“But the room with the mural — several of us searched it and found no weapon at all,” Ashalina said. “If it were a key item, wouldn’t it be placed somewhere obvious? Just like those locks — they were impossible to miss, practically announcing: this maze has twelve keys.”

“You’re right. Important items should be in plain sight.” Bai Youwei said slowly, “But what if someone hid it?”

Hid it?

Who would hide something so critically important?

Everyone’s eyes drifted, almost involuntarily, toward the two men in the corner.

Mark and Dylan noticed and hurriedly denied it. “No! No, it wasn’t us! We never hid anything! We even gave you all the keys!”

Bai Youwei considered for a moment. “Search them.”

Shen Mo and Du Lai stepped forward.

What they were looking for wasn’t a folding utility knife or a small dagger — it was a sword. Long, straight, and rigid. Something like that was almost impossible to conceal on a person.

After a quick search, Shen Mo and Du Lai both looked, at almost the same moment, at the enchanted pouch on Dylan’s waist.

The pouch produced an endless supply of bread and spring water. But it was still a pouch — things could be stored inside it.

Du Lai felt along the outside first. He was disappointed, but pressed on and reached a hand inside to feel around.

Still nothing.

The two of them turned back and gave their companions a slight shake of the head.

Bai Youwei’s brow furrowed. If it wasn’t on Mark or Dylan… could it be on Slade? But when Slade was attacked by the minotaur, he had made no attempt to fight back at all. If he truly had the sword in his possession, why hadn’t he drawn it?

Or perhaps her theory was simply wrong. Perhaps the legendary sword in the mural didn’t exist at all.

No…

No, if it didn’t exist, then why did those murals exist?

“…Maybe the sword is still somewhere in the maze.” Bai Youwei bit her lip, took Shen Mo’s hand, and said, “Let’s keep searching.”

Shen Mo closed his hand around hers. “We will,” he said, his voice steady.

His manner was calm and composed, as though last night had been nothing but a dream.

Bai Youwei had no peace of mind.

She hoped he was truly all right, but she feared he was only holding himself together to keep her from worrying.

…

Once their belongings were packed, everyone set out again.

Still heading east, still using the chick to scout ahead. They had only moved through one stone chamber when they hit a dead end — the eastern door wouldn’t open.

Bai Youwei chose north instead. While the minotaur hadn’t yet closed in, she wanted to cover as many rooms as possible and get a clearer sense of how many there were in total.

But the northern path yielded only one room before they hit a teleport point.

The chick vanished in an instant.

Bai Youwei thought for a moment, then set down one of the keys on the ground. “Let’s loop around to the south one space and keep going.”

“You’re just leaving the key here?” Ashalina asked in surprise. “Weren’t we collecting all twelve?”

Bai Youwei held up her drawn map. “As long as I have the location marked, we can come back for the key anytime. What matters more right now is marking the map. These keys come in different colors, each one distinct — they’re perfect for leaving markers.”

“But what if we can’t come back?!” Mark burst out. “We already have five keys — nearly half! If you throw one away now and can’t find it again, you’ll regret it!”

Bai Youwei arranged the key on the floor like an arrow and adjusted its angle to point toward the room with the teleport point.

“Teleport points can be one-directional or two-directional. Earlier the minotaur was able to teleport from a distance to a teleport point near us, which means the teleport points here are all two-way…” Bai Youwei’s voice was unusually calm. “Before we collect all the keys, they shouldn’t sit there doing nothing. Right now, this one key can help us track where the minotaur might appear from when it comes after us next.”

—