The Ice Palace
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Even in cutesy pixelated form, the person’s slightly slanted eyes still seem as unfriendly as always. His bat is gone, his clothes are tattered, looking like he’s been through some rough fight. Though because of his usual unruly demeanour, instead of looking ragged, it looks as though he should be as free and unconstrained like this.
Did he actually fight his entire way here?
Ying Sheng sees him and furrows his brows, “you’re here, slowpokes?”
Du Yixin wants to tell him he tried to come as soon as possible, but he’d died once already because of his lack of fighting strength.
“Why are you with that guy?”
‘That guy’ obviously refers to Mo Yu, but she is expressionlessly staring at him, creating a sort of tense, yin-and-yang kind of standoff. On the one side is a volcano ready to blow, on the other is a glacier ready to freeze everything that touches it.
Du Yixin briefly explains how they came to be makeshift companions, introducing her as a surviving player. Ying Sheng approaches them with his hand in his pockets, staring at Mo Yu and asking, “oi, you didn’t pull anything, did you?”
“…”
The young man observes her, putting his face closer and closer. While Mo Yu could ignore it at first and be her taciturn self, but then, it hits her limit and she looks away.
Ying Sheng hmphs and grabs Du Yixin, dragging him to his side, saying, “I warn you, this is my prey. If I find you messing with him, don’t blame me for whatever happens.”
Du Yixin would like to have a word about that. But anyway, seeing their interaction, Du Yixin is feeling something off. In general, Ying Sheng never cares about anyone, but it feels like he’s interrogating Mo Yu excessively here. Do they know each other?
That sibling guess pops into his mind again, and makes Du Yixin shake his head. To chase that thought away, he asks, “what were you doing just now? Where’s the girl?”
Ying Sheng seems even closer to blowing up mentioning that girl. According to him, he chased Li Qiqi into this ‘Journey’ house, but he gets accosted by all those NPCs in fights. Although they’re all weaklings and he killed them all, but Li Qiqi is nowhere to be seen after that. All around there’s only this wooden house.
“I also went further than this but there’s an invisible barrier and I can’t get out. There’s only this creepy house…” He says, then suddenly makes a roundhouse kick onto the wooden door, which causes the entire house to shake… Or rather, vibrate, like some kind of spring, as it settles back into its original position, “not even bombs work,” Du Yixin can hear how much frustration he’s had with the house already.
Despite the smashes and kicks and explosions, there is not a single dent in the house but those worn down by age. Du Yixin examines the structure, and besides the signage, the only thing that stands out is a slightly rusty, red mailbox. There is nothing he can see through the windows with the curtains tightly drawn up.
He decides to open the mailbox to investigate, which turns out to be empty and full of dust as well, perhaps not having seen any use in a long time. It’s large enough for small parcels to be placed inside.
“…”
He takes the apple out, and puts it inside, then closes the shutter.
Then, a ‘clack,’ and the door slowly opens.
“It’s open?” Ying Sheng raises his brow, “what did you just do?”
Du Yixin explains the concept of the souvenirs to him.
Ying Sheng doesn’t seem impressed or even interested, as he then takes a step inside, “hiding inside, aren’t we? Now get the fuck out before I make you!”
Du Yixin follows him inside, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone around. Meanwhile, Ying Sheng is already messing the entire place up, upending the bed, and throwing every loose thing around. Then, he comes across a book on a lone desk in the corner, which, despite its ordinary appearance, cannot be opened or moved. Du Yixin comes and sees that the words ‘Fairy Tales’ are written on top of it.
Then he thinks for a little, and takes out his booklet, flipping it to the page with the stamps.
After that, something magical begins happening. As if sensing each other, the circle for ‘Mermaid’s Cruise’ lights up. The Fairy Tale book flips open and reveals a 3D cutout of a mystical underwater palace, showing a mermaid and fishes playing about the coral reefs.
Even though they cannot hear any sound in this cardboard cutout, it is strikingly realistic.
Noticing the phenomena, Mo Yu also walks over to observe. Ying Sheng gives her a glance, before turning his head back to look, his arms crossed.
After this, the stamp for ‘Pigs’ Entrepreneurship’ lights up. The book turns to the next page, this time, it is the cardboard cutout of a brick house. Inside the window, the three young piggy siblings are taking a group photo together with happy smiles on their faces.
Next up is the ‘Sleeping Beauty’s Fort,’ but because Du Yixin did not go to that attraction, nothing lights up, and the Fairy Tale book has stopped.
“Mo Yu!”
She walks over and takes out her booklet. Then, its stamp lights up, and the story continues.
The cardboard cutout is of a palace that looks even older than Snow White’s castle, ridled with vines. A dashing young man could be seen climbing the vines to the top floor, where an open window reveals a bed and a silhouette inside.
For ‘Snow White’s Castle,’ it shows the great hall of the castle where a grand marriage ceremony is ongoing. Snow White is making a sweet, loving smile inside the Prince’s embrace. Seven dwarves can be seen dancing in a circle about them, as guests look on, clapping in the sidelines.
The last page shows ‘Red Riding Hood’s Journey.’ It is of a wooden house, decorated exactly the same as inside this hut before Ying Sheng smashed up everything. Red Riding Hood is eating an apple pie with a big smile on her face as Granny, still dressed in her apron, caresses her hair. Outside the window, the Hunter can be seen chasing after Big Bad Wolf with his trusty rifle, and the Wolf itself is making ‘Ow ow’ sounds in a speech bubble.
