Zhang Xiaowai sat on a long bench by the roadside in the bustling night market, sweat trickling from his palm as he clutched his phone. The screen glowed with a single text message:"Tonight at 10. Meet at the abandoned amusement park."
Just one sentence, but it dropped into his heart like a stone, sending ripples of cold dread outward."This is starting to feel like a horror movie..." he muttered to himself.
Beside him, Liu Piaopiao paced back and forth, the deer-antler hat on her head swaying dramatically with each step. The dangling plush balls bobbed around like a metronome, making him dizzy. She was muttering something, like she was reciting a forensic textbook:"If the killer picked an amusement park for a meetup, it could point to childhood trauma or an obsession with 'games'... Or maybe they just enjoy being creepy."
"Come on," Zhang Xiaowai groaned, rubbing his temples, "Can you stop talking like you're narrating a true crime podcast? I'm already on edge here."
Regret was practically oozing out of him. Yesterday, he was just staying late for some overtime. Now, he was neck-deep in a missing boss case, stuck working with this self-proclaimed "#1 Detective in Wulong City." He didn't even dare go home anymore, afraid some masked man would drag him out from under the bed in the dead of night.The next morning's news headline would probably read: "Ordinary Office Worker Mysteriously Vanishes, Suspected Link to Deer-Antler Hat"
"We're really going to that creepy place?" he made a last-ditch effort to protest. "An abandoned amusement park sounds like a horror cliché waiting to happen. What if there are snakes or rats? I'm not exactly made of iron!"
Liu Piaopiao paused, bringing her magnifying glass right up to his nose, blinking with determination."Xiaowai, what are you afraid of? With me around, no monster or ghost would dare touch you!"
"I'm not afraid of ghosts, I'm afraid of my mom," he said. "If she finds out I'm running around in abandoned parks at night, she'll break my legs."
He was seriously considering making a run for it while Liu Piaopiao was lost in her mutterings when a loud voice rang out from the street corner, slicing through the absurdity of this late-night farce like a butcher's knife.
"Yo, Xiaowai! Out here making shady deals in the middle of the night?"
Wearing a faded security uniform stretched tight across bulging muscles, Wang Dazhuang strolled over with a patrol baton slung over his shoulder. His ever-present goofy grin made Zhang Xiaowai instinctively want to roll his eyes. The man looked like he'd just come from deadlifting cars at the gym.
Zhang Xiaowai's eyes lit up. Eureka!He couldn't fight off masked creepers—but Wang Dazhuang? The man once punched a vending machine open. Twice. Bringing him along might just be the best insurance policy for surviving the night.
"Dazhuang!" Zhang Xiaowai launched himself at the man's arm like a drowning man grabbing driftwood. His words came out in rapid-fire mode."Boss Li's missing! I've been targeted by a masked freak! And now I got roped into investigating it in an abandoned amusement park! You have to come with us! Even just to block a knife or two!"
He gave a quick, dramatized summary, generously embellishing the masked villain into something out of a horror film, hoping to ignite that dormant heroic spark in Wang Dazhuang's security-guard soul.
It worked.
Wang Dazhuang's chest puffed out like a bass drum, rattling the nearby trash can lid with a metallic clang. His eyes gleamed like he'd just found his destiny.
"What?! A big case like this in Wulong City and nobody called me?" He thumped his baton dramatically. "Don't worry, brother. With me around, nothing's gonna touch you!"
Then he raised his head, eyes brimming with the weight of fate, as if ready to deliver a monologue to the wind.
"I've always felt I was chosen for something more. This security job? Just a temporary station. But this... this is the moment I've been waiting for! This case... it's my destiny calling!"
"Wow!" Liu Piaopiao's eyes sparkled like she was watching a superhero origin story. "You're totally in! From now on, you're our official combat specialist!"
Zhang Xiaowai rolled his eyes so hard he saw his own regrets.Great. Now he was officially the third wheel between a detective with anime syndrome and a security guard with a hero complex. At this rate, he'd be lucky to survive as the comic relief.
