Xie ng ng felt a tightness in her throat, as if sothing unspeakable was lodged there, refusing to budge.
(被梗住: Literally ans “being choked by a stalk”, a slang term for being speechless or unable to respond to a joke or a situation.)
She glared at Yu Xiao for a long mont, before forcing out a sentence from the back of her throat, “You want
to go to the haunted house, just so you can sell
so talismans?”
Yu Xiao flinched, caught off guard by her accusation. But she quickly recovered her composure and resud her sales pitch.
“No, no, I was only answering your question, that’s all.” She ignored Xie ng ng’s incredulous stare and produced a pile of talismans, “They’re a steal, only three points a pop, are you sure you don’t fancy a pair? This is a once-in-a-lifeti chance, don’t let it slip away.”
(机不可失时不再来: A proverb that ans “don’t miss this opportunity, it won’t co again”, often used by salespeople and swindlers to persuade custors to buy their products.)
“…”
Xie ng ng’s eyes bulged as she gazed at the thick pile in Yu Xiao’s hand. It took her a while to digest, and then she realised, this girl must be a master of drawing talismans!
“You…” Xie ng ng was about to say you’re selling them too cheap, but then she thought better of it, since she was a potential custor.
“What kind of talismans do you have?” Xie ng ng murmured.
“【The Thunder Striking Ghost Repelling Talisman 】 and 【Healing Crisis Talisman 】, those are the only ones I have for now.” Yu Xiao’s voice dropped even lower, as if not wanting others to overhear.
“I’ll take two… no, make it ten.” Xie ng ng whipped out her phone, she had to stock up on these cheap and handy talismans, they would serve her well later. And as Yu Xiao had put it, this was an opportunity not to be wasted.
They leaned in close, like spies exchanging secrets. Once the deal was done, Yu Xiao wondered, I didn’t do anything shady, why did I act so furtive?
Holding the talismans, Xie ng ng glanced at the haunted house again, she had splurged on so many talismans, and Yu Xiao had a stash of them, they should be able to breeze through the haunted house. But the snag was, she had barely got hold of the fresh-off-the-press talismans, and she had to part with them already?
Yu Xiao, who had a knack for sensing people’s thoughts, caught her quandary, and asked, “Are you itching to go to the haunted house?”
“Mm.” After the bizarre transaction, Xie ng ng ward up to Yu Xiao, and said, “Even if we waltz out of the haunted house with the talismans, what about the rest of the rides? Lolita said we had to try them all to find the way out.”
Yu Xiao eyed the haunted house ahead, mulled it over, and said, “If you’re up for giving
ten points, I can guide you around.”
She blinked in confusion, “?”
Yu Xiao: “I promise you won’t need to use any talismans, and you’ll get out in one piece.”
Xie ng ng: “!!!”
She gaped at Yu Xiao, bewildered, as Yu Xiao rang Zhao Lan, “Hey, Misty, where are you lot?”
“We were at the carousel, but it turned out to be a bloody ss, so we moved to the pirate ship.” Zhao Lan said, “We’re about to get on, do you want sothing?”
“Nah, you carry on, I’ll catch up with you.” After hanging up, Yu Xiao said to Xie ng ng, “Co on, let’s go find my gals first.”
They backtracked, and soon reached the pirate ship.
The pirate ship had just begun, and everything seed peaceful and normal, but Xie ng ng sensed that a grueso slaughter was imminent.
She narrowed her eyes for a bit, then her face shifted, pointing at the pirate ship, “Are those two up there your friends?”
“Yeah, they are.” Yu Xiao nodded, “I ca here to look for them.”
The pirate ship lood over Xie ng ng like a monstrous beast, ready to devour her. She glanced at Yu Xiao, who seed as serene and unruffled as a lotus flower on a pond. How could she be so calm, when her two friends were on that death trap? Xie ng ng wondered, feeling a surge of panic.
