Shen Mo smiled and stuffed the doll back into her canvas bag.

“No need.” He raised his hand to pat her head. “We’ll be back soon. You keep the item—it’ll be useful if something happens on this end.”

Bai Youwei pouted, unhappy.

At this moment, faint tremors came from underfoot again.

Bai Youwei’s expression became even more unpleasant.

She knew the monster had arrived nearby—Shen Mo and Tan Xiao were about to depart.

“We’re off.” Shen Mo placed a large bottle of mint sugar water in her arms, straightened up. “Hide yourself well inside. If you feel nauseous, take a sip.”

Tan Xiao also said, “Weiwei, wait for Brother Mo and me to find the exit, then we can all get out!”

Bai Youwei’s haughty expression finally softened somewhat, actually seeming rather pitifully vulnerable. “You have to come back early…”

The two men left the shop one after the other.

The tremors grew more violent—it seemed not to be coming to this street. Shen Mo estimated the direction and led Tan Xiao, moving nimbly toward the source of the vibrations.

Bai Youwei watched from the window for a while before being persuaded by Cheng Weicai to go into the back kitchen.

They closed the door piled with layers of flesh, leaving only a narrow crack to see the situation outside clearly.

The intensity of the tremors varied, sometimes near and sometimes far. That fat, long giant snake seemed to be rampaging through the streets, frantically searching for food.

After a while, it moved farther and farther away, and the surroundings returned to calm…

Everything was quiet.

Everyone in the back kitchen breathed a sigh of relief.

Then they couldn’t help but worry about the two who had gone out.

“I hope those two go smoothly.” Teacher Cheng sighed and prayed.

Pan Xiaoxin silently looked at Cheng Weicai and Bai Youwei. Those left behind happened to be the old, young, and disabled of the team, which made him feel very uneasy…

Bai Youwei frowned without speaking.

She held the water bottle and took a sip. Still feeling irritable, she saw a few mint leaves floating in the water and reached out her slender white fingers to fish out the leaves, placing them in her mouth to chew.

The cool and slightly astringent aroma diluted the bloody smell in her nostrils, making her feel slightly more comfortable.

She glanced at the half-dead man on the ground and asked, “How did your companions die?”

The man was stunned, then replied, “…We were following behind the snake trying to find the exit, but at a turning point we were discovered. We didn’t have time to escape… they were eaten, and I also injured my leg.”

Bai Youwei asked again, “Have you seen other people?”

The man’s face showed even more confusion. “No… I’ve been hiding here, not daring to go out. If you hadn’t suddenly broken in, I wouldn’t have known there were other people entering the maze.”

Bai Youwei pressed her lips together, looking outside, silently counting time in her heart.

She recalled what Shen Mo had said earlier—five people had entered the maze, one of them was injured, and ultimately all five left the maze.

This indicated the maze difficulty shouldn’t be too high, unless those five people were exceptionally capable.

Could those five really be extraordinarily gifted?

She didn’t believe she and Shen Mo—people who had experienced a data upgrade—would be inferior to those five.

Also, in the Mirror Maze, as long as you found the right approach, you could easily exit the maze. The maze’s existence couldn’t possibly be just to have players fight huge monsters!

Bai Youwei’s head ached, and the surrounding smell of bloody flesh made her want to vomit again.

She tilted her head back and took another sip of mint water. Through the transparent glass bottle, she saw a blurry shadow moving outside the restaurant.

Pan Xiaoxin nervously shrank back, saying in an extremely weak voice, “That’s… the skinless monster.”

Teacher Cheng quickly closed the door tightly, pressing his back against it, his expression grave and tense.

“It’s just one, don’t be afraid… it can’t discover us.”

He gripped his cane, instructing Bai Youwei and Pan Xiaoxin in a low voice, “You two move back. Don’t be afraid—I’ll guard here and won’t let it in.”