Chapter 54: She is Awake! |
The receipt appeared ordinary at first, but it was completely absurd. They had been at the Sixth Hospital for a long time, always wearing patient gowns. How in the world did Smiley obtain a taxi receipt?
Furthermore, they have been inseparable lately. If Smiley had hailed a taxi, the other two would have noticed. The only opportunity for this receipt to appear was yesterday, when they were demolishing the giant swing. Smiley claimed she was tired and needed a break.
Therefore, she must have taken a taxi. However, there were no taxis in the amusement park, so Smiley had to have left the park at some point.
Considering their experience finding the park exit, it was evident that the exit was not difficult to find. It was highly likely that Smiley stumbled upon the exit, left the park, and even took a taxi.
Zhao Lan stared at the receipt in her hand. Smiley had discovered the exit, but instead of sharing it with anyone, she had continued risking her life to search for clues with them.
Zhao Lan sensed a problem. Yu Xiao had no reason to conceal the exit unless there was something wrong with it. It might not be a real way out…
Glancing in the direction where Xie Meng Meng and the others had gone, Zhao Lan realized that they would be in trouble if the exit was fishy…
“Thud!”
A loud and sudden noise startled them.
“Misty, look at this.” Zhou Xiao Zhen crept closer and peeked inside, finding a wooden horse lying on the ground.
Zhao Lan joined her to take a look. She gazed at the wooden horse and said, “How did it fall?”
“Maybe it’s just old.” Zhou Xiao Zhen pointed at the cracked rear end of the wooden horse on the ground. “Look, it’s all split.”
Zhao Lan looked, indeed, the wooden horse’s rear end was cracked. The cracks began from the centre of its butt, radiating out like beams. It was quite odd because things like this usually aged from the finer details, seldom starting to decay from the butt.
As she wondered, Zhao Lan suddenly spotted the wooden horse behind the fallen one. It seemed normal, but the saddle of that horse was blue.
Could it be a coincidence?
Zhao Lan’s heart pounded. She swiftly circled around the Merry-go-Round, examining the rear ends of all the wooden horses. Everything looked fine; she didn’t see any signs of ageing cracks except for that one horse…
Zhou Xiao Zhen looked at her, “Why are you so flushed? Is it too hot?”
Zhao Lan stood in front of the wooden horse with a blue saddle for a long time. Suddenly, she reached out and touched the horse’s back.
“Misty!”
Zhao Lan didn’t flinch at all; she felt nothing. Zhou Xiao Zhen’s heart raced, and she gaped at Zhao Lan with wide eyes.
After a tense pause, she asked, “How… are you alright?”
“…Yes. Get an axe and chop down this wooden horse.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen wasted no time; she grabbed an axe and a chainsaw, and together they severed the pole that held the wooden horse in place and dragged it out.
Zhou Xiao Zhen was still baffled. “Why can we touch this wooden horse without any harm?”
Zhao Lan didn’t know how to explain. She nervously gazed at the wooden horse, sure that it was the one Yu Xiao had been on before. The problem was, she didn’t know how to wake up Yu Xiao.
As the two of them were anxiously eyeing the wooden horse, Yu Xiao, who had been lying motionless on the ground under a white coat behind them, sat up. She tilted her head, feeling the warmth of the sun and inhaling deeply. She had spent a whole night and a morning trapped in the wooden horse, relentlessly torturing the one in front of her. She was glad she had a strong will; otherwise, she would have gone mad long ago.
Zhou Xiao Zhen’s eyes widened as she stared at the wooden horse in front of her. “This is the same one that Smiley rode on? But how do we get her out of there?”
Zhao Lan shook her head, her face pale. “I have no idea,” she admitted. “We need to find a way to break the curse…”
They were interrupted by a cold hand on their shoulders and a creepy voice in their ears. “Hehehe, what a tasty pair of snacks~”
“Ah!!” Zhou Xiao Zhen screamed and leaped up, her heart pounding. Zhao Lan reacted with a swift punch, barely stopping herself from hitting the familiar face. It was Yu Xiao, their friend and prankster.
Yu Xiao flinched as she saw the fist inches from her nose. She felt a surge of fear and relief. That was a powerful blow; she had dodged a bullet.
“Smiley?!” Zhou Xiao Zhen exclaimed, rushing back to hug Yu Xiao. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s wonderful!” Zhou Xiao Zhen lifted Yu Xiao off the ground, spinning her around with a laugh. “Hahaha, I’m so happy, Smiley is okay!!!”
A smile spread across Zhao Lan’s face as she watched the joyful reunion. She felt a surge of gratitude and relief. She had almost given up hope, but now they were all here, safe and sound.
Finally, Zhou Xiao Zhen released Yu Xiao from her embrace. “Smiley, how did you manage to break free?”
“I don’t know, really. As soon as you guys pulled out the wooden horse, I felt a jolt and then I was fine. Come on, let’s go grab a bite; I’m famished,” Yu Xiao said, rubbing her neck.
“Sounds good,” Zhao Lan reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled receipt. “Hey, Smiley, have you been outside the amusement park before?”
Yu Xiao nodded. “Yeah, I have. When I was taking a rest earlier, I stumbled upon the park’s exit and sneaked out.”
“What? You found the exit? Why didn’t you tell us?” Zhou Xiao Zhen exclaimed, pointing in a direction. “Zhang Yi and the others also found the exit and they left already.”