The trio set off together—mostly because Zhang Xiaowai failed to escape—toward the outskirts of Wulong City.
The night deepened. Clouds covered the moon, wind stirred the trees, and shadows danced across the ground like restless ghosts. The amusement park's rusted gates loomed ahead, flanked by broken cartoon statues missing arms and legs, as if frozen mid-scream.
Zhang Xiaowai's shirt clung to his back with sweat."This place looks exactly like a horror movie set. I don't like this. At all."
"Relax!" Wang Dazhuang shouted, and with a mighty kick, blasted the gate open with a thunderous CLANG! that sent Zhang Xiaowai jumping half a meter into the air.
"With me here, even ghosts gotta take a detour!"
He strode into the park like he was on a crime drama set, baton swinging confidently.
Liu Piaopiao, meanwhile, held up a flashlight in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other, like a hybrid of Sherlock Holmes and a Taoist priest."The killer must've left behind traces—fingerprints, shoe prints, maybe even... strands of hair!"
They moved past twisted rollercoaster tracks and overgrown weeds. A deflated balloon drifted past on the breeze, making Zhang Xiaowai nearly choke on his own heartbeat. Before he could complain, the carousel ahead suddenly creaked to life.
The horses began to turn. Dim yellow lights flickered erratically. A warped children's lullaby began to play from an ancient speaker, like a choir of undead toddlers.
"OH MY GOD!" Zhang Xiaowai screamed, latching onto Wang Dazhuang's leg like a terrified kitten. "It's haunted! We're gonna die!"
Liu Piaopiao, meanwhile, looked ecstatic. "This is totally a clue! Someone activated a mechanism in advance!" She rushed forward to inspect it, only to trip and fall face-first when her skirt got caught on a saddle horn.
Wang Dazhuang hurried over and hoisted her up like a sack of potatoes."Easy there, detective! No need to rush—we'll get you your own armor suit next time!"
Then he turned to Zhang Xiaowai with a wink."Hey, Xiaowai! Want me to tell you a spooky joke to calm you down? Why don't ghosts go to amusement parks?"He paused dramatically."Because they're afraid of standing in lines! HAHAHA!"
Zhang Xiaowai turned pale."Your joke's scarier than the carousel…"
Suddenly, the carousel ground to a halt. A soft clink came from the base. Something had fallen to the ground near Zhang Xiaowai's feet. He bent down nervously and picked it up—it was a small, yellowed key, etched with strange, archaic symbols that looked vaguely ritualistic.
"What the heck is this?" he asked, handing it to Liu Piaopiao.
She examined it under her magnifying glass with exaggerated flair before declaring, "This is definitely a clue! Maybe it opens a secret chamber! Or a trapdoor leading straight to the truth!"
Zhang Xiaowai got a sinking feeling in his stomach.He had a long history with ominous-looking items. They never led to anything good.
Wang Dazhuang clapped him on the back, full of bravado."Don't sweat it, Xiaowai. If there's a secret door, I'll just punch it open!" He struck a proud pose, flexing his pecs—then immediately stumbled as his elbow smashed through a rotted wooden beam, startling even himself.
Liu Piaopiao gave him a glare. "Save your muscles for later, Rambo. We need to take this key back and analyze it. It might be linked to one of Wulong City's ancient urban legends."
She carefully pocketed the key and began the walk back, humming a made-up theme tune for "Detective Liu's Victory March."
Zhang Xiaowai followed, muttering darkly under his breath.This didn't feel like detective work.This felt like he'd been dragged into a reality show where the prize was not dying.
Above them, the clouds parted for a moment. Moonlight illuminated the ruined Ferris wheel. At its very top, something shimmered—a faint glimmer. Like a pair of eyes. Watching.
Zhang Xiaowai shivered and quickened his pace, silently praying:Please... no more nonsense tonight.
But deep down, he knew—
With him around, the nonsense was just getting started.