Though Mary was not moving, they still could not go outside. Once the remaining puppets spotted them, it would summon Mary to attack. So they could only continue to wait.
Wait for dawn to come, and see if any turning point might emerge.
Making use of the relative safety, everyone seized the time to rest.
The place where they were sheltering was the projection room of a 4D cinema inside the amusement park — something like a simple office. Not large, but enough to accommodate all of them.
Bai Youwei sat quietly against the wall, her thoughts jumbled.
Her body and mind both felt abnormally exhausted. But Lu Ang’s death was like a spike lodged in her heart — a stabbing ache coming in waves — and no matter what she tried, she couldn’t fall asleep.
Everyone else was the same.
Yu Yaqing sitting with her head bowed in thought. Tan Xiao in a daze. Shen Fei’s brow tightly knit… Perhaps they weren’t as devastated as Yan Qingwen, but standing before the precipice of life and death, each person needed a little space to themselves.
So much noise all around.
Outside, a disjointedly edited animated film was playing.
Downstairs, an electronic arcade was clamorous and loud.
Shen Mo wrapped his arm around her and gave her a gentle pat, his voice tranquil: “Sleep.”
Bai Youwei closed her eyes…
She did not sleep well — she woke repeatedly, had many strange and bizarre dreams, and the music outside rose and fell endlessly, clinging on without relenting, leaving her feeling ever more restless and irritated.
She shifted her position in Shen Mo’s arms.
Shen Mo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and asked quietly: “What’s wrong?”
“Too noisy…” Bai Youwei leaned against him. “Too noisy to sleep.”
“Mm…” Shen Mo said mildly. “Amusement parks are very noisy.”
Those sounds filled every corner — clamorous, chaotic, exuberantly cheerful to the point of near-boiling, like some grand festive reverie.
Shen Mo drew Bai Youwei closer and placed his palms over her ears, then said again in a low voice: “Sleep.”
Bai Youwei stilled, her heart giving a soft, quiet flutter.
His hands over her ears could not actually block out the intrusive music — but the warmth of his palms pressed against her ears was like a protective dome enclosing her, warm and weighted, steadily calming her restless heart.
She lowered her head and burrowed deeper into his arms.
All around, the noise persisted as before — yet suddenly she felt the world had become very still and quiet…
…
Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.
She didn’t know how long had gone by when she heard the low murmur of voices among the others, the soft sounds of a door opening and closing, and gentle footsteps.
Only then did she realize — she had actually fallen asleep.
“How long did I sleep?” Bai Youwei slowly straightened up from Shen Mo’s arms.
“Less than an hour.” Shen Mo said.
Yu Yaqing, sitting diagonally across, said: “Even sleeping for a little while is good — it restores your energy and helps the mind think more clearly. I wanted to sleep too, but couldn’t.”
Bai Youwei rubbed her head, finding a rueful kind of humor in it. “With that irritating music everywhere, of course you can’t sleep. No wonder Mary and the cat sleep during the day. Right now all I can hear in my head is that song — listening to it over and over has made me feel nauseated.”
Yu Yaqing smiled faintly as well. “That song sounds quite familiar — I think I learned it in kindergarten when I was little, but I can’t remember the lyrics anymore…”
Bai Youwei listened to the music outside, trying to pick out the words. She slowly hummed them:
*”Everywhere here that are yent,*
*She ould br galong, her little doll,*
*People t the very here,*
*Ary and her rrry doll…”*
As she sang, her expression grew gradually more grave, as if she had noticed something. She repeated the phrase over and over:
*”Ary and her rrry doll…*
*Ary and her rrry doll…*
*Her rrry doll…”*
—