Chapter 14: The Curious Little Black Arrows
Hearing System’s cheerful reminder to “sign in,” Ning Xiyue was instantly delighted. She shoved the orange wedge in her hand into her mouth and stopped thinking about anything else, focusing entirely on that one sentence.
A hidden sign-in location — just the name alone sounded high-level. Whatever was inside must be extraordinary, surely something worth getting excited about.
Just like in games, hidden bosses or hidden NPCs usually meant rare or even exclusive loot.
Ning Xiyue wasn’t expecting some god-tier treasure. She just hoped the item would be valuable — or better yet, cold hard cash. She loved those “vulgar” things.
“Where is it, System? Are you slacking off today? You’re not even telling me the name of the location. How am I supposed to sign in successfully?”
Usually, the sign-in notification would specify the location clearly. But this time, she had no idea where it was.
“There’s an indicator. Please observe carefully. Warm reminder: trigger — two words.”
The mental dialogue ended. Ning Xiyue knew System would never bend the rules when it came to sign-ins — she’d have to figure this one out herself.
Sitting in her seat, she recalled how the location had been triggered earlier. She hadn’t done anything special — just speculated about Chen Yechu’s behavior and her suspected hidden identity.
Oh, right — hidden identity. Both phrases included the word hidden. Ning Xiyue felt like she’d found a clue. She discreetly looked around near Chen Yechu, searching for any indicator symbols.
She didn’t see anything nearby, but then she noticed something — a tiny black arrow, just a few millimeters wide, on Chen Yechu’s shoulder. It was pointing directly at her.
What amused Ning Xiyue even more was that both Yu Zhiyu (sitting opposite her) and Liu Yao (opposite Chen Yechu) also had the same small black arrow on their shoulders.
What about that pair — the man and woman who had made Chen Yechu so nervous?
Ning Xiyue stood up, immediately drawing the attention of all three of them. They all looked at her, and she smiled, stretching her shoulders and legs. “I’ve been sitting too long — my legs are numb. I’m going to stretch and use the restroom. Anyone want to come?”
“You go ahead. We’ll watch your seat and luggage,” Liu Yao said, shaking her head.
Chen Yechu also shook her head and added softly, “Be careful and come back soon.”
“Got it, thanks!”
As Ning Xiyue turned around, she glanced at the two people in the row ahead. Sure enough, the man and woman both had the same black arrows on their shoulders.
Now that was interesting.
Ning Xiyue became even more curious about what she might get from this sign-in. With such a unique location, the reward had better be dazzling — otherwise, she was going to have a serious talk with System.
Leaving the carriage, she turned back to look inside. The carriage was full of young educated youth headed to the countryside to support rural development. Most of them had been assigned to the same general region. She wondered if anyone else had those arrows.
To make sure she could complete the sign-in, she activated the system’s photo-capture feature and had it take a high-resolution picture of the carriage.
As she walked toward the restroom, she opened the system panel in her mind, zooming in on the photo to carefully check every person’s shoulder for arrows.
After a thorough inspection, she confirmed that only those five people had them. No one else bore the sign — which meant those five were the sign-in location.
Ning Xiyue sighed in relief. Good — no more than that. Otherwise, it would’ve been a real headache.
But then she realized something else: the system had only reminded her of one sign-in location. That meant the location was where those five people were together.
To sign in successfully, she’d need all five of them to be in the same place — and she’d need to position herself properly so that the system’s captured photo included her and all five of them.
In other words, she needed a clear group photo with all five people.
Tsk tsk… a moving, living sign-in location. That’s a first. And five people at once — who all have to be together? What a hassle.
The restroom was located between two carriages. Unfortunately, when she arrived, the door was closed. Ning Xiyue gently knocked. “Excuse me, is anyone in there?”
“Yes, wait a second. I’ll be done soon.” A muffled female voice came from inside.
Ning Xiyue really did need to use the bathroom, and since she’d gotten a reply, she decided to wait. After all, traveling alone wasn’t easy, and she didn’t want to keep bothering others to watch her seat and luggage.
Bored as she waited, she heard the announcement that they were nearing the next station. The train seemed to be moving quickly — they were already almost there.
She wondered how many days it would take to reach their final destination. Sitting in a hard seat for several days was truly miserable. If she could pay extra to upgrade to a sleeper, she’d do it in a heartbeat.
Suddenly, there was commotion in the next carriage. Everyone stood up, accompanied by screams and shouts. Some passengers were backing away in panic, trying to get out of the way. It looked like something serious had happened up ahead.
It looked like a fight — but not quite.
Ning Xiyue slipped her hand into the small cloth bag slung across her chest — in reality, she was opening her system inventory and holding a brick in her hand, just in case. Standing on tiptoe, she tried to see what was happening.
In less than a minute, the situation changed. The carriage grew quieter, and the crowd blocking the aisle dispersed, revealing a clear path.
Only then did Ning Xiyue see what was really going on — it wasn’t an ordinary fight. It was a police operation.
Two men in patched clothes but with stern, righteous expressions were escorting two middle-aged men with ordinary-looking faces and scratches across them. They were heading in her direction — or rather, toward the train door near where she was standing. Four train police officers followed closely behind, providing backup.
Judging from the murmurs in the crowd, it seemed the two men were pickpockets caught stealing. Someone had reported them, and the train police had apprehended them.
Ning Xiyue glanced at the restroom door — still closed.
Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt eyes on her. The two middle-aged men being escorted seemed to glance in her direction several times, intentionally or not. Ning Xiyue was sensitive to people’s gazes — and there was something off about the undercurrent in the air.
She shivered, tightened her grip on the brick, and took several steps back.
Just then, the restroom door opened, and the escorting group happened to pass by. The tension in the air grew thicker.
The woman who stepped out of the restroom seemed to notice something too. Someone exchanged a meaningful glance with her — and she locked eyes with the two men.
In a split second, everything changed. Someone moved. The woman lunged — but not at the police. She was coming straight at Ning Xiyue, her face twisted with rage, a flash of cold steel glinting in her hand.
“Get out of the way!” someone shouted loudly.
