Chapter 2047: Tattling
The food was soon served. The Painting Woman was very confident in her financial situation, and if Xu Huo hadn't stopped her, she might have ordered every single item on the menu.
However, she hadn't expected the train's prices to be so high. The several stacks of White Notes she had brought were all spent on this one meal, and she was still a few hundred short.
"Is this a black-market shop?" The Painting Woman typed this line on the screen, not using voice to read it out.
"It's because you ordered all the expensive dishes." Xu Huo paid the difference.
The Painting Woman still felt she had been ripped off and swore, "I'm never ordering food again!"
But not long after, when she saw the dessert set being promoted by the train, she was tempted again. She rummaged through her bag, found no White Notes left, so she took out a gem, nodded to herself, and said, "I didn't spend money, so it doesn't count."
Xu Huo put the gem back and ordered all the desserts she wanted.
The Painting Woman beamed with joy. During the meal, she was very attentive, serving him food and soup, which drew sidelong glances from the other passengers in the carriage.
"What are you all looking at me for?" The Painting Woman asked sincerely after noticing.
A female player couldn't help but say, "Don't you have any self-respect?"
Since the Painting Woman could board the train, the others assumed she was a player. Although they couldn't see her Evolution Rate, she was on a B-Class train, so her strength couldn't be weak. Did a B-Class player need to fawn over others like this?
"I don't." The Painting Woman answered very directly. She had attended classes and understood that the word 'self-respect' was unique to humans, so it had nothing to do with her.
The female player was choked up for a moment, then gave a thumbs-up. "You're something else."
The Painting Woman nodded in agreement.
The others in the carriage naturally wouldn't meddle in this matter and minded their own business.
After the meal, Xu Huo browsed the Under Dimension for information related to the destination station of this ticket. Since the destination was a rather chaotic district with many types of instances and Random Instances, there was a lot to look into.
The Painting Woman couldn't sit still after a while and wanted to go play in other carriages.
Xu Huo couldn't follow her around all the time, so he told her to be careful and not to cause trouble.
The Painting Woman promised faithfully. The front carriage doors weren't open, and she saw someone in the back carriage selling props and potions, so she turned and headed towards the back.
Unexpectedly, less than half an hour later, a commotion broke out in the back carriage. It was quite intense, even causing the train to shake. After a moment, the Painting Woman ran back from the rear, looking furious, and tattled to Xu Huo, "Someone stole my stuff!"
She opened her small bag; all the instruments and gems inside were gone, leaving only a pile of cosmetics.
"Do you know who stole them?" Xu Huo closed his Personal Panel.
The Painting Woman nodded and added, "I asked him to give them back, but he wouldn't, and he hit me!"
She couldn't casually reveal her paper body outside; this was a condition Xu Huo had agreed upon with her earlier. This time out, she had been too focused on having fun and hadn't brought any paper with her.
General props and traits targeting humans were ineffective against her, but physical attacks still worked, so after being punched a few times, she ran back to get help.
Xu Huo got up and followed her. Just as they passed through two carriages, the Painting Woman stopped, scanned the carriage, then pointed at a player in the corner. "It's him! He changed his face!"
"Are you sure?" Xu Huo asked again.
"Definitely him." The Painting Woman said firmly.
So Xu Huo walked over to that player's table and said, "My friend says you stole her things. Please return them."
The player looked honest enough, but upon hearing this, his eyes bulged, and he immediately spat back, "She says so, so it must be true? I could say she stole my stuff too! Anyone with eyes can see what you two are up to. You don't think you can use such a lame excuse to pick a fight, do you?"
Xu Huo listened calmly, then repeated his previous words, "My friend says you stole her things. Did you steal them?"
The other player stood up angrily in response, but after meeting Xu Huo's eyes, his expression suddenly froze, and he answered instinctively, "I stole them..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the man snapped back to reality, then looked at Xu Huo with wariness and anger, stepping back while simultaneously pulling out a prop. But as soon as he held it, it slipped from his grasp. Before he could make another move, invisible Space Blades had already pierced into his neck from both sides.
The man dared not move. He could feel several blade-like objects lodged in his neck; the slightest movement would be enough to sever his head clean off.
He couldn't speak, couldn't move, and could only raise his hand to signal Xu Huo not to kill him, then threw out the Painting Woman's belongings.
The Painting Woman's eyes lit up. She immediately picked up the bag, checked that nothing was missing, but still felt unsatisfied. She then yanked two props off the man's body. "Compensation for me!"
With his life in someone else's hands, what could the man do but glare? Besides, he wasn't particularly brave or clever; otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to stealing worthless gems and small instruments on a B-Class train. Stealing props was risky, and he had thought he was being subtle, which was why he dared to pull such a stunt. Unfortunately for him, he had stolen from the Painting Woman. Any other player might have been fooled, and most people wouldn't bother picking a fight with a player over such trivial things.
"Kill him." The Painting Woman examined the props she had grabbed, then leaned close to Xu Huo and said, "I want the other props too."
The player's eyes nearly popped out of his head, but Xu Huo just patted the Painting Woman on the shoulder. "Let's go."
The Painting Woman shot the man one last unhappy look before leaving. Xu Huo also released his Space Power, ignoring the man who was clutching his neck and frantically pouring potions into his mouth, and turned to leave the carriage.
Back in their own carriage, the Painting Woman handed the two props she had snatched to Xu Huo. After sitting for a while, she grew restless again and wanted to go play in the front carriage.
"Today isn't your day for going out. Stay put." Xu Huo bought her a bucket of ice cream.
The Painting Woman still found it boring. Before finishing the ice cream, she went over to a group of people playing cards in the same carriage. After understanding the rules, she proposed to join them, and then proceeded to lose all the gems she had brought.
The Painting Woman wanted to keep playing, but her pockets were empty, so she had to retreat in defeat and stand by watching the others.
Nothing particularly eventful happened after that, except for two players boarding midway. No one entered or left the front or back carriages.
The single rooms in the carriage were quite small. Xu Huo hadn't arrived early, and all the other rooms had been taken by other players, leaving only one.
The Painting Woman didn't care where she slept, but Xu Huo was worried she might get into conflict with others outside, so he simply told her to sleep in the room.
"You're so good to me." The Painting Woman showed a shy expression and even winked at him. "Actually, I can sleep under the bed."
Xu Huo ignored her suggestion. "Don't come out tonight." (Chapter End)