Volume 1 Chapter 29: Open Your Mouth and Bite Hard!
With a quick move, Bai Muxue hid under a tent, just in time to avoid the gaze of the huge inflatable clown above her.
It was not that she did not want to transform and rush straight inside. But right now, the true form of the monster was still unknown. She was not the kind of passionate magical girl who could defeat everything by shouting about friendship and bonds. If she acted carelessly, she would definitely fall into the enemy’s trap.
Besides, transforming came with a heavy price for her...
Every transformation cost her part of her lifespan. Unless it was absolutely necessary, it was better not to transform.
She carefully peeked out and looked into the amusement park through the gate.
A giant pair of scissors hung above the entrance, swaying lightly in the wind. On both sides, clowns moved their long thin arms, all wearing stiff and creepy smiles.
The colorful lights kept spinning and flashing, casting twisted shadows and strange bright spots everywhere.
It felt like standing inside a warped kaleidoscope.
What made Bai Muxue’s eyes widen even more was what happened next.
Along with a noisy burst of laughter, a group of children in different clothes walked forward in line.
Their eyes were closed.
Their faces wore unnatural smiles.
Their steps were stiff, with no life in them. Only those strange smiles looked even more disturbing under the changing lights.
Children... so the laughter from before came from them?
Wait...
Bai Muxue’s face stiffened slightly as she suddenly remembered the child disappearance cases that had caused a huge stir in Wangdu recently.
So this amusement park was behind it all?
Was the whole park a barrier created by the monster?
She took out her phone. As expected, there was still no signal.
Even so, she opened her chat app and sent several messages to the Bai family manager.
[If I’m not home by tomorrow morning, something probably happened. Help contact the Special Investigation Department and ask them to check the amusement park in the suburbs.]
[If they find nothing wrong, then contact Shen Jingyi. I believe she can solve it.]
The messages only kept loading in circles. She had no idea whether the Bai family would receive them.
She could contact Shen Jingyi directly...
But Miss Shen had already fought two intense battles today. She was probably still working her night shift at the convenience store now. If she came here to fight again without eating or sleeping, she might really collapse.
If I can handle this myself, I should do it. No need to trouble that girl...
Bai Muxue sighed softly and put her phone back into her pocket.
“Next is figuring out how to sneak in...”
She looked up at the tall fence that seemed endless, then at the inflatable clown still watching over the park.
If it noticed anything strange, the whole amusement park might instantly become her enemy.
She tapped her chin with one finger, thinking.
Then, a sly smile appeared on her lips.
She fixed her hair that had been blown messy by the wind, then boldly walked out from the tent.
Under the clown’s watchful eyes, she copied the same stiff smile and swayed her steps as she joined the line of children.
She was taking a gamble.
Since everyone lured here were children, it was clear that adults were not the monster’s target this time.
Luckily, although Bai Muxue was no longer really a child, with her youthful face and small body, pretending to be one was still possible.
So she calmly walked through the main gate.
Even though petite Bai Muxue stood out among the children, the inflatable clown did not notice anything wrong.
The clowns at the entrance even waved their long arms, as if welcoming them all inside.
Hehe, plan successful!
Why can’t I be a child too?
Is growing early a crime?
Uh... why does that sound so sad...
Especially for someone like her, whose mental age was almost forty.
Come to think of it, ever since becoming a little girl, the way she spoke and thought had become stranger and stranger...
Must be my imagination.
The proud look on her pretty face disappeared in a flash. Bai Muxue lowered her head and looked at her flat chest. For some reason, she let out a quiet sigh, then followed the crowd into the amusement park.
Inside, the amusement park looked completely different from what she had seen outside.
It was more like a strange drawing.
Everything related to an “amusement park” looked like messy children’s doodles, with no design logic at all. It was like random blocks of color had been carelessly pasted together.
For example, the Ferris wheel not far away had crooked lines and messy colors. The cabins were all different sizes, like flattened round cakes. Every turn it made came with a sharp creaking sound.
This weird and absurd sight made Bai Muxue feel dizzy...
It was as if she had entered another world.
She looked up.
In the unclear and messy-colored sky floated a huge half-transparent creature.
Its shape was like a jellyfish. Its large umbrella-like top gave off a faint blue glow.
It had no face and no limbs.
Only countless thin transparent tentacles stretched outward, covering the whole amusement park.
“This...”
Bai Muxue’s pupils shrank slightly. She then looked at the children who had already spread out around the park.
One boy had become thin, with sunken cheeks, yet he still endlessly played the shooting game.
One girl had heavy dark circles under her eyes, but still wore a strange smile while playing the claw machine.
Other children staggered weakly, struggling as they rode the roller coaster again and again.
A Disaster Beast!
That thing in the sky was not a monster person, it was a Disaster Beast!
At that moment, Bai Muxue understood.
This creature probably had mind-control abilities. It used the children’s memories to create this strange place.
That was why the amusement park looked so strange and mismatched.
Children’s thoughts were always wild and free. If you asked them to describe a real place clearly, they probably could not.
Looking at those children, this beast was likely draining their life force through this method.
But then why was Sister Wang affected too...?
If it was targeting me, wouldn’t it be easier to control me directly?
While Bai Muxue frowned and thought, the huge floating beast in the sky slowly turned its transparent head toward her direction.
It had no eyes.
But Bai Muxue could clearly feel that it was staring at her.
She had been discovered.
Among all the children happily “playing,” Bai Muxue was the only one standing still, making her stand out badly.
A cold chill spread through her whole body.
Without hesitation, she turned and ran.
Unlike the brute beast she fought before, an enemy that controlled minds was much harder to deal with. Charging directly at it would be foolish.
Bai Muxue quickly rushed into a nearby tent, searching for a place to hide.
Just as her eyes landed on a funny mirror in the corner, two soft white hands suddenly reached out from behind it and pulled her over.
“Guh!?”
“It’s okay! I came to—”
Before the person could finish speaking, Bai Muxue, already extremely tense, did not think at all.
She opened her mouth and bit hard onto the hand trying to cover her mouth.