“Yeah, all this commotion in the middle of the night…”

From the other tent, Zhang Ke said lazily: “Even if he wanted to escape, isn’t that perfectly natural? Never mind him — he’s lame anyway, he can’t get far. And besides, he’s tied up with a rope…”

Yangzi snorted loudly, yanked the rope and tied Lu Yuwen to a nearby tree — bound tight — then snarled in his face: “Stay put!”

Only then did he let it go, turning and heading back to the tent.

Inside the tent, Xiao Ge and Yangzi exchanged a few quiet words in terse tones, and after a little while the voices faded into silence, as though they had drifted off to sleep.

The night fell still and silent once more…

…

Su Man rose without a sound and approached Lu Yuwen.

She mouthed the words to him silently: “I’ll rescue you.”

Then she held up her dagger and gestured toward the ropes binding him.

Lu Yuwen looked at her and shook his head without a sound.

Su Man frowned slightly, puzzled. What did that mean? He didn’t want her to rescue him?

Was he not trusting her, or had he misunderstood her intent — thinking she was going to hurt him too?

It didn’t matter!

She would get him free first and ask questions later!

If she let those thugs keep working on him, he might not survive.

Su Man tightened her grip on the dagger and slashed down at the rope!

— The blade met something with the springy resistance of incredibly tough rubber — it wouldn’t cut through?!

Su Man stared in surprise, and instinctively tried again — still nothing!

Why?

It looked like such an ordinary leather rope!

Lu Yuwen exhaled two words in the lowest possible whisper: “An item.”

Su Man paused, reached out and touched the rope, and information immediately surfaced in her mind —

【The Rope of the Foolish Samaritan: Once tied, no one other than the user may untie or damage the rope.

Note: If the user dies, this item loses its effect.】

No wonder he had tried to douse them in gasoline and set them on fire!

Because unless they died, he could never escape!

Su Man was dumbfounded.

She hadn’t anticipated this. Short of chopping down this entire tree, there was no way to get Lu Yuwen free!

Could she chop it down?

…Technically speaking, it wasn’t impossible — but there was no way to fell a large tree without waking those thugs up.

What was she supposed to do now?

He was right in front of her.

And she couldn’t save him!

Lu Yuwen drew a few strokes with his foot in the dirt, spelling out a single word: MAP.

Map — a map?

What did he mean? Was he asking her to get the map?

Lu Yuwen tilted his chin toward the motorcycle.

Su Man half understood and half didn’t, but cast him a hesitant glance and then crept silently to the motorcycle —

The cargo box at the rear wasn’t locked. Several pages of paper were tucked into the gap, lifting the lid just slightly. She opened it with a single gentle pull.

The night was too dark to make out much — she could vaguely see that the papers were covered in scrawled markings. She gathered all of them and held them in her hands, a thick stack.

She made her way back to Lu Yuwen’s side.

“Take the map — go find somewhere to hide.” Lu Yuwen kept his voice barely above a breath.

Su Man asked: “What about you?”

“I’ll figure out a way to get free.” Lu Yuwen’s voice dropped even lower, and he glanced anxiously toward the tent, terrified that Su Man’s lingering would rouse those men. He urged her: “Go — now!”

Su Man bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, then turned and slipped away quickly.

These maps were the key to leaving the labyrinth — she had to hide them well!

…

Su Man spent a long time before finally finding a spot she felt confident in, hid the maps there, and then went back to find Lu Yuwen.

Lu Yuwen stared at her, dumbfounded: “Didn’t I tell you to stay hidden?!”

Su Man blinked: “Didn’t you tell me to go hide the map?”

Lu Yuwen choked.

Rustling sounds came from the direction of the tents.

Lu Yuwen’s alarm bells screamed — he was about to chase Su Man away when the figure before him suddenly sprang upward, and in the blink of an eye had scrambled up the tree and vanished into the thick canopy of leaves.

Lu Yuwen: “…”

Was this woman made of monkeys?!

—