Next was the four-star district.
Before they had even gone in, Zhao Chen could feel Chu Xuan's body trembling little by little.
"Nannan, it's getting late. How about we find somewhere to eat first?" Zhao Chen suggested.
"Mm, it's time to eat," Chu Xuan agreed.
Hearing "eat," Nannan at once pointed at a restaurant at the entrance inside the four-star district: "Okay. I saw before that in this four-star district there's a horror restaurant that serves food. Let's eat here, okay!"
Hearing Nannan say this, Chu Xuan's expression could be called thoroughly resigned.
There was no getting away from it after all.
Since Nannan had said so, Zhao Chen and Chu Xuan naturally would not spoil Nannan's fun.
Before going in, Zhao Chen specially leaned to Chu Xuan's ear and said softly, "If you can't take it, you can wait outside first. I'll go in with Nannan; that'll do."
Chu Xuan shook her head and said gravely, "We promised Nannan we'd play with her properly. Since Nannan likes it here, we ought to play here as a family. A chance like this is rare and precious for us and for Nannan. I don't want Nannan to have the slightest unhappiness or regret this time. Don't worry about me; a little horror is nothing; I know it's all fake."
…
"Mamma mia!" Chu Xuan clutched Zhao Chen's sleeve and buried her head in Zhao Chen's armpit.
If there had been a hole in Zhao Chen right now, she would have wanted to crawl into it.
It made her think, without meaning to:
why didn't Zhao Chen have a hole or a pouch on him?
She knew of an interstellar race
whose males were born with a pouch, just like a kangaroo,
in which children and wives could hide.
If only Zhao Chen were like that now.
Then she could hide inside.
Little did Zhao Chen know that Chu Xuan now wished he could turn into a kangaroo.
Walking into this four-star district, Nannan had already grown used to the atmosphere here, and even began leading Zhao Chen and Chu Xuan of her own accord.
"Daddy, Mommy, the place to eat is right here!" Nannan pointed at a building before them.
On the building was a sign.
It read "The Graveyard."
What decent person eats in a graveyard?
Though beside the two words there truly was a symbol of a knife, fork and plate,
why did it look so eerie?
They walked into the Graveyard.
A skeleton came over.
"Hello, may I ask… how many?"
Looking at the skeleton before her,
Nannan happily held up three fingers: "Three."
"Please follow me." The skeleton led the way in front.
Very soon the three of them were brought to a grave mound.
That's right: a grave mound.
To be precise, a headstone stood in front, behind the headstone lay a coffin, and around the coffin were four chairs.
They were to eat on a coffin?
Zhao Chen could not help marveling at how clever the designer was, to have designed such a thing.
To have an appetite in surroundings like these was something too.
But it could also be seen that few people could take this,
for there were hardly any tables of customers in this restaurant.
"Please order." The skeleton went on in that cold voice, and a bloody menu was handed to the three of them.
Chu Xuan did not move; ever since entering the Graveyard, she had been gripping Zhao Chen's wrist for dear life, not daring to move at all.
"Let Nannan order," Zhao Chen said.
Nannan looked at the menu, and did something no one expected: she reached out, wiped a finger through the blood on the menu, then held it to her nose and sniffed.
Then she licked it.
"Jam; so sweet!" Nannan said excitedly.
Even the skeleton NPC was somewhat dumbfounded; he had probably never imagined this five-year-old child would do such a thing.
Earlier, seeing a five-year-old appear here, he had been somewhat taken aback.
How bold were these parents, to dare bring a five-year-old here?
Weren't they afraid she'd be scared out of her wits?
But now it seemed he had been greatly mistaken; this child was not the least bit afraid.
Indeed, as it looked now, this little girl was probably enjoying it a bit.
"I want this, and this. And this. This dish name is pretty fun." Nannan ordered a great deal all at once.
Halfway through ordering, Nannan looked at Zhao Chen somewhat awkwardly: "Daddy, these dishes are all pretty expensive…"
Zhao Chen glanced at the prices.
The prices truly were not cheap.
Though one could not tell from the names just what the dishes were, what place charges over a thousand for a single dish?
