Chapter 76
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After Shadow Reaper and the pig-headed prison guard disappeared, several quick-minded people didn’t hesitate and immediately ran out. Once a few people took the lead, the rest quickly reacted and followed suit, running away in a panic.
A few seconds later, apart from the six hunters, there were only a few people left standing in place.
Wen Yian was also led away by several people before leaving. Before leaving, she nodded slightly at Lou Yan and then left.
Lou Yan remained calm; he quickly walked up to Lin You with Li Sanxin. “Comrade Lin.”
Lin You turned his head and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. He nodded politely and said, “Comrade Lou Yan.”
Time was running out, so Lou Yan directly said, “Lin You, do you want to join us?”
Lin You thought for two seconds, recalling what Lou Yan had said to him last time, and also the Mental Recovery Syringe that Lou Yan had given him. He nodded decisively and said, “Okay.”
At this moment, apart from the three of them, everyone else had already run off. The masked hunters looked at them with keen interest, their eyes flashing with eager excitement to kill.
“We don’t have much time left, let’s run first,” Lou Yan said.
Lin You nodded, then glanced at the hunters one last time, reminding Lou Yan strangely, “The last hunter with silver hair has been staring at you.”
Lou Yan frowned, turned his head to look back, and indeed met the eyes behind the mask of the silver-haired hunter.
Those eyes stared firmly at Lou Yan, cold like a wolf, icy black as if from a monster. At this moment, they were slightly narrowed, exuding a hint of danger, making people shiver with fear.
Not good.
Fu Xuezhou, in this state, was clearly targeting him.
—After all, this person had been fooled by him just last night.
Lou Yan’s eyelid twitched, he chose a direction and ran ahead, saying, “Let’s go!”
Li Sanxin and Lin You followed closely behind.
Lou Yan and Li Sanxin were very fast, their bodies much stronger than ordinary people due to the fusion of anomalies. If using their maximum speed, Lou Yan could easily outpace everyone and rush into the maze first.
But because Lin You was with them, Lou Yan didn’t use that speed. Even with the intentionally slowed pace, the three of them were incredibly fast.
Lou Yan and Li Sanxin sighed inwardly that Lin You didn’t have the enhancement of anomaly power, yet he managed to catch up with them just relying on his physical fitness. Meanwhile, Lin You was surprised that these two didn’t need to slow down or wait for him; their speed even seemed to surpass his own.
Having companions who didn’t slow them down was a fortunate thing. Even though they were late in running, they quickly caught up with others who were running around randomly and rushed into the vast maze.
When they couldn’t see anyone else around, the three of them stopped tacitly, intending to discuss a plan.
Lou Yan looked around; the entire maze was incredibly vast, with towering walls dividing the space into countless paths. The height was over ten meters, and when looking up, only the distant dome could be seen.
Both the ground and the walls were gray, and the walls were incredibly smooth, with no space for climbing.
“To find the passage to the second floor within two hours, we need to first understand the structure of the maze,” Lou Yan said, “This maze is unknown in size. Running around aimlessly will only waste time. Have you noticed? Every part of the maze looks almost the same, without very obvious signs to distinguish the routes.”
“I’ve noticed,” Li Sanxin said seriously, “If we run randomly, we might end up repeating the same paths we’ve already taken. And there are anomalies hidden in the maze; we don’t know when we might encounter them.”
“Don’t worry too much about that, I have ‘crisis perception’ as a reminder,” Lou Yan raised an eyebrow.
In this situation, his crisis perception was simply a sharp tool.
Lou Yan paused, contemplating as he rested his chin on his hand, “And there shouldn’t be too many anomalies hidden on the first floor. This is just the first floor, and the anomalies only have two hours, which means they believe that most people can find the passage in two hours. If the vast majority of people die on the first floor, then there will be no one left to play on the subsequent floors.”
Li Sanxin felt that what Lou Yan said made sense. He leaned against Lou Yan’s shoulder, looked up at the high walls, and said, “The most effective way now is to climb onto the wall. The higher the vantage point, the more we can see. But this wall… unless we can fly, how can we climb it?”
Lin You had been observing the walls all along. When Li Sanxin finished speaking, he walked up to the wall and reached out to touch the wall surface.
The wall was as smooth as ice and exuded a cold air. Such a smooth and vertical wall would be impossible to climb even for a master without tools. Lin You touched it a few times, then turned to Lou Yan and Li Sanxin, saying, “I can climb up.”
Lou Yan and Li Sanxin exchanged a glance. Lou Yan didn’t ask much and simply said, “Okay, then give it a try.”
Lin You nodded, took a few steps back, and suddenly rushed towards the wall with force. He exerted force on the wall with two kicks, quickly climbing about five meters. However, without a point of support, Lin You would soon slip down from the wall.
Lin You remained calm, reaching out to grab the wall surface. In the instant his hand was raised, his hand suddenly transformed into a pair of strong wolf claws covered with a layer of gray fur.
“Crack.”
The wolf claws ruthlessly nailed into the wall, and debris slid down from the tip of Lin You’s claws.
Li Sanxin’s pupils dilated, surprised, “Cool!”
Using this point of support, Lin You lifted his body and quickly grabbed again, smoothly climbing up the high wall.
Lou Yan’s eyes flashed; this was Lin You’s innate ability: Wolf Transformation.
After climbing up the high wall, Lin You revealed a smile. He stood up and looked around. But as soon as he stood up, Lou Yan’s ‘crisis perception’ came into play. Lou Yan’s face changed, and he immediately shouted to Lin You, “Lin You! Duck down!”
