau to help find out her sister’s whereabouts but the other party said, ‘No such person was found’. Her sister had never been to the main city and had likely been eliminated in the first four levels. Liu Qiao always had a glimmer of hope remaining in her heart. She wanted the Intelligence Bureau to reconfirm the accuracy of the information. Perhaps they just missed her?

“Xiao Liu, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, Mr Tang is a teammate of Brother Jiu. We are joining him in the City of the Sun this time.” Xiao Lou saw through Liu Qiao’s thoughts instantly and glanced at her. “Regarding your sister, you can ask Mr Tang in person. Even if there is no news, don’t be discouraged. As long as we can go back, your sister can be saved.”

“Yes, I know.” Liu Qiao nodded and loosened her hands. Her expression became a lot more relaxed.

“By the way, how long will it take us to go to the City of the Sun by train?” Ye Qi asked suddenly.

“72 hours.” Shao Qingge happened to be checking the tickets on the phone just now and knew the time of the train’s arrival. He heard Ye Qi’s question and looked at Yu Hanjiang. “It will take three days. Is this too late? Should we change to a plane?”

“When is the nearest flight?” Yu Hanjiang asked.

“Let me take a look.” Shao Qingge turned on his laptop, connected to his phone’s hotspot and searched for flights from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun. The surprising thing was that the earliest available flight was at noon two days later and the time it would take this flight to reach the City of the Sun was almost the same as the train they were taking now. For today and tomorrow’s flights, the tickets showed ‘Sold out’ and there was a small note for all tickets: universal tickets aren’t available.

“It’s sold out. This means all the seats are sold. They can’t sell standing tickets and let us stand in the cabin.” Shao Qingge pinched his throbbing head. “For the train, we used the universal ticket to jump the queue but I guess there won’t be any free seats after getting on the train. The eight tickets are all standing tickets. Do we have to stand for 72 hours?”

“There is no need to worry about the seat problem. I remember that there are a few stops on the way. A group of people will go down. We can have a rest at that time,” Xiao Lou told him.

“Then take the train.” Shao Qingge shrugged helplessly and turned off the computer. “At present, this is the only type of transportation we can take to the City of the Sun.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded decisively. “Okay, go to the train station. Take the 1:30 a.m. train.”

Every seat on the plane corresponded to a ticket. The tickets had been sold out and they couldn’t get on with a universal ticket. For the train, they could stand in the aisle or junction of the carriage. It would be a hard night but once someone got off the train tomorrow, they could make up the ticket.

Liu Qiao and Ye Qi had no objections about taking the train. They were students and had bought standing tickets when they couldn’t buy tickets to go home during the holidays. They just needed to endure until reaching their destination. However, Shao Qingge was a big boss and had never suffered such a thing.

Ye Qi happened to be sitting with Shao Qingge. He leaned toward Shao Qingge’s ear and whispered, “If you can’t stand it, borrow Old Mo’s Lazy Sofa card to sleep on. I remember that this card has no restrictions on the secret rooms it can be used in and it should be usable in the main city as well.”

Shao Qingge didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “Old Mo’s card is quite timely. It can be used as soon as it is drawn. It seems that everyone can only take turns to rest on the lazy sofa tonight.”

They had just returned from the 10th level and were exhausted. In particular, they experienced a collective escape from the basement at the end. As a result, they didn’t have time to rest after returning to the main city and had to set off to take the train with standing tickets&#k2026;

They definitely wouldn’t be able to endure standing in the aisle all night. Old Mo’s Lazy Sofa was indeed very useful now.

***

Old Mo drove the bus to the airport expressway and arrived at the train station within half an hour. He parked the car in the underground parking lot and paid a week’s parking fee in advance. Then the eight people quickly took their luggage and headed to the security checkpoint.

Yu Hanjiang took the lead and took out the Universal Ticket card. As they passed through the security check, this card automatically became a ticket for the KP-0714 high speed train departing from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun at 1:30 a.m. today.

The eight people passed through the security check in turn and entered the waiting lobby.

The moment they walked into the lobby, they heard the soft voice of the female announcer. “Dear travelers, the ticket check for the KP-0714 train from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun is now starting. Please bring your belongings and check in from the ticket gates A10 and B10.

