Bai Youwei gave a faint smile but said nothing.

Du Lai made another plea: “Now you already know the method for clearing the maze. A maze like this poses no danger to you whatsoever. All it takes is going in and passing along a message… Bai Youwei, I know you must have a way to save Miaoxue. Please, I’m begging you!”

Bai Youwei was unmoved. She smiled with an air of ease: “You should wait a little longer. Fu Miaoxue is a smart person — she may well find her own way out before long.”

“She will not come out!” Du Lai ground out through his teeth, his composure nearly shattered. “The longer you spend inside the dreamscape, the easier it is to lose track of what’s real and what isn’t! She’ll forget everything about the real world — she’ll accept every setting and storyline the dream has written for her, from beginning to end! She’ll be lost inside it completely!!!”

Bai Youwei listened, was silent for a moment, then said with a detached tone: “The one who chose to enter the maze was her. Whatever consequences follow — she should have been prepared for them.”

Bai Youwei gently patted Chen Hui’s shoulder with a light smile. “Rest and take care of yourself. I’ll come see you again another day.”

With that, she turned and walked out through the hospital room door, passing Du Lai in the doorway.

Shen Mo lingered a moment longer in the room and said: “Du Lai, have you considered — maybe Fu Miaoxue isn’t unable to come out, but unwilling.”

Du Lai’s expression turned thoroughly ugly.

Shen Mo said nothing more and followed after Bai Youwei. The two of them walked away and gradually disappeared from view.

Du Lai refused to accept it. He called after their retreating figures: “Bai Youwei! Your mother — whether she’s alive or dead — you really don’t care even a little?!”

Bai Youwei’s footsteps faltered for just a moment, then quickly steadied, and she left the medical wing with Shen Mo.

Du Lai raised his fist and slammed it hard against the door frame, his eyes blazing red.

He had truly run out of options.

—

Back in her room, Bai Youwei sat down on the edge of the bed, her expression somewhat vacant.

Shen Mo knew she was thinking about Maze No. 1.

“Even if we know the key clues about Maze No. 1, even if the maze isn’t dangerous — there’s still no need to go in right at this moment. There isn’t much time left before the third battle. If going into the maze ends up affecting the outcome of the battle game, the loss far outweighs the gain.”

Shen Mo tried to bring her back to herself, patiently reasoning with her: “Any matter can be deferred — until an absolute victory is secured.”

Including finding Bai Youwei’s mother.

After all — if they went looking now, would it affect her state of mind? Would it lead to failure? Would it get her killed inside the game? If she couldn’t even protect her own life, what good was finding her mother? They’d still be separated.

But the truth was, Bai Youwei hadn’t been thinking about going to find Wang Jingxian.

She had her own path to walk. And her mother, of course, had her own path. Blood ties might be the closest bond there was — but that didn’t stop two people from inhabiting entirely separate worlds.

Bai Youwei sat in silence, thinking for a long while. Then she reached into her canvas bag and rummaged around until she found a card, which she handed to Shen Mo.

“Give this to Du Lai,” she said.

Shen Mo took it and frowned slightly.

【Friend Invitation Card: Holder may enter restricted areas, or certain sealed zones, without a prior invitation.】

“Can this item be used on a maze?” Shen Mo wasn’t certain.

“It should be able to…” Bai Youwei let out a soft sigh. “Other than that, I truly cannot think of any other reason why Du Lai’s divination token would send him to find me. To save Fu Miaoxue, beyond needing someone who has never entered Maze No. 1 before, you’d also need an item capable of entering someone else’s dream.”

If Shen Mo was being candid — based on her understanding of Bai Youwei — she was not someone who gave things away freely.

Shen Mo studied her expression and asked: “Are you planning to use it as a bargaining chip?”

Bai Youwei shook her head and said lightly: “I’m just giving it to him. Strange, isn’t it — I don’t like Du Lai, and I can’t stand Fu Miaoxue either. And yet for some reason… I don’t want to see those two separated.”

—