Tricked 102: Ruru

Hearing the little girl’s words, Jiang Yan smiled.

“Because Sui Sui really loved that duck, didn’t she?”

At this, little Yu Renwan craned her neck over, indignation written all over her face. “Of course she loved it—she loved it so much! Even I liked that puppy on the screen! I really don’t know what her parents were thinking. That puppy was Sui Sui’s lifesaver. Not only did they not give it a proper burial, they actually ate it!”

“And the duckling too! They promised to keep it as a pet, then suddenly changed their minds,” little Yu Renwan said, hands on her hips. “If my parents did that, I’d be furious—I’d definitely cook up whatever they liked best and make them eat it!”

Yu Renwan whispered, “What if what they like best is you?”

Little Yu Renwan immediately replied, “Then I’ll perform ‘Stewing Myself in an Iron Pot’ for them!”

A string of 【……】 floated across the livestream.

【Kids will be kids, after all.】

【But they have hearts too. They don’t have the power to threaten adults, so the only threat they can make is with themselves.】

【By the way, did Sui Sui die in this game, just like An An?】

【Feels like it. Her experience is… fairly common, so the game based on her isn’t so twisted.】

Not long after, the twins and Zhao Kepu found their way over.

They had already finished the carousel and the Duck Duck Cinema. With just over twenty minutes left in the hour, none of them had played the Giant Cleaver yet. If they wanted the reward, time was tight.

The group stood in front of the game equipment. The panda mascot enthusiastically invited guests to enter. When it saw Yu Renwan and Jiang Yan, it kindly reminded them, “You two have to join the next round!”

Jiang Yan acknowledged with a nod.

The panda mascot had announced earlier, using a loudspeaker, that anyone who watched the Giant Cleaver game must participate within three rounds. There were still three minutes before the next round. Jiang Yan waved Yu Renwan over to join her.

After Yu Renwan brought little Yu Renwan inside, Jiang Yan looked down at the little girl. “If you want to play, I’ll take you with me. If not, I’ll just bring your stamp card in.”

Little Jiang Yan looked at her like she was crazy. “Of course I want to play.”

“You can’t find something this exciting back home.”

Just as expected.

Jiang Yan led the little girl to the panda mascot. The mascot opened the railing for them and let them through.

The Giant Cleaver ride had only one row of seats. The bright red chairs were an ominous sign. Jiang Yan took the seat to Yu Renwan’s left. She first wiped the blood off the seat with a tissue, then flicked half an eyeball onto the ground.

“All set.”

Jiang Yan extended her arm. Little Jiang Yan obediently used it for support as she climbed into the chair. The seat was nearly a meter off the ground, so her feet dangled in the air. She looked up at the cleaver above her head and, full of anticipation, started kicking her legs.

There were still two minutes before the game started when the middle-aged woman finally arrived, late.

She had to participate in this round as well.

Jiang Yan sat leisurely in her seat, staring directly at the woman. There was no childhood version of herself behind her; she was alone, anxiously rubbing the hem of her shirt.

When she saw the panda mascot, her eyes lit up and she hurried over.

Her face was streaked with sweat. “Can you wait a bit longer? The child ran off. Let me look for her again. Please, just give me a little more time. I’m sure I can find her, and as soon as I do, I’ll have her play!”

The panda mascot grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll have the staff look for her. What you need to do right now is get on the ride. Park rules, you know. I don’t have the authority to change them.”

Hearing this, the woman couldn’t help but shiver. “But I’m afraid to go up…”

The panda mascot shrugged. “Your child was afraid, too, wasn’t she? But you pushed her in twice.”

The woman opened her mouth, wanting to say that wasn’t her child at all, just a doll with her memories. But instinct told her she couldn’t say that, so she just shook her head helplessly. “Please, I’m begging you…”

But the panda mascot’s smile only widened, as if mocking her wishful thinking.

“One minute left.”

Time hung over her head like a blade. The woman finally broke down, shouting, “What kind of hell is this? My husband’s already dead—I can’t die too! How can she be so selfish? She ran away on purpose! She just wants me dead—”

The panda mascot shrugged. “Ma’am, why are you blaming your childhood self?”

