The Rains of Sichuan {Choose Your Own Adventure} // Wattys 2019

Chapter Twenty-Three

So much for trying to get out of your cell. With a grunt of rage, you put your head in your hands, trying to figure out a new plan - when you hear a muffled thud.

Your head whips round when the thud is followed by some angry, then panicked, screaming male voices. The sounds of a scuffle reach you, systematically punctuated by the loud oompf of falling things. You stand up and push against the bars of your cell door, looking at the end of the corridor, where a heavy wooden door separates the cell block from the main station room. The noises have stopped and everything is still.

When the wooden door's handle turns and the whole thing creaks open, you throw yourself backward and stand with the far wall of your cell to your back. You assume a fighter's crouch, but without any weapons this doesn't look good.

You can hear footsteps coming down the corridor and, suddenly, they stand before you, on the other side of the bars: three men, their features hidden behind their helmets, but the sigil of their lord drawn proud on their chest: these men serve the Monkey King.

Your breath catches in your throat, and you begin to tell yourself you're safe behind these bars, when the three take a step forward - and glide right through the metal. A scream dies in your throat. These men are spirits.

Before you can do anything, the one in the middle lifts a hand and snaps his fingers. Immediately your body stiffens until you fall to the ground, completely paralysed. Do a Constitution test, rolling 2 dice or getting a random number from a 1 to 12 draw. Shamans and Monks have a +4 bonus to this test.

1 to 7: you cannot resist the spell that was cast on you. Your eyelids droop and you fall into a deep sleep. Congratulations, you finished Part 2! Now go to Chapter Thirty-Three.

8 to 12: although you can't move at all, you do manage to stay awake. Go to Chapter Thirty-Four.