Without warning, the pirate ship lurched and tilted, sending the tourists on it into a frenzy of screams. Sparks flew from the safety devices, and Xie ng ng saw people being flung out of their seats, falling into the abyss below.
She gasped, and her eyes searched for Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen, the two girls who were Yu Xiao’s friends. To her astonishnt, she saw them sitting on the pirate ship, as relaxed and composed as if they were on a park bench. Zhao Lan held the safety bar with one hand, and Zhou Xiao Zhen with the other. Her face was expressionless, and her body exuded a sense of ease and grace. She did not flinch, even as the pirate ship swung wildly, and the tourists around her beca airborne.
The nightmare lasted for a few seconds, and then the pirate ship ca to a halt. There were only two survivors on it.
Zhao Lan gently helped Zhou Xiao Zhen, who looked a bit queasy, to get off the ride. They walked towards Yu Xiao, ignoring the angry glares of the staff.
“Smiley, are you done over there?” Zhao Lan asked.
“Not yet.” Yu Xiao replied. “I want to ask you for a favour.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen perked up, and smiled brightly. “Smiley still needs our help? Great, co on, let’s go!”
Xie ng ng felt numb, as if she had been injected with a paralysing drug. She was dragged along by Yu Xiao, who held her hand firmly. She rembered the key point. “Did you see the route out when you were up there?” she asked.
“We did.” Zhao Lan said. “We saw a number 8 under the seat.”
“Eight?” Xie ng ng repeated. “Didn’t we need a way out? Why is it a number?”
“I don’t know.” Zhao Lan shrugged. “Maybe it’s a kind of clue, where are we going next? Let’s go and see.”
Yu Xiao said: “The haunted house.”
“Wow.” Zhou Xiao Zhen exclaid. “I was just saying with Misty, the haunted house must be the most dangerous ride of all? Of course, I’m not saying that Misty can’t make it, it’s just that it might cost so talismans.”
Yu Xiao gave Xie ng ng a reassuring look. “Don’t fret, I’ve already thought of a way to save the talismans.” She added, with a hint of mischief in her voice, “Ten points, eh, no backing out, eh.”
“…Alright.” Xie ng ng felt a surge of curiosity and apprehension. I want to see what you can do, she thought to herself. She nodded reluctantly. “Ten points it is, I won’t back out.”
Yu Xiao bead joyfully, and she tucked her sunglasses into her pocket. She led the three of them to the car rental place, where she hired a four-seater car for getting around the amusent park. She beckoned everyone to get on, and drove the car with a gentle breeze to the haunted house entrance.
The haunted house was deserted, as if no one dared to enter. The gloomy gate lood over them, with a ghastly ghost head on top. It seed to taunt them, if you’re not afraid of death, co in.
Xie ng ng shivered, and felt a pang of regret. She was about to propose that they check out so other rides instead, when Yu Xiao parked the car, and started to stick a circle of talismans on the car.
So that’s how it is, Xie ng ng realised, so it still depends on the talismans. She counted them silently, and saw that there were at least a dozen of them. Even if they only sold for three points each, it would cost more than thirty points, and she only spent ten points to go through the haunted house. It turned out she made a profit.
Yu Xiao climbed back into the car, after sticking the talismans. She set the car’s route, and drove straight into the haunted house, without any hesitation.
As soon as they entered, the four of them sensed sothing was wrong. It was like winter inside, cold enough to make their skin prickle. Everywhere was dark, and they could only see a few tres around them. Beyond that, it was pitch black, and it seed like there were unspeakably horrible things hiding in those darknesses.
Yu Xiao scanned the surroundings, after she ca in. Xie ng ng whispered nervously, “I feel like there’s sothing getting closer.”
“Really?”
“Really!” Xie ng ng was on the verge of tears. “I used a Spirit Card (灵感卡) once. It boosted my spirituality and made
more attuned to ghosts than normal people.”