But thinking of these surroundings, the price seemed understandable too.
After all, what normal person eats on a coffin in a graveyard?
"It's fine; order whatever you like. We're not short of money," Zhao Chen said with a smile.
Hearing this, Nannan ordered several more dishes.
"Please… wait a moment." With that, the skeleton left.
Then the snacks and drinks were brought first.
The drinks were a bright red liquid, with eyeballs soaking in the liquid.
Who knew what those eyeballs were made of, but they looked truly very real.
Zhao Chen picked one up and took a sip.
Lemon cola.
Chu Xuan looked at this drink and for a long time dared not drink it.
Though she knew the color and the eyeballs in it were all fake, inside she still could not accept it.
As for the snacks:
they were called "Freshly Peeled Fingernails."
On one plate lay fingernail after fingernail; in fact, after eating a few, they were potato chips.
There were skewers too,
their name written as "Eyeball Skewers."
Looking at those eyeballs, one after another,
even Zhao Chen somewhat lost his appetite.
But Nannan, without the least squeamishness, picked one up and bit straight in.
"This taste is… mutton…"
Eyeballs made out of mutton?
What black tech had made these?
"Mommy, want a bite?" Nannan held the eyeball skewer out before Chu Xuan.
Chu Xuan could not help swallowing, but this was food her precious daughter was handing her; how could she not accept?
In the end she could only take a deep breath, bite an eyeball off the skewer, and chew it a few times.
The taste truly was mutton.
But at the thought that she was biting an eyeball, Chu Xuan had no wish to savor it, and very soon swallowed this eyeball down into her stomach.
It could be said that she had no sense of fine food in this meal at all; she did not care at all what food she was swallowing.
And the main courses that came next were each more outrageous than the last:
"Stir-Fried Human Liver," "Noodles in Corpse Oil," "Fresh-Butchered Human Hotpot," "Human-Brain Cake" and so on.
The human liver, everyone naturally knew, was beef liver or the like.
But the trouble was how it was served:
a man in white hospital clothes walked up, reached into himself where his liver was, and pulled out a liver,
which a chef beside him then cooked on the spot.
Where did the chef come from, you ask?
From under the coffin lid.
Above all that hotpot:
a struggling man was carried up by several other monsters, and they began scraping off his flesh right there.
That man's screams and the others' laughter
became the accompaniment on the spot.
Then the flesh sliced off was put into a steaming hotpot shaped like a skull.
It could be said that Zhao Chen was eating, for the first time, a hotpot of such singular flavor.
It had to be said, it tasted pretty good.
At least he thought so.
Only Chu Xuan hardly lifted her chopsticks from start to finish; each time a dish was served, she wished she could shut her eyes.
Nannan ate with relish,
and would comment now and then too.
"You cut in the wrong place; the meat there's too fatty."
"Mister, isn't it stuffy cooking down there?"
"This head isn't fresh enough."
Those NPCs, hearing such an adorable child say such things, were all greatly astonished.
Who could have imagined a five-year-old child would not only not be frightened here, but could even offer a critique or two?
Time passed little by little.
Very soon this fine feast was over.
Zhao Chen looked with some sympathy at Chu Xuan's deathly pale face; he had meant to let her catch her breath and rest a bit during this meal.
But as it turned out, Chu Xuan had not only had no chance at all to rest;
she had been badly frightened instead.
And the attractions after that were maxed out on horror too.
After the four-star district came the five-star district.
In the five-star district
there were not only frightening attractions but also some tasks they had to carry out,
such as the Old Village of Fierce Ghosts, the Bride's Embroidered Shoes and the like.
As for the difference between these levels of difficulty:
if in one and two stars it was single, separate attractions, with the horror elements coming to find the visitors,
then at four and five stars it was the visitors who were forced to go and seek out the horror elements.
Add the enclosed spaces, the lighting, the surroundings, and still scarier, more aggressive NPCs, and the fear rating was maxed out outright.
Several times, Chu Xuan, heedless of her dignity, leapt straight onto Zhao Chen.
When the family of three at last came out of the horror-themed park,
Zhao Chen felt the back of his shirt was a little damp, and Chu Xuan's face was truly ghastly pale.
