I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 28

The amusement park was called the Liberators’ Carnival, and the NPC guide even referred to the players as “liberators.” Qi Yan couldn’t help but feel that the word “freedom” was the key theme here.

Freedom, huh? Right now, they were trapped in this carnival with no way out, forced to find an escape within a limited time. It really wasn’t very freeing at all.

It felt like they’d stepped into a massive escape room, needing to uncover the code to the exit door. But where exactly would this code be hidden? Would they have to experience every single attraction here to find the answer?

Qi Yan walked up to the carousel, where a young man dressed in an exaggerated knight’s costume emerged from the control booth nearby. Smiling at the two new visitors, he greeted them warmly, “Hello there! I’m the carousel manager, Happy Spin.”

The moment he spoke, Qi Yan recognized his voice it was identical to the manager’s voice from the broadcast! The only difference was the tone. This one was much more relaxed, while the broadcast voice had been far more authoritative.

Since he seemed friendly, Qi Yan tried to keep things casual. “We’d like to ride the carousel. Is it open now?”

Happy Spin beamed. “Of course! Though our rides have activation conditions. We need a minimum of ten people to start.”

Qi Yan instinctively frowned. Ten people? There were only seven players in total! Even if she managed to gather the other five from the other group, where was she supposed to find three more?

Jiang Miao, standing beside her, asked, “If we don’t have enough people, do we just have to wait indefinitely?”

Happy Spin maintained his cheerful smile. “No need to worry. More people will arrive soon.”

A chill ran down Qi Yan’s spine as she glanced around warily. The manager’s words were clear, there were others in this nighttime carnival besides the seven players.

But ever since she’d arrived, she hadn’t seen a single other soul.

Just as she was pondering this, the sound of hurried footsteps approached. The group of five had returned, looking somewhat worse for wear.

One of them, a punk with dyed green hair, seemed injured, limping as the others supported him.

The leader of the group glanced at Qi Yan and Jiang Miao, ignoring them for the moment, and asked Happy Spin if they could ride the carousel.

Happy Spin repeated the same conditions he’d just explained to Qi Yan and Jiang Miao. Upon hearing this, the five of them visibly tensed.

They stood off to the side, silent, creating an awkward standoff with Qi Yan and Jiang Miao. The two groups waited in uneasy silence, neither speaking, as if silently agreeing to see what would happen next.

If the manager said more people would come, then they’d wait. Let’s see how many would show up.

Several minutes passed, and Happy Spin had already retreated back into the control booth. The seven of them were still standing there like fools.

The green-haired, limping punk was the first to lose patience. “What the hell? Are they messing with us? Where the fuck are these people? That idiot manager just went back to sit his ass down!”

His voice wasn’t loud, but he didn’t bother lowering it either, so his words echoed clearly in the empty carnival.

Qi Yan shot him a glance. It seemed like there was always someone impatient and reckless in these situations.

At that moment, an eerie wind suddenly swept through. Qi Yan shuddered violently, instinctively reaching for the ring on his left hand.

As the wind blew past, the lights on the nearby merry-go-round flickered and sputtered, crackling as if the circuit had been affected. A sizzling, staticky noise pierced through everyone’s eardrums, forcing them to cover their ears in discomfort.

The attendant leisurely stepped out of the control room and stood by the entrance of the merry-go-round, waiting.

“Big brother, you just swore. Swearing is wrong you’re being uncivilized!”

A childish voice came from behind, causing the green-haired delinquent, who had been cursing up a storm just moments ago, to stiffen instantly. The voice seemed to pour directly into his ear, as though something was perched on his shoulder, unnervingly close, so close that he could even feel the exhale of breath as the words were spoken.

But unlike the warm breath of a human, he felt an icy gust of wind seep into his body through his ear, chilling him to the bone in an instant.

“Ah!!”

The delinquent screamed, forgetting even the injury to his leg as he leaped behind their leader, clinging to him desperately.

“Hey! Qiangzi! Calm down, what the hell are you doing?!” The leader pried the green-haired delinquent off himself, shooting him an impatient glare.

“Boss, th-there’s a ghost!” Qiangzi was too terrified to lift his head, refusing to let go of the leader even as the man tried to shake him off.

Everyone’s gaze shifted to where Qiangzi had been standing. There, three children had appeared two girls and a boy.

They were children, but likely already in their teens, dressed in school uniforms. The boy who had whispered in Qiangzi’s ear had a raspy, adolescent voice, clearly in the midst of puberty.

The boy tilted his head and stuck out his tongue at Qiangzi. “Big brother said bad words not a good kid!”

The leader’s expression froze, and he instinctively shook off Qiangzi’s grip, taking half a step to the side.

Qi Yan noticed the movement, guessing that the leader was trying to distance himself from Qiangzi in front of these little ghosts. When the children had appeared, a palpable chill had swept through the air anyone could tell they weren’t human.

At this thought, Qi Yan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The bonds between humans were sometimes so fragile. These little ghosts had barely shown up, merely expressing displeasure toward Qiangzi, and already the leader was considering abandoning him.

