Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. 🙂
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Chp29. part2
Pei Han watched everything.
After a long pause, he murmured to Owen, “You were right. She really is drawn to this sort of thing.”
Oblivious to their conversation, Ning Ge studied the surroundings. The maze was formed by towering walls of trees.
Despite the clear sky and afternoon sun, the maze felt chillingly cold. Even the leaves on the bushes had a frosty, eerie green hue.
“There’s a simple way to navigate a maze,” the cross-dressing guy said. “Just keep your hand on the left or right wall, and you’ll definitely find the exit.”
Ning Ge listened silently as he explained “wall following,” then couldn’t help but interject, “That only works for simple mazes where the exit is connected to an outer wall and not in the center. If there’s a loop, you’re stuck.”
The cross-dressing guy asked, “What about complex ones?”
Ning Ge replied, “There’s an algorithm called Trémaux’s algorithm, which is more reliable than wall following.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s actually a very simple method,” Ning Ge said. “Mark both ends of every path you walk in the maze that doesn’t have any forks.
“When you reach a fork, prioritize the unmarked path. If all paths are marked, or if it’s a dead end, retreat and mark both ends of the path you came back on as dead ends.
“Never enter a dead end again. If you only have dead ends and paths marked once, choose the one marked once. This method won’t find the shortest route—you’ll end up wandering around the maze—but you’re guaranteed to find the exit.”
Pei Han smiled at Ning Ge. “How do you know this? Play a lot of games?”
Ning Ge nodded calmly.
I’m really puzzled, she thought.
Where did this come from? I can’t remember at all.
Why would the System implant a maze-solving method into the mind of an NPC who gives out quests?
“Alright, we’ll do it your way. We’ll make marks,” Pei Han said, picking up a branch.
Ahead, the path split into multiple routes, separated by tall walls of trees.
“We haven’t been down any of them, so let’s just pick one at random,” Ning Ge said, choosing the middle path.
Pei Han silently drew a circle on the ground at the entrance to this path.
He followed Ning Ge closely, diligently drawing circles on the paths they’d taken and crosses on dead ends. The group ventured deeper into the maze.
The sunlight seemed unable to penetrate the dense canopy, and the temperature dropped noticeably.
Strange sounds came from ahead—a crunching sound, like something being crushed underfoot, accompanied by a rustling noise.
Social Bro was on the verge of tears. “Don’t tell me it’s another snake.”
“It shouldn’t be,” the cross-dressing guy reassured him. “This sound is much louder than a snake’s.”
Social Bro’s face turned pale. “A giant snake?”
It wasn’t a snake after all.
A whole row of bizarrely shaped Wooden Puppets approached—more accurately, Wooden Puppet vehicles.
Each vehicle was toweringly tall; the wheels alone were about as tall as Ning Ge. The upper body of each vehicle held a massive Clown perched high above.
It looked like the Clown was driving an armored car.
The front of the “armored car” was equipped with a pair of massive, crab-like pincers.
They sped forward, and upon spotting Ning Ge and her group, suddenly burst into a song:
“A thief has entered the maze, and every one will have their skull crushed by these pincers!”
The giant pincers opened and closed with a metallic clack-clack, their teeth gnashing. The force behind them was terrifying—a direct strike would have been fatal.
Iris whispered, “my Lady, don’t worry. These are puppets. You can control them with your spiritual power.”
Don’t be ridiculous.
“Run!” Ning Ge roared.
The group scattered in panic.
With so many branching paths, they quickly became separated.
The crab-like cars pursued relentlessly, their wheels churning through the thorny, dense undergrowth. There was no cover to be found. Pei Han gripped Ning Ge’s hand, and they sprinted desperately between the walls of vegetation.
The cars were closing in, weaving through the maze and occasionally blocking their path with a sudden appearance.
Ning Ge felt like she was playing a game of Pac-Man, except the ghosts in this maze weren’t limited to four—they were everywhere.
Before long, Ning Ge was too exhausted to run. The two of them zig-zagged through the maze, finally hiding behind a thick hedge.
The crab car, brandishing its massive pincers, spun in place, searching for them. Unable to find them, it drove off in another direction.
Having temporarily evaded the vehicle, they caught their breath.
Ning Ge glanced at the countdown on her bracelet; over twenty minutes had already passed.
With time running out, this constant running couldn’t continue.
“Can we climb onto the car?” Ning Ge asked Pei Han.
“Should be possible,” Pei Han replied.
Instead of being chased by the car, why not ride it? The massive pincers were mounted on the chassis, extending forward. If they snuck up behind it, climbed onto the Clown, the pincers definitely wouldn’t be able to reach them.
Ning Ge pondered, “I just wonder if it’s guarded against this, or if it has other traps on its body.”
“Better than running like this,” Pei Han said, noticing Ning Ge’s exhaustion. “Let’s try one.”
