With no leads, they could only continue forward along the street.

Afterward, they encountered several more waves of skinned monsters—small and troublesome, with gradually increasing numbers. When there were seven or eight they could manage, but when over ten rushed at them, everyone struggled somewhat.

Because they couldn’t be sure how many more monsters lay ahead, they found a convenience store by the roadside and went inside to take temporary shelter.

—The convenience store was similarly overgrown with flesh. Meat-like shelves lay scattered about, some broken on the ground, some stuck to walls, merged with the wall’s flesh, warm and sticky, emitting a nauseating bloody stench.

Interestingly, though surrounded by red flesh with no lighting whatsoever, their vision remained bright.

Cheng Weicai reached out again, probing to touch the flesh.

Walls, floors, doors and windows, shelves, checkout counter… without exception, everything had turned to flesh. There was no skin layer, only a thin meat membrane. A light cut would make it bleed.

“Different from last time…” Teacher Cheng murmured.

“Indeed different.” Shen Mo also said in a low voice.

Last time in the mirror maze, the texture of city buildings remained—cement was cement, glass was glass, only through different arrangements and combinations did the city become a maze.

However, this time, the arrangement and combination of city buildings hadn’t changed. Streets and houses maintained their original positions. The only difference was that the texture had changed.

“If the street positions are the same as on the map, we don’t need to worry about getting lost.” Shen Mo thought. “But where will the exit be?”

Last time they wandered circles in the maze looking for the exit.

But this time, the map had clearly marked every position. Where would the exit be?

Teacher Cheng said: “We can’t search slowly like last time. Last time the maze had water, electricity, and plenty of food, but here… the food and water we brought in can only last two days at most.”

They’d been careless.

With preconceived notions, they hadn’t prepared much food or water, mainly to travel light for dealing with danger.

They hadn’t expected to encounter this situation.

…Of course, there was no shortage of meat here.

But who would dare eat this kind of meat?

Shen Mo thought for a moment and said: “If this maze is some kind of organism’s body, then it should have corresponding internal organs. We can try searching for major organs, like the heart or brain. Perhaps we’ll find clues.”

Of course, this was just a hypothesis. After all, if it were an alien organism, it might not necessarily have internal organs.

Tan Xiao asked: “Which way should we go?”

He bent down to look at the map in Pan Xiaoxin’s hands and asked again: “Should we head straight to the city center?”

According to habitual thinking, important things should always be hidden in the most central location.

Bai Youwei spoke with an ugly expression: “This flesh bleeds, doesn’t it…”

Her voice was very light, her mouth also opened just slightly, as if opening it any wider would make her inhale more of the surrounding disgusting air.

“…Try stabbing it a few more times. If the maze is truly one entity, it should form blood circulation. Blood flow speeds aren’t equal in different parts—arterial flow is fastest, capillary flow is slowest due to having the largest area. To find the heart, first find the main artery.”

This was a method.

Everyone wasted no more time and immediately began acting.

Though it was all flesh and bumps, in some places you could see protruding dark red veins inside the meat.

Shen Mo stabbed toward a prominent dark red tendon. When the dagger pulled out, blood immediately gushed out like a burst water pipe.

After a moment, the flow decreased.

Shen Mo reached out to touch that wound, frowning: “…It healed.”