Dusk.

A SUV raced along a flat, open road.

In the passenger seat, Bai Youwei was fighting off drowsiness.

The long drive, the monotonous scenery, the warm sunlight — everything conspired to pull her toward sleep.

She gave a languid yawn and said: “Next time we should let Tan Xiao ride in the car. He’s annoying, but he keeps us awake.”

Shen Mo glanced at her: “Why didn’t we let him ride this time?”

“To save fuel, of course — fuel~” Bai Youwei shot him a sideways look. “Your car is such a gas guzzler — did you not know that?”

And so not only had all the luggage been moved into the dollhouse, she had also banished Tan Xiao, Cheng Weicai, and Pan Xiaoxin into it as well.

Shen Mo smiled slightly but didn’t answer.

In his mind, he suspected Bai Youwei was deliberately creating an opportunity for the two of them to be alone.

“Just a little further — we’re almost there,” Shen Mo said.

Bai Youwei forced herself to stay alert and looked out at the road ahead. Beautifully layered mountains, rivers, forests and trees came into view — and in the far distance, thick white mist. The labyrinth.

“I wonder if Su Man is in there…” she murmured with a worried frown, and gave a soft sigh.

After discovering that Su Man had slipped away, the group had split into two search parties with Yan Qingwen — one heading to Xuzhou, the other to Fuzhou.

With no way to communicate at a distance, finding any particular person was truly difficult — but Lu Ang was already gone, and Yan Qingwen couldn’t bear to see Su Man come to harm. Besides, heading to the labyrinth to collect puzzle pieces had been their goal all along — finding Su Man in the process would simply be a bonus.

And so it was decided: Shen Mo and Bai Youwei set out for Fuzhou, Yan Qingwen and Zhu Shu for Xuzhou.

Shen Mo kept his eyes on the road and said calmly: “According to the map, it should be another hour of driving before we’re close enough to see the mist. But we can already see it — which means the labyrinth has expanded again in the meantime.”

Bai Youwei leaned against the window and murmured: “What would happen to a labyrinth that no one ever manages to escape from?… Would it just keep expanding forever? Expanding without end, until it covered the entire continent? The whole Earth?”

“That depends on what the game system is trying to accomplish,” Shen Mo said, slowing the car slightly. “If it only wants to kill people, then the harder the labyrinth and the games, the better. But if it’s trying to select certain people — it will always leave a way out.”

Bai Youwei turned to look at him. “Do you want to be selected?”

Shen Mo answered without hesitation: “Of course. Only by winning to the very end can you see the truth.”

Bai Youwei thought for a moment, then asked: “Is the truth that important to you?”

Shen Mo gripped the steering wheel, glanced at her sideways: “Lu Ang and Yu Yaqing both died in the games. Why they died — doesn’t that make you want to know?”

Bai Youwei fell quiet.

Lu Ang and Yu Yaqing had died at the hands of the dolls. The dolls had been made by Mali. And Mali had been made by the games. And who had made the games? Why had the games appeared at all? That remained an unsolved mystery.

But to tell the truth…

Bai Youwei had no particular intention of seeking the truth. She even felt a degree of resistance to it — when truth finally arrived… would everything, perhaps, return to the way it had been?

She looked down at her own legs.

After so much difficulty — she was almost able to stand again…

But that thought was something she could share with no one — not even Shen Mo.

She didn’t want him to see her as dark, selfish — or even malicious.

The car suddenly stopped.

Bai Youwei was caught off guard: “Why have we stopped?”

“There’s a car ahead,” Shen Mo said, narrowing his eyes. “A tent beside it. And a woman.”

Bai Youwei looked out too. “Could it be Su Man?”

—