It's not that I'm petty, it's just that anyone who stays in this tourist area for too long, regardless of who they are, can be brainwashed by Du Qitai, and even this little boy in front of us is no exception.
Hearing us say that, the little boy asked in confusion, "Are you tourists too? That's right. My sister and I came here with our parents a while ago. We had a lot of fun for the first few days. Who knew that starting on the third day, my mother disappeared first, and then my father also disappeared. My sister and I wandered around and accidentally came to this amusement park. Since it didn't cost money and no one was fighting us for rides, we just stopped caring and started playing everywhere."
"Your parents both disappeared? You were still in the mood to play then?" He Xin questioned.
"We didn't know they had disappeared at the time. We thought they had gone somewhere. While we were playing, we planned to look for them."
I observed that the little boy was about seven years old, and his mind was already relatively stable. In such a situation, he probably wouldn't be particularly scared, but this still depended on individual personalities. The little boy's reaction told me he was likely not lying.
As he spoke, he continued to tell us about what happened in the amusement park.
"My sister and I played desperately because we never had such opportunities before. Our family was quite poor, and our parents were very frugal when it came to going to amusement parks. Sometimes, they could only let us watch other children play, and we could only eat something on the side."
"My sister and I played for several days and nights. It wasn't until we felt hungry that we realized we needed to eat. But we didn't know where to find food, so we searched everywhere. However, the trouble was that we actually got lost in the amusement park at that time!"
I looked around and found that this amusement park was indeed extremely large. After entering, I discovered that the entrance gate was closed, and there were high walls everywhere. Even if he found an exit, he probably couldn't get out.
The little boy continued, "We searched everywhere with empty stomachs, thinking we were going to starve to death. Who knew that at a crucial moment, a big uncle appeared. He gave us a lot of delicious food and then took us to the so-called Mirror World, and the haunted house, and there was a castle somewhere that was also very fun. We played with that uncle for a while, but one day he disappeared again! We searched for him everywhere again and remembered our parents. That night, we all cried together, feeling so sad. Alas, I don't know what happened, but here we are today."
We knew the rest of the story without the little boy telling us. I asked him, "Do you remember what that big uncle looked like?"
"Um, he..."
The little boy described him, and it turned out to be Du Qitai! I thought Du Qitai must have deliberately given these two children some treats at the time, just to gain their trust and control them. Now that we had arrived, he could use them to scare us.
This was the most likely scenario I could think of.
After listening to the little boy's description, He Xin's expression also turned grim, "His name is Du Qitai, he's the owner here, and they deliberately tricked us into coming here!"
"No way? Then big sister, what do we do? Can I still find my parents?"
He Xin comforted him a few words saying yes, but in reality, so much time had passed that his parents were likely deceased, or imprisoned somewhere. I hoped it was the latter, otherwise, this little boy would be alone from now on.
We took him with us but found that the amusement park's gate was closed. I had tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge.
It seemed we couldn't linger here any longer; we had to find a way to leave, otherwise, our fate would be the same as the little boy's.
I asked the little boy his name, and he told me it was Hua Xinghui.
I remembered that if I could leave the tourist area later, I would have to ask my colleagues to look up his information.
He Xin picked up the little boy, and I carried the female corpse, turning to walk in another direction of the amusement park.
Not far away seemed to be the haunted house the little boy had mentioned earlier. We originally intended to walk straight there, but Hua Xinghui reached out and tugged my clothes, saying, "There seems to be another passage in the haunted house. Aren't we trying to get out? Let's try going in and see!"
"Are you sure? But we don't know where we can get out now!" I said.
"Let's try it. If it doesn't work, we'll come out and look elsewhere!" Hua Xinghui's reaction was normal. He wasn't trying to trick us, so I had to exchange a glance with He Xin. She also said, "Let's do it then!"
The interior of the haunted house was chaotic, just like the amusement parks we had visited before. The lights were dim, but in this one, the ground was wet with liquid, countless diamond-shaped decorations hung overhead, and there were some pale, white things. Smoke billowed everywhere, and the walls on both sides emitted an eerie glow, reflecting each other. Every few steps, props would appear and bump into us.
After passing through a long corridor, the fog ahead became even thicker, and we could hardly see anything. Even with a flashlight, it seemed useless.
Hua Xinghui, however, seemed very familiar with the path, gesturing for us to follow him. After we passed through, we suddenly saw several shadows swaying in the distance. A huge coffin moved towards us on the left wall, and loud thudding sounds came from inside, which was quite frightening. Numerous bloody chains suddenly smashed towards us horizontally. He Xin and I instinctively wanted to dodge, but Hua Xinghui pulled us and said, "Don't be afraid, it's all special effects!"
This child was less scared than us, which made me feel a bit ashamed. However, the chains in front of us were indeed special effects and did not hit us.
We continued to walk. Beneath a recessed area not far away, Hua Xinghui told us to stop. He demonstrated by side-stepping along the wall, moving past a section of cement. It seemed he was indeed very familiar with this place.
I looked down into the recess. There seemed to be a fishing net below. I didn't know what would happen if I fell in. He Xin and I followed Hua Xinghui's path, bypassing the recess. I was carrying a corpse, so the movement was a bit tricky. Fortunately, the path was not long, and I gritted my teeth to get through.
I almost fell several times. After coming through, He Xin asked Hua Xinghui, "Did you fall in before?"
"Yes! It would be very troublesome if you fell in. Being caught in the net and unable to get out would delay us for some time. Aren't we in a hurry? So I had you just go around! But I think the tourists from before probably jumped in on purpose!"
As Hua Xinghui spoke, I suddenly noticed strange crackling sounds coming from somewhere deep within the haunted house. I strained my eyes and suddenly saw countless stiff corpses leaping towards us!!