Quick Wear: Another day of being criticized for falling in love at first sight

Chapter 1093 A Passerby Cannon Fodder in an Infinite Flow Dimension (Part 16)

"Don't call me Lao Xie."

Xie Chenzhou frowned slightly, and his originally gentle smile took on a sinister undertone.

"If you really think about it, I skipped a grade and am a year younger than you, which is the prime of a man's youth."

Tan Jiashu shrugged. Right now, even if Chen Zhou asked him to call him "Dad," he would do so in the heat of the moment, let alone just changing the way he addressed him.

"Yes, Shen Zhou is young and fresh, the same age as my sister."

Xie Chenzhou didn't dwell on the form of address anymore. Having already received his brother-in-law's approval that he was about the same age as Miaomiao, he knew how to let himself off the hook.

He glanced at the impenetrable Holly Passage not far away and quickly assigned tasks to the three of them.

"Let's go straight in. I have a pretty good sense of direction, so I'll lead the way and use these marbles as markers to keep an eye out for any dangers ahead."

"Old Tan, you're to my left, Miaomiao, you're to my right. You two can provide cover from both sides. Also, Old Tan, keep an eye on what's behind us to prevent us from being ambushed."

This arrangement took into account exploration, defense, and vigilance, and neither Miaomiao nor Tan Jiashu had any objections.

The three quickly adjusted their positions. Xie Chenzhou walked in the middle, slightly in front, and took a blue marble out of the marble box with his fingertips. He took the lead and stepped into the Holly Passage.

Tan Jiashu stood guard on the left, holding a thick stick, while Miaomiao gripped a dagger on the right. Both of them were on edge, carefully watching the movements around them.

Fortunately, the first ten minutes went smoothly, with no other unusual sounds except for the rustling of fallen leaves underfoot.

But the occasional screams coming from outside contrasted sharply with the eerily quiet and deep road in front of them, sending chills down their spines.

The three-meter-tall holly trees stood silently like enormous monsters, their branches casting dappled shadows in the dim light. No one dared to let their guard down; everyone remained constantly alert to the dangers around them.

After all, this mirror world game never allows players to easily find peace.

Sure enough, after walking a while further ahead, shouts and the sounds of animals chewing, sometimes near and sometimes far, pierced through the dense foliage and came from nearby. Judging from the sounds, they were not far away.

Just as the screams abruptly stopped, the system's somber electronic voice suddenly came from mid-air.

Players 11, 12, 13, and 14 have died.

Players 11, 12, 13, and 14 have died.

The alarm sounded three more times in a row, clearly referring to the group whose screams they had just heard.

"Don't be afraid, Miaomiao, I'll protect you. This damn game is inhumane."

Tan Jiashu felt his scalp tingle whenever he recalled the terrifying chewing sound and the terrified screams that nearly made him lose his voice.

They were all carrying weapons, even the worst ones...

The three dared not delay any longer and quickened their pace. Every few minutes, Xie Chenzhou would throw a marble on the ground—red, blue, and green—which stood out conspicuously in the dim environment.

They walked for another twenty minutes, accumulating nearly half an hour of exploration. Miaomiao was focused on observing the holly branches and leaves on the right and did not notice the change in the route under her feet. Xie Chenzhou suddenly stopped and looked intently at the corner of the path.

There, a blue marble lay quietly in the pile of dead leaves—the very spot he had left there twenty minutes earlier.

Xie Chenzhou rubbed the pinball box in his hand with his fingertips, a hint of contemplation flashing in his eyes.

He had played many similar puzzle games before, so he naturally knew what this situation meant.

This maze is much more interesting than I imagined. At least his sense of direction has never been wrong. But now, even though they should have gotten out, they have inexplicably returned to the place they were ten minutes ago.

Perhaps, this maze, which appears to be a series of interconnected paths on a physical level, is actually similar to the concept of "being trapped in a maze," and one cannot find a way out simply by groping around.

Fortunately, the coping methods passed down from our ancestors are just what we need to do now. Xie Chenzhou had only heard of them before. The worst thing to do in this situation is to rush around recklessly or rely too much on intuition, because in this kind of game, you do start by relying on your intuition.

The key to solving the problem lies in "exploring once, not doing anything twice, and then looking back three times".

The so-called "exploration" was what he initially did: setting up reference points while walking, and if he found a loop, he could move on to the next step.

The "two don'ts" mean that when you find yourself trapped in a cycle, you should not continue to move forward. The "three look backs" means that when you are uncertain about whether you can move forward, you should return to the original path.

This may seem troublesome, but it can miraculously set things right.

"We've come full circle. Looks like we've run into a maze. We'll have to use the old methods."

Xie Chenzhou spoke in a low voice, which made Miaomiao and Tan Jiashu tense up instantly.

He pointed to the pink marbles on the ground, and Miaomiao did remember that he had specifically looked them up before; he seemed to have his own pattern.

"This is a mark I left earlier, indicating that we got stuck in a loop ten minutes ago and had to go back to find a new path."

The two started walking back in the direction he pointed, but after only a few steps, they suddenly stopped.

All three of them remembered clearly that when they had just passed through this area, the road was wide and there was nothing there, but now...

In the middle of the once empty retreat route, there was now a half-rotten corpse.