Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Meanwhile, the staff and the security guard finally arrived.
A guard with a conspicuous scar on his left arm picked up a sheet of paper from the grass, then tore the final page from his own Employee Handbook.
He pressed the two sheets against either side of his face.
Then something bizarre happened.
The guard transformed into an elephant, a normal elephant with fan-shaped ears.
After a brief period of confusion, the elephant followed the staff in blue uniforms and began circling the Elephant Enclosure.
Many staff members in blue also called through megaphones.
“Everyone, wake up! Gather at the exit!”
Their shouts mingled with the occasional lion’s roar from the speakers.
Most people gradually regained awareness.
When they saw the real elephant before them, they seemed to awaken from a dream.
They followed the staff toward the exit.
The same happened to Su Chen.
The instant the elephant passed before him and blocked his entire field of vision, his body shook.
A bolt of lightning flashed through his chaotic mind.
The image of the real elephant engraved itself firmly in his heart and drove away all confusion.
Then he discovered that he could control his body again.
He immediately rushed toward the exit.
Because he was already so close, he quickly escaped the Elephant Enclosure.
The instant he escaped the enclosure, he turned to look behind him again.
The powerful elephant was still circling the grounds.
The grotesque white elephants, eyes red, were charging toward the intruder.
Then the pushing crowd carried Su Chen along.
He was forced fully out of the enclosure and could no longer see what happened next.
Under the staff’s direction, every visitor was soon led out of the Elephant Enclosure.
Several employees immediately raised a security cordon and sealed the entire Elephant Enclosure.
Many visitors who had regained their senses tried to flee the dangerous area.
The bizarre events had terrified them.
But the staff stopped every one.
“Please wait. We will accompany you to view the final area, the White Lion Enclosure.”
An employee spoke politely.
Many refused to listen and insisted on leaving.
The staff soon suppressed them by force.
With no alternative, everyone remained and waited.
Fortunately, they did not wait long.
A child’s piercing scream soon came from the Elephant Enclosure behind them.
At the sound, every employee’s expression dimmed.
The eyes of many reddened slightly.
Yet they said nothing.
They forced friendly smiles onto their faces again and led all the visitors toward the Lion Enclosure.
Su Chen watched thoughtfully.
He had basically understood the rules, and his save point protected his life, so he did not fear the Lion Enclosure.
What puzzled him was the origin of the real elephant.
The staff’s reactions also showed that they were hiding secrets.
Su Chen committed everything to memory, planning to investigate later.
Before long, they reached the Lion Enclosure.
Under the staff’s direction, every visitor hid behind an artificial hill.
One employee stepped out and shouted something toward the white lions in the distance.
The white lions rose with remarkable intelligence. They looked at the employee, then turned toward the hill.
Su Chen noticed something wrong.
When the four white lions stood, another lion was revealed hiding among them.
The rules recorded the expected number.
There should have been four white lions, but there were now five.
“It” had come to interfere again.
Su Chen frowned and was about to avert his gaze according to the rules.
The staff also noticed that something was wrong.
They immediately organized the visitors, telling them to turn around and stop watching the lions.
The employee who had stepped forward took a bottle of rabbit blood from his pocket.
The moment it appeared, the white lion in the center charged as though it had spotted prey.
The employee calmly unscrewed the cap and decisively splashed the rabbit blood over it.
Drenched in blood, the white lion froze instead of continuing its attack on the employee and became docile.
The employee turned and walked back toward the hill without looking at the lions behind him.
The other four white lions charged viciously at the blood-covered lion.
Four enormous jaws bit down at once.
The expected gore did not appear.
Instead, something uncanny occurred.
Where the four lions bit, pieces of the first lion’s body disappeared.
It looked like a puzzle with several pieces missing.
The four lions showed no surprise and continued savaging it.
The first white lion vanished piece by piece, like a puzzle assembling in reverse.
In the end, it disappeared completely.
The four victorious white lions stood proudly and roared at the sky together.
At the sound, Su Chen felt his entire body lighten.
It was as though something filthy inside him had been purified.