Chapter 296: You

The echo of the beast's roar still lingered, and a suffocating chill pervaded the air.

The temperature around dropped sharply, as if we had instantly entered an Ice Vault.

A thin frost began to form on the stone walls of the maze, and a creaking sound came from beneath our feet.

"Whoa! What the hell is this place, colder than winter back home!" Xingji Xiake rubbed his hands and exhaled a puff of white breath.

At that moment, wisps of translucent mist drifted through the maze, gradually coalescing into ghostly figures.

Their forms flickered, faces blurred, wandering around the group and emitting eerie whispers, like a horde of damned souls from hell recounting endless suffering.

"What the heck! Ghosts!" Xingji Xiake jumped up in fright, instinctively reaching for a weapon. "What are these things? Ghosts? Zombie? Should we just charge in?"

"Wait!" Xingyun Zhizhe grabbed him, "Don't just rush in! These ghosts were likely summoned by the beast; attacking them could trigger worse consequences."

"Zhizhe, you're not chicken, are you? With just these few phantoms, I could send them back home in a heartbeat!" Xingji Xiake said with a scornful face.

"You reckless fool! Use your brain, will you? If these ghosts turn out to be some kind of guardians, attacking them would only bring trouble upon ourselves," Xingyun Zhizhe said irritably.

"Scared of nothing! When soldiers come we block, when water comes we cover with earth—just do it!" Xingji Xiake broke free from Xingyun Zhizhe's grip, poised to charge.

Zhang Cheng, seeing this, stepped forward immediately, positioning himself between the two.

"Everyone, stop arguing! The situation is unclear; rash action will only raise the risk," he said, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes. "These ghosts appeared far too oddly; we must proceed with caution."

Guangming Shizhe huddled behind Zhang Cheng, trembling, "So… so scary…"

Suddenly, a ghost floated to Guangming Shizhe's front, extending a translucent hand…

…the translucent hand reached toward Guangming Shizhe's face.

"Ah—" Guangming Shizhe let out a startled scream, closed her eyes, awaiting the cold touch.

However, the anticipated sensation never came.

She carefully opened her eyes and found the ghost before her had vanished!

"Huh? Where did it go?" Guangming Shizhe looked bewildered.

The other ghosts also grew restless, emitting sharp shrieks as they swirled around the group.

These ghosts did not attack directly; instead they continuously disturbed their minds, causing all sorts of hallucinations.

Xingji Xiake suddenly saw himself back in his hometown, sitting around a dinner table with his family, enjoying a lavish meal.

He couldn't help but pick up chopsticks, grab a piece of braised pork, and put it in his mouth.

"So tasty!" he exclaimed.

"Xiake, what are you doing?" Zhang Cheng's voice pulled him back to reality.

He looked down; the chopsticks had turned into cold stone, and the feast before him had become a rotting corpse.

"What the heck! You scared me to death!" Xingji Xiake broke out in a cold sweat.

Xingyun Zhizhe also fell into a hallucination.

He saw himself standing in the vast starry sky, surrounded by countless stars.

He reached out, trying to touch the glittering stars.

"Is this the mystery of the universe?" he murmured.

"Zhizhe, wake up!" Zhang Cheng's voice rang out again.

Xingyun Zhizhe jolted awake, realizing he was still in the cold maze.

"These ghosts… have something to them…" Xingyun Zhizhe wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Guangming Shizhe saw a scene from her childhood, playing in a park with her parents, her face beaming with a happy smile.

"Dad, Mom…" she reached out, trying to grasp her parents' silhouettes, but grasped nothing.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here," Zhang Cheng's voice sounded in her ear, pulling her back from the hallucination.

"Zhang Cheng…" Guangming Shizhe clutched Zhang Cheng's arm tightly, fear filling her eyes.

Zhang Cheng looked around, seeing everyone else lost in their own hallucinations, while he alone remained clear‑headed.

"It seems these ghosts aim at our minds…"

He inhaled deeply, channeling his internal energy, attempting to disperse the ghosts, but the effect was minimal.

The ghosts still hovered around them, emitting shrill screams.

Suddenly, a creepy laugh echoed from the depths of the maze… "Hehe… welcome to my world…"

Zhang Cheng furrowed his brows, his hands gathering energy, trying to swat the pesky ghosts away like flies.

Result: the ghosts wobbled as if with special effects, doing nothing.