The entrance of the waiting lobby was the A1 ticket gate. It was a long distance to A10. Yu Hanjiang glanced at his watch and strode forward, his teammates quickly followed him. By the time they reached the A10 ticket gate, there was already a long queue.

Shao Qingge wondered, “There are so many people on the early morning train. Is there such a large passenger flow between the two main cities?”

Ye Qi scratched his head. “I don’t know. We haven’t been to the City of the Sun yet. Does Uncle Mo know?”

Everyone turned their attention to Old Mo who had a better understanding of the main city. The latter explained, “These two cities are the central cities of the Card World. They can be understood as Beijing and Shanghai in reality. The trains between these cities are basically always full. There are many people doing business and traveling as well as locals and foreigners coming and going every day.”

Xiao Lou looked around and found that everyone was busy lining up and paying no attention to them. He asked softly, “Why are the challengers going back and forth between the two main cities?” Their team had been busy challenging the secret rooms since coming to the City of the Moon and didn’t even think of traveling to the other main city. Were the other challengers so idle?

Old Mo smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Not all challengers insist on going back like us.” He lowered his voice and asked his teammates to come closer. “Remember? I told you about how some challengers have decided to live in the Card World. As long as they have strong cards, they aren’t afraid of the World Weekly secret rooms and can live in this world very well. The City of the Moon and the Sun are rich in resources. When traveling back and forth between cities, they can do the business of buying and selling. For example, they can transport the seafood of the City of the Sun here to sell and bring the mountain treasures from here to the City of the Sun to sell.”

Everyone heard this and looked at each other. Those challengers who didn’t want to go back to the real world were seriously doing business in the Card World?

The City of the Sun was a seaside city and seafood like fish, shrimp and crabs were naturally cheap. The City of the Moon was located between the mountains and forests. There was an abundance of exotic flowers and herbs and delicious beef and lamb meat. Buying and reselling to earn a profit from the difference was indeed a good way to make money.

Some challengers had no relatives worth worrying about in reality and their lives were unhappy. It was their personal choice to stay here. Yu Hanjiang didn’t comment on these people’s choices. He only knew that he and his teammates would go back at all costs.

Yu Hanjiang saw that it was their team’s turn and gave his teammates a look. They stopped their discussion and queued up to check in. Their ticket showed carriage 3.

After entering the station, they walked to the third carriage and got on. They found that the carriage was already full of people. The eight of them had used the universal ticket to get on the train when the tickets were sold out but it could only be converted to standing tickets. They had to stand pitifully in the gangway.

Yu Hanjiang glanced across the carriage. Perhaps it was because it was 1:30 a.m. but the passengers looked very tired. After putting away their luggage, the carriage soon quieted down. Most of the passengers fell asleep in their seats.

Yu Hanjiang took everyone to the connection of carriages three and four. The area here was relatively spacious. Everyone put their backpacks on the ground. Yu Hanjiang saw the fatigue on his teammates’ faces and felt uneasy. If he wasn’t so eager to find Brother Jiu then he wouldn’t have rushed to another city all night the moment they got out of the 10th level.

He looked at Old Mo and asked in a low voice, “Can the lazy sofa be taken out?”

Old Mo nodded and activated the S-grade card he just drew. Everyone saw a dark brown sofa suddenly appear in the open space at the junction between carriages. The material looked very soft and comfortable.

Old Mo said, “The sofa lasts for three hours. Lying on it can relieve fatigue and restore physical fitness. Which one of you will come first?”

Yu Hanjiang looked at Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue. “Ladies first. The two of you try it first.”

Liu Qiao had dragged a body with a serious blood disease through the 10th level and rushed to find a safe area to teleport them in the rainy night. She never said she was tired but Yu Hanjiang could see the obvious dark circles under her eyes. Meanwhile, Teacher Qu was pregnant while running around with everyone so she also didn’t have a good rest for two days.

The two girls looked at each other and Qu Wanyue smiled. “Xiao Qiao, come first.”

Liu Qiao didn’t refuse. She turned around and simply sat on it.

The moment she sat down, her body seemed to be wrapped in a layer of soft feathers. The warm and comfortable feeling was countless times better than the bed at home. She only sat on it for a few seconds and she already felt energetic all over. She was refreshed like she had just woken up from a peaceful sleep. Liu Qiao looked at Old Mo with surprise. “Uncle Mo, this sofa is really easy to use!”