“Besides, did you ever buy her anything to eat? Hungry kids are easily lured away by strangers. You really weren’t careful enough.”

The woman’s cries stopped abruptly.

None of the surrounding NPCs reacted to this exchange. They swept their blank gazes over the woman, then focused all their emotion on the center of the ride, tongues unconsciously licking their lips, drool trickling out, eyes wild and excited.

This was the best spot to pick up fingers—if enough people died this round, they could play a few more times!

Even though each ride only allowed three rounds per adult and child, if a child died in the third round, the adults could survive, and if they lured in new children who hadn’t played yet, they could play another three rounds, and another three after that!

Round after round, they’d get through eventually!

With only a few seconds left before the railing closed, the middle-aged woman had no choice but to hand over three fingers, her face bloodless as she walked step by step to her seat. At that moment, Mu Wang arrived. He’d been watching Jiang Yan from the corner, and his peripheral vision had caught the Giant Cleaver, so he had to join this round too.

The place was packed. Mu Wang wore a baseball cap he’d gotten from who knows where, plus a pair of huge black sunglasses. He hurried over with two kids, quickly lifted them into their seats, and then sat down next to Jiang Yan.

Once the three of them sat, only the leftmost seat remained for the middle-aged woman.

That was where the cleaver always struck first.

The woman stood in front of the seat, unable to move forward.

The amusement park NPCs were all adults with their children, but outsiders who stumbled into the energy field usually didn’t have kids, so the mode changed to adults bringing their childhood selves.

So the middle-aged woman easily realized these three were just like her—“accidentally” caught in the energy field.

She mumbled a few words, as if wanting to greet them, but thought better of it. In the end, she closed her mouth and approached Pink Tao Tao. “Little one, can you switch seats with Auntie?”

Pink Tao Tao paused.

He looked left and right, then immediately understood.

Because Black Tao Tao looked more like Mu Wang as a child, and since Mu Wang’s face was covered, she took him for a lone little boy brought in by a substitute parent.

He narrowed his peach blossom eyes, displeased. “No can do, Auntie. No matter where you sit, you’re doomed. No point in switching.”

“But you can ask the mute next to me.”

Black Tao Tao shot him a look, then silently clung to Mu Wang’s sleeve.

Mu Wang pursed his lips and whispered, “They’re all mine…”

The woman’s face turned awkward for a moment. Outside, the panda mascot urged the guests to sit down. The woman looked quickly at the other seats, but everyone’s faces were either indifferent or mocking—they paid her no mind.

Slowly, she sat down in the leftmost seat.

Almost the instant she did, all the seats roared to life. Jiang Yan’s hair was whipped up by a violent wind, and a sense of weightlessness hit in an instant.

Jiang Yan’s pupils contracted sharply. The speed this time was nothing like previous rounds. The ascent was so rapid her eardrums began to ache. In just three to five seconds, everyone had risen nearly five stories high. A man’s nose gushed blood, and the faint scent of blood drifted through the air.

The pressure difference made several children instinctively let go of the handrails, clutching their ears in pain.

There were no restraints on this ride—anyone could be flung out at any time. Jiang Yan opened her mouth to ease the pressure in her ears and said coldly, “Hold onto the handrails on both sides.”

At this moment, little Yu Renwan was the most obedient, gripping the handrails for dear life, muttering nonstop:

“I regret this, I regret this… Why did I get on? I could’ve just skipped it. My brain must be fried…”

Little Jiang Yan was a bit rebellious. She spread her arms, turned her head to look at Jiang Yan. Jiang Yan gave her a blank smile. The little girl silently pulled her arms back and gripped the handrails.

Black Tao Tao sat like a wooden doll. Pink Tao Tao swung his big arm, flicking aside his wide sleeve, and hooked Black Tao Tao’s shoulder with a grin. “Scaredy-cat.”