Now, with three little ghosts joining their group of seven players, they made exactly ten, the perfect number for a merry-go-round ride. If anyone claimed these ghosts hadn’t appeared deliberately, no one would believe it.

The attendant, Happy Spin, pulled open the merry-go-round’s entrance gate and announced, “We now have ten free riders. Does everyone confirm they wish to ride together?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Of course, we’re riding together!” The raspy-voiced boy dashed in first, followed by the two girls. The three little ghosts each chose their favorite horses and sat down, then turned their heads in eerie unison to stare at the seven hesitant adults below.

Their eyes were unsettling, radiating an indescribable aura of terror.

One of the girls with a ponytail spoke up in an eerie voice, asking, “Brothers and sisters, why aren’t you coming up yet? Do you not like playing with us?”

As soon as her words fell, another chilling gust of wind swept violently through the air.

The lights of the carousel flickered incessantly, crackling and buzzing. Under the flickering illumination, the three little ghosts stared coldly at them, not even blinking.

“Ahhh! Boss! Boss, save me! Protect me!” The green-haired punk was scared out of his wits, his hands clamping onto the leader’s arm like iron pincers.

“Qiangzi, let go! Are you out of your damn mind?!” The leader shook him off fiercely and signaled the other two men in the team to restrain this lunatic!

With Qiangzi subdued, the chaos temporarily settled. Qi Yan’s sharp eyes noticed that the two men seemed to use some kind of tool on Qiangzi while restraining him.

After the tool was used, Qiangzi could no longer make a sound. Even though his mouth kept moving, nothing he said could be heard!

The five of them were on the verge of internal conflict. Qi Yan and Jiang Miao had no interest in their team’s fragile camaraderie, but the current attraction required all ten of them to participate. Missing even one would spell disaster.

Qi Yan crossed her arms and watched the farce unfold among the five, unable to suppress a hint of amusement in her eyes.

After pushing aside the troublesome Qiangzi, the leader turned his attention back to Qi Yan and Jiang Miao. The two of them looked on with undisguised amusement, not even bothering to pretend. His expression turned awkward, but after a moment’s hesitation, he spoke up, “I’m Wushuang, the leader of our five-person team. The one who just panicked is my teammate, Qiangzi. The other three are Xinyi, Qiuqiu, and Lucky.”

Qi Yan was baffled by their names, all clearly fake, like usernames from an online game. She instinctively glanced at Jiang Miao, only to see her say without batting an eye, “Hello, I’m Sanshui.”

“…”

Wushuang nodded at Jiang Miao, then turned to Qi Yan.

With no time to come up with another fake name, Qi Yan blurted out before the attendant could urge them inside, “I’m Shijian!”

“Shi… Jian?” The ponytailed woman, Xinyi, behind Wushuang asked curiously, “A sword made of stone?”

“Uh, something like that!” Sweat beaded on Qi Yan’s forehead. In her panic, she had used the pen name from her comic series.

Fortunately, comics were still a niche interest in China, and her genre was even more obscure. The chances of running into a reader were slim.

In any case, the seven of them exchanged brief introductions before Jiang Miao led the way, lining up to board the carousel.

Qi Yan immediately spotted a fox-shaped horse and, without a second thought, climbed onto it. Why had she instinctively chosen the fox? She hadn’t even processed it herself.

Jiang Miao took a seat on a hippopotamus beside her and whispered before the ride started, “This angle is good. We can keep an eye on those three little ghosts. Let’s see what they do once the ride gets going.”

The attendant, Rotating Happy, reminded everyone from the control room to hold on tight before pressing the start button.

“Beep!”

A long startup tone sounded, and the carousel slowly began to turn.

“Hahaha~ It’s moving! Faster, go faster!”

Amidst the cheerful music around them, the three children burst into peals of laughter.

Qi Yan hugged the head of the wooden fox horse, watching the three children’s genuine smiles, and soon found herself infected by their joy.

This was an indoor carnival amusement park, almost identical to an outdoor one. Not only did it have a carousel, but it could even accommodate massive rides like roller coasters. One could only imagine how large this indoor amusement park, resembling a shopping mall, truly was.

Taking advantage of the carousel’s rotation to shift her perspective, Qi Yan surveyed the floor. The carousel was on the first level, with a roller coaster not far away. It seemed this floor only had these two major attractions, though she’d need to explore further to be sure. The carnival spanned three floors in total, and what lay on the second and third floors remained unknown for now.

From the first floor, she could see the second and third levels. The mall’s structure resembled a massive atrium, with the upper two floors featuring circular corridors. Only by going up could one see what was there.

At first, the carousel operated normally, but as time passed, things grew increasingly strange.

Jiang Mian’s expression darkened as she asked, “Why hasn’t it stopped yet?”

Only then did Qi Yan realize, yes, she’d been to amusement parks many times, and no ride lasted more than five minutes. But this carousel, it had already gone way beyond that limit!

