Chapter 331 Maze
"Ah, he's coming in."
Lin Xiaolu poked her head out from the bushes, then her whole body. She stepped on the slightly moist ground, looked around, and had some meaningless thoughts.
What she saw at this moment was no longer the campus scene in the Silver Corridor, but a long walkway. Both the ceiling and the walls of this walkway were made up of shrubs and flowers, making the surrounding environment filled with a faint fragrance.
The process of entering the maze from the Silver Corridor was a bit tricky. Lin Xiaolu and the others lined up to enter the back garden of the Silver Corridor, followed the examinees in front of them, walked along the only path for a distance, passed the only corner, and then walked into a "dead end" surrounded by bushes. The examiner on the scene told them to go directly through the "dead end" in front of them and get through the bushes to reach the maze, and Lin Xiaolu did so.
Then she came in.
After she uttered that meaningless sigh, a rustling sound came from behind her. Not long after, Bo He and Bai Jingxuan also entered here in the same way.
"Oh, come in."
Mint also made the same meaningless sigh.
"So, what should we do next? Just start looking for a way out?"
Lin Xiaolu looked around and turned to look at her two teammates: "Theoretically, we can go forward or backward now, which direction is better?"
"Well...don't worry."
Mint looked thoughtful. He slowly walked to the bush wall beside him, stretched out his hand, and placed his palm on it: "Do you feel it? In the passages of the maze, whether it is the walls, the ground or the ceiling, there are very weak magical fluctuations."
“I can feel it.”
Lin Xiaolu said indifferently: "But this maze is built with magic, so it's normal to have magic fluctuations, right?"
"No."
Bohe closed his eyes, as if sensing something. After a while, he spoke again: "Well, I'm right. Let's go back."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lin Xiaolu's eyes widened suddenly.
"It's a bit troublesome to explain it with words. You two, put your hands on the wall and use your magic perception."
Bohe waved at Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, as if calling a kitten or a puppy: "If you have strong sensitivity, you can just sense it right here."
"Is it really useful?"
Lin Xiaolu walked to Mint's position with some doubt, and put her hand there. When she began to use magic perception, almost at the same time, she felt as if the range of her perception was suddenly torn apart by something, and everything around her appeared clearly in her mind.
It was as if her soul had left her body for a moment, and she was able to look at the maze she was in from a God's perspective: with her current position as the center, the maze map with a radius of 20 meters appeared in her mind. Just as Mint had said before, if they had chosen to go forward, they would have encountered the first turning point about 15 meters ahead, and then, it would be a dead end.
"Fuck."
This was Lin Xiaolu’s first thought.
“Amazing!”
Bai Jingxuan behind her also uttered a similar exclamation, but her exclamation was obviously much more civilized than that of her senior.
"The rituals in this maze are obviously not just for maintaining its existence."
After confirming that both of them had seen the radar-like screen, Mint began to explain his previous behavior: "Besides, I don't think the level of the Institute's techniques is that low. The magic fluctuations of the techniques used to maintain this maze can be completely hidden. There is no need to show off its existence so ostentatiously. Combined with the hint given to us by the examiner before..."
"What hint?" Lin Xiaolu interrupted with some confusion: "Why don't I remember it?"
"She said, 'Please work hard in the maze to get a higher score.'"
Mint put down his hand that was pressed against the wall: "Don't you think this sentence is a bit weird?"
"It's weird...is that so? It's just some polite words." Lin Xiaolu thought.
"Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I always think this sentence is a hint."
Bohe explained, "Because, according to the 'clear rules' she announced earlier, this test should just be a complete speed competition. It's just a competition of how fast everyone can conduct a carpet search and find an exit. Is it really necessary to call this kind of competition 'exploration'?"
"That's okay, right? Explore and then look for an exit or something like that." Lin Xiaolu herself was a little unsure.
"But now this technique proves that what I said is correct."
Mint patted the wall. "Such obvious fluctuations of magic power are just like telling us to 'check me quickly'. If it were a video game, this kind of prompt would be like the 'highlight display' in the game. And this spell can expand the perception of the magical girl and act as a 'minimap' to a certain extent. It can be said that it is telling us that there should be many things in this maze that can be used to speed up the assessment progress."
Lin Xiaolu finished sensing the magic power around her and looked at Bo He: "So, what do you mean?"
"What I mean is that we shouldn't be so anxious to find an exit. At this stage, we should try to explore those things that seem to be 'hidden'."
Bohe continued to explain to Lin Xiaolu, but for some reason, Lin Xiaolu could feel that her eyes seemed to be glancing at Bai Jingxuan beside her.
That look was a little strange. It couldn't be said to be kind or malicious, and there was no curiosity or inquiry in it. It was as if the man had simply seen something that made people care. There was a bit of thought mixed in with the calmness.
At this time, Bai Jingxuan still had her eyes closed, sensing the "small map" around her, and did not notice Bo He's gaze.
Soon, Mint turned his gaze back.
As if that brief gaze was just an illusion, she looked at Lin Xiaolu nonchalantly and continued her theory: "Since it is a 'maze', then there is a high possibility that there is a 'treasure'. Compared to the 'exit', the treasure is more tempting, right?"
"…What about the scores?"
Lin Xiaolu's heartbeat slightly accelerated. The way the other party looked at Bai Jingxuan just now made her almost think that she had exposed something. You know, the residual beast magic power in Bai Jingxuan is an absolute time bomb. If any clues are discovered during the assessment, the consequences will be disastrous. Fortunately, the other party seemed to lose interest after just a glance, so she was able to remain calm:
"If we take too long and rank too low, we won't get many points, right?"
"Ah, this, I think it should be okay."
Mint smiled refreshingly:
——"If I'm not mistaken, at this point in time, the 'exit' doesn't exist at all."
(End of this chapter)
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