Chapter 239: Haunted House, Clown, Wedding
"Blackwood, what do you think we should play next? We can’t rest anymore, we’ve got to get moving."
As she spoke, Faye Yardley got up and started looking around.
To the right of the Crazy Barrels ride were a carousel and bumper cars. The bumper cars seemed even more intense than the Crazy Barrels. Even though you couldn’t hear anything from the outside, the force of the collisions and the sight of the cars being smashed to pieces gave you a pretty good idea of just how much fun the people inside were having.
Her gaze shifted to the carousel. It moved up and down, rising and falling quite slowly. It was hard to see what could possibly be scary about it.
Just as she was thinking that, she saw a big-headed Baby on one of the carousel horses turn into a mist of blood with a POP.
’So what in the world was happening on that carousel?’
Further ahead, there was a black castle with the two words "Haunted House" written on it.
Although many people were in line, the black gate was like a devouring beast, swallowing people up, no matter how many there were.
Other rides would stop letting people on when full and make them wait for the next round. This one was different; it just kept letting people in without ever stopping.
Faye Yardley went straight into the stream of people heading for the haunted house.
Less than five minutes later, it was her turn to enter.
The moment she stepped through the pitch-black gate, a bone-chilling cold seeped right into her body.
Faye Yardley took out an Exorcism Talisman and stuck it on herself, and the chilling sensation lessened considerably.
Strangely, she couldn’t see any of the people who had entered ahead of her.
It was as if she was the only one who had entered.
[Please leave through the correct haunted house exit.]
’The correct exit?’
Faye Yardley didn’t overthink it and just walked straight ahead. After all, there was only one path from the entrance.
Besides the darkness, a faint blue light flickered intermittently, keeping the path from being completely lightless.
Faye Yardley wasn’t in the habit of fumbling around in the dark. She took out a Luminous Pearl, its soft glow immediately dispelling the darkness.
And in the place that had seemed empty, the light gradually revealed many human figures.
"Hey, beauty, is that Luminous Pearl of yours for sale?"
"Can we travel together? I can be your knight in shining armor."
"You’d be better off with me. I guarantee I’ll lead you to the correct exit."
"Pfft, anyone can talk big."
Amidst the cacophony of voices, Faye Yardley didn’t respond.
"Meow~"
Hearing Blackwood’s cry, Faye Yardley suddenly reached out and grabbed behind a skull to her left, pulling out a brightly-colored clown.
"Well, if it isn’t the clown? The game of hide-and-seek is over. I’ve found you."
The instant the clown appeared, the other figures around them vanished again.
The clown’s diamond-shaped eyes were filled with disbelief. ’How did she find me here?’
His wide mouth split into a grin, revealing menacing teeth. The words he spoke held no joy, but were instead very stiff: "You didn’t say we were playing."
Faye Yardley couldn’t care less about his rules for hide-and-seek and said bluntly, "I called out for the clown the moment I walked in—three times. You said we were playing hide-and-seek, and I had to find you before I could move on, didn’t you? So the game was on, and now I’ve found you."
She said this with a ’let’s just see what happens’ attitude. What if this game of hide-and-seek also counted as one of the amusement park challenges? Then she would have completed two at once.
The clown was silent for a moment, then suddenly grinned. He snapped his fingers, and a flower appeared in each of his hands—one black, one white.
"Choose one as your reward for finding me in hide-and-seek."
Faye Yardley was about to take both, but the clown took a step back. "No being greedy now."
"Blackwood came with me today, so I’ll choose the black flower."
The clown raised his eyebrows, put on a celebratory air, and bowed as he handed the black flower to Faye Yardley. "Congratulations on receiving my reward."
The moment she took the flower, the clown vanished from before her eyes.
[Congratulations, player. You have obtained the Clown’s Black Flower. It can help you withstand one fatal injury in the amusement park.]
"Ooh~ What a great item. The clown is pretty generous after all."
Faye Yardley placed the black flower directly in her hair, even using a hairpin to secure it.
As she walked on, the human figures became numerous again. However, their bodies and heads were blurry and indistinct, as if they had been pixelated.
Faye Yardley didn’t know if she looked the same way to others, but her Luminous Pearl was one-of-a-kind here, making her stand out.
The festive sounds of suonas, horns, drums, and chime stones grew from a distance until they were ringing in her ears.
It was clearly the sound of a wedding procession.
"The bride’s sedan chair is here! I can’t believe we’re lucky enough to run into The Ghost Bride’s wedding."
"Let’s follow the procession and have a drink later."
"We should probably prepare a wedding gift."
"I’ll just rip off my arm and give it as a gift."
"A head would be more sincere, don’t you think?"
Faye Yardley thought to herself, ’As expected, the other visitors in this amusement park are not normal.’
’A head as a wedding gift? Can they grow back after you take them off or something?’
’Just thinking about it is terrifying.’
Vague, dark figures approached. A bright red sedan chair floated forward, bobbing up and down in mid-air. As the chair drew near, many people crowded around it to ask for wedding favors. Faye Yardley stood silently to the side, watching. She thought she could hear the sound of muffled sobs coming from inside the sedan chair.
But the people and the music all around were festive and excited.
Faye Yardley was swept forward by the procession.
She wanted to step aside and let them pass, but she was carried forward by some kind of Strength, forced to follow the wedding escort.
She couldn’t break free. It was like she had entered some kind of scripted scene and couldn’t leave until it was over.
So she followed at the very back of the procession. As they walked, it grew more and more lively up ahead. Faye Yardley put away her Luminous Pearl. The path before her was bathed in a red glow.
’Better not be so conspicuous right now,’ she thought. ’It would be a hassle if I accidentally trigger some weird side quest.’
She had originally planned to just walk straight through the haunted house. After all she’d been through, she had a decent amount of confidence in her own courage. Plus, with the Exorcism Talisman and Golden Light Talisman on her, clearing the haunted house should have been a piece of cake.
But... she had clearly been too naive.
The inside was not nearly as simple as she had imagined.
Still carrying the Exorcism Talisman, she arrived at the gift registration table. The old ghost in charge of recording the gifts shot her a look of disgust. "What do you plan to give the newlyweds?"
With a SLAP, Faye Yardley slammed an Exorcism Talisman onto the table. "One Exorcism Talisman, as a wedding gift."
The entire place went silent for a few seconds.
"Is the guest joking?"
"You won’t accept it? Don’t tell me the newlyweds have special requirements for their gifts?"
The old ghost huffed back, "No."
After saying that, he recorded the gift. But Faye Yardley didn’t leave; she just stared at the old ghost without moving.
"You can go in."
"The return gift," Faye Yardley said, staring at him. "You’re not thinking of keeping my return gift for yourself, are you?"
The old ghost had truly never seen a visitor like this. It was just too much. He desperately wanted to lunge forward and tear her to shreds.
But bound by the rules, he could only huffily grab a small pouch from the side and toss it to Faye Yardley.