One by one, the players began to react. Some, like Jiang Mian, wore grim expressions. Others, like Qi Yan, managed to stay calm and analytical for the moment. And then there were those like the troublemaker Qiangzi, who couldn’t hold back his terrified screams.

“Ahhh, help! Save me! Let me down! Get me off now!”

Qiangzi was riding a brown wooden horse, gripping the handle with one hand while flailing wildly with the other, thrashing about like a fish hauled onto land.

As the team leader, Wu Shuang’s face grew even more grim at the sight. “Qiangzi! Can’t you calm down?!”

“WuWu-ge! Save me! Please! There’s a ghost! A ghost! She, she’s right behind me! Right behind me! I need to run let me down now!”

Qiangzi’s screams and flailing only intensified. From everyone else’s perspective, he was just struggling on his wooden horse, shouting about a ghost behind him but no one else saw anything.

Everyone’s expressions turned uneasy. The carousel wouldn’t stop, and neither would Qiangzi’s shrieks and pleas for help.

Xinyi couldn’t take it anymore and turned toward the control booth, shouting, “Hey! Stop it now! Can’t you hear us?!”

No response came from the control booth only dead silence. The only sounds were the carousel’s cheerful music, the whooshing wind, the three children’s delighted laughter, and Qiangzi’s terrified screams.

“This is bad, San-shui-jie! The carousel’s spinning faster and faster!”

Before anyone could react to Qi Yan’s words, the carousel’s speed suddenly surged to another level, spinning so fast that the surroundings blurred into streaks.

Qi Yan clung desperately to the fox horse’s head, pressing her upper body against it to keep from being flung off. “San-shui-jie! Hold on tight!”

Jiang Mian was riding a hippopotamus-shaped horse with only a thin handlebar. As the speed increased, she could only grip the handle with all her strength, barely keeping herself from being thrown off.

“Giggle, giggle!”

“Faster! Go even faster!”

“Not fast enough! Not fun enough!”

The three little demons were still laughing wildly in the howling wind, and if you listened closely, you could hear them demanding the carousel spin even faster! And as they made their demands, the carousel indeed sped up!

A merry-go-round was spinning with the grandeur of the Sun God’s chariot, yet even the Sun God’s chariot didn’t move this fast!

Squinting against the roaring wind, Qi Yan couldn’t help but shout at the three little demons, “Enough already, you three! Isn’t this fast enough? If you want to go faster, go ride a roller coaster!”

The response was even more maniacal and sinister laughter from the three little demons.

“H-Help! Help!”

Qi Yan squinted ahead and saw Qiangzi sprawled over his wooden horse like a lump of rotten meat that could be flung off at any moment.

“Hey! Green Hair! Hang in there!” Qi Yan yelled at him.

But Green Hair truly couldn’t hang on any longer.

“Hehehehe so much fun!” The little demons’ voices rang out again, this time unlike before, more like a 360-degree surround-sound experience exploding in everyone’s ears.

“Do you want it to stop?” the boy with the raspy voice giggled. “I have a way.”

Hearing this, all the players clung tightly to their wooden horses, waiting to hear what solution he might offer.

“Big brothers and sisters, let’s make a bet!”

In an instant, the three little demons were no longer seated on their horses. They had appeared beside the carousel, grinning as they watched the seven adults struggle.

“If any of you can catch up to the horse in front.” the girl with the ponytail slowly began, “then the carousel will stop!”

What?

Qi Yan was stunned. Struggling to lift her upper body on the rapidly spinning horse, she stared at the wooden horse rotating ahead, her mind reeling.

Carousels had always been popular among children and couples in amusement parks. Not only were they the perfect ride for kids, but they were also a favorite romantic spot for couples. Everyone who rode them carried fantasies of beauty and happiness, yet no one had ever truly considered their inherent horror.

The carousel, one of the cruelest games in the world. A chase where you’re forever confined, never able to catch or touch the horse in front.

Qi Yan suddenly recalled the name of this carnival, Freer. Yet after just the first ride, she already felt the suffocating grip of a cage.

The horses spun at high speed, passing the three little demons standing outside with each rotation. Qi Yan looked at their deliberately innocent yet sinister grins and felt goosebumps rise all over her body.

Trembling as she clung to her horse, she couldn’t help but cry out in her heart, “Bai Qing! What are you doing? You’ve been silent for so long! Think of something, help me out get me onto that horse in front!”

She knew ordinary people couldn’t do it, but Bai Qing could. If she helped, Qi Yan could soar through the air and land on the horse ahead.

After a long silence, Bai Qing suddenly chuckled. “Finally remembered me? Thought you’d found a new sister and forgotten about me. You really love calling others ‘sister,’ don’t you?”

Qi Yan: “???”

Was this really the time to worry about that?

“I never call anyone ‘sister’, I just say ‘sis’! It’s a completely normal social term!”

“Oh? I’ve never heard you call me ‘sister.'”

Qi Yan: “I don’t call you ‘sister.’ I call you something else.”

Bai Qing became intrigued: “What?”

“Ancestor!” Qi Yan cried out with tears in his eyes: “Save me!”

“…”

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