Riddle (Thanks to my dearest Sister Lan)

# Chapter 39: The Riddle (Thanks to My Dearest Sister Lan)

After showering, the takeout she ordered earlier arrived one after another.

The dining table was piled high with food. Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao sat at the table, eating while studying the Labyrinth clues.

Huangfu Miaomiao was exceptionally serious and focused on this matter.

"You should understand by now—Cards are a special kind of gene chain. Any living creature that comes into contact with a Card will undergo corresponding genetic mutations. And the Labyrinth is an ultra-large-scale experimental field where all kinds of genetic mutations keep happening—"

Huangfu Miaomiao held a disposable fork and made an exaggerated gesture with her arm, emphasizing: "Very large, incomparably large!"

Feng Ling nodded supportively, peeling crayfish in her hands.

Huangfu Miaomiao continued: "Because it's an experimental field, the genes inside the Labyrinth are extremely chaotic and unstable. A massive number of creatures mutate, reproduce, and die here, forming a special biosphere. Among them, one creature will stand out and complete its final evolution. It is both the victor of the experimental field and the master of the Labyrinth. The player's mission is to defeat the Labyrinth Master! Destroy the Labyrinth!"

Feng Ling understood. "So it's like a dungeon. Kill the dungeon Boss, and the whole dungeon naturally disappears from the map."

"Right, you can think of it that way." Huangfu Miaomiao nodded repeatedly. "Killing monsters in the dungeon gives double Points, so players flock to Labyrinth dungeons."

"Do they drop Cards after being killed?" Feng Ling asked.

"No. Stable genes form Cards. The creatures in the Labyrinth are in an unstable, chaotic state, so killing them won't produce Cards. But the Labyrinth Master is different—" Huangfu Miaomiao narrowed her eyes and spoke very, very slowly: "The Labyrinth Master has a complete and stable gene chain. Once successfully killed, it will drop a unique, rare Card."

Feng Ling peeled a spicy crayfish, dipped it in sauce, and put it in her mouth.

"No wonder your statues are placed inside the Labyrinth," she said.

Huangfu Miaomiao was momentarily stunned. "...Ah?"

"To ensure players can smoothly obtain their rewards." Feng Ling glanced at her, continuing to peel crayfish unhurriedly. "Obviously, the Labyrinth Master's Card is the highest-value reward in the entire Labyrinth. But if the Card's traits don't match, it produces severe Corruption Value. If I were a player, I'd just kill small monsters in the Labyrinth—why bother with the Labyrinth Master? Exhaust myself killing it, and the Card I get might not even be usable. That's a terrible deal. So, to keep the highest reward from becoming useless, the system sets up so-called statues in the Labyrinth, letting you players have no more worries."

Huangfu Miaomiao thought for a moment. "...Seems like that's really the case. I never considered that angle before."

"Alright, tell me the clues you know." Feng Ling wiped her hands and looked at the durian pizza on the table. "...Find the Labyrinth, go in together. You'll get Points, I'll get the statue. Win-win."

She picked up a slice of durian pizza and took a bite.

Huangfu Miaomiao stirred the spaghetti bolognese on her plate with her fork. "I'm not sure I can find it... The Labyrinth clue is a riddle—three sentences total. I only solved one of them."

"Let's hear it." Feng Ling ate as she spoke.

"The frog in a top hat charges toward the clouds, Salivating Kiss preys on the solitary white bird, Snake Moon's Skyfire burns open the gate in the ashes." Huangfu Miaomiao recited the riddle word for word.

Feng Ling: "..."

Suddenly she felt... her 29% Corruption Value might never be cleared in this lifetime.

The Labyrinth riddle was way too baffling!

"So which one did you solve?" Feng Ling asked.

"The first one: The frog in a top hat charges toward the clouds."

Huangfu Miaomiao ate a few serious bites of noodles, then said: "Frogs don't wear top hats, and they can't charge toward the clouds. So when I was doing map-running quests, I paid attention to city landmarks that looked like frogs. Then I found that the Ferris wheel at the amusement park had cartoon-style cabins. The cabins were painted with rabbits, ducks, elephants, and so on. One green cabin had a frog in a top hat painted on it."

Feng Ling breathed a slight sigh of relief.

If that was the case, the riddle didn't seem that hard. As long as you found the right reference point, you should be able to discover the Labyrinth entrance, right?

"The amusement park tickets were too expensive," Huangfu Miaomiao said. "I didn't have money, so I couldn't ride the Ferris wheel. I went to the Forum to find help. I thought if I provided the clue, they'd at least let me earn some Points..."

What happened next, Feng Ling already knew.

Feng Ling stuffed the last bite of pizza into her mouth, opened the tin foil box containing charcoal-grilled pork ribs, and said: "After we eat, let's go to the amusement park."

Huangfu Miaomiao looked disapproving. "Have you forgotten? Your location has already been exposed on the Forum. In the next few days, a lot of players will come looking for you. Some player teams might even use detection skills. Going out casually is very likely to run into them—too dangerous."

Feng Ling was a bit annoyed. These players were too much of a hindrance.

Her mood soured, and she crunched the pork cartilage loudly in her teeth. Huangfu Miaomiao pursed her lips and silently lowered her head to eat her spaghetti.

After a moment, Feng Ling said: "Go to the Forum and message that person. Say you want to buy information about the Hidden Boss. See how they react."

Huangfu Miaomiao thought it was worth probing.

She opened her virtual screen, found the earlier post discussing the Hidden Boss, and scrolled through hundreds of replies to locate the one mentioning Qingjiang City.

The Forum was anonymous—you couldn't see the replier's name. You had to add them as a friend to send private messages.

Huangfu Miaomiao sent a friend request to that person. The request message read: "Buying Boss info at a high price."

"Ah, they accepted the friend request. That was fast." Huangfu Miaomiao stared at the virtual screen. "The name is Moon Shadow. This person is probably female. Online playtime is only two days—either a new player or an account that logged in again after dying once."

"Let her name her price." Feng Ling was very impatient.

"I'm asking now..." Huangfu Miaomiao operated on the screen. Seeing the message the other party sent, her expression shifted slightly. "She wants 2000 Points!"

Since it wasn't money, Feng Ling had no real sense of Points. She said casually: "Then 2000. Ask her how to trade."

"2000 is way too much!" Huangfu Miaomiao was anxious. "That price is completely unreasonable! It's just providing a clue—why should it cost 2000? The kill reward for the Hidden Boss might only be around 3000 Points!"

Feng Ling said irritably: "It's not like we'll actually give her that many Points. The point is to lure her out or figure out where she is."

"She said someone offered 1800 Points, so I need to offer 2000 for her to consider selling me the info. I'm asking where she is now..." Huangfu Miaomiao frowned. "No good. She's very cautious—won't say."

Feng Ling grew even more annoyed. "If she won't say her location, how do we trade?!"

Huangfu Miaomiao was also anxious. She tried to ask again, but found the message failed to send. Her face changed instantly.

"...She deleted me as a friend."

A surge of anger flared in Feng Ling's chest. She raised her fist and slammed it onto the table. Boom! All the food jolted out of place.

Huangfu Miaomiao stared at her as if frightened.

I've outdone myself today! Five chapters! Haha~ See you tomorrow