The mother of the Man in Black Robe was clearly taken aback by Yan Wei’s reaction. Her withered face froze for a long moment before she finally spoke, “Ace won’t care whether I exist or not. The only reason he used Puppetry to keep me alive was because he had never experienced familial love. The concept of a mother is foreign to him, so he wanted to try it, but he also hates it.”
“He hates me for bringing him into this world.”
“I’ve been hiding in this maze for a long time… I don’t dare to see him. If I do, he will destroy me, and then no one will ever know the method to end all of this. So I’ve been hiding, waiting for a clever guest to arrive. I knew the moment you entered, but Ace was resting here at the time, so I didn’t dare to show myself.”
“It wasn’t until he left that I finally dared to appear.”
Yan Wei seemed completely indifferent to the past related to this castle and the Man in Black Robe. Without hesitation, he immediately said, “Then how can I trust you? Everything you’ve said is just your word against mine. I can simply follow the rules of the game, complete it, and leave in the end, right? Ace won’t attack those who complete the game by following his rules, will he?”
He raised his hand and nudged Yan Mingguang’s arm with his elbow, saying, “Teacher Yan, why are you just standing there? Just carry her away.”
He naturally knew that even if there were some conspiracy or deceit, lies couldn’t be entirely baseless. These words, even if false, must have some foundation in truth. Walking this path wouldn’t be wrong; what he needed to be wary of was how to avoid falling into a trap.
What if the Meat Grinder couldn’t kill the Man in Black Robe? What if the Man in Black Robe died, but this method not only failed to let them leave the castle but also angered the other Puppets inside?
They always needed a way out.
At worst, they could take a step back, follow the rules, and end the instance in the most conventional way, even if it meant having to fight Xue Wan to the death for points.
Moreover, once they got out, what if they could never find the Man in Black Robe’s mother again? This woman couldn’t just be left here, no matter what.
Yan Mingguang naturally understood this logic and acted without hesitation. He directly exchanged for a long rope from the Information Panel’s store.
The woman suddenly shouted, “I can leave with you!”
Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang paused in their actions.
“You can’t use me to threaten Ace. If he sees me, he will only want to destroy me along with you. But that’s fine. His anger will make him come. But you… you must kill him first; you can’t let him destroy me first.”
“Why?”
“You don’t trust me, and I can’t confirm that you can definitely kill Ace—if you fail,” the woman’s voice was as hoarse as old wood rubbing together, like a whisper from hell, “I must survive to continue waiting for guests who can end all of this. You must protect me. I can’t die before Ace does.”
This demand seemed somewhat reasonable.
Yan Wei blinked, his amber eyes clear and bright, yet revealing no emotion.
He nodded, “Alright. But us agreeing to this is just a verbal promise. We’ve been going back and forth here, all of it just verbal promises. What’s the point? It’s better if we tie you up; it’ll be more convenient for us to protect you.”
He acted as if it didn’t matter, even tugging at one end of the rope in Yan Mingguang’s hand, weighing it in his own.
The woman’s withered face finally twisted, covered in dried blood, sticky and horrifying. She said, “If Ace dies, the castle will just stop functioning. To leave alive, you must exchange Gold Coins for a Puppet, and use the exchanged Puppet to open the castle gate. To exchange for a Puppet, you just need to throw all the Gold Coins into the Meat Grinder and choose the Puppet you want to exchange for. Ace isn’t needed. As long as Ace is dead and I’m alive, I’ll tell you which Puppet to exchange for!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yan Wei’s lips curved into a silent smile.
He said nothing, simply turned around, bypassing the blood trail the woman had dragged out earlier, and said, “Let’s go, we’re heading to the Stargazing Platform.”
Yan Mingguang didn’t move. He looked at the woman, clearly indicating that she should walk between them.
The elderly woman finally understood. She looked at Yan Wei’s back and sighed, “So your partner was doing it on purpose.”
Deliberately acting indifferent, deliberately drawing out the trump card she had been hiding.
Anyone familiar with Yan Wei’s way of handling things would have sensed his planning in that moment, and Yan Mingguang was no exception.
He remained silent. Only when the woman took a step forward, her blood-covered lower body dragging out a gruesome blood trail once more, did he lower his gaze, grip his whip, and follow at a leisurely pace.
Yan Wei stopped when he reached the outer side of the small castle.
He focused his gaze on the place where they had just exited the maze—it had already transformed into a monotonous maze wall, covered by branches and leaves, with no trace of a path in sight. On the other side, an entrance suddenly appeared.
The woman’s hoarse voice came from behind, “This is Ace’s design. He’s naturally cautious, and to prevent guests from discovering his secrets, once the small castle’s gate is opened, the small maze will completely change its layout, and the guests who entered will never find their way out. I don’t know the new layout of the maze; you’ll have to figure it out yourselves.”
Yan Wei detected a hint of schadenfreude in the woman’s words.
He sneered, “Why didn’t you say that earlier? Weren’t you afraid we wouldn’t get out? Then you could just hide in the maze and leave us for Ace?”
“If the guests can’t even find their way out, how could they possibly kill Ace?”
Yan Wei gave her a cold glance.
He stepped forward and took out the control switch he had prepared earlier, saying, “Unfortunately, we don’t need to do anything to get out.”
