Rest Area

To obtain this crucial information, Luo Jun went so far as to use a die, finally managing to extract information about the hotel from the merchant.

"Although the sign says 'hotel,' this place should really be called a relaxation area..." the businessman said. "I haven't been there, but I've heard it offers almost every kind of leisure and entertainment, a great place to relax and unwind for guests."

"But the problem is, these rest areas don't appear all the time. In my experience, you're only likely to encounter a rest area when guests haven't replenished their supplies for a long time and are in poor physical and mental condition. In a way, it's a safety net that the maze provides to guests who are desperate."

"No wonder we haven't encountered them for so long..." Luo Jun glanced at the mountain of supplies piled up in his smart backpack. In the month or so they'd been in the maze, he couldn't say anything else, but at least he'd never let anyone go hungry. Just a couple of days ago, Sun Xiaowei was complaining that the food was too good and that she felt she'd gained weight...

"Does finding a rest area mean we have to throw away all our supplies and wander through the maze for days on an empty stomach?" Ma Qiao frowned.

"We're not even sure we'll run into them." Mao Xintong shook her head. "There's only a chance. If we don't, we'll be in trouble."

Luo Jun frowned. Abandoning the supplies was indeed too risky. He looked at the merchant. "Is there any other way to find a rest area?"

"Well..." Influenced by the dice roll, the merchant hesitated for a moment before finally spitting out his answer.

"With ample supplies, you definitely won't encounter a rest area. However, there's one possibility: someone who's been starving for days and is in very poor condition might stumble upon a rest area. In that case, the rest area would remain there until that person leaves. And if, by chance... I mean by chance, someone else happens to pass by and sees the rest area, they can go in..."

"Oh?" Luo Jun's eyes lit up. "Then the rest area should have a Detection Range, right? If someone who has been hungry for a long time is followed by well-supplied others within ten meters, the rest area won't appear, right?"

The merchant glanced at Luo Jun with a hint of helplessness. "Sir, you're truly clever... Of course, the rest area also checks for any unauthorized personnel who don't meet the entry requirements. You've used various items in the maze before; the Detection Range is generally similar, isn't it..."

"One kilometer..." Luo Jun narrowed his eyes.

"That's not what I said..." the merchant waved his hands repeatedly.

"I understand..." Luo Jun nodded and continued, "Then if a person who is alone is tired, hungry, and unable to walk any further, and wants to rest in one place, will a rest area suddenly appear in front of them?"

"That's impossible," the merchant shook his head. "Even if a rest area appears, it will only spawn in a place far away from people, and it won't appear in areas where people have passed through in a short time. So it's best to encounter it through continuous exploration. And the first person to find a rest area can only be someone who is hungry enough..."

So... it seems that the tactic of having one person stay in one place as bait while the others circle around them looking for a rest area is no longer viable...

After obtaining this information, Luo Jun took advantage of the time approaching midnight to exchange for two more maps before leaving.

"That's the situation right now," Luo Jun explained to the others. "We need a volunteer who can travel alone, far from the main force, without supplies. He might find a rest area when he's almost starving."

"But what if the lone person finds the rest area and tries to contact the main group?" Ma Qiao asked.

"We still have quite a few Talisman Paper left," Mao Xintong said, because everyone had been working together for so long that they had almost forgotten about this communication tool.

"But even with Talisman Paper, the maze's terrain is so complex, there's no way to report the exact location," Zhuge Zi said, frowning.

"That's why I exchanged for two extra maps," Luo Jun said with a smile. "One for those acting alone, and one for the main group. The distance between each other should be kept between one and two kilometers. When we need to pinpoint our location, both sides will open the maps, transmit the images via Talisman Paper, and stitch them together to confirm our positions."

"Similarly, if a person traveling alone encounters danger, they can also use this method to call for help."

"That's a good idea, but the problem is, how do we ensure the distance between us?" Mao Xintong asked. "We can't keep the map running all the time."

"That's something we can only judge based on experience. We'll have to keep in touch regularly," Luo Jun shook his head. "I originally thought about making marks in the maze, but the walls and floors of the maze have self-repairing capabilities, and the words written on them will be cleaned up after a while."

