Chapter 2685: Carnival Event
As they were speaking, a row of carousel horses suddenly appeared ahead on the street. Unlike ordinary amusement rides that rotated around a central axis, these galloped down the street like real horses. From time to time, puppet people would be sucked onto them, and once seated, no matter how hard they struggled, they couldn't get off, forced to be carried by the horses to the next amusement area.
Xu Huo and the other person moved aside to dodge, but unexpectedly, piles of mutated snakes surged up from under their feet. Controlled by the music, these mutated snakes coiled around their legs, lifted them up, and carried them rhythmically toward an acrobatic performance area twenty meters away.
Before they could even get close, the curtain of the acrobatic arena was lifted in advance. Two smiling puppets stood at the entrance, cheerfully urging them to hurry. Inside the performance area, several puppet people were being tossed around by half-meter-long iron hooks. If anyone slipped off the hook, they would fall into a group of mutated beasts with eyes red from hunger.
The puppet people screamed, desperately trying to cling to the hooks even as the iron pierced their bodies. In just a few blinks of an eye, these puppet people either became food or a pile of wreckage.
The host shouted that new performers were about to take the stage, and the audience turned their heads in unison toward the entrance. Xu Huo brought the snakes along with him into the Spiritual Gate. After several consecutive transfers, he finally scraped himself clean and turned back to look at Qi Cong, whose face was pale, lips purple, and eyes trembling wildly.
Xu Huo pulled out an antidote and injected it into him, puzzled. "Why did you get bitten again?"
"I'd like to know that too," Qi Cong said, on the verge of tears. "Those things slip through every crack, not giving anyone a moment to breathe. Even if I had a defense device, I couldn't keep it on forever. If I did, how would I run?"
That was true. Although those instance props weren't actively hunting him, their density was too high. Almost every place they moved to had a performance, making it hard to tell which were instance mini-bosses. The puppets and puppet people as a whole were also stronger than during the day. With such continuous dense attacks, even Xu Huo, who had a physique surpassing ordinary players and was equipped with devices and spiritual power, found it exhausting, let alone a C-level player.
"Are we supposed to keep escaping like this until dawn?" Qi Cong said despairingly. "How many mini-bosses are there here anyway?"
Dai He, the Painting Woman, and the others had already completely scattered from them, now outside Xu Huo's perception range. With traps every few steps, searching for them one by one was no easy task.
Scanning the area, Xu Huo grabbed a batch of balloons from a puppet person, drew sunflowers on them with the number 2.0, and hung them on Qi Cong. He flexed his limbs and said, "Let's run!"
What else could Qi Cong do but follow?
They ran across rooftops, only to have flying carpets—like jumping cars—appear. After jumping off the flying cars, they hijacked a sightseeing car. After some effort to kick all the puppet people off, the steering wheel jammed and malfunctioned, driving them straight toward a Mirror Space.
The Mirror Space was filled with distorted mirrors. Everywhere—above, below, and all around—were twisted reflections of themselves, dizzying to look at. Worse, the "people" in the mirrors could come to life and pull them inside!
They used several bombs to blast a path and escape, but before they could reattach the balloons, a completely invisible person leaped out from halfway, landing directly on Xu Huo!
The excessive weight forced Xu Huo to bend over, slowing him down. The Black Blade and spiritual power materializations slashed repeatedly, but the invisible figure on his back showed no reaction, as if the sharp weapons couldn't harm it at all!
Qi Cong also sensed something was wrong. He circled around, reached out, grabbed the figure's shoulder, and pulled hard backward, but the invisible person seemed fused to Xu Huo, impossible to budge.
"Set it on fire!" Xu Huo shouted, carrying the invisible figure toward a nearby torch.
Qi Cong quickly tore down decorative cloth and threw it toward the torch. As the flames rose, Xu Huo used materializations and a defense barrier to protect himself before jumping straight in. While rolling, he felt the arms around his neck loosen slightly. He immediately manipulated the Black Blade to stab behind his head and slice upward!
The heavy weight finally fell away. Without wasting time, he grabbed Qi Cong and fled continuously in the direction opposite the castle. But after several teleportations, he suddenly realized that the Clown City's nighttime mode also restricted space. Earlier, moving toward the castle had been smooth, but now trying to go far away only kept them circling in place!
Seeing the puppet people around them increasing and fearing being targeted by instance props, Xu Huo couldn't stop. He had to keep moving through the city.
Suddenly, bells rang out in the city, and fireworks burst around the castle. Under the brilliant light, the puppet people looked expectantly toward a certain direction. Accompanied by music and noise, a carnival parade approached from afar.
Exaggerated costumes, luxurious carriages, and all kinds of puppets in heavy makeup played their roles, moving with the procession while interacting with tourists on both sides of the street. When the mood struck, they would pull tourists into the line to dance together.
A several-meter-tall puppet giraffe brushed past people, with birds resting on its back and small animals like rabbits and foxes running beneath its feet. A tamer riding a fierce beast interacted with a beautiful peacock driving a carriage. Kittens held hands and meowed as they sang, while mutated plants sprouted among them, gradually blooming into bright, fragrant flowers.
A dignified gentleman picked a flower and gave it to a lady on the roadside in exchange for a blown kiss. A young man, intoxicated by a beautiful woman's smile, willingly joined the procession. Occasionally, a few pretty birds flew by, pecking at floating balloons, releasing endless ribbons and foil that scattered freely over the parade...
"Ooh-ooh-ooh..." A singer wearing an animal headpiece climbed onto a carriage and sang passionately. His penetrating voice momentarily drowned out the music, earning wave after wave of cheers and applause.
The place that seemed most unsafe turned out to be surprisingly safe.
While following the parade, Xu Huo and Qi Cong encountered no attacks.
Several kangaroo puppets, as tall as humans, hopped past them in a line holding flowers. Xu Huo suddenly smelled blood. He stopped, and the leading kangaroo began hopping around him.
The animal puppets moved back and forth, their anthropomorphic faces maintaining smiles. Assuming they were happy, after half a minute of hopping, they all made animal sounds together before rejoining the procession.
The kangaroo that had come first and left last pulled a handful from its bouquet and extended it toward him.
Xu Huo extended his right hand. The kangaroo puppet's chubby paw opened, and a few melon seeds fell into his palm.
(Chapter End)