Chapter 239: Ghost Amusement Park

"Where is Yi Yi?" I kept my face expressionless, hiding everything. Standing a short distance away, I focused intensely, even using Chasing Eye to scrutinize every inch of her.

"Just as the parade was ending, a stampede broke out in the crowd. A child fell, and I tried to save him," Tie Ningxiang said, her face full of remorse. "Right then, a Clown holding balloons walked past me. He was the one who knocked the kid over."

I didn't reply. Frowning, I tightened my grip on the iron tongs. "Tell me where Yi Yi is."

"It looks like she was taken by that Clown. He's the prime suspect."

The woman before me clutched the wound on her arm. Her expressions and movements perfectly matched the person in my memory, but that alone wasn't enough to convince me. "I sent out multiple broadcasts before the park closed. Why are you only showing up at the broadcasting station now?"

"I was chasing the Clown. I heard your broadcast, but I couldn't let him get away."

Tie Ningxiang's explanation made sense. At first glance, there were no holes in her story.

"What happened to your arm?"

Tie Ningxiang finally noticed my cold attitude and suspicious tone. Pressing gently against her wound, she raised a pale, weary face. "Did you find something else? Why are you so guarded against me?"

The Fate Ghost was still locked in a tug-of-war with the yin souls. I didn't have much time left, but I couldn't rashly approach Tie Ningxiang either. If she was an imposter, getting closer would only put me in greater danger. "What happened to your arm? And what exactly went on while you were missing? Don't hide anything. Tell me everything!"

"Gao Jian?" My rapid-fire questions and guarded gaze seemed to cause her a pang of inexplicable hurt, but she knew the situation was critical and couldn't act like usual. "I was chasing the Clown this whole time. He was deliberately leading me in circles around the Amusement Park, like he was intentionally stalling. Every time I was about to catch up, he would suddenly duck into a building. Then, right as I gave up and prepared to leave, he'd suddenly reappear, leaving me just his back to follow."

"Eventually, I chased him all the way to the Haunted House. The park hadn't closed yet, but there was absolutely no one around it."

"Is that where you got hurt? At the entrance to the Haunted House?" I asked casually, recalling the specks of blood on the lock of the door leading to the third underground theme.

Tie Ningxiang nodded. "Yes. There was more than one of them. As soon as I entered the Haunted House, I was attacked by two people. One of them wore a white lab coat, dressed up like a Doctor. He must be a staff member there."

Hearing this, my suspicions toward Tie Ningxiang lessened. I had found the blood on the Haunted House's door lock purely by accident; it didn't seem like a deliberate trap set by the enemy.

"Then how did you end up back here at the broadcasting station?"

"It's too hard for me to save Yi Yi alone. I need your help, so I decided to try looking for you here."

"How do you want me to help?"

"Come with me to the Haunted House's underground level. Yi Yi is most likely hidden down there!"

The Haunted House was my original destination anyway, so our paths aligned perfectly. The only problem was that I still wasn't completely sure if she was the Tie Ningxiang I knew.

I slowly walked up to her and lowered the iron tongs. "Let me see your wound."

Gently lifting Tie Ningxiang's arm, I saw that the cut was quite deep. It was caused by an axe blade and had struck an artery—it made perfect sense that blood had splattered everywhere.

Was this really Tie Ningxiang? I smelled that unique fragrance of hers and lowered my eyes, catching sight of the bright jade pendant resting on her chest.

"United Heart Jade..."

Jade was forged from the spiritual essence of mountains and stones; it was incredibly hard to fake. Yet, this was also the most anomalous detail. Why was it that when Tie Ningxiang got hurt, I—who also wore a piece of the United Heart Jade—didn't feel any discomfort at all? Did it only give a warning during a life-threatening crisis?

The scenes from the security monitors kept flashing through my mind. At the maze's exit, the camera had captured a woman who looked identical to Tie Ningxiang, but her expression had been incredibly bizarre.

"Gao Jian? Did you run into something strange too?"

Faced with Tie Ningxiang's inquiry, I dodged the heavy details and only mentioned a few trivial things.

I was genuinely worried about Yi Yi's safety, but the Fate Ghost's situation also brooked no delay. Unable to determine whether the person in front of me was real or fake for the moment, I kept my head down and ran toward the Haunted House with her.

