BOOM!!!

A tremendous crash — the Minotaur had rammed into a stone wall!

It let out a long, anguished howl, and then the chaotic sounds of fighting resumed from within the chamber — the Minotaur panting, heaving, gasping!… until it collapsed.

Bai Youwei stood outside the door, her heart clenched tight.

She knew Shen Mo could handle the Minotaur. He was supremely skilled, and he had his paper doll as a weapon. No matter what monster he faced, he had never once backed down.

He just… he just couldn’t do anything about those insects. That was the only reason he was forcing himself to hold out in there rather than come out!

Du Lai and A’Shalina slammed their bodies against the door repeatedly. It wouldn’t budge.

Du Lai raised his voice at the door: “Even if you kill it, it won’t matter! Shen Mo! It takes fifteen seconds at most — that thing will come back to life! Then it’ll start eating Marc! Do you want to stay in there and fight it for the scraps?!”

No sound from inside the door.

Bai Youwei closed her eyes and breathed in deeply…

Then she suddenly raised the dagger and drove it hard into her right knee!

“Ah!…” She cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground.

A’Shalina was both frantic and furious, grabbing her to keep her from falling. “Have you lost your mind?!”

“You don’t understand…” Bai Youwei propped herself up on her elbows and looked toward the sealed door, her whole body trembling. “He stayed inside because he believes that even without him, I can survive. He believes I’d have a better chance of surviving without him. That’s why he won’t come out!”

She finished speaking — and then drove the blade into her left knee!

Blood welled up. Even with some mental preparation for the pain, Bai Youwei couldn’t stop herself from crying out! Cold sweat drenched her forehead!

Du Lai was frantic. “Bai Youwei! Do you want to be a cripple again?!”

Leonid was so agitated he tore the cloth off his own face and screamed at the door: “SHEN MO! You little bastard, get out here! What the hell is wrong with you?! And your woman’s lost her mind too!!!”

“I’m alright… I know what I’m doing,” Bai Youwei said, breathing deeply, one hand pressed to her wound. “These minor injuries — once we’re out of the maze, they’ll heal quickly.”

“But does this even work?!” A’Shalina was nearly beside herself. “Maybe his mind is already gone! That would explain why he sealed himself in there to begin with!”

Bai Youwei closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. She called out to the other side of the door:

“Shen Mo! I’m bleeding right now. Du Lai and Leonid are starving. Even if you can hold yourself back from eating me — what makes you think they can?!”

“Damn it!” Leonid hastily clamped the cloth back over his face. The smell of blood was already making his mouth water.

Du Lai was just about to say that this kind of provocation might not even work — when the door was wrenched open from the inside. A dark figure covered in what looked like a black haze burst through and crashed face-first to the ground!

Everyone was startled!

Shen Mo was covered in blood. His abdomen had been torn open — a massive wound, as if gored by a horn.

His consciousness was hazy. He reached out one hand and grabbed Bai Youwei’s ankle. The black insects still swarmed thick all over his body, circling through the air — yet only a few stragglers crawled up along Bai Youwei’s leg. The vast majority of the insects scattered outward, drawn instead toward Du Lai, Leonid, and A’Shalina.

In that moment, Bai Youwei finally understood. “It’s combat power!… These ‘lice’ automatically seek out the person with the highest combat power to parasitize! That’s why Chen Hui and I are barely affected!”

Du Lai beat the swarming insects away from himself and asked Bai Youwei: “Do you have any liquor?”

Bai Youwei took out her golden key and unlocked the dollhouse.

Inside were Cheng Weicai, Pan Xiaoxin, and Tan Xiao. The moment they caught sight of everyone’s battered state, they were all shocked!

“I look away for a little while and this is what happens to you all?!” Tan Xiao moved to step out and help.

“Don’t come out!” Bai Youwei stopped him sharply. “The insects in here are a problem — none of you come out! Just hand me some liquor — the higher the alcohol content the better! Hurry!”

—