Cheng Shuang took a deep breath, turned around, and tried to banish the blood-red image from her mind.
Under the big moon, the carousel that appeared out of nowhere has become the only light source to guide the way.
The music came from there.
Without further hesitation, she shook off the darkness behind her and strode towards the unknown danger.
The carousel is the most common amusement park ride, full of innocent childlike fun and sweet princess style. There are more than twenty horses scattered on the platform, each with different patterns. Some wear crowns and some have colorful tails. Unfortunately, in this eerie atmosphere like an isolated island, it adds a sense of déjà vu, like a scene from a horror movie.
Her innocent face paled slightly; she no longer wanted to go to the amusement park to ride the carousel.
The little girl trembled with awe.
Cheng Shuang has always been brave since childhood, unafraid of the dark or ghosts. But at this moment, she felt as if she had stepped into a vacuum, silently isolated from everyone else, utterly helpless.
Even though she has absorbed the memories of the girl from the apocalypse, she is still a twelve-year-old child. Life has taught her how to be a person, but she is not mature enough to be fearless.
The area I passed through had turned pitch black, as if I were treading on darkness, which swallowed up the light, with only the carousel flashing its dazzling colorful light.
Knowing full well that this was a path of no return, Cheng Shuang had no other choice.
She walked directly to the entrance, which had a simple wooden sign hanging above it. The sign read in red: 'The game to obtain your Nintendo Pass is about to begin. Distinguished participant, please choose a carousel. Countdown: Ten, nine…'
The countdown sound materializes, a cold, rigid mechanical voice replacing the music, carrying a sense of urgent urgency and imminent crisis, measured in seconds.
A warning bell rang in Cheng Shuang's heart, and her instinctive vigilance gave her a chilling intuition.
If you don't get on the rocking horse in time, there will definitely be unexpected dangers.
Without much thought, the little girl ran quickly to the platform, chose a nearby rocking horse, and was about to sit down when her big eyes subconsciously took a look and immediately pointed out the problem with the horse.
It shouldn't be said that it's inappropriate; on its head, there's an inconspicuous little red bump that flickers faintly, blending into the colorful hues of the rocking horse, making it almost invisible unless you look closely.
At this point, the count reached six...
A voice inside me warned me to be more cautious, even more cautious.
Cheng Shuang dared not be careless in the slightest and quickly observed the nearby wooden horses. Most of the bright spots were red, and a few were green.
She bit her lip, gave up on the rocking horse in front of her, and found a rocking horse with long, bright green dots that she sat on.
Just as she settled in, a figure suddenly appeared on the platform, cursing and swearing as he randomly chose a horse to straddle. Immediately afterward, a piercing alarm sounded along with a countdown.
The figure was clearly flustered.
Few people who have survived the hunts of various monsters to reach this point are not naive. That person knew that if he missed the designated time, something terrible would happen. His crimson eyes immediately fixed on Cheng Shuang like those of a ferocious beast.
The girl, who had intended to warn him, immediately became wary. Just as he raised the brick he was carrying and lunged at her menacingly, she suddenly found herself in a vast, empty square.
The sky here is bright, without sun or clouds, and there is no darkness either.
Several running tracks were drawn on the ground with white lime. Each track, including the white dividing lines, was at least ten meters wide and stretched to an endless distance. In the distance, a veil of mist could still be seen at the end of the tracks.
The countdown in the void continued: 'Three, two, one! We regret to inform you that the ticket collection portal is now closed for those who did not ride the carousel on time and for those who were not included due to the full capacity.'
As the last word faded, a series of piercing screams echoed in everyone's ears, as if the tragedy had unfolded right before their eyes. Even without seeing it, the sounds alone revealed the agony endured by those who had failed to arrive on time.
The participants on the track looked flustered, their eyes filled with an indescribable complexity.
Perhaps it was the sorrow of sharing the same experience, or perhaps it was the relief of escaping a disaster.
The little girl's peach blossom eyes widened suddenly, and she instantly understood the meaning of the red and green lights.
A red light means the car is full, and a green light means there are empty seats.
The man from before didn't appear on the track, which means he couldn't find the pattern of the traffic lights before the countdown ended. So he was excluded by the full carousel, and those screams represented the end of one life after another.
If the other party had not shown any malice, Cheng Shuang would definitely have spoken up to warn them, given his personality. However, he preferred to attack the weak and innocent child and seize a position that did not belong to him, rather than observe and ask for help. The little girl, who gradually learned to treat bad people with indifference, felt no sympathy for his plight at all.
Cheng Shuang scratched her cheek, exhaled a breath of stale air, and immediately put aside what had happened a moment ago, looking around at her new surroundings.
There were twenty horses, and the track was marked with numbers one through twenty, no more and no less. Tracks marked eighteen and twenty were empty, while track nineteen, sandwiched between them, had a young woman. Because there was no one on either side, she appeared extremely nervous, looking around in panic.
Cheng Shuang was on the sixth track, next to two acquaintances: Sister Liu Juan (track number five) and the temporary worker from the convenience store (track number seven).
"Thank goodness you made it in time!"
With tears in her eyes, Liu Juan shouted excitedly. It was clear that she was genuinely worried about the little girl, after all, it was this child who had reached out a life-saving arm to her in her predicament.
Cheng Shuang smiled and was about to greet him politely when she heard a sudden commotion.
Thick fog suddenly rose from the two empty runways, quickly obscuring all light from the nineteenth runway.
A woman's piercing cries for help came from the isolated 19th track.
She was clearly terrified by the change, as the thick fog represented a great deal of unease.
Liu Juan bent down and rubbed her sore and numb ankle, looking at the misty face filled with fear and uncertainty, her lips trembling.
Cheng Shuang felt uneasy and could only try to distract herself. She turned her head to look at the handsome young man with an indifferent expression on the other side, "Brother, did you meet anyone else at the convenience store? I remember it was Sister Wu Qian's shift this morning!"
The boy, who had been expressionless, lifted his eyelids slightly, glanced at her, and said in a nonchalant tone, "I ran into her, during the shift change."
He gestured with his chin towards the distance, "She's on lane fifteen."
Because of the distance, Cheng Shuang looked over from afar and met Wu Qian's terrified and uncertain gaze. Wu Qian was clearly extremely shocked to see her; her expression was exhausted and distressed, her clothes were torn and stained with blood, and her lips could be faintly seen moving, as if she wanted to say something but ultimately couldn't utter a word.
"What about the others? Have my parents come back?"
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