"Leave quickly! Leave quickly!" We had barely taken a few steps away from the broadcasting station when that old beggar blocked my path again. He looked panicked and anxious, as if something catastrophic was going to happen in just a few minutes.

"Leave quickly!" The old beggar reached out to grab my hand again. Worried about the Fate Ghost, I didn't just bat him away this time—I dodged and locked him into a grapple.

"You keep urging me to leave. What are your real intentions? What role are you playing in this midnight Amusement Park built on top of a graveyard? Don't tell me you're the Clown's accomplice." I clamped down on the old beggar's pulse points. He grimaced in pain, yet he still wouldn't stop shouting.

"Leave quickly, leave quickly..."

This incessant, death-knell-like urging filled me with a sudden, inexplicable sense of dread. My face darkened, but I refused to let go.

There was definitely something wrong with the old man's identity, but judging by his behavior so far, he seemed more like a victim.

"Who exactly are you?" Twisting his wrist back, I increased my grip strength. The old beggar's face changed color from the pain, and he finally stopped talking.

"Gao Jian, stop!" Tie Ningxiang hurried over and pulled me away. "Calm down. I'm even more anxious than you are about losing Yi Yi, but there's no need to be this rough with an old man, is there?"

The moment I let go, the old beggar glanced over his shoulder. An insurmountable terror instantly flooded his eyes. Scrambling to his bare feet, he abandoned bothering me and sprinted straight into the broadcasting station.

"Stop!" The old beggar's behavior was simply too abnormal to ignore. Ever since I entered the Amusement Park, I had felt that something was off about him, but I just hadn't found any concrete evidence yet.

'Once I save the Fate Ghost, I have to figure out what his secret is.' I had to prioritize. But just as I turned toward the Haunted House, Tie Ningxiang suddenly grabbed my arm.

"What are you doing?" In this Amusement Park, there wasn't a single person I could completely trust—including the "Tie Ningxiang" standing next to me.

I watched her warily. She pointed into the distance at the Haunted House. "Something just came out of there. Let's hide for a second."

Following her gaze, I was startled to see several figures standing at the entrance to the Haunted House.

They were tall and thin, their bodies like bamboo poles planted diagonally into the ground.

"It's so late. Why is anyone still coming out of the Haunted House?" Tie Ningxiang pulled me toward the broadcasting station, but my eyes remained glued in the direction of the Haunted House.

Because I possessed Chasing Eye, my vision far surpassed that of an ordinary person. I could see things that Tie Ningxiang couldn't.

The figures standing at the Haunted House's entrance wore white cloth garments. Just like the old beggar, their feet were bare. They didn't speak to one another; they merely stood there in total silence.

A few seconds later, more figures filed out of the Haunted House. Their numbers grew larger and larger, making my heart race with terror.

"Who are these people? Where did they come from?"

The closer I looked, the more terrified I became. Every single one of these emaciated people—figures who looked like they'd be blown away by a gust of wind—had a ragdoll clinging to their backs.

They were identical to the ragdolls I had seen on the second floor of the Haunted House and down in the underground maze.

"Why are they carrying ragdolls?"

My question was soon answered. A short while later, a woman walked out of the Haunted House. Her skin was as pale and smooth as moonlight.

At first, the woman stood in profile. I could only see that the ragdoll clinging to her back was slightly different from the rest—it had a distinct black mole on its cheek.

"That feels so familiar."

When the woman slowly turned her head, all the hairs on my body stood on end. She had an ordinary face, pale skin, and a very conspicuous black mole.

"Li Manman!"

Her corpse was still sitting in the maze. I had personally closed her eyes, shutting out her dying grievances.

"A dead person is appearing in the Amusement Park again? No, they aren't human!" I looked down at the Underworld Live Show Phone. The livestream viewers were also discussing the identities of these figures. Among them, a barrage comment from Half-Immortal Liu caught my eye.

Half-immortal Liu from Qingcheng Mountain: "Streamer, these are all yin souls that have been imprisoned, unable to reincarnate. The Amusement Park you're in is not simple. It's very likely a grand array that isolates the heavenly secrets and traps everything in a cycle of life and death!"