Chapter 231 - 230: The Mountain

Chapter 231: Chapter 230: The Mountain

Feng Ling found herself considering the possibility that Huangfu Miaomiao was still alive.

The Divine Travel Team was something even the Mouse Monsters avoided at all costs. Huangfu Miaomiao had eagerly followed it and then vanished. There had to be some unknown, immense danger ahead.

It seemed she needed to be prepared.

’Maybe... the Little Skeleton is already dead.’

Life and death were uncertain. Even in peaceful times, people died unexpectedly all the time. Here in the Maze, the line between life and death could be crossed in an instant.

’A shame?’

’Heartache?’

’...Just a little, maybe.’

’She was just a small Alien Species. Her death wouldn’t have much of an impact on my life. But we spent some time together, and sometimes... she made me feel like I had a family.’

’My friend from the orphanage, Ling Feiran, her lifelong dream was to start her own family, to have a family that was truly hers.’

’I used to scoff at that. I felt starting a family wasn’t much of a dream. Ling Feiran was just trying to heal from her childhood, an act as impractical as trying to scoop the moon from the water.’

’Now, it seems I’m one of those monkeys, too.’

The procession ahead moved farther and farther away until it disappeared into the fog.

If they didn’t hurry and catch up, they might lose this Divine Travel Team.

"Are we... still following?" Xu Yiming asked, looking at Feng Ling uncertainly.

Li Qing and Ye Zheng also looked at Feng Ling.

Feng Ling snapped out of her thoughts and looked at them.

’Why was it like scooping the moon from the water? Because fate so often makes a fool of people, bringing them together only to tear them apart.’

’I hope the Little Skeleton is smart enough to log off quickly if she runs into danger. She’s earned enough points during this time, right...?’

"Let’s go," Feng Ling said, her expression neutral, as she quickened her pace to catch up to the Divine Travel Team.

They picked up speed.

...

As they gave chase, they encountered a few more Mouse Monsters.

Feng Ling watched with her own eyes as the Divine Travel Team’s procession grew longer and longer.

An extremely wide road appeared ahead. They had to descend from the rooftops and follow the Divine Travel Team across it. Then, Feng Ling saw a string of red lanterns.

She instantly knew where she was.

"Up ahead is the center of the Maze. That mountain..." She looked at Li Qing and Xu Yiming. "Do you remember that mountain?"

The color drained from Li Qing’s and Xu Yiming’s faces.

They vividly remembered the drone footage. In the center of the Maze was a massive "mountain" made of flesh and pieces of corpses.

Although no one knew what this "mountain" was, it was certainly extremely dangerous.

If Huangfu Miaomiao had followed the Divine Travel Team here, there was no telling what might have happened to her.

Ye Zheng, who hadn’t seen the video, frowned and asked them, "What mountain?"

Feng Ling felt it probably couldn’t be explained with words. Staring into the fog ahead, she said ominously, "Well, we’ve come this far. Let’s go take a look."

She started walking forward. Ye Zheng and Xu Yiming followed. After a few steps, they realized Li Qing hadn’t moved, and everyone turned to look back at him.

Li Qing stood frozen, his face ashen. For the first time, he regretted his decision.

"Feng Ling, this Maze might really be collapsing, just like you said... If we keep going, something might happen that we’ll all regret." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Xu Yiming grew anxious. "Why are you backing out at a critical time like this? Miao Miao is just ahead! Dangerous or not, we have to at least go see!"

Ye Zheng also asked in confusion, "You and your friend were the ones who invited us in. Why are you backing out now?"

"This place isn’t normal..." Li Qing stared into the distance, his heart filled with unease. "None of the things a Maze should have are here. No safe houses, no Divine Statues, no Maze Master... nothing. Just endlessly breeding Mouse Monsters and a giant mountain of flesh of unknown origin. The Maze has collapsed, the system has collapsed. Is there any point in us trying to clear it anymore?"

People fear what they don’t understand.

The Maze before them had shattered Li Qing’s understanding of the system. At this moment, he was terrified. Absolutely terrified.

He looked at Feng Ling, trying to explain his worries. "That behemoth is probably the Maze Master. But look at the fog here—its color hasn’t changed at all. According to normal Maze mechanics, the color of the surrounding fog should change as we approach a Maze Master."

Feng Ling thought for a moment, then nodded. "You have a point. I also think it’s dangerous ahead."

Li Qing felt a wave of relief.

Feng Ling continued, "Zhengzheng and I will go ahead and scout. You and Xu Yiming stay here. The Divine Travel Team just passed through, so there shouldn’t be any Mouse Monsters coming this way for a little while. You two find a good place to hide."

Xu Yiming was stunned. "Just the two of you? No way, I’m also..."

"You’re staying," Feng Ling cut him off, her expression calm. "Li Qing is too important. Nothing can happen to him. He’s the only one who can communicate with the Maze Administrator, and he’s the only one who can give us the coordinates for each Maze. Therefore, he absolutely cannot take even the slightest risk."

She paused, then added, "Call me in twenty minutes. If I don’t answer, take the Daoist and go find Crow. Get out of here."

Xu Yiming’s eyes immediately reddened.

Feng Ling frowned. "Come on. I’m just making a contingency for the worst-case scenario. Could you please have a little more faith in me?"

Xu Yiming lowered his head to rub his eyes, feeling wronged. "The mood just got to me..."

Feng Ling then looked at Li Qing. "It’s too early to say the Maze has collapsed. But, if even I can’t break through this Maze, then it must have collapsed, right?"

Li Qing slowly nodded.

Feng Ling smiled, then turned and led Ye Zheng away.

Xu Yiming stood there, stunned. He turned his head to ask Li Qing, "What did she mean by that?"

Li Qing said in a low voice, "A Maze is a dungeon for players. The difficulty of the dungeon should be matched to the players’ ability. If even Feng Ling can’t break through this Maze, then it’s impossible for any player to break through. That would mean the dungeon’s difficulty has exceeded its intended parameters, that its core code has gone haywire. A Maze collapse..."

After hearing this, Xu Yiming couldn’t help but laugh. He was smiling, but his heart felt a little heavy. Watching Feng Ling and Ye Zheng’s retreating backs, he muttered under his breath, "So damn cocky..."

......

Feng Ling’s pace grew more and more urgent as she got closer to the Divine Travel Team.

She was desperate for an answer. She needed to know what that "mountain" really was, and whether Huangfu Miaomiao’s disappearance was related to it.

Strings of lanterns hung overhead, one after another. The sound of drums and music had, at some point, lost its original rhythm and become chaotic.

The Mouse Monsters in the procession gradually stopped playing their music, simply pushing and shoving their way forward in a frenzy.

Thanks to their negligence, the spiritual power of the Divine Travel Team weakened considerably.

Feng Ling and Ye Zheng finally neared their destination and saw the impossibly huge mountain—

It was clearer and more vivid than in the video. Countless hands and feet struggled and thrashed within the flesh. Toothless mouths opened and closed like black holes, and eyeballs covered in fleshy growths rolled within their sockets of meat.

And the Divine Travel Team, upon approaching the "mountain," instantly lost all order. Each and every Mouse Monster walked uncontrollably toward the mountain, on and on, until they sank into the flesh.