Yu Xiao’s face darkened. “Do you have a way to contact them? You need to call them back; that’s not the real exit.”
“Huh?” Zhou Xiao Zhen asked, confused. “I only have Xie Meng Meng’s number.”
Yu Xiao urged her, “Give her a call. Call her now, and I’ll explain to you later.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen nodded and wasted no time. She quickly dialled the number and waited for someone to pick up on the other end.
**
Meanwhile, in a cosy flat across town, Xie Meng Meng was busy in the kitchen, cooking. She slid the marinated meat into the hot oil, and a sizzling sound erupted, followed by a mouth-watering aroma wafting through the air.
In the living room, a man sat on the sofa, reading a newspaper, while a little girl lay on his lap, gazing toward the kitchen with a hopeful expression. She couldn’t contain her excitement and blurted out, “It smells so good.”
The man chuckled, “Your mom is making crispy pork for you.”
“I love crispy pork the most!” the little girl squealed, jumping off the sofa and running around the living room. “We’re going to have crispy pork soon!”
In the kitchen, Xie Meng Meng heard the noise, turned around, and saw her daughter’s cheerful face. She smiled warmly and poured more attention into making the crispy pork.
Suddenly, her phone rang. With chopsticks in one hand, flipping the crispy pork in the pan, Xie Meng Meng answered the call, “Hello, who is it?”
“Zhou Xiao Zhen here,” a girl’s voice crackled from the other end of the phone. “You’ve gone the wrong way; hurry back!”
Xie Meng Meng stared at the phone, confused. “Who are you? What do you mean by the wrong way?”
“It’s me, Zhou Xiao Zhen,” the voice repeated, sounding frantic. “Smiley has woken up; she had gone out the amusement park before us. You didn’t take the real exit; come back quickly. We’ve got all the clues to get out.”
“Who are you?” Xie Meng Meng felt a surge of panic. “What amusement park? What clues? What are you talking about? You’re not a scammer, are you?”
“Damn it,” Zhou Xiao Zhen swore. “Smiley, she’s lost her memory. She doesn’t recognise me.”
A moment later, a different woman’s voice came from the phone. The voice said, “Xie Meng Meng, do you recall what you did yesterday?”
“Of course, I do,” Xie Meng Meng answered. “Yesterday was Friday, and I was at school, teaching my class.”
“Alright, can you tell me how you got home yesterday?”
“I… I went to the nursery to pick up my daughter, and then we came home together,” Xie Meng Meng stammered, her voice trembling with confusion.
“Are you sure you have a daughter?” the woman probed further.
“Of course, I do.” Xie Meng Meng glanced towards her daughter, who was bouncing in the living room. “My daughter is right here with me.”
“Do you remember her birthday? Do you remember the hospital where you delivered her? Do you remember the name of the doctor who helped you? How did you and your husband fall in love?”
Each question pierced Xie Meng Meng’s mind like a needle, stirring up a whirlpool of chaos. The crispy meat in the pan had charred to a crisp, but she was oblivious to it. She only felt a crushing agony, as if her mind was about to collapse.
“Do you still remember your purpose, Xie Meng Meng?” the cold voice continued. “Don’t you want to escape this instance? Don’t you want to go back to the Fourth Hospital?”
“Ah!” Xie Meng Meng let out a piercing scream. The Fourth Hospital! The Fourth Hospital!!
That’s right, she was a patient of the Fourth Hospital. She had signed up for a treatment, and she ended up in the Lolita Amusement Park…
The previous night, they had stumbled upon the exit. Together, they had escaped the amusement park, only to find themselves in a world that mirrored reality. Curious, they had ventured out to explore, and then…
Later, she had met many people who claimed to know her. She had returned home to find ‘her husband’ and ‘her daughter’ waiting for her.
Xie Meng Meng spun around, shocked, to see a man and a little girl frozen at the kitchen door.
“Mum.” The little girl said flatly. “The crispy pork is burnt.”
“Ah! Ah! Ah!!!” Xie Meng Meng shrieked. Who was this man? Who was this girl?
In a frenzy, she grabbed a talisman from her pocket and bolted out like a madwoman. “Get away from me!”
The man and the little girl moved aside, watching Xie Meng Meng flee the house and race down the stairs. Downstairs, a woman pushing a pram gawked at her. “Yue Yue’s mum, are you alright?” (Yue Yue: A common pet name for little girls. It means “moon”.)
“Ah!” Xie Meng Meng kept running until she reached the exit of the apartments.
She shivered as she pressed the phone to her ear. “…Hello? Yu Xiao? It’s me, I’ve regained my memory… What on earth is happening? Alright, I’ll make my way back to the amusement park as soon as possible… I don’t know, I only have Qian Xin’s number, but I’m clueless about the rest…”
**
The grand theatre was alive with excitement as the musical opera “Phantom of the Opera” was ready to dazzle the audience. Amidst the backstage pandemonium, Qian Xin, the star of the show, was putting on her makeup when her phone abruptly rang. Peering at the screen, she saw that it was a call from Xie Meng Meng.
Xie Meng Meng? Who in the world was that? She scanned her contacts; how come she had no recollection of that name?
“Hello?” Qian Xin picked up the call. “What can I do for you?”
“Xin Xin, where are you?” The voice on the other end was anxious.
“Me?” Qian Xin looked around. “I’m at the grand theatre, about to take the stage.”