In the time that followed, they finished walking the remaining stretch of road, then turned into a fork, calculating their steps while searching for supplies.

Cheng Weicai found a rosewood walking stick somewhere in a shop.

He wasn’t old enough to need a walking stick, but having witnessed the scene of Tan Xiao being attacked, he was shaken and wanted to hold something to use as a weapon.

Tan Xiao had a big capacity to forget. When he saw a water tap by the roadside, he immediately took a carefree cold shower without a second thought.

His shower was more convenient than Bai Youwei’s—he just stood directly under the tap, scrubbing his t-shirt and washing his clothes at the same time.

“Look at this.” Teacher Cheng pointed at a poster on the wall with his walking stick. “Starting a while ago, I’ve seen quite a few posters and flyers like this…”

The stick lifted the corner of the poster, revealing a smooth mirror surface. Teacher Cheng’s hand trembled and he quickly put it down.

Shen Mo said: “It should have been put up by people in the past.”

Everyone looked toward the road ahead and saw more posters messily pasted on the walls. Some mirrors weren’t covered, but had been splashed with streaks of paint, looking quite brutal.

People who had been trapped in the maze before were also this wary of mirrors, which was enough to show how dangerous they were.

They became even more vigilant about mirrors.

They continued forward.

Gradually, they discovered some traces of human habitation, such as: discarded lunch boxes, leftover drinks, beds where people had rested temporarily. But they never saw any people.

The sky gradually darkened as dusk fell.

They decided to return to the maze starting point.

Because they had counted their steps along the way, they only needed to calculate in reverse to return the same way.

Halfway through the return journey, a hissing electrical current sound came through the air. Immediately after, the entire maze lit up!

—Brilliantly illuminated.

Dark buildings lit up their windows, flashy neon lights flickered incessantly! The maze was dyed by the lights, like the lively and noisy marketplace of the past, making people feel in a trance that nothing had changed.

Bai Youwei had never felt that night scenery could be so beautiful.

It had only been three or four days since the outside world lost power, yet she felt as if a century had passed, so much so that seeing lights now actually gave rise to a sense of震撼 in her heart. How ironic.

However, beautiful things always harbored danger. When the gorgeous lights reflected on the mirrors, constantly reflecting and refracting, refracting and reflecting again, it was enough to confuse one’s sense of direction.

“Let’s go.” Shen Mo pushed the wheelchair forward. “Teacher Cheng walks in the middle, Tan Xiao watch the rear.”

Both responded affirmatively.

…

When they returned to the maze center, Tu Dan and her group were eating dinner.

The things Shen Mo’s group had taken from the Korean barbecue restaurant were still there. Teacher Cheng volunteered to prepare dinner. Having eaten barbecue for lunch, they should eat something lighter in the evening. Bai Youwei was picky and unwilling to eat noodles, so in the end he boiled several bags of frozen dumplings and made a large pot of seaweed and egg drop soup.

Teacher Cheng’s porridge-making skills were average, but his soup was really quite good. The egg drops spread evenly with a bright yellow color and smooth texture. Sprinkled with some crushed dried shrimp and scallions, even a simple dish was fragrant and had the warmth of home.

The teacher and students next door were eating simply—uniformly instant noodles with sausages. Now seeing them with both dumplings and soup, their eyes revealed envy.

At this time, they saw Tu Dan and Zhang Tianyang get up and walk over. The students kept egging them on: “Tianyang! Bring back some dumplings!”

Zhang Tianyang laughed and cursed: “If you want to eat, go cook them yourselves!”

He wasn’t going to ask for dumplings.

Zhang Tianyang glanced at Teacher Tu’s serious expression beside him, his heart heavy.

Two groups entering the maze at the same time—they were either friends or enemies. He hoped that this time he could persuade them together with Teacher Tu to reach cooperation…