She chose not to go in because she didn’t want to be a burden. Her combat strength was already the lowest of everyone’s — and now her legs were wounded on top of that. Bai Youwei chose to stay behind.

The stone chambers were separated by thick walls of stone. The Minotaur was just on the other side, roaring and heaving, its footsteps sending dull thuds through the ground.

Shen Mo took one last look at Bai Youwei, removed the collar from his neck, took the rabbit with him, and led the way through the door—

Du Lai, A’Shalina, and Leonid followed close behind, pulling off their collars one by one.

From within the darkness came the Minotaur’s low growl — and then Leonid pulled the door shut!

Their view was cut off by the door. There was no way to see what was happening on the other side. Chen Hui came anxiously to Bai Youwei’s side, her fingers interlaced and twisting tightly together.

“They’ll be fine,” Chen Hui murmured, barely above a whisper — whether she was saying it for Bai Youwei’s sake or her own.

BOOM!!!

A sudden thunderous crash made Chen Hui flinch!

Then a piercing, agonized howl erupted on the other side of the door!

Like the roar of a beast cornered in battle — like the wail of a fox or wolf. The sound rolled through the stone walls and reverberated all around, the echoes crashing and surging!

Chen Hui stared at the door with wide, terrified eyes, her heart leaping to her throat!

Until the sound began, little by little, to fade…

The sounds of fighting died away too.

Gone completely.

The door was pulled open from the inside. Leonid stood in the doorway. The wound on his shoulder had torn open again, seeping dark red — yet his face was alight with excitement.

“Get in here, quick!” Leonid called, his voice full of energy. “This maze was this simple all along! The exit — it’s appeared!”

Chen Hui and Bai Youwei looked at each other in bewildered disbelief.

A’Shalina came running to the doorway too, urging them both urgently: “The exit! The maze exit has appeared!”

Chen Hui helped Bai Youwei to her feet, and they slowly walked into the chamber.

The Minotaur lay motionless on the ground. Shen Mo stood with one foot on its chest, his posture mirroring the hero in the murals. He slowly released his grip, leaving the sword embedded forever in the Minotaur’s chest.

And no more than ten meters from the Minotaur, a glowing square had appeared.

They knew this kind of square all too well.

The maze entrance that the Inspector had opened for them had been exactly this — a white-glowing square. The entrance to the combat game had been exactly this kind of square too.

Du Lai exhaled slowly and looked at Bai Youwei. “Those people ruined us. If they hadn’t taken the sword, we would have found the exit long ago.”

Marc and the others had unknowingly raised the difficulty of this maze by who knew how many levels.

A’Shalina worked through the implications and felt her mood turn complicated. “They were trapped here for so long, yet never knew that the thing in their hands could save their own lives…”

“Of course — because they’d starved until they’d lost their minds,” Leonid said. “Come on, everyone — let’s go. We can finally leave this awful place. I’m so hungry I could eat an entire sheep!”

Chen Hui hesitated. “We just… just leave like this?”

Not long ago she had been in despair. How could it be that simple — just walk out and they’re out? It felt surreal…

Du Lai laughed. “This maze wasn’t hard to begin with. We were misled at the start — otherwise we wouldn’t have been in such a wretched state every time the Minotaur kept coming back to life.”

He waved away the last of the insects still drifting in front of him and looked at the glowing square ahead with an ease he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“We can finally leave…”

Du Lai stepped toward the glowing square, already desperate to get out — desperate to see Fu Miaoxue.

Shen Mo also walked over to Bai Youwei. The black insects still hovered and circled in his hair and along his arms.

“Let’s go.” Shen Mo brushed those pestering insects away, expression blank. “These insects just won’t quit. Who knows if they’ll disappear once we’re outside.”

Bai Youwei looked at Shen Mo, then glanced hesitantly at Du Lai. “Are we really just leaving like this? We still haven’t gathered all the keys — and the iron door behind the murals still hasn’t been opened…”