Back?

Other methods?

"You mean... the store?" Mao Xintong's eyes lit up.

"There aren't any other channels at the moment." Luo Jun shrugged. "Right now, it seems the most obvious manifestation of the conflict between the two forces is the Black and White Shops." With that, Luo Jun pulled out a map of the White Shop. "Let's go to the White Shop and see if we can find any clues."

"Then let's set off now!" Ma Qiao couldn't wait any longer, Old Yuan advised, "Don't rush, there's still a day until the agreed time, and Li Ying and the others haven't replied yet."

Old Yuan still remembered this former student, even though he wasn't his direct disciple, he was still a graduate of Ningdong.

The group could only continue to recuperate at this Origin. Since there was no more information in the diary, Zhuge Zi led them aside to read it carefully in a corner. Looking at her grandfather's old diary, this somewhat shy girl's eyes would occasionally well up with tears.

Finally, the day passed quickly, and they still hadn't seen Li Ying's group. Old Yuan sighed, "Let's not wait any longer, let's set off."

Luo Jun took out a map and faced a doorway. "Currently, this direction hasn't been explored yet, so let's choose this side."

Before Luo Jun could even activate the map, Old Yuan, Mao Xintong, and Zhuge Zi's expressions changed, and they all took out their Communication Talisman Paper.

"There's a new message!" Old Yuan immediately played the message and found it was from Li Ying: "I'm still on my way back, and I expect to arrive in a few more hours."

"He's still alive!" Old Yuan's eyes lit up. "This kid's still alive!"

The others were also encouraged; in this Endless Maze, every additional survivor meant an extra bit of strength.

Everyone waited in place, and more than three hours later, a figure emerged from the side archway—it was Li Ying!

"You're back!" Old Yuan greeted him with a smile. Li Ying nodded and came to the group. Everyone looked behind him and asked, "Where's Zheng Yu, who was with you?"

Li Ying sighed, "We encountered a bizarre monster. That thing had no fixed shape, its body was smooth like putty, and no matter how we attacked it, it was useless. In the end, Zheng Yu was killed by it, and only I escaped..."

"It's Chaos Creature!" everyone exclaimed in surprise. The monster described by Li Ying had many similarities to those recorded in the diary and those encountered by Old Yuan Luo Jun, and others.

"It seems these Chaos Creature are indeed having a significant impact on the mission." Old Yuan sighed. "Alright, we still have enough supplies, so let's not split up and go find the next shop together."

Then, Old Yuan shared the intelligence and analysis that everyone had gathered over the past two days with Li Ying. Li Ying seemed a bit frightened by the Chaos Creature and reacted somewhat dullly. He hadn't dared to act alone before, but upon hearing that everyone wanted to travel together, he naturally agreed.

"By the way, senior brother," Luo Jun suddenly called out to Li Ying, "Although we also encountered Chaos Creature, Elder Old Yuan took them down from a distance, so we didn't fight them directly. Can you tell me how these monsters attack and kill people?"

Everyone else was also very interested in this, since they might encounter it again in the future, and knowing about it in advance could help them prepare.

Li Ying nodded and recalled, "The one we encountered at first glance resembled a giant goat, and we didn't pay much attention to it at first. But later, when we saw its strange appearance with no markings on its body, we became wary."

"The initial ranged attacks weren't effective. Later, the monster got closer, and Zheng Yu engaged in close combat. But the monster suddenly Transformed Form, its entire body exploding into a giant mouth that swallowed Zheng Yu whole. Zheng Yu barely struggled before being swallowed. Then the monster sprouted many tentacles to try and devour me, but I escaped..."

At this point, Li Ying's face showed regret. "I was really terrified... If I hadn't run away and had stayed to fight the monster, I might have been able to save Zheng Yu."

"It's not entirely your fault," Luo Jun nodded. "The main problem is that these Chaos Creature are incredibly unpredictable and impossible to guard against..."

As he spoke, he patted Li Ying on the shoulder.

"Alright, let's stop dawdling and hurry up and find a shop." Luo Jun clapped his hands. "As we agreed before, I'll go first and use the map... Senior brother, come with me, and record a video for me while you're at it."

