After a whirlwind of confusion, Yu Xiao felt herself snap back to her body and opened her eyes. And what did she see?
A bloomin’ arse?!
In front of her was a huge, long-tailed, colourful arse!
That wasn’t all. The arse was bouncing up and down, wiggling in front of Yu Xiao while maintaining a steady distance.
Dumbfounded for a mont, Yu Xiao then heard familiar voices – the screams of Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen. She tried to turn her head, but her body wouldn’t move. Fortunately, her eyeballs still seed to be under her command.
In front and to the right, Yu Xiao saw Zhao Lan and the others clustered together. Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen were kneeling on the ground, holding soone – a woman.
She looked strangely familiar. Upon closer inspection, Yu Xiao was appalled to discover that it was her.
After that, she couldn’t see anything as she spun out of control non-stop. As the shock faded, Yu Xiao cald down. She realized her current situation and understood why Xie ng ng said the whole carousel was terrifying and why touching it led to bonkers suicides.
Because every carousel horse here was a ghost. When a person touched one, they swapped bodies with the ghost inside the carousel horse. Then, the ghost controlled the person’s body to smash into walls and commit suicide.
Yu Xiao was fuming. She had just figured out what the bloody hell was going on, and she was not happy. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t budge an inch, let alone use any of her tools. How was she going to get out of this pickle? Was she dood to sit here on this sodding rry-go-Round until the next person plopped down their ass on her?
“Smiley, Smiley!” Zhao Lan shook Yu Xiao a few tis, but her eyes remained closed, blissfully asleep. She turned to Zhou Xiao Zhen and said, “Get the ergency healing talisman for Smiley, get a few more.”
“Right!” Smiley had given them all so talismans in case of trouble, and Zhou Xiao Zhen quickly took out all the ergency healing talismans she had and slapped them on Smiley’s body.
As soon as the talismans were on, they burned to ashes. The injuries on Smiley, caused by the lightning, healed visibly, and the scratches on the ground where she had fallen vanished completely. But there was no sign of Yu Xiao waking up.
“Why isn’t Smiley waking up?” Zhou Xiao Zhen asked, her voice cracking, “What’s wrong with her?”
Yu Xiao could still hear everything, spinning endlessly on the rry-go-Round. She heard Zhou Xiao Zhen’s sobbing voice and thought bitterly, ‘I’m stuck on this rry-go-Round, how the hell am I supposed to wake up?’
She couldn’t move or speak, the only thing she could control was her eyes. Yu Xiao looked around, sick of seeing the arses in front of her. Suddenly, she saw on her left, in the middle of the spinning rry-go-Round, a pitch-black shadow. When she looked closer, she saw that the shadow was shaped like a massive horse.
From the heart of the darkness, a shape erged, and Yu Xiao recognised it: It was the number 6!
She cursed under her breath. This was a nightmare beyond nightmares. A twisted and cruel ga. Clues that were only visible to those who had beco Trojan horses. And even if they saw them, how could they possibly communicate them to anyone else?
The black shadow writhed and raised its front hooves, unleashing a piercing shriek.
“Squeak, squeak…”
Yu Xiao’s head spun and she blacked out. When she ca to, she saw that the wooden horses had co to a standstill, and she felt a flicker of hope. She could move again.
But she was still trapped in the wooden horse’s spot. She waved desperately at Zhao Lan and the others, hoping to catch their eye. “Misty! Precious! Over here!!”
“— Misty!”
“— Precious!”
But they didn’t hear her, or see her. They were still holding Yu Xiao’s body, oblivious to her plight.
They had used more than a dozen life-saving talismans on her body, and her wounds had healed completely, but she remained unresponsive. Zhou Xiao Zhen couldn’t contain her grief and broke down in sobs.
“Waaah… Smiley… Smiley…”
Zhao Lan didn’t shed a tear; she just held Smiley’s body and wondered what had gone wrong.
The others watched in grief, unable to help Yu Xiao. How could they solve the mystery now? Hopelessness engulfed their hearts. After fighting for so long, were they dood to perish in this trap?
“I don’t believe it!” Zhang Yi shouted, backing away, “I won’t accept that we’re trapped here without a clue! I won’t give up!”
With that, he spun around and ran. Wu Chao followed him, “Old Zhang, don’t be foolish!”
Zhao Lan cradled Smiley, laying her on her lap, and opened her hand. In her palm was a pile of black ash, the remains of a burnt talisman.
Smiley was always careful. She had prepared the talismans before riding. As soon as she saw any ghosts, she would use them right away.
But she didn’t use them on the horse, which ant she didn’t see any ghosts. Yet, the talismans still activated. When she leapt off her horse, the talismans sparked, and lightning struck Smiley.
Zhao Lan realised the problem. Thunderstruck talismans only worked on ghosts, so why did they hit her?
There was only one explanation: Yu Xiao had a ghost on her at that mont, or maybe, Yu Xiao was the ghost. If the charging figure was a ghost, then where was the real Smiley?
Zhao Lan lifted her chin and stared blankly at the rry-go-Round, which had resud its rry rotation before her eyes.
“Precious…” She turned to Zhou Xiao Zhen. “Do you rember which horse Smiley was riding?”
Zhou Xiao Zhen blinked through her tears and scanned the glittering array of horses. They all looked the sa under the dazzling lights. “I don’t rember…”
Xie ng ng piped up, “I think the saddle was blue.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen squinted, trying to spot the colour. “But there are several horses with blue saddles.”
“We must find the horse Smiley rode,” Zhao Lan said, glancing around for a safe spot to leave her friend. However, there was none, and she felt a surge of worry. So, she hoisted Smiley onto her back and walked closer to the rry-go-Round.