Mo Xuemin cheerfully asked, “Does it really clear fatigue?”

Liu Qiao nodded vigorously. “I am so energetic now. It’s a feeling like I can get off the train and run 10,000 meters with no problem.” She stood up and pulled Qu Wanyue. “Sister Yue, sit and see.”

Qu Wanyue sat down and also sighed. “It is really amazing. If there was such a lazy sofa in reality then I would want to buy it no matter how expensive… it is a hundred times more comfortable than a massage chair.”

Ye Qi heard this and couldn’t help saying, “It clears fatigue? I remember that my suona can also clear negative states. It should be able to temporarily clear your fatigue.”

Xiao Lou looked at him. “Are you sure you want to blow the suona on the quiet train in the middle of the night?”

Everyone, “……”

If Ye Qi really blew the suona, it was estimated that all the passengers in the carriage would rush over and beat him up together.

Ye Qi smiled and scratched his head. “I’m just talking casually. Cough cough, it is enough for everyone to sit on the sofa. Come on, take turns.”

They all took turns to sit on the lazy sofa and their physical exhaustion disappeared. It was just that the sofa only lasted three hours. They were full of energy but this could only last for three hours. Still, it was better than being exhausted all night.

Old Mo put the card away. “This card seems to be quite useful? If we encounter the situation of being chased and become exhausted, we can sit down and rest for a moment before continuing on the way.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “It is worthy of an S-grade card. Is there a limit on the number of times it can be used?”

Old Mo said, “The state of fullness after using the sofa will last for 3 hours and it can only be used once a day. So after three hours, you might feel tired again.”

Ye Qi asked, “What about Lu Yu drawn by Professor Xiao? Can you summon him so we can drink tea?”

Xiao Lou felt helpless. “Lu Yu is an ancient figure. He can’t be summoned in the environment of the main city.”

Ye Qi, “……”

It was 1:30 a.m and everyone could be full of energy until 4:30 a.m. He couldn’t blow the suona at such an early time in the morning right? Fortunately, once it was 4:30 a.m, they just needed to endure a few more hours and it would be dawn.

Yu Hanjiang told them, “Let’s rest.”

Xiao Lou looked at the carriage with the lights off. This familiar scene made a memory appear in his mind. In the 4 of Hearts secret room “Extremely Quick Train”, he and Yu Hanjiang were on a train as train attendants. They met a tourist group, two pairs of couples and a group of close female friends.

They woke up in the morning and found that an old man called Li Zhemin in the sleeper compartment had died peacefully in his sleep. The next morning, another young man called Zhao Quan died in the bathroom in a terrible state. A certain part belonging to a man was cut off.

Xiao Lou took a deep breath, glanced at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, “Do you remember the Extremely Quick Train?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, there were two murderers. On the phone of one of the deceased was a picture calling it the train to hell.”

Xiao Lou looked at the window. “The train we got on was KP-7311 and it was from the City of the Sun to the City of the Moon. Today’s train is KP-0714 and it is from the City of the Moon to the City of the Sun. It is a reverse train… I have a bad feeling.”

Yu Hanjiang walked up beside him and looked up the window side by side.

Outside was dark and their images were clearly reflected on the window. Xiao Lou’s head just reached the tip of Yu Hanjiang’s nose and the height difference was perfect. Xiao Lou’s heart jumped slightly and he quickly changed the subject. “Will there be another train murder case?”

Yu Hanjiang gently touched his shoulder and there was a hint of gentleness in his low voice. “Don’t think too much. This isn’t a secret room and we abruptly decided to take this train to the City of the Sun. There should be no murder.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Yes, I hope we can reach the end smoothly this time and meet with Mr Tang.”

TL: Please note that since this is a really long novel, the author sometimes forgets some things she wrote earlier in the novel or there are some bugs. E.g. here she says that ancient characters can’t be used in the main city while later, they are used. Haha, so try not to get too caught up in these small things.

Also, for the next small mini-arc before the next secret room, I’ll probably go back to chapters every second day for a small break. Once the secret room starts, I’ll go back to daily releases

Proofreader: Fictional Reality & Paranoid Kitten