Mu Wang’s eyes were squeezed shut by the wind. He frowned and looked left. “Sister, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Jiang Yan patted the back of his hand, and Mu Wang fell silent.

As they spoke, all the seats suddenly stopped, suspended nearly twenty meters in the air.

Jiang Yan straightened her back, rolled her shoulders, and silently counted the seconds in her mind. Every second up here was an ordeal. After twenty seconds, accompanied by a tidal wave of screams, the seats plummeted!

Because of inertia, Jiang Yan’s body lifted half a second before slamming back down onto the seat. Others fared worse—everyone shot up and down between ten and three meters, no pattern at all. Two more people started gushing nosebleeds.

Little Yu Renwan shouted, “My teeth hurt! Did I lose a tooth? Did I bite my tongue—?”

Her voice was blown away by the wind, only faintly audible.

Finally, five minutes into the ride, everyone was stopped at the very top. The massive, razor-sharp cleaver rumbled overhead.

After the rumble, the cleaver began to move slowly to the left.

Jiang Yan took a deep breath. Even though she’d survive if thrown off, this experience was a bit much.

After a few breaths, she shook her head, slowly stretched out her slightly pale right hand, and looked at her palm.

Just as she expected—

Her palm was now completely blank.

Before the game started, and even just after it began, her right palm had been perfectly normal. But now, right before the cleaver came down, her palm lines had vanished.

Jiang Yan was sure of her deduction.

She lowered her eyes and signaled to Shen Huanhuan below by gesturing at her waist. Shen Huanhuan, who had been holding binoculars, immediately raised her hands. Over twenty golden ropes shot into the air, securing everyone’s waists to their seats.

Before entering, Jiang Yan had told Shen Huanhuan to watch her for signals. Jiang Yan had wanted to have everyone’s waists secured from the start, but worried she might be wrong. Now, with her palm lines gone, she was certain.

—This game could be cleared just by stretching out your hand.

Jiang Yan looked up, carefully studying the shape of the cleaver.

It wasn’t straight—it had a curve, and the angle of the curve was obvious.

Once she had the angle, Jiang Yan twisted her right hand into an especially strange position, then raised her arm, palm up, placing it above her head.

“Everyone, check your hands. My right palm has no lines, but my left still does,” Jiang Yan suddenly spoke up.

A male NPC clutched his head in despair, ignoring Jiang Yan’s words. Jiang Yan didn’t bother with those who wouldn’t listen and continued, “We need to change our fate now—let the cleaver carve a new life line for us.”

“With a life line, we’ll survive.”

The middle-aged woman looked over in confusion. The cleaver was almost at her head. She trembled as she looked at her hands. The moment she saw her blank palm, a desperate desire to live flashed in her eyes. She hurriedly said, “It’s my left hand! My left hand has no lines!”

Jiang Yan looked at her. “The life line is the first line below your palm, roughly from your index finger toward your wrist. Raise your left hand, palm up, and align your life line with the cleaver.”

The woman quickly complied.

But the position was so awkward that to match the cleaver’s shape, her wrist had to twist almost to its limit.

She seemed not to feel the pain, using her right hand to force her left into place. Driven by her will to survive, she used all her strength, her wrist cracking audibly.

Yu Renwan twisted her own wrist, gasping in pain. “Who could even bend their hand like this…”

Little Yu Renwan’s eyes were brimming with tears as she mumbled, “I regret this, I regret this… Sometimes you really don’t need the experience, like with this game…”

No sooner had they spoken than there was a sharp crack—the middle-aged woman had forced her wrist into place.

Yu Renwan: “……….”

Little Yu Renwan: “………”

Jiang Yan: “Need help?”

Both nodded frantically.

Jiang Yan stretched out her arm and leaned over. Three seconds later, both their wrists were dislocated.

Little Yu Renwan clutched herself in pain. “You… you really are something…”

Jiang Yan glanced to the other side. Little Jiang Yan didn’t need her help. Mu Wang had twisted his own wrist out of joint as well, but since he didn’t feel pain, his expression didn’t change.

Black Tao Tao was equally unfazed.