Lin You didn’t know why Lou Yan said this, but he reacted extremely quickly and immediately crouched down, just in that instant, a gust of wind swept over his head. Lin You smelled the close stench of decay.
A rotten black bird flew swiftly over Lin You’s head. Not having injured Lin You, its crimson eyes were full of malice. It turned around and flew towards Lin You again.
The bird’s speed was too fast. Lin You rolled to the right on the wall to barely avoid the bird’s attack. Even so, the bird persisted, leaving Lin You no choice but to jump down from the wall and use his wolf claws to slide down, sparks flying from the contact between his claws and the wall. In the blink of an eye, Lin You safely landed on the ground.
Seeing Lin You land, the bird unwillingly circled overhead a few times before leaving the area.
“I failed,” Lin You said gloomily, regret evident on his face. “I only managed to take a quick look and didn’t see much.”
Li Sanxin patted his shoulder, comforting him, “That black bird seems to be specifically watching to prevent people from climbing the wall. As long as you’re okay, it’s fine.”
Lin You shook his head, carefully recalling the brief glimpse of the maze layout he had just seen. Unfortunately, he had spent too little time up there, and the maze was too complex. Lin You racked his memory, ultimately pointing towards the six o’clock direction, saying, “That direction seems to have the most paths, and the maze there is the most complex.”
“Does that mean the passage to the second floor might be hidden in that direction?” Lou Yan frowned slightly. “But it’s possible that it’s a trap deliberately set by the anomalies… such speculation is too speculative.”
Lou Yan made up his mind. “Lin You, can you use your wolf claws to carry me up to the wall?”
“I can, but…” Lin You was puzzled by his suggestion. “It’s dangerous with that bird around. The bird is fast, and if we can’t see much after getting up there, it will attack.”
Lou Yan smiled confidently. “Don’t worry, I’m not afraid of being attacked. I have a way to ensure I won’t die. But I need your help. After I climb up, try to buy me as much safe time as possible. If your strength doesn’t work against that bird, don’t worry, leave the rest to me.”
Li Sanxin guessed what he was going to do, his mouth tight, his brows furrowed, but he suppressed his worry and nodded, “Okay, you take care.”
He had already discussed it with the person who was closer to Lou Yan than Lin You, so there was no need for Lin You to say much. Seeing Lou Yan’s calm expression and knowing that he had a plan in mind, he also nodded in agreement.
Lin You walked to Lou Yan’s side and crouched down, allowing Lou Yan to hold onto his neck and lie on his back. Lou Yan looked at the blood stains on Lin You’s back, his expression changing instantly. “You’re injured on your back!”
Lin You did feel some pain on his back, but it wasn’t much for him. He glanced back, indifferent. “It should be from when the bird scratched me just now.”
“Not good,” Lou Yan murmured.
Hearing Lou Yan’s words and seeing the wound on Lin You’s back, Li Sanxin’s expression also changed. “The smell of blood! It will attract anomalies and hunters!”
Lin You stiffened, feeling somewhat at a loss. “Sorry, I didn’t think about that. But will the hunters smell the blood too?”
“If they are all semi-anomalies, then yes,” Lou Yan said. “Even if others can’t smell it…”
—Fu Xuezhou would.
Hunter and prisoner identities cannot be exchanged.
If Lou Yan fell into Fu Xuezhou’s hands, Lou Yan knew what the consequences would be.
Lou Yan became particularly calm. He closed his eyes, earnestly smelling the various scents in the air.
The smell of blood… so much blood… it seemed that many people had already met with misfortune.
With so much blood scent, the scent of the blood on Lin You’s back was completely masked within it.
Lou Yan opened his eyes, directly leading Li Sanxin and Lin You to another uninhabited area not far away. “No need to worry for now, we need to move quickly. Lin You, from the moment you were injured until now, has it been two minutes?”
“Not even two minutes,” Lin You immediately confirmed. After training, he could calculate the time using his body’s reactions without a clock, accurate to within five seconds. “It’s been two minutes now.”
“You’re quite meticulous,” Li Sanxin couldn’t help but smile.
Lou Yan also shook his head helplessly, looking up at the smooth, tall wall. “Then we need to complete the goal within three minutes… Lin You, let’s do it.”
Lin You bent down, allowing Lou Yan to climb onto his back again, his hands once again transforming into wolf claws. Stepping back a few steps, determination in his eyes, Lin You bent his legs slightly to gather strength before suddenly rushing towards the wall.
Even with the added weight of a person on his back, it didn’t affect Lin You’s speed and agility in climbing the wall. He was as agile as a monkey, his wolf claws creating deep holes in the wall as he climbed. Lou Yan held onto Lin You tightly, looking up, the top of the wall getting closer and closer.
When the distance was almost there, without Lin You’s help, Lou Yan directly reached out and used the strength of his arms to quickly climb up the wall.
The cold wind at high altitude dispersed Lou Yan’s slightly curled black hair. Lou Yan turned his head sharply, and the rotten black bird noticed his presence. Its crimson pupils dilated, and with extremely fast speed, it viciously attacked him.
Lou Yan drew out his spinal whip, his wrist slightly moved, and the spinal whip immediately made a “crackling” sound. Lou Yan’s expression remained calm and composed as he stared firmly at the black bird that was about to charge towards him.
Below, Li Sanxin and Lin You were also ready to support him at any time.
To obtain the map of the maze, this bird must be dealt with.
But just as Lou Yan was prepared to face this foul-smelling bird, his innate talent made his heart skip a beat. He subconsciously looked back, only to see two other similarly large, rotten, and ugly black birds rushing towards him from a hundred meters away.
There’s not just one of these birds!
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