Volume One, Chapter Ninety-Five: The Playground

After explaining the function of the calming room, Chi Xingwan left the choice to Xing Le.

Xing Le folded her arms, her expression uneasy.

She felt she ought to go in. That way, she might recover more details she could not remember, and perhaps even find a clue.

But she was afraid. She had been tormented for ten years, forced to watch herself go mad with perfect clarity, mad for ten whole years.

Now that she had finally broken free, she truly did not dare to touch that wound again.

“It’s all right. If you don’t want to, we can think of another way,” Chi Xingwan said softly.

Xing Le froze. She knew Chi Xingwan wanted her to go in; otherwise she would not have brought her to the doorway of the calming room. And yet now Chi Xingwan was also agreeing to let her refuse.

After hesitating for a while, Xing Le asked, “Is finding that thing very important?”

Chi Xingwan said, “Very important. It won’t just hurt one person.”

Xing Le understood. Besides her, there must have been other victims. Unlike her, those victims were not spirit masters; the spiritual power they were born with had protected her when she was attacked.

So she had gone mad, rather than died.

The others, however, had no spiritual power...

Xing Le drew a deep breath, then finally said, “I’m willing to go in.”

Chi Xingwan’s feelings were a little complicated.

She had hoped Xing Le would go in, which was why she had brought her straight to the door of the calming room and explained its purpose, as well as the pain that might come with entering it.

From Xu Mingyue, she had learned many things about Xing Le, especially about her life before the incident. She knew Xing Le was a kind person.

Standing at the door of the calming room was like having an arrow already nocked to the bowstring. Given Xing Le’s nature, even if she hesitated, she would ultimately choose to enter.

And so she did, just as Chi Xingwan had expected.

At that moment, Chi Xingwan felt a little despicable, but she had no choice.

Xing Le stepped into the calming room.

Chi Xingwan and the others did not leave; they waited outside the door.

Two hours later, Xing Le came out. Her face was pale, her whole body drenched in sweat, as though she had just been caught in a downpour.

Chu Fangfei hurriedly pulled out a packet of tissues and handed the whole thing over.

Xing Le took it with trembling hands. After catching her breath for a while, she said, “I remembered. I left one place out.”

...

Chi Xingwan sat in the car, looking across the street at the crowded amusement park.

As a local, Xue Cheng did not need to consult any materials to know about the place.

He introduced it, saying, “This amusement park is pretty famous in our province. It’s not especially large, but it has all the usual attractions. What made it famous is that it changes themes every year.”

More than a decade ago, themed amusement parks had already started to rise, but most of the well-known ones were big foreign brands. There were not many domestic ones.

This amusement park in Clear Lake Province had a horror theme, changing once a year. Sometimes it was zombies, sometimes horror folk legends, sometimes vampires.

In short, it covered all kinds of themes and was very appealing to young people.

Xing Le actually disliked frightening things, so she had never come here to play. Xing Liang, however, liked it.

That day, Xing Liang had come here with friends. He probably spent all his money, then called Xing Le’s father and lied that his wallet had been lost.

Xing Le’s father knew he was at the amusement park with friends and did not want to spoil his fun, so he asked Xing Le to make the trip for him and bring Xing Liang some money.

Xing Le came to the amusement park as her father told her to. She did not go in, only waited at the entrance for a while. Xing Liang took the money, and then she left.

It was such a small matter that Xing Le herself soon forgot about it entirely and could not remember it afterward.

“But this place doesn’t seem to have any problems. I don’t see any dark energy, and if I’m not mistaken, this amusement park has never had an accident since it was built,” Xue Cheng said.

“Let’s go in and take a look first,” Chi Xingwan said, opening the car door and getting out.

Jin Feng and Chu Fangfei got out as well. Xue Cheng parked the car in the lot before joining them.

After the four of them bought tickets and entered the park, they walked along the paths, looking around.

This year’s theme was the zombie apocalypse. The staff wore tattered clothes, their faces painted like zombies, and even their walk was deliberately jerky, making their bodies seem stiff and lifeless.

Chu Fangfei was not very brave, but she was the type who liked to be scared anyway. She squeezed herself between Chi Xingwan and Jin Feng and kept craning her neck to look at the “zombies” passing by.

“Wow, they’re really professional. They’re acting so well. They look just like real zombies.”

Jin Feng said dryly, “Have you ever seen a real zombie, and you’re already saying they look like one?”

“I’ve read a lot of apocalypse novels. They act just like the zombies described in them,” Chu Fangfei said.

Xue Cheng laughed from the side. “I think they’re pretty good too. Part of the reason this place is so popular is that the staff are very dedicated and their acting is top-notch.”

Chi Xingwan watched the staff walking past and smiled meaningfully. “Of course the acting is good. They’re performing in their true colors.”

The three of them looked at her in confusion, but Chi Xingwan asked directly, “Xue Cheng, how do we get to meet the owner here?”

Xue Cheng was caught off guard. Everyone came to amusement parks to have fun. Who would come specifically to see the owner?

Still, he really did think of a way.

Pointing to a castle-like building in the center of the park, Xue Cheng said, “I heard the amusement park’s owner lives on the top floor of that castle. The park has a weekly lottery, and the winner gets to enjoy a free banquet in the castle.”

“Today’s Sunday, so the draw is today. If one of us wins, all four of us can go in together,” Xue Cheng said happily.

The winner was allowed to bring friends or family to dine inside, up to four people, and there were exactly four of them.

Chi Xingwan smiled. “In that case, let’s enter the lottery.”

The draw was held on the stage outside the castle, at a huge prize pool full of numbered balls.

“Please, heavens, let me win!” A young man had just drawn a ball. He clasped it in his hands, prayed fervently, and then solemnly opened it to reveal the words inside.

Thank you for participating.

“Didn’t win again. I came last month too, and I still didn’t win.”

His companion comforted him. “The odds are too low. It’s normal not to win. Don’t take it to heart.”

The man said regretfully, “That may be true, but a friend of mine won last week. He bragged for a whole week about how delicious the food was and how good the service was. His family of three was treated like European nobles. I want to experience that too.”

The two of them left in low spirits. Chi Xingwan looked at the enormous prize pool and said to Jin Feng, “You go draw. I guarantee you’ll win.”