Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

Biting her lips, Fei suddenly comes up with a possibility, and asks excitedly, wait, could it be, that you also dont belong here? You came here from somewhere outside?

Outside? The man seems surprised by her question, then he asks, I did come from somewhere else. I passed through a door, and ended up here for some reason. I have no idea whats going on either.

A door Fei reflexively repeats the phrase, then she finds herself recalling forgotten memories, yes a door in a grey fog Nightmares? A grey fog, it was, a door in a grey fog, right?

The man, looking surprised, nods as well, yes! It was a door in the grey fog!

I see! Fei exhales dramatically, and says, were from the same place.

Like spies whose passphrases have matched up, they quickly familiarise with each other and exchange information.

Mu Jiashi, as his instincts tell him to, recounts what he encountered in the bank to her.

Fei is astonished, and comments, really? I didnt think about it at all. I was trapped in this village for a long time, and I thought I could resolve it in some way So you could just leave?

But how? Mu Jiashi asks her, did you find out any way of leaving this place after spending all that time here?

A way to leave Fei bites her lips again, and says, the only way I know is to board the regular bus headed to the county seat over the side of that mountain; we came here on a different vehicle, apparently, and planned to leave on that bus; but that bus only leaves every day at midday, so the earliest one would depart tomorrow, which means Ill have to survive the night first.

A bus? Mu Jiashi thinks about it, and then says, that isnt it. We are looking for a door. We are leaving this scene, and not this village.

He repeats what he just said, yes. We need to find a door.

A special door?

Im not sure, Mu Jiashi seems a little lost as he continues, when I wanted to leave the bank, I simply opened the door to it. Yes, I was leaving the bank

Fei seems confused.

Mu Jiashi explains, for example, this village, and the bank I was in, we can call it the main scene. So in trying to leave the bank, I was actually leaving the main scene.

But in this scene, we do not have the time to walk away from it. Assuming there is a legitimate way of exit, then that means, we should be able to leave even without stepping outside of this main scene.

So we should look for a door in this scene which can help us out of here.

Fei nods, and asks, a door what kind of door? Any special characteristic?

Mu Jiashi shakes his head, bitterly smiling and says, its hard to say

Fei sighs, and stares at the gate to the little residence theyre standing in, murmuring, if only it was this door.

Mu Jiashi says, its probably not that one. The door, should be something quite emblematic? Representative? Of the main scene, I think. A door that indicates some kind of truth?

Possibly Fei thinks, and says, we will have to find out the secret hidden in this village, then, about what the villagers call the madness.

Lets do that, then, but Mu Jiashi seems doubtful, and he asks, are you doing alright?

Fei has died three times already. That would be a bad omen.

Fei, all pale, says, yes, I am something stirs in her chest, and she says with a complicated tone, we must keep on doing whatever it was we needed to do, whatever the challenges we face.

Mu Jiashi falls silent.

Some kind of confused thought crosses his mind momentarily, but he didnt notice it.

He is simply thinking, yes, they have to leave the main scene, or they might succumb to an endless cycle of death and resurrection.

That is when someone knocks on the gate to this residence.

Oh no! Fei blurts out, the people are calling us to the meal!

They exchanged information and spent time thinking, so they failed to notice the time.

Anxious, she calls out to Mu Jiashi, whether we went or not, wed die. Do you think we should go or not go?

She says while walking towards the door.

Mu Jiashi thinks about it, and suddenly approaches it from another angle, what if we pretend were not here and not open the door?

Feis hand is on the handle, but then she immediately backtracks like the metal was scorching hot, and whispers, I I dont know. I havent tried.

Mu Jiashi thinks about it, then says, let me open the door and go to the meal with them. Ill try to look for that madness on the way. Ill tell them you went to take a stroll outside, and youll be back soon.

You died several consecutive times already, and youre mentally stressed. You should stay, and you can also think about the information youve got more thoroughly, and see if you might have overlooked anything.

Fei nods, looking slightly embarrassed.

Mu Jiashi can see that Feis face really is rather ghastly pale, and theres a chance shed be counterproductive if she tagged along in her current state. So it is better for her to stay and pretend shes not present, to see where this new attempt leads to

Whether she still dies or manages to stay alive, there would be valuable information, so thinks Mu Jiashi, rather heartlessly.

On the surface, he merely smiles at her and reassure her, its alright. Get a good rest now.

He watches Fei walk back into the house, before opening the gate, and act like he has just been woken up from a nap, complaining, who is it? I was having such a good dream

A slightly tense-looking fellow young adult is standing outside. According to what Fei told him, he is Tan Ming, one of the children originally from this village who went to study outside.

He looks at Mu Jiashi, then peeks inside, and asks, wheres Fei?

The scene sure is pretty smart to replace their names naturally, thinks Mu Jiashi.

He acts like hes dumbfounded as well, and says, huh? Oh, right, before I went to take a nap, she said she wanted to take a stroll outside. Looks like shes not back yet.

He yawns, and says, maybe shes gone to sit at the little waterfall. Who knows.

There is a waterfall nearby, hes told, and Mu Jiashi names it to mislead the villager. Its because the waterfall is rather far from the village, and it takes an hour or so on foot to reach it and come back. Itll be more than sufficient time to investigate.

As expected, hearing that explanation, Tan Ming looks a little less agitated, perhaps because he now knows where to look for Fei.

He nods and tells Mu Jiashi, were having a goodbye feast for you guys now that youre leaving.

Mu Jiashi acts like hes hesitant and asks, wait but Fei?

Someone else will go fetch her, dont worry about it, Tan Ming says, dont tell me youre not eating without her by your side, huh?

Mu Jiashi hurriedly says, hey, my stomach is more important obviously.

They say as they walk outside of the residence, and Mu Jiashi also locks the door behind him, just in case someone might enter and discover Fei.

Tan Ming sees it, but as Mu Jiashi and Feis belongings are still inside the residence, does not suspect a thing.

He tells Mu Jiashi to go on ahead to the house hes pointing to first then leaves his line of sight. Hes probably asking someone to go look for Fei at the waterfall.

Mu Jiashi is also glad to be snooping without supervision; but after walking alone just for a bit, Tan Ming is already back here from god knows where, walking up to him.

Mu Jiashi realises that, compared to the outsiders like them, these native villagers like Tan Ming who spent most of their lives here must know all the little roads and alleys that blanket the village.

This means he should avoid ending up in a situation where he has to escape a chase, he thinks.