Shen Mo looked back at them but said nothing.

After continuing into the fog for five or six minutes, they gradually felt the environment changing.

Everyone knew this was a sign of entering the maze, so no one spoke.

The air became increasingly suffocating and sweltering.

And beneath their feet…

The ground beneath them became soft and mushy.

This softness wasn’t like the mud from the “Frog’s Golden Ball” game, but another kind of… extremely uncomfortable mushiness.

Bai Youwei also noticed the wheelchair’s hindered progress. The ground was no longer flat, but sticky, soft, and sluggish—very strange.

She even smelled a… rich scent of blood.

Then…

The fog dispersed.

Urban buildings came into view, causing everyone to instinctively cover their mouths and noses, suppressing the urge to vomit…

—The city was wrapped in masses of blood-red flesh. Whether tendons or membranes was unclear, but everything was enveloped, even the sky overhead was covered, making them feel as if they were inside some monster’s body. The road before them resembled trachea or intestines within a body, or perhaps something else…

Bai Youwei’s complexion was extremely poor.

All her excitement and anticipation for clearing the challenge vanished completely!

She had entered with the mindset of enjoying the game, but now she didn’t want to stay even a second longer! She just wanted to leave!

“Disgusting!” She covered her nose and spat out two words in extreme displeasure.

Teacher Cheng tried touching the wall beside him. That soft, slightly elastic texture felt exactly like peeled muscle. When his palm covered it, he could even feel pulsing beneath the flesh membrane.

Like blood flowing.

Teacher Cheng murmured thoughtfully: “Last time, the maze tested our knowledge of the mind. Could it be that this time, it wants to test our understanding of the body?”

“That can’t be.” Bai Youwei covered her mouth and nose, speaking in a muffled voice. “Our decision to come to Hangzhou was temporary. The game system doesn’t know which maze we’ll go to.”

Her expression was pained. She breathed with difficulty, then immediately held her breath in disgust, feeling both wronged and annoyed: “This place is too disgusting.”

Tan Xiao looked left and right, asking bewilderedly: “Were we… eaten by some big monster?”

Shen Mo took out his dagger, walked to the wall covered in flesh bumps, and raised his hand to stab it.

A wound appeared, blood flowing directly.

He reached out to touch some blood, placing it under his nose to smell lightly. His brow furrowed: “This maze seems to be alive.”

—Only living things would have flowing blood.

Everyone stood in place, silent for a moment. Just thinking that what they were stepping on was alive made their legs go weak involuntarily.

Shen Mo pondered for a moment and said to everyone: “Let’s walk forward first.”

Bai Youwei covered her mouth with one hand and pointed at the little boy with the other: “Have him take out the map and follow it.”

Only then did everyone remember that the little boy had mentioned before that he had a map of the maze.

How could someone who’d never entered the maze draw a maze map?—It was simply copying the urban buildings within the fog’s range according to their original layout.

The little boy pressed his lips together and handed the map to Shen Mo, saying seriously: “Our current position should be on Genshan West Road. If I’m not wrong, if we continue forward we’ll see a very large interchange bridge.”

Shen Mo compared the map, his gaze dropping to land on the little boy’s face. “Are you a Hangzhou local?”

“Yes.” The little boy nodded. “My name is Pan Xiaoxin. I’m a fifth-grade student at Hangzhou Central Elementary School.”

“How old?”

“Eleven.”

Shen Mo nodded slightly, returning the map to him. “From now on, you’re responsible for recording the routes we take.”

Suddenly entrusted with such an important responsibility, Pan Xiaoxin froze, then hurriedly caught the map. “…O-okay!”