"Damn, this must be a glitch? How can it not be killed?"

Xingyun Zhizhe adjusted the nonexistent glasses on his nose and began analyzing the situation.

"The energy fluctuations of these ghosts are peculiar, seemingly linked to some ancient power of the maze. Could it be that they are the maze's… security?"

Xingji Xiake gripped his energy weapon, vigilantly scanning the surroundings, ready to act at any moment.

"Enough chatter, with this free time we should think about breaking out! These creepy things are terrifying to look at." As soon as he finished speaking, a ghost floated before him, stuck out its tongue at him, and vanished instantly.

Xingji Xiake: "……"

Just as everyone was at a loss, a figure flashed into view.

A mysterious merchant, oddly dressed and hooded, materialized before them.

"Ahem, young heroes, I see your foreheads are dark; you're probably in for a blood‑shed disaster!"

Zhang Cheng, expression blank: "Big brother, who are you? You're the darkest one now, right? Like a lump of coal."

The mysterious merchant chuckled, flashing two rows of golden teeth: "Young heroes, you're joking. Small business, small business. I see…"

"Just what? Speak quickly, don't stall!" Xingji Xiake urged impatiently.

The mysterious merchant rubbed his hands: "It just requires a few young heroes to do me a small favor—find a treasure hidden in the maze. Once completed, I guarantee those ghosts will vanish without a trace."

Zhang Cheng and Xingyun Zhizhe exchanged glances; the merchant's timing was unbelievably coincidental.

Zhang Cheng asked, "What treasure?"

The mysterious merchant leaned in mysteriously and whispered, "The Heart of the Maze..." "The Heart of the Maze? Sounds impressive." Zhang Cheng rubbed his chin, feigning deep thought, but inwardly he was already overjoyed—this was a sure thing!

With Xingyun Zhizhe around as a walking cheat device, finding some little trinket would be a matter of minutes, wouldn't it?

Xingyun Zhizhe truly lived up to being the brains of the operation. He whipped out that "high-tech" compass of his—god knows where he'd pulled it from—and muttered incantations under his breath: "Heaven and earth, dark and yellow; the universe, vast and wild; sun and moon, waxing and waning; stars and constellations spread in array... Heart of the Maze, bearing... southeast by south, distance... five hundred meters!"

"Holy crap, that accurate?" Xingji Xiake was dumbfounded—this thing was even more badass than a Global Positioning System (GPS)!

And so, under Xingyun Zhizhe's precise navigation, the group set off on their treasure hunt.

Along the way, they encountered man-eating flowers that could sing, poisonous mushrooms that could dance, and slimes that could tell bad jokes... but under Xingji Xiake's "One Punch Man"-style attacks, these minor monsters all turned into experience points.

In less than ten minutes, they found the so-called "Heart of the Maze"—a glass ball radiating rainbow-colored light.

"Just this thing?" Zhang Cheng looked disgusted. This thing looked less powerful than his own energy cannon.

The mysterious merchant took the glass ball, trembling all over with excitement: "That's right, this is it! Young hero, you are truly a dragon among men, a chosen one of heaven!" He produced a peculiarly shaped whistle and blew it hard. Piercing sound waves rippled outward, and the ghosts that had been drifting about everywhere instantly vanished into ash, leaving everything as clean as if it had been washed.

"Alright, the transaction is complete!" The mysterious merchant pocketed the whistle and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Zhang Cheng called out to him. "We've already found the Heart of the Maze. Now shouldn't you tell us some information about this maze?"

The mysterious merchant gave a sly chuckle: "Heaven's secrets must not be revealed. We shall meet again!" With that, he dissolved into a wisp of black smoke and vanished, leaving everyone staring at each other in bewilderment.

After the ghosts disappeared, the previously blocked path was revealed, and a great door leading to the depths suddenly appeared before everyone.

The door was carved all over with strange runes, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura.

Xingyun Zhizhe walked up to the door and studied the runes carefully, his brow furrowed tight: "These runes... I feel like I've seen them somewhere before..." He reached out to touch the cold runes, and suddenly, a powerful surge of energy pulsed from the door, knocking him back several steps.

"Whoa, what happened?" Xingji Xiake hurriedly steadied him.

Zhang Cheng walked up to the door, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes: "Looks like the real adventure is just beginning..." He placed his hand on the door.

"Don't—"