The two crept forward as quietly as possible, finally spotting a car at the intersection ahead, its rear facing them as it drove forward.
It seemed to have temporarily lost its target and was moving slowly, making it ideal.
The two crept forward cautiously.
The Big Crab Car’s chassis was high, but that was no problem for Pei Han. With a light push, he hoisted himself up, then grabbed Ning Ge’s hand and pulled her onto the vehicle.
Only then did the Big Crab Car realize something was wrong. It spun in circles, searching for the intruders, as if only just realizing they were on top of it.
It paused, and a small door on its back creaked open. A pair of miniature pincers slowly extended from within.
It really does have mechanisms inside!
These smaller pincers were much thinner than the lower ones, only about as thick as an arm. Without hesitation, Pei Han wrapped his arms around one of the pincers and snapped it backward at its weakest joint.
A crisp crack echoed as the limb immediately broke.
Pei Han repeated the process, disabling the other small pincer.
With its upper pincers broken, the Big Crab Car seemed to have run out of ideas. It spun in confusion for a moment longer, then finally gave up on Ning Ge and Pei Han, continuing onward to find new targets.
Riding high on the back of the Big Crab Car was surprisingly exhilarating.
The vehicle quickly located Owen and Teacher Su, who were also running in disarray.
When they turned around and saw Ning Ge and Pei Han in the car, their faces registered shock.
“How did you guys get up there?” Owen shouted as he ran.
“We climbed up from the back of the car. Wait for me,” Ning Ge replied, stepping on the crab’s broken claw as she climbed. She reached the Clown’s shoulder and covered its eyes.
Clown: “……”
Iris had told them that as long as a wooden puppet had a head, it could only see through its eyes.
Unable to see the path, the Clown immediately hesitated, slowing down. Its large claws flailed wildly in the air.
These blind attacks posed no threat. Owen and Teacher Su successfully circled around to the back of the car and climbed aboard.
Only after they were all aboard did Ning Ge remove her hand from the Clown’s eyes.
“Alright, let’s keep moving,” she said.
Clown: “……”
Following this method, they made the crab car wander aimlessly through the maze, quickly picking up everyone.
But this wasn’t a sustainable solution. The mission’s countdown was ticking away, and they couldn’t just sit there forever.
Iris had used up his remaining spiritual power starting the bonfire last time and couldn’t help now. He asked, “my Lady, why don’t you use your spiritual power to control them?”
Ning Ge looked pained.
Not only was Ning Ge’s spiritual power still unreliable, but she also couldn’t casually remove her Bracelet in front of Iris.
She wondered what would happen if she removed the Bracelet in front of an NPC in this Role-Playing Dungeon. Would Iris still recognize her as his Viscountess, or would she be exposed?
Owen rolled up his sleeves. “Let me try.”
He stood perfectly still, staring intently at the back of the Clown’s head, as if a master were concentrating to channel energy.
“Is it working?” Teacher Su asked softly, afraid of disturbing him.
“Yes, look!” Social Bro roared, making Owen jump.
Social Bro exclaimed, “Are you controlling the pincers? One of the big ones isn’t moving!”
Owen grimaced. “Yes, but could you keep your voice down?”
On the chassis of the crab-like vehicle, one of the large pincers that had been flailing wildly was now frozen in place, thrusting forward like a rigid stick.
“Can you control the vehicle’s direction?” Ning Ge asked. If she could steer the crab-like vehicle, they would be less passive.
“No,” Owen replied. “Controlling the pincers is already draining enough.”
Distracted, Owen lost control, and the frozen pincer began flailing wildly again. He quickly regained his focus and reasserted control.
“I’ll try again,” Ning Ge said.
This time, she didn’t remove the bracelet. She focused intently, trying to recapture the feeling she’d had when she first lit the torch.
Suddenly, she sensed something different.
Her thoughts seemed to transform into countless fine threads, extending outward and gently touching various objects.
Ning Ge suddenly understood why her spiritual power had begun to work the moment Owen managed to slightly light the torch.
It was because she had sensed his Thought Silk.
Very light and thin, they rested on the Clown’s massive pincers.
Her own Thought Silk had originally drifted aimlessly, with nowhere to go. When they encountered him, they happened to latch onto them, following his threads all the way to the Clown’s pincers.
The rigid pincer of the crab car suddenly swung twice, then lifted, its joint bending with a click.
It snapped to attention, saluting.
“That wasn’t me,” Owen said, looking at Ning Ge. “No way… you figured out how to control it?”
Ning Ge smiled.
She finally knew how to use it.
Countless strands of Thought Silk, drifting aimlessly, all obeyed her command. They targeted the crab car with precision and suddenly tightened their grip.
The crab car braked sharply, then slowly rotated.
It drove to the intersection ahead, stopped, and lowered a massive claw to the ground. With solemn seriousness, it drew a large circle on the ground.
Everyone: “……”
“We need to mark the path to escape the maze,” Ning Ge said.
