Bai Youwei tapped her pen thoughtfully: “Those three’s sleep schedules must be completely disrupted. Living in an environment with no light and nothing to do… I imagine the majority of their time each day is spent sleeping…”

“Besides sleeping, there really isn’t anything else they can do.” Shen Mo said plainly. “Unless they had the courage to step out of this stone chamber and enter new ones — but they didn’t, because they’re afraid of the Minotaur.”

Bai Youwei sighed quietly. “I still think something is off. According to what they said, they’ve been attacked by the Minotaur at least seventeen or eighteen times — and yet they also said that however many spaces a player moves, the Minotaur moves the same number. With such frequent attacks… no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem very plausible.”

Shen Mo picked up the piece of paper in front of her and looked at it.

She had drawn some squares on it, apparently simulating their recent walking route.

“Don’t look at that — it’s not accurate.” Bai Youwei said. “In all the rooms we passed through just now, at least one had a spatial jump. Since we can’t confirm the displacement location, any map we draw will be wrong.”

Shen Mo pondered: “We need to figure out a way to mark these rooms. Otherwise, randomly opening doors will sooner or later bring the Minotaur upon us. Let me go out and tell the others — maybe we can put our heads together and think of something.”

“Alright…” Bai Youwei gave a light sigh and lazily lay down. “I’ll rest a bit…”

Darkness sometimes brings fear and tension, but sometimes it makes one drowsy and wanting to rest.

In the short term, no one could think of a good solution, and Bai Youwei’s side had no breakthroughs either. They decided to stay put for the day and rest in this stone chamber for the time being.

When evening came, everyone’s spirits were completely exhausted, and they all settled down. Shen Mo arranged a watch rotation, taking turns on night duty.

……

Bai Youwei wrapped herself in the blanket and nestled in Shen Mo’s arms for warmth. The tent, with two people cuddled inside, grew warm and cozy — there was an indescribable sense of warmth and comfort.

Later on, the light outside went out.

Then came Leonid’s grumbling: “These batteries drain so fast…”

Leonid felt his way back in the dark, the sounds of rustling and shuffling suggesting he was rummaging through his pack for batteries.

Inside the tent, Bai Youwei quietly asked Shen Mo: “Is Leonid on watch?”

“Mm.” Shen Mo replied. “Until 12, then A’Shalina takes over, then Du Lai at 2… then me at 4.”

“That’s exhausting.” Bai Youwei huddled against him and said dully. “If we could go into the dollhouse, there’d be no need for night watch at all…”

She thought about it and suggested: “What if the two of us snuck in?”

After all, they were both inside the tent — even if they entered the dollhouse, the people outside the tent wouldn’t know.

But Shen Mo didn’t agree. “If something happened, we wouldn’t notice anything from inside the dollhouse.”

The moment he finished speaking — as if on cue — a scream rang out from beyond the tent!

Bai Youwei was startled!

Only to hear Chen Hui shout loudly: “What are you doing?! Get away! Get away from me!!!”

Shen Mo immediately rushed out of the tent!

Outside, Leonid had already seized the night attacker first, barking: “What did you just try to do?!”

Everyone woke up.

Several beams of flashlight fell together onto the emaciated, pallid man lying on the ground. He trembled violently, prostrate, not daring to move a muscle.

Chen Hui stood nearby, her face still pale with fright.

Bai Youwei stepped out of the tent, furrowed her brow, took a sweeping look, and asked: “What happened?”

“A misunderstanding… it’s all a misunderstanding!” Mark and Dylan came scrambling over, pulling Slade up from the ground. “He must have been having a dream again — yes, that’s right, he was dreaming! His head isn’t right, he often mixes up dreams and reality, he didn’t mean to frighten you, please don’t misunderstand!…”

Bai Youwei knitted her brow, turned her head, and asked Chen Hui directly: “Chen Hui — you tell me. What happened?”

—