Chapter 977: Rules?

A huge red arrow was painted on the ground at the entrance, pointing straight into the archway.

Next to the arrow, a line of white text was spray‑painted: "Visitors, please follow the tour route and do not go against traffic."

Heimu glanced over, but did not stop walking.

The wording itself felt like a threat, saying the scariest thing in the politest tone.

When she passed through the arch, the string of colored lights overhead flickered twice in unison, the cold cyan glow quivered, then returned to normal.

A gust of wind blew from within the garden, carrying the sweet scent of popcorn.

Heimu wrinkled his nose, thinking the smell was mixed in a strange way.

Behind the arch lay a wide main avenue, with colorful flags slanting down from the lamp posts on both sides, each flag bearing the same smiling‑face design.

The smiling faces were extremely minimalist: two curved lines served as eyes, a single arc as the mouth.

The flags swayed gently in the wind, like dozens of faces nodding at them simultaneously.

The lamp posts were painted in red‑white stripes, their brightness so high that the entire avenue was lit like broad daylight, yet the light felt oddly cold on the skin.

"This place is way too bright,"

Pa Duo crouched by Heimu's feet, her neck pulled in so tightly it was almost invisible, "It's so bright my heart feels even more uncertain; this blazing light—it's deadly."

"Pa Duo, are you scared?"

Ying, rarely, took the initiative to reply.

"Sister Ying! I've always been scared, okay!"

Pa Duo instantly looked up, her whiskers trembling, "I'm a cat; a cat's courage is only a tiny bit, and a glance at a place like this shortens one's life!"

A Bo Ni Ya gave a soft laugh.

She stepped to Heimu's side and raised a finger toward the distance.

"There's a sign over there with writing on it."

Heimu looked over and indeed saw, at the exact center of the avenue, a large notice board hanging from an iron frame about two meters above the ground.

White background with black lettering, its edges rimmed with a gold border, looking proper.

The board stood by the road, each of its four corners tethered to a small lamp, illuminating the text clearly.

Heimu took a few steps forward and looked up.

"Welcome to Happy Maze Park. To ensure you have a pleasant day, please observe the following amusement‑park Rules."

When Heimu saw the word "Rule," his eyelid twitched.

She continued reading downwards, and the first item was boldly written:

All mascots in this park are friendly and cute; if you see a mascot waving at you, please respond warmly.

If the mascot has no hands, keep smiling and promptly leave the area.

Pa Duo followed her gaze and read, her cat eyes widening: "How can you wave without hands? This sentence is more convoluted than me chasing my own Tail!"

Heimu remained silent and then read the next item:

All mirrors in the park are for grooming only; if the reflection in a mirror does not leave with you, do not turn back to look for it.

Ying stood behind Heimu and also read the words clearly.

"These Rules are designed to make people slip up on the details."

"Right."

Heimu, interjecting, said, "The greatest malice in places like this hides in sentences that tell you not to do something; the more you remind yourself not to look back, the more you want to look back."

She paused, stunned after speaking.

How did she say it so fluently? It sounded as if she had truly experienced it.

Heimu clicked his tongue inwardly and kept reading the board.

There were several more Rules behind, the lettering clear and utterly cold:

No statues will appear in the park; if you see a statue, close your eyes, count silently for three seconds, then open them.

If after counting the statue is closer to you, proceed immediately to the nearest carousel.

If you hear someone call your given name, first confirm the speaker is a companion before responding.

If the speaker cannot be verified, go to the snack kiosk, buy a bag of popcorn, and keep chewing.

All rides in the park are free, but each ride must be spaced at least three minutes apart.

If you see another version of yourself on a ride, close your eyes immediately until you hear three bells.

Heimu's gaze lingered on the words "another self" for two seconds before drifting away.

"Finished reading?"

A Bo Ni Ya asked.

Her voice remained calm, betraying no tension, as if asking Heimu whether they'd like a cup of hot tea.

"Finished."

Heimu tapped the tiny line of text at the bottom of the notice, "There's an additional clause."

That line was smaller than the previous Rules, its color faint, as if printed hastily:

If you have read all the Rules, please, on your tenth blink, confirm that you are still standing before the notice.

As Heimu uttered the sentence, a long melody suddenly sounded from the far end of the avenue.

Immediately after, a light in a distant red‑white striped popcorn kiosk went "pop."

Several of them turned to look that way.

Inside the kiosk stood a life‑size bear mascot, its brown fur fluffy, its mouth corners stitched with black lines into an exaggerated curve.

It stood behind the counter, one paw pressed against the glass case, the other raised high, waving toward them.

Its movements were mechanical, the joints jerking noticeably as they turned.

It is waving at us.

Pa Duo's voice trembled violently, Tail exploded into a feather duster, "Is this considered having hands or not?"

Heimu stared at the bear, the corner of Heimu's mouth twitched.

What is this?

She even automatically heard in her mind the common lines from those posts she had read before:

Never make eye contact with someone wearing a doll costume!

Back then I thought this setup was cliché, but now having experienced it firsthand, I realize that cliché aside, the scariness hasn't diminished at all.

Especially the bear's waving frequency, which was completely out of sync with the music, made the whole bear look like it was playing a lagging welcome animation half a beat late.

So, should we now respond to it enthusiastically?

Sakura tightened the fingers gripping the hilt, "Or should we retreat for now?"

Heimu thought for two seconds.

During those two seconds, the bear in the popcorn kiosk waved its hand two more times, each swing larger than the last; by the third wave, its entire right arm was almost raised above its head, and the bear's paw slapped the kiosk's crossbeam with a crisp "pop" sound.

"Respond to it."

Heimu said.

Then she raised her right hand, in a manner that was extremely perfunctory yet still arguably enthusiastic, and waved back at the bear.

The moment she waved, all the colorful flags throughout the park froze simultaneously.

It was as if an invisible hand held back the wind, and even the air solidified into a transparent jelly.

The cheerful background music also stopped, leaving only the increasingly glaring warm yellow light inside the popcorn kiosk.

Heimu's hand hadn't come down yet when the bear-shaped mascot suddenly stopped waving, its whole body slowly tilting left, as if someone had pushed it from behind the counter, and it fell straight down with a dull thud.

Immediately after, the popcorn kiosk's lights went out.

The world fell back into silence, lit only by cold-colored streetlights.

"So that earlier wave counts as having responded enthusiastically."

Heimu lowered her hand, calmly rotating her wrist, "It fell on its own; it has nothing to do with us."

"Miss…"

Pa Duo's voice sounded weak, "You're so relaxed; we almost ascended on the spot just now."

"Not yet at the point of ascension."

Heimu lifted her chin toward the popcorn kiosk, "Now the lights are out, the place is quiet again for the moment; taking advantage of this lull, let's go inside and head to the carousel area first to look for clues."

"The Rule repeatedly mentions the carousel; there should be something there."

Sakura immediately nodded, moving close to Heimu's side.

A Bo Ni Ya adjusted her veil, a delicate hand slipping out from beneath it, fingertips making a faint hook in the air as if confirming an invisible current.

"There is a Wei Er Wei mark."

She whispered, "It's fresh; she really is waiting for us."

Heimu thought, let them wait; waiting to scare people in a horror amusement park, Wei Er Wei is really in a good mood.

She stepped forward, walking deeper down the main thoroughfare.

A red arrow at her feet pointed straight ahead, toward a massive disc standing in the night.

The carousel's canopy was studded with tiny bulbs; now it's dark, with only a few on the edge flickering like breathing.