Everyone looked back. The boats behind them were rapidly closing in, propelled by the wind.
The invisible ghosts and their rapidly moving oars put them under tremendous pressure.
Watching the boats about to rush into them, Wang Ruoxi said,
"A little farther, and we'll be there!"
Hearing her, the other three put all their strength into rowing.
At the thought of the miserable fates of the two who had died, they unleashed limitless potential, and the boat did move a little faster than before.
But it still wasn't enough.
The boats behind them were moving too wildly. Before long, they were only five or six meters away and about to collide with them.
Once they collided, they would be executed for breaking Paradise's rules.
As everyone grew anxious, Wang Ruoxi took out a black flag and threw it.
The black flag burst apart in midair, releasing a vast surge of energy that formed a translucent barrier around them.
The pursuing boats struck the barrier and instantly shattered into pieces, scattering into planks that floated on the lake.
In just a moment, nearly all the boats had been destroyed, and the danger had passed.
Liu Shuai looked at the shattered boats behind them and quickly said, "Impressive."
Then something else occurred to him, and he hurriedly asked, "You damaged those boats. Will you be all right?"
Everyone quickly turned to Wang Ruoxi, wondering whether Paradise's rules would erase her.
"I'm fine," Wang Ruoxi said. "Inside this barrier, we aren't affected by any rules. Even destroying those boats is fine."
"That's good," Liu Shuai said with a smile.
Wang Ruoxi, however, said somewhat regretfully, "It's just a shame. That flag was a consumable, and it could only be used once.
"But there was no helping it. That really was dangerous just now. If I hadn't used it, we definitely wouldn't have escaped."
Everyone thanked her. Wang Ruoxi really had saved them just now; otherwise, they very likely would all have died here.
This was an A-rank instance, after all. Even though they were Ability Users, one careless mistake could still get the whole party wiped out.
With the danger gone, they rowed to shore, stopped the boat, and got out.
They had finally finished the game and no longer had to keep those ugly smiles on their faces. They all felt much more relieved.
But the instance wasn't over yet. They had completed less than half of it, and there was still a long way to go.
Shen Hao watched the four people leave, but they couldn't see him.
He had now killed two players. The woman who had just died had given him 600 Fear Points, bringing his total earnings in this instance to 1,450 Fear Points.
It was only the beginning, and his gains were already pretty good.
After hunting down two players, he could clearly feel that the area of Paradise he could control had grown.
It seemed his guess had been right.
As the Amusement Paradise Director, he could gain power by killing players, but the other boss could do the same.
As one side's power grew, the other's diminished, until one side became powerful enough to eliminate the other completely.
The so-called hidden mission was probably connected to the other boss, so as long as he killed all these people, the hidden mission should be completed as well.
As long as he killed one person, he could ensure that he was in an invincible position.
"Experts, which way do we go now?" Liu Shuai asked, looking ahead. The road in front of them split into three.
One path led straight ahead, while the other two led diagonally left and right.
Just like last time, there were signs on the left and right paths, respectively:
"Friendly reminder: The path on the right is dangerous."
"Friendly reminder: The path on the left is dangerous."
"This proves our analysis was right," Sun Jingyu said, looking at the signs in front of them.
"There are two forces in this amusement park, and neither wants us going into the other's territory."
"Mm, you're right," Zhao Guodong agreed.
"The appearance of the other force might be the reason the content of this amusement park changed."
"So which way should we go?" Liu Shuai pressed.
Wang Ruoxi said, "Last time we chose the middle path, but we were nearly wiped out. This time, I think we should try a different path."
"Then left or right?" Liu Shuai continued.
Wang Ruoxi was a Shaman-type Ability User. Even if she couldn't foresee the future, her intuition was still very accurate. Everyone looked at her, hoping she could offer some good advice.
Feeling the others' gazes on her, Wang Ruoxi hesitated, unable to make a decision.
"I don't know either. I have a feeling that all three paths might lead to death."
"Then let's take the middle path again," Sun Jingyu said.
"Although there really are two forces here, they clearly have the same goal. They both want to kill us!
"The only difference is that neither wants us to die at the other's hands."
"I agree too," Zhao Guodong said. "We barely survived the last attraction, but at least we didn't all die there.
"But if we choose the path on the left or the right, it's hard to say what will happen.
"We may have more room to maneuver on the middle path."
Of the four, two now favored continuing straight ahead, one had no opinion, and one neither agreed nor disagreed.
So they quickly reached an agreement to take the path ahead.
Liu Shuai went to the front. After all, he hadn't been much help so far, and it wouldn't be right if he didn't take the lead now.
After they had walked a while, the path began to narrow. Tall bushes rose on both sides, higher than a person.
Farther ahead, the narrow path forked, leaving everyone at a loss once again.
By now, they had lost their sense of direction—or rather, they had lost it the moment they entered the amusement park.
This was an instance world, after all, and different from the real world.
On top of that, the paths here really were winding, so it was perfectly normal to lose their bearings.
Even being Ability Users couldn't change any of that.
"Damn, which way do we go?" Liu Shuai asked, resisting the urge to curse.
"Keep going straight," Sun Jingyu said. "That way, we're less likely to get lost."
"Okay," Liu Shuai said, then continued forward.
Before long, another fork appeared ahead, and everyone decided to keep going straight!
After walking some more, everyone began to feel that something was wrong, because they came to another fork.
"Something's not right. I think we've been to this fork before," Liu Shuai said.
"Mm, we have been here before," Wang Ruoxi said. "I remember it clearly. I left a mark here."
Wang Ruoxi lowered her head and pointed at the floor with her foot.
"I scratched this part of the floor with my shoe. The mark isn't very clear, but I can make it out. This is definitely the place."
"Doesn't that mean we've walked back to where we were? But we've been going straight the whole time," Liu Shuai said. "Experts, think of something."
Sun Jingyu said, "How about we go back to the first fork?"
"Sure. I'll lead you out. I still remember the way," Wang Ruoxi said.
They retraced the route they had taken, with Wang Ruoxi leading the way this time. Before they had gone far, she stopped and said in disbelief,
"That's not right. I distinctly remember this being the way back, but..."
There was another fork in front of them now. It looked a lot like the previous one, but it wasn't the fork where they had entered.
Clearly, they could no longer find the way out.
"Looks like this is a maze," Sun Jingyu said.
Liu Shuai grew somewhat agitated. "I know it's a maze, but the question is, how do we get out?"
Sun Jingyu was a little embarrassed. He had been the one who insisted on taking this path, never expecting it to be a maze. Clearly, they had lost their bearings.
"I don't know," Sun Jingyu said. "Why don't we let her try?"
Everyone looked at Wang Ruoxi. For now, they could only pin their hopes on her intuition.
"I'm completely turned around now too," Wang Ruoxi said.
"I feel like these paths keep changing. I've only just reached level 10, and my ability is still very weak. I can't help in this situation either."
"Then what do we do? I told you we shouldn't have taken this path," Liu Shuai complained.
"When did you ever say that?" Zhao Guodong couldn't help asking.
Sun Jingyu frowned and said, "All right, let's try a few more times. Maybe we'll find our way out."
Sun Jingyu made a mark and led everyone onward.
After several attempts, everyone grew even more frustrated, because they discovered that there was simply no way out!
Although they had left quite a few marks along the way, the paths really did seem to move. No matter which direction they chose, they always ended up back where they started.
Sweat broke out on their foreheads, and they grew immensely anxious.
Just then, they saw a figure: a little girl of seven or eight. She was facing them, wearing an innocent, radiant smile.