The Maze Beyond

Is it really such a coincidence?

A strange feeling of doubt arose in everyone's hearts, mixed with surprise and astonishment.

Yu Xing subconsciously shifted her legs and looked down at the ground beneath her feet.

"Is this the place?" He couldn't see anything different about it, and trying to explore it with his senses was useless.

"That's right, unless I've miscalculated, but please trust my professionalism." Lin pushed through the crowd and walked up to Yu Xing. "Perhaps you're just that lucky."

"Hmm." Yu Xing inexplicably recalled the name of her Persona Mask, "Xing," which might actually mean something like luck.

He moved away from his spot, giving Lin his place to confirm further, because he was close enough to clearly see that the compass in Lin's hand suddenly started spinning rapidly as if it had broken down after Lin squatted down.

"The magnetic field is disordered." Lin said calmly. "There's something here disrupting the magnetic field, so my calculated location must be correct."

"Just smash it."

The last sentence confirmed the exit from the maze. Carlos glanced at Yu Xing's Tang sword and suggested, "The stone is too hard. Why don't you use your sword to poke it open?"

Yu Xing didn't care. Although the Tang sword was ancient, it was imbued with absurd power, making it sharper and harder than an ordinary sword, and it could even cut through stone.

Finally, Master Li couldn't take it anymore. "Look at the pig talk you're spouting! This is an antique, a priceless antique! Is it for you to use to carve stones?!"

Yu Xing stopped Master Li: "It's alright, Master Li. This knife has already cut through many filthy things, such as corpses, Water Ghost, and bone vines. A stone won't make a difference."

Master Li: "..."

Young people these days have absolutely no respect for antiques.

Yu Xing drew his Tang sword. Under Lin's instruction, he exerted force with his wrist, and the tip of the sword pierced the ground smoothly. Then, he twisted the hilt of the sword.

The knife was unharmed, but the stone shattered and flew everywhere, causing the surrounding people to scramble to get out of the way.

He pulled out the knife and found that although it had only penetrated a shallow layer, once the topmost stone disappeared, the bottomless black hole beneath the surface was already visible.

Yu Xing used his knife to widen the black hole until it was wide enough for a person to jump down before he stopped.

"It really is here." Shi Jiu exclaimed in the earpiece, "I've seen it all! Lin, have you ever considered joining a mercenary organization as a technical advisor? If I had a teammate who knew feng shui when I was on missions, I wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble to infiltrate the target's house every time. Cough cough... what's next?"

Lin: "Jump."

Unica reminded her, "It looks very deep..."

"It's all an illusion. Jump, nothing will happen." Uncle Zhang patted Unica on the shoulder. "We've been wasting enough time in the maze. We haven't seen anyone from Oster Company yet. They must have already escaped. We need to catch up as soon as possible. Whether we ally with them or compete with them, information is the most important thing."

Moving quickly makes it easier to obtain information, and Oster Company has already taken a significant lead in this regard.

Fortunately, Auster overlooked a lot of information, which allowed Carlos's team to obtain sufficient intelligence.

"Jump, I'll go first." Uncle Zhang was experienced and knew this place wasn't as scary as it looked. After looking around, he leaped, and almost the instant he touched the darkness, his figure disappeared.

"That's amazing! What's the working principle behind this?" Unica exclaimed, eager to try it out. "Can I go down now? Will my wound reopen?"

"... Just give it a try. Even if your intestines fall out again, Uncle Zhang will help you put them back in," Carlos laughed from the side.

Unica was actually comforted by him, and without much hesitation, she followed Uncle Zhang's posture and disappeared into the cave.

It was because of her chest that she almost got stuck.

Everyone present jumped down. Yu Xing was about to jump when Lin subtly pulled her back, his voice low and his lips barely moving. "You're last."

Yu Xing: "...?"

Okay, whatever, it's up to you.

Carlos, the third to last to leave, seemed to sense something. He glanced at the two people behind him and gave Yu Xing a look. Then, Yu Xing saw that Carlos had "left behind" a small paper figure by the cave.

The paper figure flattened itself to minimize its presence, and the result was remarkable. It looked like a smear of dirt hanging on the edge of the hole, which Lin did not see.

If Yu Xing hadn't looked closely, she probably wouldn't have noticed it for a while.