Pink Tao Tao gritted his teeth. When he saw Jiang Yan’s questioning look, he forced a smile.

His face was full of resolve. “No… problem.”

Once everyone’s palms were fixed in the right position, the cleaver moved over the middle-aged woman’s head.

Bits of flesh clung to the blade, falling in shreds as it trembled. The woman’s body shook uncontrollably. She didn’t really trust Jiang Yan, but she was out of options.

The next second, the meter-long cleaver came down straight. The woman screamed instinctively.

She couldn’t open her eyes. Soon, she felt her hand jolt violently, the force numbing her whole arm—no, her whole body, so numb she couldn’t feel any pain.

She thought she was dead. She must be dead, that’s why she felt no pain.

But after dozens of seconds, the deafening roar gradually faded. The noise seemed to recede. The woman’s eyelashes fluttered, and an unbelievable thought surfaced in her mind—

At last, she slowly opened her eyes.

She lifted her head.

The cleaver was no longer above her. The man beside her had been sliced in half and slid off the seat, but the woman didn’t mourn the “dummy’s” death. She had only one thought—she’d survived.

Her life had been spared.

She checked again and again, finally letting out a breath of relief. Overjoyed, tears welled up in her eyes.

She drew her arm back, wiped her eyes through the pain, and looked at Jiang Yan with tearful gratitude. “Thank you. My son is very wealthy. When I—”

Before she could finish, a shrill scream erupted.

It came from the ground below.

—“Put your left hand back!”

A cold female voice rang out.

But the woman only just registered the words; she didn’t even have time to react to their meaning before the cleaver, having suddenly changed direction, sliced her in half.

Her body fell from over ten meters up, bursting into a spray of blood on the ground.

Everyone on the seats was stunned into silence by the sudden turn.

Jiang Yan lowered her eyes. “Don’t lower your hand until the game is over. Always watch the cleaver’s angle.”

Yu Renwan nodded emphatically.

For the next five minutes, the cleaver swung back and forth over their heads three more times. Once, the lines on Jiang Yan’s left hand suddenly vanished, so she quickly switched to her right, stretching it over her head. The cleaver’s angle changed several times, but now that they were prepared, everyone watched both the cleaver and their palms closely, and no one was hurt.

They were so on guard that when the seats finally returned to the ground, everyone remained motionless.

Only when the panda mascot raised its loudspeaker to congratulate them did they slowly rise from their seats. Besides Jiang Yan’s group, three others had survived, including a child.

Yu Renwan walked forward with a grimace. After just two steps, her legs gave out and Shen Huanhuan rushed over to support her.

Then came the stamping, the rewards, and the rest went to play the Giant Cleaver game.

After briefly explaining the key points, Jiang Yan found a bench and sat down.

Little Jiang Yan looked at her stamp card.

The third stamp was now in place.

“Ruru’s Cleaver Game (Cleared)”

“Humans have such interesting little brains. Even this kind of fate-changing trick has believers,” she said, looking at Jiang Yan. “Don’t you think so?”

Jiang Yan gave a soft “mm.”

Rested enough, she kept her promise and prepared to take the little girl to buy snacks.

The big one and the little one stood up, the child’s round face tense as she grabbed Jiang Yan’s hand.

Just then, little Yu Renwan came running over, laughing nonstop. Kids were kids—just a few minutes and she was lively again. She happily linked arms with little Jiang Yan, ready to go exploring and eating.

“I’ll treat you to something tasty!” Little Yu Renwan patted her chest. “I’ll give you all my fingers—I’ll buy you anything you want!”

Little Jiang Yan froze.

She turned to Jiang Yan, hoping she’d say something.

Jiang Yan could only spread her hands helplessly.

So little Jiang Yan, face fallen, was dragged away.

Yu Renwan watched little Yu Renwan stubbornly clinging to little Jiang Yan and whispered, “She won’t be so annoying much longer.”

Jiang Yan glanced over. “What?”

“In half a year, she’ll find out she really is a jinx,” Yu Renwan said. “Then she won’t dare speak loudly anymore.”