Chapter 975: Only the three of them (2/2)

“Thank you, princess!” she was a little timid, but carefully extended her hand.

Han Yunxi grabbed it firmly and said, “Hold on tight, don’t get lost.”

“Your Highness, could we still be in an illusion?” Gu Beiyue asked doubtfully.

They weren’t in a rush to find the exit before they figured out what was going on.

“It should be one,” Long Feiye was certain. Otherwise, why would there be so many strange and shifting landscapes? Could they have been poisoned to experience hallucinations? The thought flashed thought Han Yunxi’s mind, but she couldn’t ascertain it.

If this was a drug-induced hallucination, then none of these people might be real. Even she herself could merely be a figment of her own imagination, like a dream.

If this was really an illusion, then when did it start? When they approached the stele? Or after its door opened? Where were their real bodies now? How were they supposed to wake up?

“An illusion within an illusion? How many illusions are there?” Gu Qishao wondered. If they were still in one now, then wouldn’t the flaming god statue count as an illusion within an illusion?

“Then won’t we have to break through all of them?” Xu Donglin cried in alarm. It was already hard enough to get past one, so how many more were left? Heaven knows. Would they only get harder from here on?

Furthermore, where did they go once they were done? Back to the real world, or forward to another mysterious place? They had yet to see anything related to the Poison Sect here, so was this all in vain? Would they be trapped inside, unable to escape? Everyone felt a bit lost. What was going on here? That was a fatal blow. Without knowing their enemy, how were they supposed to win?

Only one path stretched before them. Long Feiye was the calmest member of the bunch as he intoned, “Let’s look at what’s ahead first.”

Holding hands, the group walked in a line. Since Baili Mingxiang held Han Yunxi’s hand, she was the front and ended up leading the pack. She was very careful in case there were any accidents, her gaze filled with doubts. After walking for a while, they soon came to a stop because three pathways had opened up before them. Each led in a different direction.

Naturally, one would face multiple routes in a maze.

“Let’s take a vote!” Gu Beiyue suggested. “Everyone can suggest a reason for each path, and the one with most votes wins!”

“There’s no reason to pick one over the other besides intuition,” Han Yunxi said helplessly.

They were surrounded by mirrors above, below, and to the sides. Each of the pathways led to some unseen location, and it was easy to miss the entrances in the mess of reflections. How were they supposed to pick between three exactly identical paths? It was impossible to rely on some sixth sense in a foreign environment when it was already hard enough to tell the real pathways from the reflected fakes.

“Let’s all try together. We’ll leave markers in the pathways we chose before,” Gu Beiyue suggested.

“How do we leave markers?” Xu Donglin couldn’t help asking. There was nothing here except for the smooth mirror surfaces.

Something occurred to Long Feiye then. He looked back at the crowd and declared, “No need for walking. We’ll just break these mirrors!”

Of course, they couldn’t break the ones around themselves, or else they’d get hurt. But as Long Feiye tapped on the ones below his feet, his meaning became clear. Everyone understood at a glance and tightened their hold on each other. When Long Feiye said “Go,” all of them stomped harshly on the mirrors beneath their feet. At the same time, they jumped into the air and braced themselves on the mirrors against the walls.

Soon enough, cracks appeared on the mirrors they’d crushed, which quickly shattered like ice and fell away. Very soon, they saw water beneath them instead.

Heavens, there was nothing but water down there! And it looked very, very deep. When they recalled the scene beyond the stone door, all of them grew alarmed. Could it be that the mirror maze stretched over the sea?

At the same time, the water below their feet suddenly surged towards them! The entire floor of the mirror maze was breaking apart while the waves swelled up. There was a ceiling to the maze as well, so if this kept on, they’d be swallowed by the liquid. Their only choice now was to find a way out of the maze before the water filled it up.

“Hurry and find the exit!” Han Yunxi cried.

And yet…