He knew that Carlos had sensed Lin wanted to see him and, fearing trouble, had left the paper figure as "eyes."

Yu Xing smiled, meeting Shang Lin's emotionless eyes. "Everyone's gone, what do you need?"

"Who exactly are you?" Lin's question was more direct than Yu Xing had expected.

"You suspect I'm that ghost?" Yu Xing asked with undiminished smile and interest.

"You're highly suspicious." Lin, a thin and frail college student, stood before the "ghost" without flinching, unusually calm. "You joined midway, so you won't affect our team's composition. In fact, we only had an extra person after we met you."

"It was you who first pointed out that there were twelve figures in our eleven-person team, which did remind us, but that's only your side of the story, and it also minimizes your suspicion."

Lin looked at him, her tone growing colder. "You know Carlos and Shi Jiu, but you only know them, which makes it easiest for you to manipulate memories."

"Wait, I have to interrupt you." Feeling suspected, Yu Xing's tone even carried a hint of leisure and sarcasm. "If it were me, I wouldn't just be changing two people's memories, but all of your memories, including those of Brother Sun's team. In your minds, I was involved in the Coffin Village incident with Carlos."

"I'm sure anyone interested in this has seen my photos, right?" Although Yu Xing didn't leave any visual records, after he left the deduction, the character San would definitely be investigated to investigate others, which would leave traces. Master Li and the others are so powerful, they must have investigated him.

"In this way, I would not only be altering your memories, but also dragging another group into it. This argument against me is unfounded."

Yu Xing's words made Lin hesitate slightly. Clearly, his suspicion of Yu Xing had grown in a short period of time, and he probably hadn't thought things through completely.

"One more thing, Ash is missing. He was with Unica, and you were with Carlos, and the four of you were the closest to each other." Lin brought up another reason, "Coincidentally, Ash left Unica on his own initiative, and you also left Carlos on your own initiative. Can you tell me what you were doing when you left alone during that time?"

"Well..." Yu Xing didn't expect that he would actually take the blame, and his tone was drawn out, "I just got the Ghost Controlling Seal, and I went to test its effects. I was worried that this Ghost Controlling Seal might be a counterfeit, and it wouldn't be good if it implicated Carlos. I'm such a considerate person when it comes to my teammates."

"..." Lin's expression seemed to say, "You're shameless."

"Actually, I also have some doubts. These have been there before. Why didn't you doubt me before? Why are you suddenly so certain now, and even dare to keep me behind for a confrontation?" Yu Xing took a step closer, and Lin narrowed his eyes and cautiously took a step back.

Yu Xing didn't stop. He suddenly took two quick steps and leaned close to Lin's ear. Because of his height advantage, he had to bend down slightly.

Lin's body visibly tensed up, and Yu Xing noticed that one of his hands had been behind his back ever since he was left alone, as if he were hiding something.

It's probably an item that can deal with ghosts.

He said deliberately, "Tsk, look, you're still clearly scared."

Lin maintained his composure and coldly explained, "You haven't made a move against me yet because you want to know where you slipped up? In that case, I'll tell you."

"The exit is beneath your feet."

"Oh?" Yu Xing raised an eyebrow, listening attentively.

"You might think I didn't notice, but when I pointed out the exit was under your feet, you moved slightly. I hadn't finished my calculations yet, so I saw it with my own eyes..." Lin looked directly at Yu Xing, "As you moved, the exit's location changed, but it's still under your feet."

Not only the location of the exit, but the entire feng shui layout he calculated underwent a dramatic change with that small step. If his perception hadn't continued, all the conclusions would have had to be overturned and the feng shui re-examined.

At this moment, not only was Lin himself feeling uneasy, but Yu Xing was also a little confused.

Judging from Zhao Lin's meaning, wouldn't it mean that wherever he goes, that's where the exit is?

What a wonderful thing!

But why?

Lin clearly mistook Yu Xing's momentary stiffness for guilt at being exposed. Gritting his teeth, Lin suddenly thrust out his hand from behind his back, pressing something against Yu Xing's forehead. "Now that I've found you, I can't let you continue hiding in the group!"

Yu Xing had excellent dynamic vision. After seeing clearly what Lin was holding, she didn't dodge at all. As a result, a black talisman was stuck directly to her forehead. For a moment, Yu Xing felt as if the talisman was about to catch fire, but after a brief burning sensation, the talisman returned to its cool state.

