Hell's Handbook

Chapter 178: Checking the Tickets

“Mr. Tai, please think about this carefully. This is a Level A Challenge and the supernatural beings on the train are probably real. If you’re targeted by any of them, then you’d be in great danger,” Liu Bowen tried to persuade Tai Shan.

But Tai Shan seemed to have made a decision and said, “Like I said, my team is able to protect ourselves. Besides, we’re all in the same carriage, so there’s no need to join hands or anything like that right? Or… perhaps I should say that some other people have different plans for this Challenge.”

Tai Shan’s words stunned Su Jin for a moment. He was displeased by these words, but he didn’t defend himself. Tai Shan was even more certain that his hypothesis was right when he saw Su Jin’s reaction and scoffed.

“Hoho, Mr. Su doesn’t seem willing to explain himself. So, I was right after all?”

“I don’t care if you’re willing to work as one team or not. If you’re not willing to, I will not force you. As for those ‘different plans’ you mentioned, I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” snapped Su Jin in a displeased voice with an annoyed look on his face.

“Mr. Tai, we’re all owners here. Even if you’re not willing to work together with another group, you don’t have to drive a wedge between all of us, right?” said Liu Bowen.

But Tai Shan merely scoffed and said, “You don’t understand what I’m talking about? Let me spell it out for you then. The only team with any experience in going through a Level A Challenge is your team. So, none of us have any idea if there is anything in a Level A Challenge that might trip us up that you didn’t tell us about.

“Moreover, like you said, the last time you went through a Level A Challenge, it was made up of three teams and 14 owners in total, but only three survived. And these three… are all from YOUR team. Mr. Su, can you explain the reason for that?”

Liu Bowen’s expression shifted when he heard what Tai Shan said. Su Jin sighed. This was just like that old saying about bad teammates being more of a problem than a powerful opponent. What Tai Shan just said made it impossible for the three teams to join hands and worse still, they would be wary of each other now.

He sighed and said, “Forget it then. Since both of you feel that this is an unsafe option, then we can move on our own. I hope that everyone’s still alive at the end of the Challenge.” He then walked back to where the rest of his teammates were.

Kano Mai noticed his expression and said, “What’s happened? Things didn’t go well?”

“Yeah. One of them is afraid that someone among us might be on a mission to kill fellow owners and they find the fact that all the survivors of our last Level A Challenge were from our team is suspicious in and of itself, so…”

Su Jin shrugged. Team Boning Knife had four veterans, so even if they had to work by themselves, they were pretty safe.

While they were speaking, the doors of the carriage suddenly opened. A man with a goat’s head and dressed in a suit walked in. All the owners instantly tensed up. Was the Challenge going to slaughter them all right from the start?

“Ladies and gentlemen, please show me your tickets. If you are on board without a ticket, you’ll need to pay for them, and they will cost more since you’ve paid for them here,” said the goat-headed man in an unfeeling voice as he looked at them expressionlessly.

Everyone was stunned. Tickets? They clearly didn’t have tickets for this train. But they knew that if they couldn’t produce one, they’d end in tragedy.

The goat-headed man saw that nobody was budging, so two streams of black smoke came out from his nostrils and his eyes became bloodshot as he scanned the group.

“Don’t want to be cooperative?” He scoffed and pointed at one of the members of Red Dragon. “I’m going to check your ticket now!”

The member who had been chosen was a beautiful woman who looked fairly unapproachable. But after the goat-headed man chose her, her expression turned to one of horror. Nobody dared to stop the goat-headed man as he walked toward her.

He used his fingers to gently lift her chin and stared at her with his bloodshot eyes. “Hello, gorgeous. Where’s your ticket?”

“Let me… let me try to find it!” said the woman in a trembling voice. She searched herself but couldn’t find a ticket on her person at all.

“Heh heh! If you don’t have a ticket, then you’ll have to pay for it! Twice the price!” The goat-headed man cackled as he suddenly used a sharp nail to cut her chin. In that instant, she began to age before their very eyes.

There was an old saying about how aging was the most obvious on pretty women, but nobody had ever seen anybody age this rapidly before. Her previously smooth and supple skin had become dry and wrinkly. Her watery eyes had also grown dim and cloudy.

She panted heavily in pain during this process, and by the time he moved his finger away from her chin, she had become an old lady in her 70s or 80s.

“All done. You can move to one side.” The goat-headed man gave a pleased nod.

The other members of Red Dragon helped her to one side with a look of horror in their eyes. The payment for not having a ticket while onboard the train had turned out to be years of one’s life. The rate at which the goat-headed man literally sucked her life away was equally horrifying.