As he spoke, Luo Jun handed the video camera to Li Ying: "Make sure to record all the changes on the map along the way. Don't miss a single one, because we'll have to go back to find it later."

"As for Old Yuan, you are the strongest, so why don't you cover the rear with Ma Qiao?"

Old Yuan was slightly taken aback. Luo Jun hadn't asked him to cover the rear before, especially not with Ma Qiao. What was this kid up to?

However, trusting his disciples, he obeyed the arrangement and said with a smile, "Alright, I will protect you juniors."

And so, the group chose an unexplored direction and set off, with Luo Jun and Li Ying leading the way, looking at the map as they went.

Despite his advanced age and somewhat overweight physique, Li Ying is incredibly fast when he runs. He's also Martial Combat Faction, and it seems his skill level is no less than Ma Qiao's. Even when Luo Jun pushed his speed to 140 or 150 km/h, he could still keep up steadily.

Behind them were Mao Xintong and Zhuge Zi. Although the former was Insight Faction, she had a pair of Roller Skates as a treasure, which made her very fast and consumed little energy. As for Zhuge Zi, this girl's qualities were amazing. Not only was she very fast, but even if she started to fall behind, she could occasionally flash ahead to catch up with the group, and she could even flash ahead of Luo Jun to wait for him.

As for those behind, there was Sun Xiaowei riding an electric scooter, Ma Qiao pedaling a bicycle, and the veterans running on their own two legs.

The group continued forward until, after an hour, they stopped when the map effect ended.

Luo Jun took out the Origin Point Pointer. The straight-line distance from here to the Origin is 88 kilometers, but the mileage displayed on Sun Xiaowei's electric car is close to 150 kilometers.

Since it was a maze, it was impossible to go straight ahead. In order to maintain a general direction, we still took a lot of detours.

Next, everyone started comparing the footage with the Video Recorder's recording to search back for those special locations.

This time, the map revealed eight relics, four treasure chests, countless monsters and traps, but only one shop.

It seems there are fewer stores than I expected... But that's okay, as long as there are stores, the cycle can continue.

With more people, the exploration efficiency also increases. Sometimes, if two special locations are close together, they can explore separately, and then meet up at the next location after they've finished exploring both. Anyway, there's a map recorded by the map Video Recorder, so there's no fear of getting lost.

After about a day and a half, the group returned to their Origin, and in addition to Silver Ingot and copper coins, they also obtained an item from the treasure chest.

This is a wand-like item, a consumable that creates a wall at a designated location. It can be used three times.

He'd seen plenty of tools for opening walls, but this was the first time he'd seen one for building them. However, if used properly, it could isolate danger, making it a useful treasure. Luo Jun put it away.

After collecting all the treasures, the group rested briefly at the Origin before setting off precisely at the last minute, heading towards the only shop they had managed to find.

The store wasn't far from the Origin. Following the map, even at a leisurely pace, it took less than half an hour to arrive. Then, Luo Jun stepped in and, right at midnight, exchanged twenty sets of supplies.

With the team now consisting of seven people and having stayed at the Origin for so long, the previous supplies have been almost used up. These twenty sets of supplies, plus what was left, should be enough for everyone for about a week if used sparingly.

As for the Silver Ingot ingots and copper coins, he exchanged a total of over 20,000, which, combined with the original 10,000, brought him to nearly 35,000 in cash. Just to be on the safe side, Luo Jun also bought a Personal Map, so that if he didn't find a shop next time, he would have a backup plan. Having bought and exchanged almost everything he needed, Luo Jun finally got to the point and took out Zhuge Gan's Diary.

"Brother, we're practically acquaintances now. I have something to ask you." Luo Jun leaned against the window frame. "This is something I found inside an old relic, but it's damaged. Do you know why?"

"Damaged?" The merchant took the diary and examined it, quickly turning to the torn pages. He frowned and said, "This is quite rare... Could it have been damaged by the original owner of the item?"

"I can assure you it absolutely wasn't," Luo Jun said firmly. "It was definitely destroyed by some force after his death."

"After death..." the merchant frowned, "That's very likely the influence of those things..."

"Those things?" Luo Jun raised an eyebrow.