"So it seems that the person acting alone is very important." Old Yuan frowned. "They must be sharp and intelligent enough."

The crowd exchanged glances, their eyes finally settling on Luo Jun.

Luo Jun sighed. Although he wasn't entirely confident in controlling the distance, it seemed no one was more suitable than him. He was about to take on the task when suddenly, Sun Xiaowei raised her hand. "Why don't I do it?"

"You?" The others looked at her in surprise. "Are you sure you can do it?"

"I feel like I've been looked down upon..." Sun Xiaowei pouted proudly, "I might be the only one who can make marks in the maze!"

As she spoke, she raised her hand, creating a small sign that read, "Turn left here!"

The others' eyes lit up. "That's right, there's a Creation Faction here!"

"But isn't it too dangerous for you to go alone?" Mao Xintong with some concern for her younger sister. "How about I go with you? After all, I'm Insight Faction and can warn of danger."

"Don't worry, Sister Mao," Sun Xiaowei said with a smile, "I'm Cultivators can stand on my own now... and I also have a selfish reason for wanting to go."

As she spoke, Sun Xiaowei touched her lower abdomen. "I want to starve myself for a few days to lose weight..."

"Uh..." Everyone was speechless, but to everyone's surprise, Mao Xintong stood even more firmly beside Sun Xiaowei: "Then I definitely have to go!"

"It's good for two people to go," Old Yuan nodded. "They can look out for each other. The diary says that Little Gan and the other three all encountered the rest area, so the number of people shouldn't be a problem..."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Zhuge Zi suddenly appeared beside them, shyly whispering, "I'll join you too..."

The men exchanged glances, secretly marveling at the woman's unwavering determination to lose weight!

Soon, the group split into two teams. Fearing that Sun Xiaowei might not have enough energy reserves, everyone took out all the energy-storing items they had and gave them to her. Sun Xiaowei also brought the Origin Point Pointer with her.

In this way, by looking at the distance from the Origin displayed on the pointer, one can roughly estimate how far they have traveled.

As for the map, although theoretically, having signs would basically guarantee that the following team could find the hotel, we still brought them one just in case.

After everything was ready, the three girls set off first. As agreed, half an hour later, the remaining three, along with Ling Jian, followed. Sure enough, after passing the first intersection, they saw the sign left by Sun Xiaowei.

To conserve energy, the sign was made very small, only the size of a mobile phone, with the direction they were heading and the time they could leave the sign.

According to the plan, the three girls will walk a straight distance of 1.5 kilometers using the Origin indicator within half an hour. After half an hour, they will slowly move forward. The following troops will be able to calculate the distance between the two teams based on the signs and times they see along the way, making it easier to control the speed.

As for the signs, Sun Xiaowei will retrieve them after half an hour to avoid leaving too many behind and needlessly increasing her energy burden.

Using this tactic, the group began to slowly explore the maze. Occasionally, they would see the remains of some monsters, which were obviously killed by the three girls in front.

It seems wise not to let Sun Xiaowei explore alone; at least she'll have someone to look after her if danger arises.

Three days passed, and the three girls hadn't eaten or drunk anything. Even with their Cultivators's constitution, they must have been suffering...

"We should have run into her by now, right?" Ma Qiao said impatiently, picking up a tag left behind by Sun Xiaowei.

"It's just a matter of chance," Luo Jun said. "Right now, they're probably just at the threshold where they can find the rest area. Finding them will require a bit of luck..."

Luo Jun had also considered using dice to forcibly trigger the rest area, but the result was that the relevance was not high enough.

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

After all, rest areas don't just appear after turning a corner. Even if they do appear, they're at least a kilometer away, and it takes time to get there, involving countless intersections. There are just too many choices to make; one die roll is far from enough.

So the current situation is that we can only explore slowly and try things out gradually.

Of course, the three girls weren't just blindly rushing forward. When exploring, they would try to take a roundabout approach, exploring one area thoroughly before moving on to the next, so as not to miss anything. This made them even slower.