“You’re next! Show me your ticket!” The goat-headed man turned to point his finger at a man from High Mountains.

The man panicked and the goat-headed man appeared in front of him in a second. He grabbed the owner’s throat but did not tighten his grip.

“Show me your ticket!” repeated the goat-headed man.

The man patted himself down, but he didn’t find anything that resembled a ticket either. When he saw a twinkle in the goat-headed man’s eyes, he decided to try his luck and kicked the goat-headed man’s waist.

Everyone gasped, not because the man had suddenly tried to kick the goat-headed man, but because the man’s legs went right through the goat-headed man’s waist without facing any resistance. It turned out that this goat-headed man didn’t have a real body, or at least he could switch between the two states.

“How disobedient! Pay for your ticket then!” The goat-headed man laughed as he suddenly gripped the man’s throat tightly. The man’s face turned red, but he could not fight back at all.

Just like the woman before him, the man started to age rapidly. But there was a difference. In no time, this man’s skin and bones began to rot.

The goat-headed man flung the dead owner onto the floor and licked his hand as though he was eating something tasty. He had a look of disappointment as he shook his head and said, “He’s not left with too many years to live, so he can’t even afford to pay for his ticket. Next person… you!” His finger was now pointed at Su Jin.

Everyone instantly turned to look at Su Jin. Su Jin was also feeling a little anxious. It was obvious that the only way to pay for the ticket was by sacrificing your lifespan, and if you didn’t have enough remaining years to spare, you would die on the spot. Everyone had tried searching themselves but none of them had found anything that resembled a ticket. So, they were either really supposed to have a ticket, or this goat-headed man was just using that as an excuse to rob them of their lifespan.

The goat-headed man suddenly appeared in front of Su Jin and gave the young man a fake smile as he slowly said, “I’m not a robber. I work for the Train of the Supernatural, so everything I’m doing is legal.”

“He can read minds?” Su Jin frowned. Only a short time had passed, but this goat-headed man had already displayed three of his abilities. He could deduct from one’s lifespan, he could switch between a real body and an illusionary one, and he could read minds as well.

Before Su Jin could sort his thoughts out, the goat-headed man grabbed hold of Su Jin’s neck and his voice suddenly became very sinister sounding, “I’m here to check your ticket! Show me your ticket now!”

Su Jin narrowed his eyes and his expression didn’t flinch, but the rest of his team members were so anxious, they nearly collapsed. Suddenly, Su Jin took his Handbook out and passed it to the goat-headed man.

The goat-headed man was stunned for a moment, and so were the rest. The entire carriage fell silent for a few seconds, then the goat touched the cover of Su Jin’s Handbook. A string of red numbers appeared on the cover.

“Very good. This is your carriage and seat number, go there yourself.” He handed the Handbook back to Su Jin.

Everyone was relieved when they saw that the ticket was actually the Handbook. Then again, that only made sense. As owners, the one thing all of them had regardless of where they came from was a copy of the Handbook. But nobody else thought of this, because the Handbook looked nothing like a train ticket.

“These are my friends. Can we sit together?” asked Su Jin calmly.

The goat-headed man looked at Su Jin, then nodded. “Yes, you can. But I need to check their tickets first.”

There was a look of displeasure on the goat-headed man’s face, as if he was unhappy that Su Jin had shown everyone what the ticket really was. The other four members of Su Jin’s team gave their Handbooks to the goat-headed man and he marked the covers with their seat numbers.

The rest breathed a sigh of relief as well. They had safely passed through the first stage. But losing someone at the first stage was something that the other two team leaders had not expected.

After the goat-headed man had checked everyone’s tickets, he left. All of them compared the numbers on their Handbooks to find that each team had been assigned to a different carriage. At least now, the other two teams didn’t have to worry that Su Jin’s team might be plotting against them.

But Su Jin started frowning again. Kano Mai noticed his expression and asked, “Jin, is there something amiss here?”

Su Jin nodded. “There is. The reason why so many owners are assigned to a Level A Challenge at one time is likely because the owners need to work together to get through it. But now, the Challenge has purposely separated the owners. I think… the rest of the Challenge might not occur entirely in the carriage we’re assigned to.”

This Challenge had only one mission, and that was to stay alive until the train reached its last stop. But nobody said anything about what dangers they would face before arriving at the last stop.

Meanwhile, the goat-headed man was now in the carriage at the very front of the train. He walked toward a pair of young men and smiled. “Just like what you said, that boy is very interesting indeed, Mr. Mad Hatter!”