Finding the Way by Listening to the Wind

"Fifteen hours!"

Leorio's face fell on the spot, and even his voice changed pitch.

"Are you kidding me? With all these branching paths, we'll be running around like headless chickens! How are we supposed to get out in fifteen hours?"

At the very back of the group, Tonpa's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the floor.

He knew perfectly well that in a trial that demanded speed, stamina, and a little luck, he was their biggest burden.

Damn it... if these brats leave me behind to save time...

A vicious glint flashed in Tonpa's eyes, only to be overwhelmed by deep fear.

He instinctively glanced at the slender figure ahead and swallowed, his throat dry.

The punishment that came with fifty hours of confinement was having their time to navigate the maze cut down to just fifteen hours.

Examiner Lippo's move was both underhanded and ruthless.

Lippo merely smiled, ignoring everyone's protests, and gestured for them to proceed.

"Then your time starts now. Good luck, everyone."

With that, a huge timer behind him switched on, its bright red digits beginning to tick down: 15:00:00.

Time waited for no one.

"Go!"

Killua gave a sharp command and charged into the maze first.

Gon followed right behind him. Leorio and Kurapika exchanged a glance, then immediately hurried after them.

Tonpa hunched his shoulders, scrambled up on his hands and feet, and stumbled along at the rear, terrified of falling even a step behind.

Tch, some brat putting on a mysterious act... if you take the wrong path and get us killed, I'll haunt you even after I'm dead! But for now... I have to keep my head down and wait for this Lin guy to show a weakness. Then I'll kick him while he's down...

He cursed viciously to himself while forcing a fawning smile onto his face, afraid of being left even an inch behind.

Lin Yan brought up the rear. The instant he stepped into the maze, he closed his eyes.

Rather than seeing with his eyes, he "listened" with his entire body.

Whoosh...

An extremely faint current of air was flowing slowly outward from the depths of the maze.

It was so faint that an ordinary person would never notice it. Even Killua's senses could only pick up a tangled jumble of breezes.

But in Lin Yan's perception, that airflow was like an invisible main channel formed from countless tiny threads, clearly pointing toward one final direction.

This enormous tower must have a ventilation system to balance the air pressure inside and outside. No matter how complicated this maze is, its final exit must be an outlet in that system.

No matter how things changed, the underlying principle remained the same. Where the air flowed, a way out lay.

All he had to do was follow the strongest current, and he would find the exit.

He opened his eyes, pushed off, and immediately caught up with his companions ahead.

They had barely run for long before encountering their first problem.

"Hey! Stop, stop! Which way are we supposed to go?"

Faced with three branching paths, Leorio stopped abruptly, looking utterly exasperated.

Killua halted and calmly assessed the situation. "We can't just pick one at random. In a maze like this, taking one wrong turn could leave us going in circles for hours. We don't have that kind of time to waste."

"Then what do we do? Toss a shoe to decide?" Gon blinked his big eyes and offered a suggestion that was entirely in character.

Kurapika pressed a hand to his forehead, clearly holding out no hope for that proposal.

Just as everyone found themselves at a loss, Lin Yan spoke.

"Take the left."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"How do you know?" Leorio eyed him suspiciously. "This isn't the time to joke around!"

Tonpa opened his mouth, ready to stir up trouble. "Exactly! If we go the wrong way, who's going to take responsi-"

Before he could finish, Lin Yan's calm gaze swept over him.

Tonpa felt as though a huge chunk of ice had been stuffed down his throat. His snide remarks froze before they could emerge, and he could only nod frantically to show that he had no objections.

"I'm not guessing." Lin Yan pointed to his ears and offered a half-truth as an explanation. "I can hear the wind. There's a very faint airflow in this maze, and it's flowing most freely through the left path. That should be the main passage."

"The wind? Airflow?"

Killua's gaze instantly sharpened.

As an elite assassin, his five senses were far beyond those of ordinary people.

He immediately held his breath and even slowed his heartbeat as much as possible, trying to catch that faint sound of wind.

Yet to his keen hearing, the air currents kept deflecting and colliding, forming a tangled mess.

"There is airflow, but it's too chaotic and too faint. There's too much interference." Killua frowned slightly, staring at Lin Yan. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Lin Yan's tone was calm.

Of course he was sure. What he sensed was not merely "wind," but the flow of qi through the structure of this enormous building.

Ever since reaching foundation establishment, his five senses had become faintly connected to his dantian embryo, making him exceptionally sensitive to changes in the energy of his surroundings.

This method of "finding the way by listening to the wind" was an application of the Taoist principle of emulating heaven and earth and following nature.

"I trust Lin Yan!" Gon was the first to declare his support. He had always placed unreserved trust in Lin Yan's wondrous abilities.

Kurapika nodded as well.

He had personally experienced Lin Yan's miraculous "qi" and knew that his companion harbored many secrets. If Lin Yan said so, he must have a reason.

"Fine, fine, if you all say so!" Leorio scratched his head. Although he still had his doubts, they had no better option, so he could only accept the majority's decision. "If we go the wrong way, you're taking responsibility, Lin Yan!"

"I will."

Lin Yan spoke evenly.

The group immediately turned into the left passage and began sprinting.

The maze's passages formed a complicated web, sometimes climbing, sometimes descending, with one junction after another.

But every time, Lin Yan could point out the correct direction in an instant.

"Right!"

"Take the middle path at the junction ahead!"

"Turn left at the next junction!"

There was not the slightest hesitation in his instructions, as though he had a complete map of the maze in his head.

Leorio had gone from suspicion to surprise, then finally to numb acceptance. He had stopped thinking altogether and simply ran, mechanically following Lin Yan's directions.

Kurapika was also filled with amazement.

But Killua, running at the front, was the most shaken of all.

As he ran, he used the extraordinary memory honed by his assassin family to silently record every junction and every corner they passed.

He tried to construct a map of the maze in his mind, but soon gave up.

It's too complicated!

The maze's design defied all logic. Many passages spiraled and intersected, and some even seemed to overlap in space.

Forget fifteen hours-even with three full days and nights, he had no confidence that he could find his way out using memory alone.

But Lin Yan...

Every choice he made was impossibly fast, as though... as though he really could "see" the correct path.

"Rebuild yourself..." Killua recalled what Lin Yan had told him in the confinement room.

Could this be the ability he gained after "rebuilding" himself?

As Killua's thoughts raced, Lin Yan spoke again, but this time there was a trace of gravity in his voice.

"Stop for a moment."

Everyone immediately halted.

They realized they were standing in the center of an enormous circular platform.

Ahead of them were exactly three identical branching paths once again.