"It's been five days..." Old Yuan held the sign left by Sun Xiaowei, along with a plaque indicating that the three of them were still conducting normal exploration.

"Five days without food is one thing, but most people couldn't survive without water," Ma Qiao said with some concern. "Should we contact them again?"

In the past few days, the two sides had briefly contacted each other through Talisman Paper to let each other know they were safe. During that brief period, the girls visibly looked haggard. And now, more than thirty hours have passed since their last contact.

Luo Jun nodded as well. "I hope nothing goes wrong, Old Yuan. There's still more than half of the Talisman Paper left, let's burn a few more."

Old Yuan took out Talisman Paper and was about to light it when suddenly the Talisman Paper vibrated, and a message came from the other side.

Old Yuan hurriedly clicked on it and found a video showing a magnificent gate with the four large characters "Endless Inn" written on it!

"We really found them!" The three cheered. Then, Zhuge Zi and Mao Xintong appeared in the video, walking through the gate, while Sun Xiaowei stood outside, saying to the "camera," "They'll go in and lock the hotel. I'll wait for you at the door. If you can find this place using my sign, great. If not, contact me and we'll coordinate using a map."

"They're quite thrifty," Luo Jun laughed. "Let's speed things up."

The Cultivators moved forward at full speed and soon found Sun Xiaowei following the directions. The girl looked pale, with sunken cheeks and cracked lips, but she was still in good spirits when she saw them and was even waving her arms vigorously.

"Thank you for your hard work Senior!" Luo Jun immediately handed her a bottle of mineral water, but Sun Xiaowei waved her hand. "You've paid, so drink whatever you want inside. You should save your own things..."

"What a thrifty and hardworking girl!" Old Yuan also praised her, "You said before that you were a fan of Ye?"

At the mention of Ye, Sun Xiaowei perked up. "I'm the leader of the Fan Club, and I've even done missions with him!"

"I believe Ye would be very happy to know that he has such a good fan as you." Old Yuan nodded, and as he spoke, he glanced at Luo Jun intentionally or unintentionally.

"Hehehe, really?" Sun Xiaowei scratched her head a little shyly.

"Stop chatting at the entrance!" Luo Jun urged, "Let's go inside!"

There was a toll booth in front of the gate. You could pass through by inserting two thousand yuan in cash. After everyone paid and went in, they were startled by a voice saying, "Welcome, VIPs!"

Inside the gate, the place was as magnificent as a palace, with a row of servants standing on each side, bowing respectfully to the visitors.

"Huh? I've never even been to Bath Center like this in real life!" Ma Qiao's eyes widened as he exclaimed in admiration.

At this moment, a waiter stepped forward. "Distinguished guests, let me introduce the services offered by our Endless Inn. We provide a comprehensive range of services, including dining, bathing, entertainment, and more..."

As he introduced the various items, he led them inside, explaining each one in detail. When they arrived at the food area, they found Zhuge Zi and Mao Xintong wolfing down their food.

Seeing this, Sun Xiaowei couldn't resist any longer. She rushed in, poured herself a glass of juice, and gulped it down.

The men, having finished their meal and drinks, showed little interest in the food. Ma Qiao leaned close to the waiter and whispered, "Do you have any special services?"

"Of course," the waiter nodded. "And in my opinion, you gentlemen are exactly in need of such special service..."

Upon hearing this, Ma Qiao's eyes lit up, while Old Yuan coughed and said, "Don't talk nonsense, I'm already so old..."

"I wasn't talking about you." The waiter smiled and pointed to the Ling Jian that Luo Jun was carrying behind Old Yuan.

The Unicorn Rhinoceros was too big to fit in, so Luo Jun volunteered to carry Ling Jian. As long as he wasn't injured, it wouldn't speed up the replacement process, so he wasn't afraid to carry it for a while.

"What's wrong with him?" Old Yuan asked curiously.

The waiter smiled and said, "This distinguished guest is clearly suffering greatly from the conflict between two different substances... Our Endless Inn can alleviate his pain..."

(End of this chapter)