The horses kept spinning, taunting her with their cheerful music. Zhao Lan snapped, “Go and stop the rry-go-Round!”
“Alright, I’ll go stop it,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said and dashed off to ‘plead’ with the staff to halt the spinning rry-go-Round.
As the rry-go-Round gradually slowed down, Yu Xiao regained her mobility. Zhou Xiao Zhen stood next to her, pointing excitedly. “Misty, this one has a blue saddle!”
Xie ng ng joined her from the other side. “This one is blue too!”
“— Precious!”
“— Misty!”
Yu Xiao’s cries fell on deaf ears. They couldn’t hear her at all.
She refused to sit there and await her doom. She spotted a faint shadow moving on the horse ahead of her. As she looked closer, she saw a hand erging from the horse’s leg, stretching towards Zhou Xiao Zhen, as if trying to snatch her.
Yu Xiao realised; the horse could grab people when it stopped.
She quickly made a decision. She joined her hands together, extended her index and middle fingers, making the legendary sign of the Thousand Years Kill (千年杀), and stabbed the horse’s rear in front.
“Wweeee!!”
A shrill and ear-splitting neigh rang in her ears as the shadow on the front horse thrashed wildly. Yu Xiao stayed determined, clenching her teeth and persisting with the Thousand Years Kill.
The screams went on, each one more pitiful than the last. Even the dark shape in the centre was startled and looked at Yu Xiao.
“There are eight horses with blue saddles,” Zhao Lan said, carrying Yu Xiao on her back, her face etched with worry. “Which one did Smiley ride on?”
Zhou Xiao Zhen clenched her teeth. “Let’s just tear down all the wooden horses with blue saddles.”
“No way,” Zhao Lan shook her head. “We can’t touch the wooden horses. Or else, we’ll end up like Smiley. We have to find the right one.”
“But how do we tell them apart?” Qian Xin asked. “And even if we find the right one, how will you wake up Yu Xiao?”
Zhao Lan didn’t have an answer yet, but she knew that to wake up Smiley, they had to find the correct horse.
But if they couldn’t tell them apart, they might pull another person into this nightmare.
What to do? What to do? Smiley, can you see us? Give
a sign…
Just then, Zhang Yi and Wu Chao, who had run out earlier, ca back. They both looked ecstatic. Zhang Yi yelled, “We found it! We found it!”
Xie ng ng spun around. “Found what?”
“The exit!” Wu Chao shouted, his face glowing with excitent. “We found the exit! No need to look for clues anymore. We can get out!”
“Really?!” Everyone was stunned. “You really found the exit?”
“Really!” Zhang Yi said. “I was just running around aimlessly. When I was running, I heard so tourists saying they wanted to go ho. On a whim, I followed them, and I found the exit gate of the amusent park. Hahaha… Clues are not the only way out. We were all fooled by Lolita. In fact, just follow other visitors, and you can find the way out!”
“If it’s true, that’s amazing,” Qian Xin’s heart raced with excitent. “ng ng, I want to see it for myself.”
Xie ng ng looked at Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen. “How about you two?”
Zhao Lan gazed at the rry-go-Round and said, “You go ahead, we still want to try waking up Smiley.”
“No need to wake them up,” Wu Chao lifted Liu Fei on his back. “They’re alive, just asleep. Once we’re out of this cursed instance, they’ll wake up.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen asked, “Misty, should we go?”
Zhao Lan eyed the rry-go-Round again, sensing sothing was wrong. After a mont of reflection, she said, “You go first. We still have a day; I want to give it another try.”
“Oh, whatever.” Wu Chao carried Liu Fei on his back. “Let’s go.”
The group from the Fifth Hospital departed. After a brief hesitation, Xie ng ng and Qian Xin followed them.
Zhao Lan quietly carried Smiley on her back. After a while, she said, “Precious, you can go with them. I’ll stay here alone.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Zhou Xiao Zhen’s chubby face showed defiance, “We ca here together, and if we have to die, we’ll do it together.”
The two of them kept their eyes on the rry-go-round. After half an hour, Xie ng ng ca back.
She was as thrilled as Wu Chao and Zhang Yi before her, her face glowing, “We’ve found the way out! Just follow ,” Xie ng ng urged them earnestly, “Once we leave this instance, Yu Xiao will wake up naturally.”
Zhao Lan stayed silent, shaking her head.
Zhou Xiao Zhen said, “Thanks, but even if we want to leave, we’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“Ugh, you guys are so stubborn.” Xie ng ng sighed in frustration, taking out her phone, “How about this, let’s swap numbers. If anything happens, just ring
up.”
“Sure,” Zhao Lan thanked her, “Precious, give her your number too.”
They swapped numbers, and then Xie ng ng left. She didn’t co back, not even the next morning when the sun rose.
The sun was blazing the next morning. Zhou Xiao Zhen and Zhao Lan sat beside the rry-go-round, holding Yu Xiao, using a white coat to protect her from the sun. The two of them sat there numbly, staring at the rry-go-round, as if they had lost their souls.
Zhao Lan felt hopeless. She licked her dry lips and said, “Precious, maybe we should just go. They’re right, as soon as we leave this instance, Smiley will wake up.”
“Ugh…” Zhou Xiao Zhen sobbed again, “Misty, is there no other way?”
As she spoke, she rummaged for talismans, but the life-saving talismans on both her and Zhao Lan were gone. So, she searched Yu Xiao’s pockets, and in the pocket of Yu Xiao’s trousers, she found sothing.
“What’s this?”
Zhao Lan looked at it, and it was a taxi receipt.
Reviews
All reviews (0)