Two seconds later, nothing happened.

Yu Xing: "Hmm?"

Forest:"..."

What's going on?

Yu Xing smiled faintly, then used his slender fingers to remove the talisman from his forehead and examined it with a pretentious air.

The black talisman is painted with white unknown paint on the Five Elements of Bagua, and there are some incomprehensible symbols. In the middle is written the word "zhen" in running script. It is not as light and fluffy when held in the hand as when it is held on the head, but is very high-quality.

Yu Xing said, "This... is quite exquisitely painted. Is it a gift for me?"

"No." Lin forcefully snatched the talisman back from Yu Xing's hand. "It seems I misunderstood you."

He seemed to readily admit his mistake, but a blush crept up his ears, probably because he was incredibly embarrassed.

"Tch, do you know why the exit follows me?" Yu Xing put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground. "I encountered the phantom of the Ghost Tree earlier, and it seems to have made me its next target. This tomb palace and the Ghost Tree are intricately connected. Perhaps I was tainted by the Ghost Tree's aura back then, so the tomb palace opened a back door for me."

It's nonsense, just utter rubbish, and nobody can refute it.

Anyway, Lin was already convinced after seeing the completely unresponsive black talisman.

This black talisman is specifically designed to suppress ghosts in tombs, but it is very afraid of the presence of living people. If he sticks the black talisman on an ordinary living person, the talisman will be rendered useless.

As for Yu Xing... he was neither suppressed nor had the talisman destroyed, which means that this person is at least similar to ghosts in some ways, but this is not enough to make Lin wary, because he himself has this kind of constitution.

Adding to the unusual feng shui aura he had observed on Yu Xing earlier, Lin calmed himself down and categorized Yu Xing as a living person with a heavy yin energy.

Therefore, the ghost that infiltrated is someone else entirely...

"Besides me, you should have other suspects. I've already figured out what you're thinking." While Lin was lost in thought, Yu Xing seemed to know his inner thoughts and worries, and quietly circled around behind him. "Let's talk about these things outside. Don't get separated from them again."

Having said that, he raised his leg and kicked.

Lin's pupils contracted as he felt weightlessness; he was completely unprepared to fall into the black hole.

Having dealt with him, Yu Xing picked up the little paper figure. "You heard it too, the exit of the maze followed me, but I'm innocent and didn't know anything about it."

The little paper figure spoke Carlos's words, "Don't worry, I won't doubt you. I'm a trustworthy Magician!"

Yu Xing threw the paper figure into the black hole.

Uncle Zhang was the first to emerge from the maze. His feeling of falling didn't last long before his vision brightened, and a sharp pain shot through his ankle as it hit the ground. He immediately rolled over to dissipate the impact and then looked up.

"Hmm? Interesting."

Above him was a smooth, flat, protruding mountainside, with no visible cracks that could have caused him to fall. And he wasn't in a cramped tomb, but rather... an endless field of flowers.

Above them were stone walls and even larger luminous Mingzhu, scattered haphazardly, illuminating the "flower field" brightly. The white petals opened, like ghosts blooming in the darkness.

It's quite beautiful; if only he hadn't recognized it as the "Ghost Tongue," a creature from Heavy Yin Mountain that can mimic human speech and emit poisonous mist.

The appearance of the Ghost Tongue is often accompanied by the protection of the Bone Vine. Sure enough, after staring at the roots of the Ghost Tongue for a while, Uncle Zhang found that there were not no Bone Vine in the flower field, but rather too many Bone Vine, which were spread on the ground layer by layer, as dense as soil.

So many potentially deadly flowers were blooming nearby, yet Uncle Zhang still maintained the composure of an old tomb raider. He limped a few steps to the side, making room for the next person to emerge, then sat down, pinched his ankle, and with a flick of his fingers, calmly reset his dislocated wrist.

"Bang!"

"Ah!"

The next second, a heavy object hit the ground and a woman cried out in pain at the same time. Uncle Zhang knew who had come down from the sound. He looked over and saw Unica clutching her abdomen, which was oozing red liquid, her face slightly contorted.

Uncle Zhang sighed, "Can't you be a little more careful? If you keep stuffing it like this, your intestines will eventually break down."

Unica was in so much pain that she was sweating profusely. She reached out her hand and said, "Uncle Zhang, help me up, it hurts."