Her fear grew as she spoke. “So many… too many. We need to get out of here. These talismans are not enough…”
Just as she was about to jump out of the car and flee, Yu Xiao turned to Zhou Xiao Zhen and said, “Use your mahjong.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen blinked. “The four of us?”
“Yes.”
A look of comprehension crossed Zhou Xiao Zhen’s face, and she opened the mahjong box with a flourish. “Let’s play a round!”
Xie ng ng had always been curious about the box in Zhou Xiao Zhen’s hand. She knew it was a prop, but she didn’t know what kind of prop until the girl opened the box, revealing the tidy rows of mahjong tiles inside.
Mahjong?!
Xie ng ng was flabbergasted. Why would it be mahjong? And even if it was mahjong, why would you bring it out at this ti?
But then she felt a strange compulsion. Without thinking, she reached for the mahjong tiles and began to shuffle them…
From the depths of the darkness, shadows crept out, too nurous and twisted to describe. They slithered towards the car, where Xie ng ng sat, frozen with fear. She shut her eyes, hoping to block out the nightmare.
But once the shadows reached the car, they were powerless. They couldn’t harm the people inside because they were shielded by the mahjong tiles they were playing with. The car couldn’t be stopped either, as it was covered in talismans.
Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded in the gloomy and terrifying haunted house. The indescribable ghostly figures encircled and trailed behind the car. It moved smoothly, accompanied by odd sounds.
“Four biscuits!”
(四饼: a type of mahjong tile with four circles on it.)
“Get rich!”
(发财: a type of mahjong tile with a green Chinese character on it. It is also called the green dragon or the fortune tile.)
“I gang!” (我杠: a term used in mahjong to indicate that the player has four identical tiles, which can be either concealed or exposed.)
“…”
They drew closer and closer to the exit, until they caught a glimpse of the light streaming in from outside. The mont Xie ng ng saw the sunlight shining through the gate, tears spilled from her eyes.
Her spirituality was stronger than that of normal people, allowing her to sense the horror of the haunted house more keenly. The oppressive feeling that surrounded her made it difficult to breathe. She could sense the presence of terrible ghosts lurking inside. Helpless, she even had to play mahjong while shivering.
Finally, the car erged from the haunted house and reached the sunny outside.
The mahjong ga was coming to an end, and Yu Xiao glanced at the mahjong tile in her hand, asking, “Who should we choose for the punishnt?”
Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen exchanged silent glances, focusing on Xie ng ng, who was crying her eyes out. A sudden shiver ran down her spine as she noticed everyone staring at her.
“Why are you all gazing at ?” Xie ng ng rasped, sensing their hostile intentions.
After all, she had paid points for them, and Yu Xiao felt guilty about targeting Xie ng ng with lightning. She suggested, “Or you can just zap
instead.”
“Alternatively, we could postpone it,” Zhou Xiao Zhen proposed. “Since my mahjong tiles have levelled up, we can delay the penalty as long as we choose the target within twenty-four hours.”
“Let’s postpone it then,” Zhao Lan agreed. “You can zap
later if you want.”
“In that case, I can win now,” Zhou Xiao Zhen declared. “I just drew a tile that allows
to win.”
Yu Xiao responded, “Go ahead, go ahead.”
“I win with a pure suit!” Zhou Xiao Zhen laid out her tiles, “Heh heh, I’ve won.”
Xie ng ng had been clueless about their words the whole ti, and then she realised she could move her limbs. She hopped off the car and stood in the sunlight, glancing back at the haunted house. Through the exit, she glimpsed the darkness within the ghost-ridden place. She still couldn’t wrap her head around it, she had escaped like this? Just by playing a round of mahjong?
She lowered her head, and saw the three weird girls squatting on the ground, peeling off the talismans on the car.
The girl who carried mahjong with her said, “Let’s hit the roller coaster, I’ve been dying to go on one for ages, I want to have so fun…”
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