The Great Escape from the Amusement Park

“That persistent man just won’t give up.”

Queen Lan grumbled beside me, her voice a low murmur.

I turned to Queen Lan, asking, “You know him? Who exactly is he?”

It seemed he would catch us soon. His running speed was comparable to a professional sprinter.

‘If a pervert could run this fast, I’d bash my head against that tree in our school’s small grove, the one covered in carved names, just to shock those plant vandals into sheathing their… tools!’

“How would I know…?”

Queen Lan mumbled.

“You definitely know!”

I raised my voice.

“Alright, alright.”

Queen Lan waved a dismissive hand, finally admitting, “That man is the butler sent by Ji Qianluo’s father – the father of this body I’m currently in – to protect and monitor Ji Qianluo. His name is Lin Yi. Whenever her father is away, Lin Yi acts as Ji Qianluo’s guardian and supervisor.

He’s incredibly annoying, always trailing behind like a shadow. He even waits outside the bathroom when I’m inside! When I first swapped bodies with Ji Qianluo, I absolutely couldn’t stand him! Now, he’s probably seen that I skipped class and wants to drag me back to school.”

Listening to her explanation, my face instantly turned deathly pale.

‘Damn, so this guy is Ji Qianluo’s butler? I’m finished, completely finished! I just called him a pervert. If he catches up to us… I’ll just throw Queen Lan at him first!’

“What about Lin Yi? How are his skills?”

I asked, my voice tinged with apprehension.

Queen Lan glanced behind us.

“You can tell just by how fast he runs… Oh, it looks like he’s about to catch up.”

“What?”

I quickly looked back, only to find Lin Yi a mere arm’s length away.

My gaze, turning backward, met his directly!

‘Damn, that cold, indifferent stare seemed to say, “Boy, I’m going to rip your mouth apart!”’

I quickly averted my eyes, tightening my grip on Queen Lan’s hand.

“This way!”

I shouted, then halted my steps, spun around, and dragged Queen Lan headfirst into a haunted house.

“Welcome to… huh?”

A staff member inside the haunted house, seeing visitors enter, was about to greet them when they suddenly bolted directly into the depths of the attraction.

The employee quickly called out, “You two! You haven’t paid yet!”

“On the table!”

I yelled back to the staff member from a distance.

The staff member looked at the table, where a hundred soft currency notes indeed lay.

Just as they reached out to collect it, a man in a suit burst in from outside, slammed some money onto the table with a resounding ‘thwack,’ and then sprinted into the haunted house without a word.

The staff member stared blankly at the two hundred soft currency notes on the table, muttering, “Are people really this extravagant these days? They want to play the haunted house so badly they don’t even care about their change?”

Inside the haunted house, Queen Lan complained to me, “That was my money for ‘Sword of the Brave’! Why did you just hand it over like that?”

“Wasn’t that the money you extorted from me?!”

I retorted, clearly annoyed.

“That butler caught up?”

“How would I know? It’s pitch black in here.”

Queen Lan replied.

Indeed, due to the haunted house’s design, eerie and terrifying decorations filled every corner.

The lighting was deliberately dim, making it impossible to discern anything beyond a short distance.

In a way, it reminded me a little of that girl Li Qingcheng’s room back home.

I slowly brought Queen Lan and myself to a halt, glancing around before asking, “Did we lose him?”

“Unlikely.”

Queen Lan replied.

After a moment’s thought, I released Queen Lan’s hand and pulled my phone from my pocket, intending to illuminate our surroundings.

I activated the flashlight function, aimed it at the entrance we had just come through, and pressed the ‘on’ button.

Suddenly, a long, ghastly pale face, starkly illuminated by the flashlight, appeared directly in front of me.

‘Oh my god, a ghost!’

My heart leaped in terror. Without a second thought, I instinctively raised my fist and slammed it forcefully into the center of that face.

The face vanished instantly into the darkness.

I grabbed Queen Lan’s hand again and quickly resumed running forward.

The haunted house’s exit seemed to connect directly to its entrance.

As Queen Lan and I burst out once more, we encountered the same staff member.

The employee waved at us, seemingly intending to stop us, but at that moment, I couldn’t afford to pay them any mind. Naturally, I ignored them completely.

The staff member, disheartened, lowered their hand and scoffed, “Getting this scared in a ten-yuan haunted house? You city folks sure know how to have fun.”

No sooner had the employee spoken than a person with disheveled, ash-covered hair and a prominent bruise on their left cheek burst out of the haunted house.

“A ghost!”

The staff member shrieked in fright.

“What was that just now?”

I asked, still running and feeling a lingering sense of dread after exiting the haunted house.

Queen Lan covered her mouth, whether stifling a laugh or doing something else entirely, and whispered, “I don’t know, but it looked like Lin Yi’s face, didn’t it?”

“What?”

‘Holy crap, was that Butler Lin Yi’s face just now? Great, just great! Not only have I slandered Lin Yi, but now I’ve added assault to the list! If Butler Lin catches me, he can haul me straight to the police station!’

‘Will I go to jail? And if I do, when Class Monitor becomes a police officer, will she let me out for old times’ sake?’

‘Probably no chance. Knowing Class Monitor’s personality, she’d make sure I served every single second of my sentence!’

‘So, I absolutely cannot be caught by Butler Lin Yi.’

“Oh, he’s out now.”

Queen Lan, who had been constantly looking behind us, announced.

I glanced back and, sure enough, saw Butler Lin, a noticeable bruise marring his left cheek, sprinting out of the haunted house and rapidly closing the distance towards us.

‘That bruise on his face… it wasn’t from me, was it? Please tell me it wasn’t!’

“Pfft, pfft, that bruise on his face looks hilarious. Well done, Li Qingchen!”

Queen Lan chuckled.

‘Well done, my foot! Now I’ve definitely, completely pissed off Butler Lin Yi! You can tell just by his fierce glare!’

“What’s ‘well done’? This way!”

I tugged Queen Lan along, changing direction once more.

On the merry-go-round, Queen Lan and I shared a wooden horse. I let out a sigh of relief, saying, “He shouldn’t be able to catch us now, right?”

Queen Lan pointed behind us.

“Over there, over there.”

I looked back and saw Butler Lin perfectly upright on a wooden horse behind us, his posture as rigid as a primary school student’s, his eyes fixed intently on me.

‘Damn, Butler Lin, you must have been a model student in elementary school! Was your house covered in little red stars? Please, for the love of all that’s holy, can you just relax a little on the merry-go-round? You’re making me feel like I’m playing hide-and-seek with a grade-schooler!’

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

I urgently cried out.

On the swing ride.

“Surely he hasn’t caught up now, has he?”

I let out a breath.

“Over there, over there.”

Queen Lan pointed behind us.

Startled, I followed Queen Lan’s arm with my gaze.

Butler Lin was still there, seated on a swing chair with that same primary school student posture, his eyes locked onto me.

‘Damn, Elementary Schooler Lin Yi is chasing us again!’

“Let’s go!”

On the pendulum ride.

Queen Lan pointed to a seat opposite us and shouted, “Li Qingchen! Over there, over there!”

‘Shut up! It’s probably just Butler Lin again, sitting there with his primary school posture, staring fixedly at me! I don’t have time to deal with him right now! My eyes are squeezed shut, and I’m screaming my lungs out in terror as this hammer swings!’

‘Who suggested we get on this pendulum ride anyway?!’