Years ago, riding starships with poor facilities through warp travel, she had never felt this bad.
But Nannan was very happy at this moment.
"Daddy, Mommy, this park is so much fun. Can we come again next time?" Nannan looked at Daddy and Mommy excitedly.
Chu Xuan's heart trembled.
Having gone through it once, she felt she had lost half her life.
If they came again, she truly could not promise her soul would still be there.
"Nannan, this time Daddy and Mommy came with you. Next time, let's find someone else to come with you, all right? Like that big sister Annie from before. Didn't you say big sister Annie was a lot of fun? Next time I'll ask her for you," Zhao Chen suggested.
At the mention of that lovable big sister Annie,
Nannan nodded happily.
"Okay."
Annie, still holding on at her post at this moment, could not help shivering.
Somehow she had the feeling that something bad had its eye on her.
In one day they had played two parks, and the sky outside was now completely dark.
Though some parks were open at night too,
Zhao Chen decided to take Nannan to rest for the night first; for a child Nannan's age, sleep was very important.
And as it happened, where they would sleep was a park too:
the Undersea Park.
It was the park of the whole Fierce Dragon Amusement Park nearest the sea, for half its grounds lay submerged in the ocean.
And the hotel the three of them were to stay at tonight was the most famous hotel of this Undersea Park.
Inside the hotel,
there was glass all around: glass overhead, glass on every side.
Through the glass the seawater could be seen, and every kind of sea creature.
Whales, sharks, squid, fish of every color drifted through these waters.
One had only to lie on the bed to enjoy the beauty of the deep sea.
It could be called beautiful beyond words.
When Nannan came into the room, she still wanted to enjoy these views a while longer, but watching and watching, she fell asleep.
Even asleep, she was smiling.
It could be seen she had had a very happy time today, and was very tired too.
When Nannan was asleep, Zhao Chen patted Chu Xuan and pointed outside.
Chu Xuan opened her eyes and saw Zhao Chen's signal.
It was time for sleep; why was he calling her out?
Could he want… that?
Chu Xuan's heart could not help jolting.
Though she and Zhao Chen had already been together, and one shot had been enough to give her a child,
that had been her one-woman show.
And now, facing a Zhao Chen fully awake, she was still somewhat nervous.
Her cheeks reddened slightly.
But Zhao Chen gave her no chance at all to speak; he had already walked out of the room.
Was he really so impatient?
Nannan was still here, after all.
Chu Xuan made sure once more that Nannan was asleep, and only then tiptoed out, carefully closing the door.
She looked at the pajamas she was wearing.
Weren't these pajamas a little too plain?
She sniffed at herself.
When she had bathed just now, had she washed properly?
Why did it feel as if there was somewhere she hadn't washed properly?
By now Chu Xuan's imagination was running wild.
"What are you standing there for? Come over, quick." Zhao Chen looked at Chu Xuan standing there in a daze and pointed toward the suite's dining room.
"Here?" Chu Xuan jumped.
"If not here, would you rather it be in the bedroom? Aren't you afraid of waking Nannan?" Zhao Chen asked in return.
Chu Xuan was somewhat puzzled; didn't this suite have any other rooms?
And out here… it felt rather thrilling somehow.
If Nannan pushed open the door at night and came out and saw, she truly would never be able to show her face again.
"If it comes to it… shall we get another room? Here, it'd be bad to wake Nannan," Chu Xuan said shyly.
Zhao Chen looked at Chu Xuan doubtfully and pointed at the food already laid out on the dining table: "Another room? It's just a bite to eat; why would we need another room?"
On the table was every kind of rich food, still steaming.
Chu Xuan looked at this food, then glanced at Zhao Chen in surprise.
"You called me out to eat?"
Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes at Chu Xuan, as if he had seen through her little thoughts.
"Of course. I saw you didn't eat much at that meal in the Graveyard. You must be hungry by now. So I specially ordered some food and had them bring it in. Of course, if this isn't enough once you've eaten it, I can grant your wish too, and let you eat what you want to eat."
That last smile of Zhao Chen's carried a hint of suggestiveness.