"It's those guys from the Black Shop I mentioned... They're particularly keen on breaking the rules of the maze, and seem to have no intention of letting anyone leave."

Luo Jun frowned and said, "So you mean I can only find these missing pages by going to the Black Shop?"

"How could that be?" The White Merchant shook his fat head. "If those guys really did it, they would destroy all the diaries, how could they possibly keep them?"

"That makes sense." Luo Jun nodded. "Then is there absolutely no hope?"

The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.

"That's not entirely true..." the Fat Merchant said, touching the diary. "The rules of the labyrinth require a perfect replica of the treasures within the relics. At least within the labyrinth's boundaries, the treasures must function perfectly. Damaging treasures is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Therefore, based on my experience, this act of destroying a treasure will definitely be punished by the highest rules of the labyrinth. Perhaps some pages have been completely destroyed, but it is also possible that some were left behind in the labyrinth during the punishment process and there is still a chance to find them."

Luo Jun's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Then how should we find it?"

"Relying on people like you is harder than finding a needle in a haystack." The Fat Merchant shook his head. "After all, there are no tools to guide these diaries. Searching for a few pages in such a huge maze, it might take a hundred years to find even one!"

"However, our Endless Shop offers a special service," the merchant said, rubbing his chubby hands together with a smile. "As long as you pay a deposit, we can help you find what you want."

"Paid search?" Luo Jun raised an eyebrow.

"That's right... Sometimes, guests might leave things behind in the maze. For a small fee, we can help find them. After all, the White Shop are all over the maze, and we have some little-known channels, making us much more efficient at finding things than our guests."

"That's really good." Luo Jun nodded. "Approximately how much will it cost?"

"Considering how long this item has been lost and how difficult it is to find..." The merchant considered for a moment, then held up one finger. "Find one for this amount."

"One thousand?" Luo Jun raised an eyebrow.

"No..." the Fat Merchant shook his head. "Ten thousand!"

"Ten thousand?!" This caused an uproar not only among Luo Jun but also among the others listening behind him.

"We work ourselves to the bone for days to earn ten thousand, and you're charging so much for a piece of scrap paper?" Ma Qiao was the first to object.

"That's right!" Sun Xiaowei chimed in, "This diary is missing more than a dozen pages. If we had that kind of money, we might as well exchange it for Exit Indicator. Why bother with this?"

"This is indeed too expensive!" Zhuge Zi shook her head. "Although I really want to read Grandpa's last diary, I can't guarantee that it contains information that will help us leave. The price is too high."

"We're regular customers, can you give us a discount?" Mao Xintong also suggested.

Faced with everyone's condemnation, the Fat Merchant wiped his sweat and said, "Well, we also have costs to do business. Endless Shop has always refused to haggle..."

These words further fueled the crowd's anger.

"Alright, everyone, calm down..." At this moment, Luo Jun raised his hand to suppress the crowd's dissatisfaction, turned to look at the Fat Merchant, and smiled, "I think nothing in this world is so absolute."

As he said this, he mentally rolled a die.

"Bargain the merchant's bottom price!"

"Ding! Event Difficulty 100 points, Final Points 85 + 15 points, Event Success!"

I didn't expect the difficulty to be as high as 100, but luckily I was fortunate enough to succeed with just one Intermediate Modification.

But what is the bottom price?

Never mind, let's just quote him a price he absolutely cannot accept.

"How about this..." Luo Jun said with a smile, "This isn't our first time working together, and I'm sure you rarely encounter repeat customers like me."

"Business is all about long-term relationships. If you provide better service, we'll buy more from you, won't we?"

After successfully rolling the dice, Luo Jun's words seemed to possess a certain magic. The merchant, upon hearing them, actually found them somewhat reasonable and raised his eyes to ask, "Then name your price. How much do you think would be appropriate?"

"If you ask me..." Luo Jun looked at the Fat Merchant, his eyes darting around, and chuckled, "We don't earn money easily, and we don't feel comfortable betting it with you. How about this, you find us a couple of tickets first, so we can prove our skills?"

"You mean... free?" The Fat Merchant's expression twisted...

"No, no, no..." Luo Jun waved his hand, "Give me another two thousand as a deposit, otherwise if you quit and run away, where will we find you..."

(End of this chapter)