He pressed the switch in his hand.
At the maze entrance, the thing Lin Zhen had placed in the corner earlier moved.
It was a cage completely covered in black cloth. When Yan Wei pressed the switch at the maze’s core, the cage outside the maze trembled, and its door instantly opened.
A crow flew out—it was the same crow that had been lingering outside the castle!!!
At the same time, Yan Mingguang raised his hand and tore off the bandage on his right arm. The smell of blood instantly spread, and the crow, which had been flying in place for a while, turned its dark eyes in a different direction. With a flap of its wings, it followed the faint scent of blood coming from the maze and dove straight in!
Tied to its leg was a bag with a hole in it, filled with white powder.
As the crow let out a hoarse cry, the white powder spilled out slightly from the hole, leaving a trail on the maze floor where the crow flew.
This was what Yan Wei had asked Lin Zhen to do before entering the maze. At that time, it was almost dark, and the crows outside hadn’t yet reached the point of indiscriminately attacking people at night. As long as there was no scent of blood, the crows wouldn’t go mad.
Although the castle gate was sealed, every floor of the castle had glass windows—unbreakable as a whole, but it was possible to make a small hole. Lin Zhen, who was skilled in archery, broke the glass, used a bow to catch a crow, sealed the glass to ensure no other crows could enter, and then tied a bag of white powder to the crow’s leg before placing it in a small cage.
In case Yan Wei got lost in the maze and couldn’t find his way out, he just needed to open the cage and use the scent of blood to attract the crow. The trail of powder left by the crow’s flight would mark the way out.
This was a contingency plan he had prepared in case he got lost in the maze, and now it came in handy.
The maze wasn’t as large as the Jungle Maze outside, and soon, the crow, attracted by the scent of blood, flew to Yan Wei. The bag on the crow’s leg was already half empty, leaving a trail of white powder behind. Following the scent of blood, it immediately flew towards Yan Mingguang.
Yan Mingguang’s expression shifted slightly, but he didn’t even blink. With a flick of his wrist, a dagger flew out.
A shrill crow’s cry echoed as the dagger pierced the crow’s heart, pinning it to a tree branch.
The woman was speechless.
Yan Wei glanced back at her and shrugged, “Sorry to disappoint you, but we didn’t need to put in much effort. Please come with us. Whether it’s to threaten the Man in Black Robe or to anger him, if you don’t follow us, I’d rather kill you first before dealing with him.”
He didn’t wait for the woman’s reaction, simply exchanged a glance with Yan Mingguang, then turned and walked ahead, following the trail of white powder out.
He checked the communication Item attached to his ear, “Lin Zhen, we’re leaving now. Pay attention to the path marked with white powder.”
On the other end came the sound of an arrow being shot, signaling Lin Zhen’s acknowledgment.
With the white powder as a guide, Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang walked out smoothly this time. Perhaps it was because Yan Mingguang was watching from behind, but the woman was also very cooperative, causing no trouble.
Soon, they exited the maze.
Not long after, Lin Zhen also emerged.
Compared to the nearly unscathed Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang, Lin Zhen’s clothes were torn in several places, and his already black clothes seemed even darker, as if soaked in blood. Lin Zhen’s hair was disheveled, and there were even traces of blood splattered on his cheeks.
Yan Wei frowned, but before he could speak, Lin Zhen grinned, “It’s almost time to leave. It would be a shame not to fight those idiots who copied my face and abilities. Don’t look at me like I’m an idiot; I know my limits. I fought until I felt satisfied and then ran off. These are just minor injuries. Plus, when I attacked, I lured them deep into the maze, at least 500 meters away from us. I also wiped out the white powder trail. Heh, those idiots will take a long time to get out; they won’t stop us.”
Yan Wei gave him a quick glance, and seeing that Lin Zhen was indeed fine, he didn’t say more.
The woman said, “Let’s go quickly. Ace has some awareness of this place. He’ll notice everything that just happened.”
Yan Wei simply said, “Lin Zhen, you go first. Follow him, Teacher Yan, keep an eye on her.”
Lin Zhen twirled the bow in his hand and, without a word, whistled as he descended the Stairway. The woman, under Yan Mingguang’s watchful gaze and needing Yan Wei’s group, had no choice but to follow the arrangement, walking between Yan Mingguang and Lin Zhen.
Yan Wei watched the three of them descend the stairs one after another but didn’t immediately follow.
He turned back to look at the pitch-black maze behind him, then glanced at the long, steep staircase ahead. The surroundings were empty, dark, and silent, with only the three of them and this terrifying woman present.
Once out of the maze, the ground beneath his feet was smooth, made of the same material as the rest of the castle.
The same material… which could also display lights.
He put his hands in his pockets, pulling out the control switches for the Blockers. The Blockers had been placed in every corner of the castle. By activating one, the corresponding area’s circuit would be blocked. If he activated all of them, leaving only the area beneath his feet unblocked, he could use his Perception to replace the current and access the only unblocked circuit beneath him, reading the number of Puppets within 300 meters.
He looked down, activated all the Blockers in other areas, condensed his Perception into a stream, and temporarily replaced the power source, connecting it to the floor beneath his feet.
In the next moment, a number lit up beneath his feet.