“…”
There is still another next page.
Even though there are no more stamps, the book still flips to the next page. A beautiful castle that is entirely made of ice appears. It is clean and transparent. Outside of that is an endless field of snow.
The Snow Queen?
Du Yixin can’t help but think of that story by association. But that is clearly not an attraction in this amusement park. What does this imply?
He tries to touch the cardboard cutout, when suddenly, there is a strong pull from the cardboard that threatens to pull him right in.
“Oi!” Ying Sheng notices and immediately grabs Du Yixin’s other hand, but even he fails to fight back against the force and the two of them are suddenly pulled within the book, as if swirling.
After leaving ‘Red Riding Hood’s Journey’ in such a way, the world goes back to its normal dimensions. There is snow falling from the sky, colouring the world a blinding white. Du Yixin falls into the snow with a big thump. Then, he slowly gets back up, dazed, before suddenly being grabbed by the collar.
“The hell you were touching around for?!”
Ying Sheng is still with him.
“Hey, at least we’re no longer stuck in a 2D world! We’re making progress!” Du Yixin gives him a big hearty thumbs up.
“…” Ying Sheng blurts out after a big pause, “progress my arse!” He lets him go, “be a bit more careful. Don’t die on me before you get me your older brother.”
Du Yixin can’t help but want to tell him he’s already died once.
He looks around and sees that they seem to have reached the castle in the cardboard cutout. While it looks like it should be cold, he doesn’t exactly feel it. They’re both only in summer clothing, with Ying Sheng’s clothes having holes all over already, but they don’t feel the cold.
Compared to the other attractions, this is desolate and empty. There is nothing in sight except the sleepy, icy castle.
They walk inside the courtyard of the castle, where a few lone trunks of trees remain, all dressed in perfectly white snow with icicles on their branches. There seems to be no way the trees would still be alive. At the same time, the path they’re walking on is entirely paved with ice blocks, and it’s exceedingly slippery.
‘Thwack,’ and that’s the third time he’s heard it. Ying Sheng turns around to see Du Yixin having fallen on his arse the third time.
“The hell’s wrong with you.”
Du Yixin feels like the senses are almost ready to drain out from his buttocks. He sits on the ground and watches the young man in the front walking no different from how he does on perfectly grippable ground, and sighs, “if only there’s a snow sled, then you could pull me along.”
“And what does that make me, the dog?” Veins seem to pop on Ying Sheng’s forehead.
While picturing the scene and breaking into a smile, Du Yixin carefully stands back up, using the fences for support, ready to go again. Ying Sheng is even more annoyed at this, and instead, he goes to him and says, “give me your hand.”
“Ah?” Du Yixin has no idea what he’s about to experience, as he can only suddenly feel the world spinning and, Ying Sheng has put him on his shoulder like a sand bag.
But because Du Yixin has long arms and legs, given their similar heights, perhaps Ying Sheng also feels the inconvenience, so he lets him down after a few steps and this time, he carries him up by the waist.
Du Yixin is in shock. He never imagined he would be princess-carried all his life. It seems Ying Sheng finds nothing wrong with the arrangement, though, not even batting his eye at carrying a full grown man weighing about the same as he did, as he continues to walk forward unaffected by either the weight or the ground.
Du Yixin remarks, “don’t you think there’s something wrong with this?”
Ying Sheng looks down at him, as if asking what else are you dissatisfied about.
“You could have… carried me on your back instead.”
Ying Sheng raises his brow, “oh, right, you’re a person after all.”
Oi, what does that mean.
Though Ying Sheng doesn’t adjust the posture any. Perhaps he’s quite irritated to be carrying people in the first place, and so is not interested in adjusting further. After his protests fall on deaf years, Du Yixin doesn’t fight further either, given there’s no one to see.
Because he no longer has to adapt to Du Yixin’s sluggish pace, Ying Sheng is walking almost as fast as a normal person runs, on slippery ice, no less, perhaps somehow skidding along like ice-skating. Du Yixin feels like he’s on a rollercoaster ride.
When Du Yixin finally gets let down, his heart is beating really quickly, and he says, “woah, you would make an amazing figure skater.”
“Shut up.”
They have already reached the entrance of the castle. There is a double door made of solid ice in front of them. Ying Sheng kicks it right open directly.
Inside is a hall reaching dozens of metres high, supported by grand ice columns, decorated in intricate patterns.
What is utterly jarring about this cold scene are several childish, plush dolls of various colours. Lined on either side of the main passageway, ranging in size from palm-sized to two-metre high, they all turn their heads towards the sound. Meanwhile, at the end of the passageway is a large staircase of ice, on top of which stands a tall throne made of ice.
A young, frail girl sits on top of the massive throne, looking just as out of place as the dolls lining the way.
It is Li Qiqi. She has curled up, burying her head in her knees, murmuring, “… you’re here?”
“Not acting anymore?” Ying Sheng asks with audible sarcasm.
“Let’s not fight anymore. We’ll both get hurt,” she says, “I’ll let you out. Go far away, and leave me alone.”
Du Yixin asks, “all those people died because of you; do you really think nothing of that?”
Li Qiqi lifts her head up, and looks at him quietly, with an expression of hopelessness, or perhaps sadness, “I only wanted to pull mom and dad inside. Everyone else entered on their own… including you. If you left my parents alone, you would have been safe, too.”
TL’s notes: By ‘leaving her parents alone,’ she meant they should not have stopped them in the middle of the highway. Not that that would have helped, methinks.
Oriental Rabbit 