"Could this metal doll be manipulated?"
Jenkins thought to himself, then blinked, but didn't see the wires implicated in the metal doll.
"So, what if I occupy all the seats here with luggage before you show up?"
Jenkins asked another question, trying to make things difficult for the other party. Unexpectedly, the metal doll trembled and laughed, and the red light in the eyes was also flickering:
"Then appear in the aisle between the chairs, you don't think I can only appear while sitting?"
With nothing left to say, Jenkins snorted to end the awkward topic and quickly put it on track:
"Why can't I stand up?"
"Because the puppet show is about to start, guests, according to the rules of the theater, please don't move around at will. This theater welcomes guests who follow the rules, but doesn't mind punishing evil guests who don't follow the rules."
"So, can I learn all the rules here?"
"Of course, the rules are simple—"
With a bang, the curtain on the stage opened automatically, and the sudden light from behind made Jenkins close his eyes subconsciously.
But he still saw, behind the curtain behind the stage, a huge oil painting isolated the front and back of the stage, and at the same time set the background for the stage. The background on the oil painting was impressively rows of theater seats.
A metal chair fell from above the stage with a "bang", facing Jenkins in the same direction as the long row of seats in the oil painting. Then, there was another loud bang, and the puppet, which was the size of a normal human, wearing a hat and wearing a formal suit, also fell from the top of the stage, and just sat on the chair, posing The movement of the well-behaved hands supporting the knees.
There are dozens of white silk threads connecting the puppet's joints and body, but Jenkins can't see where the threads are connected. With the trembling of the silk thread, music like gongs, drums and sawing wood came from behind the background of the oil painting, accompanied by a strange song sung by the voice of the boy who had not changed his voice:
"There are many rules in the small theater, let's count them together. Don't make any noise during the performance, otherwise you will be disturbed by ghosts."
The trembling of the silk thread controlled the puppet to stand up, the wooden mouth opened and closed, the right hand was raised, and the fist was punched forward, which was a movement of cursing and protesting.
There was another bang, and a black ghost puppet also fell from the sky, but it looked a little cute. The ghost puppet held a scythe and cut off the head of the audience puppet after approaching the seat.
The ghost puppet was pulled back into the sky by the thread, while the audience puppet fell to the ground with a clatter, its head rolling around, and blood-colored ** was even sprayed out from the broken neck like a fountain.
"Don't panic when you encounter danger, you must understand the effect of the performance."
The blood-spitting body was manipulated by silk threads to sit back on the chair, and the head was reattached to the neck. The recovered puppet stretched its head and looked towards the bottom of the stage, that is, looking at Jenkins, which made Jenkins feel a little dizzy, but at the same time understood that the other party was performing and watching the performance.
With two bangs, two throwing knives flew out from the darkness behind Jenkins, flew directly onto the stage and stabbed the doll's chest. Blood spurted out of his chest immediately, and his body fell to the ground.
"Is this a warning to me that there will be danger from the stage during the show?"
As he thought to himself, he heard the third rule:
"Watching the show with one heart and one mind, you will suffer bad luck if you leave the show."
Like the previous sentences, there is no rhyme at all, and even the use of vocabulary is not precise. But that's what made it feel more like a puppet show, and made Jenkins feel even more creepy.
The puppet that spurted blood from its chest was controlled by the silk thread to sit back on the seat again, and got up and started walking a few seconds later. Then, as if an invisible piece of rubber was rubbing against the stage, the puppet's head disappeared first, then its body, and then its feet. At the same time, the background of the oil painting at the same height as the puppet also turned white, as if its traces had also been erased.
This time the puppet did not appear on the stage again. On the contrary, applause rang out from all directions around Jenkins, and the two curtains on the stage were slowly closed again.
There was no one around, but the applause seemed to be full of seats. The way the curtain was pulled tight indicated that someone must be pulling the blood-red cloth on both sides, but no one could be seen either. Even though he had long been mentally prepared for the strange phenomena that might happen in the strange world, Jenkins still swayed in his seat a little uncomfortable. He attributed this to his instinctive resistance to the performance form of puppet show.
The curtain finally recovered to the extent that only a gap was left, and the applause gradually subsided:
"Guest, do you understand the rules here?"
The metal doll to Jenkins' left opened and closed its mouth, but the sound was more than one sound.
"Understood, loud noises are not allowed, be careful of the danger from the stage, and you can't leave the seat without authorization... So how do I get out of here? Oh, please don't perform anymore."
Seeing that the metal doll wanted to greet the opening of the curtain, Jenkins immediately said:
"I am so looking forward to the next official performance, so please tell me directly how I can leave."
The metal doll rattled again, and motioned Jenkins to look at the "card" in its hand:
"I have a stack of performance tickets here, and you can choose three to watch. After watching, you can naturally leave."
Jenkins raised his eyebrows:
"Why do you all like the number three so much?"
"Guest, what are you talking about?"
"No, I didn't say anything. Let me choose, then."
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, but instead of putting the stack of tickets in his hand, the metal puppet shook his head and said:
"Do you want to get a ticket for nothing?"
Jenkins thought that the danger would come from the performance itself, but he did not expect that the first step to get tickets would be of such a nature:
"So what do I need to buy a ticket?"
He wasn't stupid enough to grab tickets, and even if the metal doll didn't look strong, Jenkins wouldn't do it.
"Do you need a soul?"
"What do I want a soul for? Do you think I'm one of those demons with low taste?"
The metal doll sneered, then held out the stack of tickets in front of Jenkins:
"Don't worry, since you can appear here, you are qualified to watch the show. I can pay for the ticket price, you just need to prove that your taste is good enough to watch the show."
"How do I prove it?"
"Have you ever written a story?"
"certainly."
"Tell me one."
Jenkins looked at the metal doll suspiciously:
"What's your relationship to A-01-1-0034 [Mister Mischief's Counterfeit Shop]?"