Chapter 1232: Seize the Cards
The three players who drove the two cannibal players over were another group, and after they came face to face with Xu Huo’s group, they dropped the cannibals like hot potatoes and hurriedly withdrew, unable to wait to leave.
The cannibal players, who had little rationality left by now, didn’t care who was fighting whom. Every living person in front of them was a target for attack, so they turned and charged straight at Xu Huo’s group.
“Why are there suddenly so many cannibal players?” Mu Yan followed up, saying, “We’ve already reached the latter half of the maze. They should have some cards in their hands too. If they kill people, I’m afraid all the cards we hold will be replaced.”
This was also the reason Xu Huo hadn’t killed them.
“Shake them off.” Xu Huo took a single step to the end of the passage and even pulled Mu Yan along with him.
The short-haired woman and her two companions behind were held up. The black-shirted player had a powerful movement item, and carrying himself and his two companions, he flew past Xu Huo and Mu Yan, leaving behind a distant “See you later.”
At that moment, the masked man used a barrier item to trap the three cannibal players. After escaping, he quickly entered another passage.
“The maze’s layout has changed.” After passing through two more passages, Mu Yan suddenly said, “Could it be that our positions have also been moved?”
The endpoint was at the center of the maze. Starting from one position, as long as the direction remained unchanged, no matter how many detours were taken, one could eventually reach it. The problem now was whether the overall orientation of the maze had shifted without them noticing during its movement. If it had changed, then following the original direction would mean they could never reach the endpoint.
Xu Huo had also noticed this, but in the passages they walked through next, not only did no cards appear, but there were also no directional clues.
“We’re lost.” Mu Yan observed the surrounding passages through the plant wall. After the maze had been reorganized, the maze walls had also lost their regularity.
“Let’s keep going in the original direction for now.” Xu Huo sped up. “The fact that the mutant plants aren’t being frequently updated isn’t necessarily all bad. It means the maze walls haven’t been touched for a while, and the plants on them haven’t changed. Their state should be closer to natural growth. Pay attention to the plants’ habits, and try to determine the orientation.”
The clues given by the maze mostly involved front, back, left, and right, with occasional directional hints. Without being able to distinguish north, south, east, or west, those were meaningless too. Now might be a good opportunity.
“I’ll do my best.” Mu Yan said seriously.
With Xu Huo’s speed, he could completely pass through passages before the mutant plants reacted. However, to observe the maze walls, he would pause in segments, leaving a little time. If Mu Yan couldn’t immediately identify a directional plant, they would quickly move to the next passage.
Within just ten minutes, the two had already traversed nearly fifty passages in the vicinity.
Mu Yan was being carried by Xu Huo, sweat constantly beading on her forehead. Under the intense pressure, she even forgot to use items for defense at one point. Just as her concentration was about to run out, she finally made a discovery.
“Wait!” She called out as they passed a corner.
Xu Huo stopped. After letting go, he saw her rush to the maze wall in three quick steps and use her communicator to photograph the leaf of a purple plant. “This is a companion plant. It curls up when stimulated. Now its leaves are still exposed, so no one should have touched it. The direction its leaf tip points is east.”
Mu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to smile at Xu Huo. “At least we’ve figured out the maze’s orientation now.”
Xu Huo handed her a handkerchief. “Wipe your sweat.”
“Thanks.” Mu Yan took it, then said, “But even if we know the maze’s orientation, we still don’t know which direction the endpoint is in. How do we find it next?”
“Seize cards.” Xu Huo said. “Aside from the first card, you’re only holding one trap card, and you have room for four more cards. As for number cards, except for useful ones like clue cards, the rest don’t matter if they’re random. But I need your agreement.”
Mu Yan had no objections. Her original goal was to clear the instance as quickly as possible without aiming for a high rating.
“So, should we still look for clues on the maze walls?”
“Let’s get the cards first.” Xu Huo said. “The clues on the maze walls aren’t necessarily true. The information on the playing cards is more reliable.”
For Mu Yan, it was all the same.
So, the two began searching for other players within the maze.
The process of seizing cards was also simple. Xu Huo would first restrain the person, and then Mu Yan would make her move. This way, all the cards obtained ended up in Mu Yan’s hands.
The cards in her hand changed twice. Aside from the trap card, she also obtained two position cards, one nullification card, and one draw card. Finally, they acquired three clue cards in total.
They were:
Black Card 4: “Obtaining a flower card brings unexpected surprises.”
White Card 11: “Sometimes a trap isn’t necessarily a trap.”
Black Card 18: “Only one type of card can make the first card disappear.”
“These three clues don’t seem very useful.” Mu Yan thought for a moment before saying.
Xu Huo paused before speaking. “Trap cards, position cards, clue cards, nullification cards, draw cards.”
“These are the five known types of cards.”
“The hint from Black Card 18 says only one type of card can make the first card disappear. So, either a sixth or seventh type of card has this effect.”
“You think there are seven types of cards?” Mu Yan said. “Isn’t that too detailed?”
“If the number of each card type is equal, I’m more inclined to think each type comes in pairs. From the cards we’ve obtained so far, black and white cards with the same number belong to the same category. And White Card 11 says ‘a trap isn’t necessarily a trap.’ It’s very possible there’s another type of card that looks a lot like a trap card but isn’t one.”
“So that’s why there are seven categories.” Mu Yan recalled. “What kind of card was that player who kept calling out cards the night before last holding?”
“Maybe it was a card, maybe not.” Xu Huo said. “Perhaps it was some kind of trait.”
“Should we continue seizing cards?” Mu Yan now felt that obtaining cards wasn’t so difficult. “We’re still missing two types of cards. Maybe we’ll get them after a few more people. At worst, we can kill a few cannibal players.”
Xu Huo glanced at her. “The final clearance rating might be related to the card faces. There’s no need to randomize all the cards in your hand.”
“I don’t mind.” Mu Yan said indifferently. “As long as I can clear the instance, that’s enough... You want to clear it with six flower cards? That might be a bit difficult.”
“We’ll see when the time comes.” Xu Huo prepared to set off again. “So far, we haven’t obtained any clues related to direction.”
As luck would have it, just as the two were about to leave, the maze wall ahead split in two again. Immediately, several players appeared on the other side, one of whom was Da Hu, who had started from the same point as Xu Huo.
Seeing him, Da Hu was overjoyed. From a distance, he waved at him. “Old Xu, what a coincidence! We meet again!”